Rich T just got in touch with an update on how it all went in qualies at Mont St Anne.
So it has all gone down, practice kicked off well on Thursday, the track was so fast and brutal, ridiculously rough and fast, pretty much one line though and about who could trust their tyres the most and white knuckle their way down!! Us Brits got stuck in and those who had ridden here before were first up to speed, I felt top banana in the woods but struggled out in the stupidly fast open and loose stuff, but all was good, #safety first……! I pressed on all day learning the track and gradually getting up to speed. Feeling good I went up and put in a cruiser for timed practice, sitting in 24th or something I knew I was there or there about, after this myself and the brits #ladsontour went to the infamous Mont Saint Anne waterfalls for an ice bath and some cliff diving, all good. Qualis were next, everybody were game and up for it, the weather was hot and the birds were out!!!!
Practice was tough on Friday morning for me with a few dirty mechanicals, never the less that was my hand and I got my Unior tools out and got my shit in a pile for qualies. Me and Sambo sorted our stuff and headed up, everything was standard, usual warm up and awkward conversations at the top, also this time trying to stay cool due the gnarly heat.
All aside I was game, my bike was running sick and I was up for it, I set off for my run and smashed the first minute and was on a blinder, but then I messed the seconds woods up real bad before a crucial turn to carry speed, I knew I’d lost allot of time but I tried to keep my composure but made another mistake in the rocks, it was looking like one of those days, I put my head down and tried to push hard to the finish and pedal hard, and then it happened, just before the finish line jump, my shorts snagged my shifter pedalling flat out and I was down, dazed to say the least it took me a while to get going…
I have never slid so far on my head and luckily my Fox V3R helmet took the worst of it and did its job. S4P helmet and jersey. Game over, unfortunately I’ll miss out on Sundays final but I’m still alive so I’m happy!
This is only my story too, loads of British guys had great qualifying runs and made the final so I hope they smash the yanks in the finals and do us proud…!
So right now I’m nursing some wounds for next weekends races and Sunday nights shindigs….
Also looking forward to watching a world cup downhill final from this side of the tapes for a change…!
All the best.
T-Bag X
