Eight flights, one world cup, two crashes, four countries and one yoga session in an airport. These past few weeks have been very busy, and as you can see from the video below, all did not go smoothly. I knew the Cairns World Cup was going to be a rocky affair but I hoped that would be due to the rock gardens that punctuated the course and less about feeling how superman would feel if he suddenly lost his powers while travelling at Mach 10!
The Cairns course was one of the most technical I have raced on. The climb was tough with multiple lines for passing and steep gradients. The descents were equally tough with numerous rock gardens providing some great technical challenges and also some great spectator viewing points. My first day of practice was in the rain, which made hitting the technical sections for the first time a bit sketchy! The Jacob’s Ladder was the toughest to commit to. The steep drop was littered with rocks that made falling a scary prospect! The Ladder did bore a resemblance to Mt Stromlo’s Hammerhead drop. Whereas Hammerhead is blind until you’re on the edge and then you just need to commit. As with most technical sections the first time is always the hardest. The second half of the lap had a steep climb that was very slippery in the wet and some smaller rock ledges to negotiate on the way down. I was moving up through the bunch after he start and got squeezed between two riders coming together. I went down pretty quick, but was all right. I made up a few places on the first lap but wasn’t feeling well after taking such a hit. Thankfully the icing to complete my cake was just around the corner! Just after the feed zone on the second lap I hit a rock the wrong way and cracked my rim. I had the whole climb and the main descent to do to get back to the second tech/feed zone. The rim may have been ride-able but I’ve ridden on a cracked rim before and almost broke my frame when it collapsed and I couldn’t afford a repeat just days from flying out to Europe. Especially after just cracking a frame the week previous to Cairns. It was a disappointing start and end to a great race on home soil.
After flying back home from Cairns, I had a quick re-pack at home then it was straight to the airport to fly out to Germany. My first race this weekend is in doubt after picking up something on the plane and being sick in bed ever since. It’s a disappointing way to start the trip but hopefully I can get better soon and get some training in before Heubach’s Bike the Rock festival! Then it will be onto the Nove Mesto and Albstadt world cups followed by three more races around Austria and Italy.
The Rodeo Drop