The last weekend I packed my bike stuff and was on the road again to explore something new new , because after so many years racing always at the same places I felt for something fresh …. So we drove to a totally new venue in Poland, to a new bike festival, called JOY RIDE BIKE FESTIVAL, with new tracks, in our new VolkswagenT5 bus, with my new Norco Aurum Carbon DH bike, with new 650B Novatec wheels, new HT Click pedals, new Maxxis tires, a new Acros headset, a new DIRTY saddle, and new Troyleedesigns outfits in the bag.
The only thing, which wasn’t new was luckily my company. My boyfriend and our dog.
| We arrived on Friday evening at the hotel very late. It was actually a longer drive than I had expected. But all good we arrived safely. The Saturday started very cold and rainy, but the weather forecast said that, so I was prepared. I taped my Giro riding shoes totally in Duck tape, put my rain cloths on, clicked my laminated tear offs on my Spy goggle and I was ready to go. |
 |
| My first run was good and because it rained so heavy it was kind of easy to ride. The roots were clear the rocks shiny and the tires didn’t get stuck. The only disadvantage was the visibility. I did from 10 a to 2 one run after the other not to get cold and I found more and more my rhythm and pace.
On race day the bad weather disappeared, the sun came out and the track got dryer and dryer and because the official race schedule, which said no training on race day – just 2 race runs – I arrived 40 minutes before the start of the first category. But in real everyone was training before 10:00. So I hurried up and managed to do one training run before my qualification run at 11:00, which was good so I knew how dry or wet the track was. I placed third in the qualification and new I have to step up my pace to win this game. I was so highly motivated and positive which haven’t been at a DH Race for so long. I don’t know exactly what it was. I guess a mix of everything… the nice company – the smiling face of my boyfriend and the wagging tail of my dog when I walked towards the car after every run … the MISS UNDERCOVER Feeling… the fact that my jersey was empty and nobody knew who I was and nobody expected anything from me. Normally when my jersey is covered with my 21 sponsor logos you get automatically this “who is she?” look, which, even after so many years of racing, puts pressure on me. Most of the people expecting from you then to perform well all the time and when you fail it is like a gossip scandal and you get the “she got even beaten by her? Look. At a race at the end of the day the placement counts and nobody cares if you had a mechanical problem, or if it rained at your run, or if you had pain from a crash in practice, or if you are sick, or if crashed at a spot which you hit in practice always perfectly or if it just wasn’t your race.
And to be honest the look is even not the worse the worse is that you know that you did this and that few years ago easily and now you are afflicted by self-doubts… |
 |
|
Sorry I let my mind wander, back to the race run. But it is simply to sum up I gave all and won. I was 5,2 seconds a head of the 2nd place and about 25 seconds faster that my qualification run. I was very happy about my placement and about the whole weekend.
I also raced after the Downhill race, the pumptrack race, where I placed in qualification 1st and at the final 2nd. |
| For those who missed my Sound Cloud Race Report from my last race in Brno (CZE). I did my first BMX race in my life. I though it would be good training. Sorry it is just in german. But to sum it up it was a great experience and I learned a lot. I did so many heats (12) and place not even last 🙂 |
