Average race after a average weekend is how it was really.
We were not sure if the racing here would be the same high level as the Swiss Racer bike cups, but it definitely was. The race doubled as the final of the Central European cup and a UCI Cat 1 race, and some teams made their way over here, as the world cup is 2 weeks away. We stood at the start this morning watch loads of Pro teams and National teams from all over Europe, warm up and get their bikes cleaned and looked after, this is a dream for us that if we keep working hard we too can have aspiring amateur athletes looking up to us. The track was drying but no way near as fast enough for us, we still had dry tires on, and I was not risking running tubes again after my last two tubed races, so we sucked it up and raced.
Carl
It was a hard day to say the least in warm up I was boosting and was really thinking I was going to go good, I started well up but soon as we got to single track I was skating, there was a really cool peace of track though were I honestly don't know what the euros were doing but it was a sweet hot line, on the 1st lap I past 5 guys on one 40 meter peace of track I was stoked, that was as good as it got every lap. All I was gagging for was a climb but the track was really flat with only a few tech pinches but we had to run up them anyway, the mud was stuffing everyone's bikes up but I found the time to stop and clean my bike up cause it was really pissing me off. I finished up 20th where I should have been in the top 10 had I been a pro racer for the weekend like I have been for the other races.
Just so everyone doesn't get worried this race was a race a last minute one which we were going to wing, so wing it we did. The next 3 are down to the T every thing is PRO from now.
Katie
I think Carls very straight up summaries of our weekend of winging it provide insight into our frustration. It is hard to go with the flow when we know that to preform at this level we need every advantage we can get. I am a routine girl when it comes to racing, from dinner the night before to pre race nutrition... it has been so long since I have tested why but after today I will return to the routine. I am also a firm believer that when a race is muddy "I had the wrong tires" is a bad reason to race poorly as mountain biking is not just having skill, not just having power, and not just the equipment you need all these. So we suffered the consequences of our poor preparation for this one (but again it was what it was, a last minute add in which was directed at finishing off our hard training block and starting off our racing - so mission accomplished in this sense).
The field was strong and consequently I was ranked further down than in some of the other races, the start was through a flat paddock which we twisted our way up making for a slow but congested start. The first two laps I really struggled with the muddy sections, loved the technical rooty steep sections (with carls hotline) and loved how my legs and form were from the hard training. I had a lot of ground to make up and was far back in the field but determined to do so and with the track tacking up nicely in the last 2 laps I was able to ride my way back through the field up into 9th place in the elite women's which I am pretty stoked with.
A relief that the weekend of winging it is now over :) and tomorrow we are heading to our next accommodation which is going to be great perfect for what we need, great tracks and great people oh and a kitchen, so Carl has no reason for McD's :)
Katie and Carl
No comments:
Post a Comment