Windham World Cup & World Champs

Sorry for the delay on this update its just writing has been the last thing on my mind since being home. To Recap on Windham world cup and world champs it was another up and down series of events. My mother and sister traveled with me so they made sure we included some tiki touring along with our travels. We spent some time in New York City before Windham world cup. That was pretty cool even though I can’t stand cities. From there we rented a vehicle and drove North to Windham NY where the sixth and final round of the World cup would be held. Upon arrival sparked a few laughs, A very stereo typical small American town with little more than a service station and a few shops. All the kiwi juniors where in town which was good to see. After an inspection of the event arena and a track walk I think the general consensus was good. The Track was short but packed full of things to keep you on your toes. Through first practice the track was rather slick but still riding fast and I felt fast also. Come qualifying on Friday I knew what had to be done and qualified safely in 69th place. The last two world cups they have run an extra practice session on the Saturday instead of straight into the final. I really like this format as you can get the track that much more dialed in. Sunday the Track was running prime and pretty much dry top to bottom. I usually struggle to get into a run straight of the bat but I listened to some music at the top and got real pumped up. It worked well as I hit the top section aggressive and put in a good first split of 39th. I faded at the bottom of the course and made one mistake, which cost me big time. I ended up 62nd overall and 6th junior. I was gutted after seeing my split time but at least I now know I have the speed to be kicking it in the top 40 and that will defiantly be one of my goals for next year.

World Champs. Mount Sainte Anne, Quebec Canada. The Host city of this prestigious event. The Track at Mount saint Anne is legendary, 5 minutes long and rough as hell. This year’s world champs marked the 20th year of Mountain bike competition at the Mountain so there was history rich in the soil. This was my first world championship
So the whole Event format was new to me. We had a whole week of small practice sessions each day to prepare for Sundays race. It was difficult to decide how many runs to ride because you didn’t want to peak too early or tire yourself out. Through out the week we had some amazing weather. The course was a dust bowl and getting beaten up every day. Along with myself, I took one huge digger on a high-speed section and got lucky when I walked away from it un-broken. Not so lucky was some of my NZ team mates, A few Sprained ankles and a suspected broken wrist where sustained during practice. Not to mention broken bikes left right and center. When the weekend finally rolled around I felt good on track and focused for Sunday. The great weather hit the fan and the typical race day rain arrived. I headed up the hill for my run around lunchtime. Unusually I wasn’t nervous at all while warming up for my run at the top. I run through the track in my head over an over and felt set for a good run when in the start gate. Before I knew it I was half way down the hill and something just wasn’t right, I was thinking too much or something, I just wasn’t flowing and my arms where hurting like hell. I crossed the line head down in disappointed. Biggest race of the year and I blew it. 12th junior. After so much preparation and build up 12th was just not good enough at the end of the day. I felt I had let myself down big time and struggled to comprehend what the hell went wrong. After some time I put it behind me and continued to keep my attitude I learned in Europe. You just can’t let shit results get to you, if you want something bad enough and put in the effort then eventually it will happen. Post Race there was a sick after party where I drowned my sorrows. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me along the way this year. In particular Mark Angus from the bike fix Queenstown, Everyone at Bike Otago, Eddie Masters, Banshee Bikes, Formula Brakes and most of all my parents. Bring on 2011!