A bit slow off the mark

Well I have been OS for about 3 weeks now, and this is my first post on my own blog. Some of you may have read the Aussie MTBO team blog, but for those of you who haven't then I'll fill you in briefly.

The MTBO Worlds were in northern Portugal, and after a week and a half of training an acclimatising it all kicked off on Sunday 11^th July. The first race was the Sprint distance, and as defending champ I was off in the last 10 starters. After a small mistake on the first control it was a great race for me, and I snuck away with the Gold medal by more than 20 seconds over 2^nd place. After a rest day it was the Middle distance, and although I made no real mistakes, a couple of route choices and not feeling 100% physically lost me a bit of time, and I finished 2^nd, around 40 seconds behind Samuli from Finland. The long qualification was the next day which I got through fine without spending too much energy.

The Long distance final was a very tough race physically and it was made harder by many areas where the map drew little resemblance to what was on the ground. I had about half a dozen legs where I lost around 30 – 60 seconds in either mistakes or bad route choice. I was able to push pretty well up the hills, but both a crash in an obscured ditch and my saddle slipping a bit cost me time also. So I was quite surprised when I finished with the fastest time at that stage, and even more surprised to walk away with another Silver medal! The Relay was the final day, and our team of Steve, Alex and myself were looking for a good result. Steve had a solid ride first up with some of the longer split controls, and Alex was on track for a good ride but suffered 2 punctures. After using his frist tube he took a tube which the Austrians 'dropped', but unfortunately outside assistance isn't allowed and we ended up being DQ'ed. The banquet and after party were as hectic as usual, and I saw in my birthday on the 18^th in style! The rest of the day was spent packing and driving, and I flew to Geneva the following day. I met straight up with Andy Blair and James Peacock, and we made straight for Champery, the site of the UCI XC World Cup #4.

We have checked out the course, and as Josh Carlson would say it is pretty EPIC. There is lots of technical sections, but there is one new section that has a steep chute around a corner followed by a massive gap-drop into a steep down ramp. For a DH bike it would be nothing, but on our XC rigs with only a thin bit of lycra between us and death it is pretty intimidating. Whilst Blairy and I were looking at the top bit the second day here, Jimmy was down the bottom and quietly went off and hucked it for the first time. At first we didn't believe him. but after he showed us again both Blairy and I managed to clear it no worries. It is actually quite easy and fun once you get around how steep and big it looks. The rest of the course is pretty rocky and root ridden, and it is going to be a demanding race (especially with plate 113 in a field of 198). Below are some pics of the drop and around Champery. I'll try and keep the blog updated whilst I am away, so stay tuned!