Ok well I finally have some good news!
This past weekend I raced the 6th leg of the IXS
European Cup series in Chatel, France. We arrived there on the Friday morning
at 2AM after a long 8 hour drive from Schladming. Needless to say I was a bit
tired on the Friday for practice, luckily I had raced there last year and knew
most of the track already so I just needed to remind myself a bit J The track was about 2
and a half minutes long with some pedalling at the top, steeper technical
riding in the middle and some bike park at the bottom, a good all round track.
We drove down to the track at lunch time on the Friday , we
registered and walked the track which looked really good! I was excited to be
back here and I was looking for a good result which I know I am capable of. At
14:00 practice started and it was a rough start for me as my brakes had somehow
gotten air in them and were not working at all, luckily for me Erich Wiland had
some spare brakes on his trail bike which he kindly lent me for the weekend, thanks
bud! I managed to get in 5 runs on the Friday and felt pretty solid on track,
we then headed back to the hotel for some good food and well needed rest.
Saturday came around and things were looking up, the weather
was good and I was feeling very good for seeding. I got in 4 runs in the
morning before hand and was having a ball of a time on track! I was keen to see
how fast I was because its always tough to tell until you get out there. It was
time for seeding and I set off on a good run, I tried to conserve energy and
have a smooth run, I came down with a time of 2:40, the leader was a 2:31 and I
was sitting in 19th spot, I was happy and knew that I could go much
faster in finals. I went up for a track walk in the afternoon and got some
better lines for the Sunday which I was really confident about.
Sunday rolled in and it was crunch time, I got in 4 runs in
the AM before the finals which is more than most people do but I am the type of
rider that likes to do a lot of runs on a track to be confident in my myself
for a race run. 14:02 was my start time and it arrived really quickly, I put
aside my nerves and got down to business. I set off and really pushed hard at
the start, I pedalled more and focused on good exit speed in the corners, I did
have a few sketchy moments but I was determined to keep it together this time.
The finish line came into sight and I gave it everything I had down to the
line, I knew as I crossed that it was a good one and looked over at the time. I
did a 2:34 which was good enough for 15th spot, less than a second
off top 10 and 6 seconds off the win.
I am so relieved to have a decent result in the books after
the year I have had, I finally put in a solid run in a Euro cup, it is also my
best result in a European cup so far! The field was also stacked as there were
riders there like Brendan Fairclough, Damien Spagnolo, Michael Paskal, Josh
Button, Florent Payet, Robin Wallner etc.
Thanks so much to all my supporters and all that have stuck
by me! Also a big thanks to the LE CANNABIS CANFIELD Factory Team, Seattle
Coffee Co, Virgin Active, Adidas eyewear, Leatt, John Wakefield @Science2sport,
Evoc, Csixx and Flexfit!
Now I’m off to Norway for the final world cup of 2012, until
next time….
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