UCI World Cup Round One - Pietermaritzburg - 22 April 2011

My dream of racing against my hero's of Downhill Mountain biking had finally arrived and with it, some awesome weather! The sun had been out the entire week while the course was busy getting rebuilt and when it was time for the track walk on the Wednesday my excitement levels were sky rocketing. I had never been in such a state of excitement, and I'm sure many were feeling the same way as me. With all this excitement I still somehow spotted a line or two and was super amped to start practice.

Thursday had arrived and it was time to live my dream. I managed to get in a few solid runs and in the mix of it all I had Patrick Morewood tweak my rear suspension between my practice runs. The bike was feeling super smooth down the course and was taking the forming braking bumps with absolute ease. I finished all my practicing in the morning and went home to get prepped for the qualifying the next day.

Bike washed, looking brand new and feeling brand new I was confident for the qualifying run that was dawning on me. On the shuttle up to the top, it was absolute silence. I was keeping hydrated and keeping cool and in a few minutes I was going to let it all loose on the track, but a run down Cascades World Cup Track is one that definitely needs a warm up. And so I warmed up on the district road running through Garlington, nerves were overwhelming but I was ready.

Warmed up and in the start gate, I put my goggles on waited for the countdown and when I was ready I left the gate. I pedaled to my needed speed and into the first corner I felt my front wheel catch one root, a second one, and third one and then I eventually washed out and slammed into the ground. Covered in dirt, chain off my chain ring and deraileur slightly bent I got up ran with my bike and jumped on. I pedaled a few times changing gears to try and put my chain back on properly, it worked and I was on my way. It didn't really seem to me that anything more could go wrong, so I pinned it as fast as I could. I reached the pedaling section and tried to keep my momentum up. Barely holding on down the last few sections of the track with the big jumps and feeling the cramp in my hands I hit the finish line jump and sprinted my way through to the finish line. Was that as far as I would go in this years world cup? The time showed it, and I was 91st.

Riding in the World Cup with my hero's of the sport was definitely the highlight of my career. Even though I didn't qualify I had never had such an experience on my bike. I really wish I could have qualified but I will have to give it another try next year!

HUGE thanks to Andre from Rushsports  and to Patrick Morewood for helping me out with all the suspension set-ups, fine tuning of the brakes and for being there to support! Your support goes along way.