IXS EUROPEAN CUP #2 - Spicak, Czech

This past weekend was the 2^nd round of the IXS European cup series which was held in Spicak, Czech. I was looking forward to the race as last year I had a DNF there due to a huge crash. The track there is very different to anything else around, it’s super tight and rocky all the way down. It’s almost like mixing trials in with downhill as in some of the turns you needed to hop the back wheel just to make the turn!

We started practice on Friday and the track was super slippery, it was not wet but it wasn’t dry either so the rocks were slick. I was feeling very awkward on the track because the only way to go fast is to get very loose! I was not ready to push on the track as I am still guarding the shoulder a bit. However when Saturday came around I started to get into it and was going really well in practice. It started raining half way through the day and the track got really wild which would make seeding interesting J

Seeding came around and I was off to a terrible start, I made so many mistakes at the top and lost around 10 seconds which was very frustrating. However I knew I had the speed and was keen for Sunday plus some good weather. I ended 35^th with a time of 3:33 and 18 seconds off the leader.

Sunday morning was great with the sun out and the weather a bit warmer. We did get a bit of a shock on our first run when the track was so wet due to overnight rain. It was absolute madness but still fun! I pumped out 4 runs and I was timing sections trying to find a bit more speed. I was feeling fast and a 2 crashes in practice which I was kind of happy about because it showed I was pushing again. I was just hoping to keep it on two wheels for race run.

After a few hours I headed up for my run and soon enough I was on track. I pushed hard out of the gate and made a mistake in the very first section which was irritating. Then about half way down my foot unclipped unexpectedly in one of the turns which caused me to almost crash and lose speed. I got going again and right near the end I slipped on a root in an off camber section and almost went off track losing all my speed. I finished the run with a time of 3:21 which was good enough for 46^th place and 17 seconds off the winner, Robin Walner. This was obviously not the result I wanted but this is downhill and anything can happen. I am really happy with my riding and my speed is coming back, I just need to put together a full race run J

I now have a couple of weeks off before heading home for national champs in PE.

Thanks so much again to everyone behind me, the fact that I am even riding at this stage is amazing and things will turn around soon!

Thanks to INVESTEC, morewood, Seattle Coffee Co, Science 2 Sport / John Wakefield, Virgin Active, Cycles Africa - Sun Ringle – Odi – Manitou - Hayes, Bell helmets, Leatt protective, Adidas eyewear,  Faithwear, Csixx, Spank and Red Bull SA!