Grand Prairie & Panorama

Things have gotten busy lately so I have an update on the last two races:

Race to the River - July 1-3

Nike Hawk, Grand Prairie, AB.

This was the first race in the Alberta Cup series and even though it was the furthest away, it was lots of fun. After an early rise and a 7.5 hour car ride, my dad and I got there at about 2 p.m. Friday afternoon and we jumped on our bikes right away. The race was on "Black Run" and I have to admit it is one of the easier blacks I've seen. It was not super technical and had a great flow to it with the bottom half full of switchbacks and berms. With three runs under my belt that evening I was super comfortable and had all my lines picked out, so we ended the day by checking out two other blue trails and called it quits.

Saturday morning was all about tweaking my performance by increasing my speed, memorizing the trail and working on where to pedal and brake. By the end of the day I was full of confidence and could not have been more prepared to race the next day. I had everything dialed and was happy with my pace by the last run. All I had to do now was get a good sleep.

I felt great when I woke up Sunday morning, I had a good sleep, and was about to grab a bowl of cereal, when I noticed the wet pavement in the parking lot. Hoping it hadn't rained much, we pulled into the Nite Hawk parking lot and got ready. As we rode up to the run, there was a line of riders because people were crashing right after the start gate. Poor track conditions resulted in practice being pushed back while safety patrol checked over the course again. That was when I knew it rained a lot more than I thought. I talked to Cody as he was coming back from finishing a practice run and he said it was worse than when it rained at the Child Find race at Moose Mountain a few weekends before. By now my confidence was shot and the nerves were creeping back up in my stomach. I rode a cautious race and my goal was once again just to finish. I made it down and happily took second place.

Canadian DH Championships - July 22-24

Panorama, BC.

With it being my first year at nationals I didn't really have any expectations going in, but figured it'd be the toughest course I'd see all summer. Having ridden "Insanity" once the summer before, I had a slight idea what it was like but had forgotten almost all of it, especially the "Cliffs of Insanity". Rolling up to that for the first time was a bit nerve racking.

Friday was mostly a waste due to getting there late and the course being completely drenched. I got one run in, but at least I got to see it again. I skipped the cliffs Friday since they were super wet and slippery and left them for Saturday when it was supposed to be drier.

And thank goodness it was drier Saturday morning! I was starting to get pretty tired of every race being a mud bowl. With only getting three runs in, I wasn't super confident. I knew I had a few trouble spots to work on, cliffs included, and looking back now I should have squeezed another training run in. It wasn't the best training I've done and regret it a bit. I was definitely a day behind, I was learning the run on Saturday when I should have done that Friday. And final tweaking was left till practice Sunday morning. I landed third place, and it was bitter sweet. I was stoked on finishing the race and my improvement over the two days, but I know my time could have been better. Lesson learned: What you put in, is what you get out. This weekend when I'm back in Panorama for BC Cup, I am determined to give it all I got.

- Kristine