Its finally happened, I just won my first International Pro race!
The course had almost completely dried today except for a couple of the bogs that weren't drying so the rock section at the top of the course was rediculously fast and the flatter sections below that were a lot easier to get through as well since you weren't getting pushed off line constantly by the wet rocks.
I did one practice run in the morning which didn't go too well, about half way down the course I had a really good line that I think I was only one of the people hitting but unfortunately as I went to ride this I missed my timing picking the front wheel up over a rock and had a pretty big over the bars crash, I landed hard on my left hand, left knee and my head (luckily im running a Leatt Brace) which all felt ok at the time but once I was down in the pits my knee and hand starting hurting a lot which ruined my confidence a bit for my race run. Since I had about 6 hours till my race run I went back to condo and got onto icing them which helped a lot but there was still a bit of a nagging pain there.
My race run went pretty well, I knew if I didn't worry about everyone else and just focused on my own run that I could take the win so once I had got through the more difficult sections near the top I just tried to recover any energy that I could in the open stuff so I didnt blow out closer to the bottom.
I came through the line into 1st place 13 seconds faster than my qualifying time so I was stoked but the fastest qualifyer Aaron Gwin was still on course, watching the time tick by was a bit nerve racking but he had crashed and after a minute I knew it was mine.
Im currently in Boulder, Colorado right now getting ready to fly out to Andorra for the DH world cup next weekend so keep an eye out for updates!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Angel Fire Part 2
The sun is out and the snow is gone! that was the best part about waking up this morning.
I finally got to ride in only one layer of clothing instead of four! Once again the pros had practice with everyone so it was impossible to get a clean run in today, so I did a couple of runs looking at lines then decided to save my energy for qualifying which just finished.
I had a resonable run but it definately wasnt perfect, the altitude is so bad up here so I decided not to try sprinting any of the opens sections and ended up just sitting down and coasting them.
The course is long and physical and I came through the line with a 5.33 which was the fastest time at that point so I was stoked with that but just two riders later I got bumped back into second by Aaron Gwin by around 1 second.
Im happy with my run and I know ive definately got more left tomorrows run so im looking forward to it!
I finally got to ride in only one layer of clothing instead of four! Once again the pros had practice with everyone so it was impossible to get a clean run in today, so I did a couple of runs looking at lines then decided to save my energy for qualifying which just finished.
I had a resonable run but it definately wasnt perfect, the altitude is so bad up here so I decided not to try sprinting any of the opens sections and ended up just sitting down and coasting them.
The course is long and physical and I came through the line with a 5.33 which was the fastest time at that point so I was stoked with that but just two riders later I got bumped back into second by Aaron Gwin by around 1 second.
Im happy with my run and I know ive definately got more left tomorrows run so im looking forward to it!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Angel Fire
Just a quick update from the Angel Fire, New Mexico MSC/NMBS race here in the US.
Weve had two days of official DH practice so far and it has been freezing, the top half of the track is covered in snow which makes finding lines pretty difficult. The track is about 50% rocks which really suits me, its rough and technical which is catching a lot of people out. The hardest part about it though is the altitude, i havent managed a full practice yet because its so hard to get used to the limited oxygen.
Ive got DH qualifying tomorrow and then racing on monday so im looking forward to seeing how everything goes.
On Tuesday I fly out to the world cup in Andorra then I have the world cup round in Ft Bill, Scotland then its onto a week training camp in Italy for the world championships with the NZ team so its going to be a very busy couple of months.
Weve had two days of official DH practice so far and it has been freezing, the top half of the track is covered in snow which makes finding lines pretty difficult. The track is about 50% rocks which really suits me, its rough and technical which is catching a lot of people out. The hardest part about it though is the altitude, i havent managed a full practice yet because its so hard to get used to the limited oxygen.
Ive got DH qualifying tomorrow and then racing on monday so im looking forward to seeing how everything goes.
On Tuesday I fly out to the world cup in Andorra then I have the world cup round in Ft Bill, Scotland then its onto a week training camp in Italy for the world championships with the NZ team so its going to be a very busy couple of months.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Two Weeks!
Another season is about to roll on for me and another summer! (only the 8th in a row!)
Im two weeks out from flying overseas for another summer of travelling mayhem and bike shredding and hopefully this will be better than ever.
I learned one major thing last season, stop crashing. so ive been working hard to put that into effect and hopefully step up onto some more podiums.
This season is going to be split between the US and Europe so im mainly focusing on World Cups but still getting in some US National rounds, heres my full schedule;
May 23-26 Angel Fire, New Mexico - NMBS
May 29-June 1 Vallnord, Andorra - World Cup
June 5-8 Ft William, Scotland - World Cup
June 10-13 New Zealand world championships team training camp
June 14-22 Val Di Sole, Italy - World Championships
June 26-29 Deer Valley, Utah - NMBS
July 10-13 Windham, New York - NMBS
July 19-20 Going to watch the Unadilla AMA motocross national!
July 24-27 Mt Saint Anne, Canada - World Cup
July 30-31 Bromont, Canado - World Cup
August 9-17 Whistler, Canada - Crank Worx
August 22-24 Seattle, Washington - Fluidride Cup
August 28-31 Canberra, Australia - World cup
Its a packed season with only 2 free weekends and a whole lot of travelling which is ALL being funded out of my own pocket once again but I do want to thank all these people for keeping me stocked with the best quality bike parts to keep me rolling this season!
Im two weeks out from flying overseas for another summer of travelling mayhem and bike shredding and hopefully this will be better than ever.
I learned one major thing last season, stop crashing. so ive been working hard to put that into effect and hopefully step up onto some more podiums.
This season is going to be split between the US and Europe so im mainly focusing on World Cups but still getting in some US National rounds, heres my full schedule;
May 23-26 Angel Fire, New Mexico - NMBS
May 29-June 1 Vallnord, Andorra - World Cup
June 5-8 Ft William, Scotland - World Cup
June 10-13 New Zealand world championships team training camp
June 14-22 Val Di Sole, Italy - World Championships
June 26-29 Deer Valley, Utah - NMBS
July 10-13 Windham, New York - NMBS
July 19-20 Going to watch the Unadilla AMA motocross national!
July 24-27 Mt Saint Anne, Canada - World Cup
July 30-31 Bromont, Canado - World Cup
August 9-17 Whistler, Canada - Crank Worx
August 22-24 Seattle, Washington - Fluidride Cup
August 28-31 Canberra, Australia - World cup
Its a packed season with only 2 free weekends and a whole lot of travelling which is ALL being funded out of my own pocket once again but I do want to thank all these people for keeping me stocked with the best quality bike parts to keep me rolling this season!
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