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It was finally time to head out to New Zealand for the big race of the year, the World Champs. It had been great to have a few weeks off before this event this year and I really felt like I had had a really good chance to prepare well for this years race. We left only a couple of days after the bomb scare on transatlantic flights, so it meant we could only travel with our passports and wallets. Fortunately after we checked in they lifted some of the restrictions and we were allowed to buy books to take on the plane ! That certainly helped me pass away a little of the 24hr journey.
This was my 4th visit to New Zealand, but the first trip in their winter time ! I didn’t think it ever got cold in NZ….well I was soon to be shown quite the opposite ! It was freezing all week with one morning at 9am practice it was -3 at the start and we had to wait whilst they defrosted some of the track ! We really did have a mix of weather, with some really heavy rain, some sun and some good dry periods. The changeable weather had a big effect on the track. Everyday the conditions were different and it was hard to know just how hard to push it. Fortunately by race day it was dry, although there was a very big black cloud that lingered over the start all afternoon, but had the courtesy to wait until the podium before it emptied itself !
Due to the weather, abundance of grass and steep technical sections, the tyre of choice was the mud spike, right through from the start to the finish of the week. The bike shops did a great trade on mud tyres, in particular to the South African team as they have never ridden in the rain and therefore did not posses any mud tyres !!
Practice went well for me and felt like I was riding fast. It was a little different to normal as the practice was split up with the men and women practicing at different times, so I never really had chance to follow anyone to check if I was going ok. By qualifying the track was probably at its driest and I had a solid run to take the fastest time ahead of Sabrina. This was my first proper full run and I soon realised that this was going to be a very physical race as there was so much pedalling. I was happy with my run, but I felt that I had more to give and I am sure everyone felt the same.
After seeding the rain poured down all night and practice the next day was very amusing. For the first 2 hrs I only saw a couple of people make it through the tree section without crashing ! It was so slippery it was hilarious to ride. I was just hoping that it would not be like this for the race as it really was luck if you stayed on or not. Fortunately it did dry up for the race, but the previous day’s rain had eroded away at the track and the ruts and holes were enormous.
I was feeling confident for the race and had a great top section. I was riding really relaxed and enjoying the amazing crowd that lined the entire track. As I entered the technical steep section I thought to myself, just be safe, don’t take any risks, you’ve done well so far. That was to be a big mistake as I tensed up and rode really conservatively. I came out of the top section 0.95 sec slower than Sabrina. I then got back into it but drifted wide on a couple of corners and cased a jump that lost me so much time going into the following section, that by the time I reached the finish I was 3.5sec down on Sabrina and just witnessed the World Title disappear.
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I was gutted as I really felt like I had been riding well enough all week to win, but with the sport of downhill you have to get it right on that one run and unfortunately this time I didn’t.
To get a silver medal was some consolation as it is the first time I have made he podium at the worlds since winning silver as a junior in 1997.
I now have to put that disappointment behind me and focus on next weekend’s final race of the World Cup Series in Schaldming, Austria. I have a good lead but I still have some work to do to bring home the overall World Cup Title.
Tracy
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