Schladming World Cup

After some wet practice days during the week (and some concerns about the steep off camber grass descents in the rain) the weekend was hot & dry.

The start was not too bad, there was a crash very early that split the bunch up a bit so it all strung out fairly early on. I tried really hard to hold my position and i think did quite a good job to come through in 72nd after the first lap. I hit the hill on the 2nd lap and realised that I had dug a bit too deep on the first lap because i started to hurt. For the next couple of laps i tried to hold the wheels but i lost quite a few spots to be back in 90th after 4 laps. The course had heaps of steep climbing and the descents were really steep but not very technical so they were over quickly. This seemed to take its toll on everyone becasue even though i didn't speed up, i started to pass people. Coming to the end of lap 5 (with 1 to go) i was up to 81st, but the red flag came out and pulled me from the race.

I was a bit disappointed to finish a lap down, but with so much climbing it was always going to be a hard one. After a bit of reflection though, i'm not too sad. It has been a long season that started way back in October last year so being tired is understandable. Also after the bit taper and all the hype surrounding Worlds, it is always going to be hard to get back on the A-game. Having said that though, 81st is actually my best result at a European world cup this year (where the fields are typically the strongest), and it does show a level of progression to be there.

I have just one race to go now, a C1 British National Series round. Hopefully i can resist the temptations that are inherent with staying with mates in London and stay sober enough to pilot my bike around one more track!