Ah what a weekend of fun in the... rain :)
DH was not nearly as exciting for me as 4X. Both tracks are amazing here and the 2010 World Champs are going to be great in my opinion. I think this weekends racing has given the organizers a good idea of what they need to fix and all the changes they have made that are great!
In DH I was feeling really good in practice and even had a few compliments, saying I was looking fast. I felt pretty good going into the qualifying, my run was going well, but I managed to crash in a high speed section and not make the final 20. And I was so close to the top ten with my no. 12 plate!
So it was into 4x I needed to put all my focus and energy.
My wrist was a bit sore from the crash but I managed to let adrenaline take over for racing and felt strong.
Racing started Saturday with a round of 16 for the women, 4 heats. My first heat I was 2nd to Anneke Beerten, and the next heat was going to be a challenge. I was up against Anita Molcik, Anneke Beerten and Melissa Buhl. Taking outside lane choice I had to find a passing opportunity. In the first turn I was in 4th just looking for a pass, Anita slid out and I passed her on the first berm. Following Anneke and Melissa I took the outside through the rock garden while Melissa took the inside. Unfortunately for Melissa she went down hard in the rock section and I passed her there.
I was into the finals with Anneke, Jill Kintner and Fionn Griffiths. Again I had the outside lane choice so passing would be my only opportunity for finishing better than 4th. We started and headed down with myself in 4th. I followed the pack looking for a pass. Anneke and Jill took the inside line on the jump section and Fionn and I headed outside for the big double. On the lip of the jump, Fionn slid out with a rear flat and I narrowly avoided her and cleared the jump, pulling into 3rd. Ahead in the berm Jill had crashed and I wasn’t able to pass her, so Fionn snuck around us and I was back into 4th. Jill and I pedaled for the finish when Jill took another spill and I pulled onto 3rd again. I finished up 3rd overall, thrilled to be on the podium and great to see the SA flag raised in my honour.
The racing was exciting and I everyone needs to be congratulated on a great course and some really fun competition.
Thanks to everyone for their continued support.
Now I’m after No.1 !

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