The last day of Sea Otter for 2009, and by 10am it was clear we’re in for a scorcher – already warm and getting hotter by the minute. I hiked down the downhill course, inspecting each corner with my ‘pro racer wannabe’ eye and muttering to myself about how the course looked much easier this year. Already regarded as a walk in the park compared to the World Cup standard, it now seemed that any hint of technical terrain had been replaced with smooth hardpack. The key to a good time on this course was obviously keeping the speed up and hanging on for dear life.

In the Women’s race, Tracy Moseley proved exactly why Trek were so recently pleased to sign her to the team, by edging out Melissa Buhl by just 0.6 seconds, while in the Men’s competition less than a second was all the difference between first and fourth place – Mick Hannah made up for his disappointment in the Slalom yesterday by being faster than second-placed Greg Minnaar by just 0.06 seconds.

Cedric Gracia, smooth as ever, finesses his way to 13th.

Sam Benedict earned his low plate number by finishing second in last year’s Semi Pro race, but couldn’t capitalise on it in the big boys race, and came 53rd.

Even on the flat, Sam Hill looks fast, with pointy elbows to make any bike photoshoot model green with envy.

Dan Atherton was just a few seconds behind his brother, who’d washed out at the top of the dusty course and was just coasting down. Dan eventually placed 7th.