World Cup #5, Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, Canada, 26/07/09

The rain fell, as we got ready to warm up. I wasn’t too stressed; it was unlikely to affect the course a huge amount. It seems the trails up here seem to have a sort of permanent state of Maple Syrup style Mud – wet and sticky. The track including lots of tight technical rocky, rooty singletrack and maple leaves. My kind of track actually.

Rolling up to the line in around 45th, I had a decent start and settled in quickly on the flatter first section of the course. With 6 laps on the board it was going to be a long day, expecting close to 30min laps, it was going to be 2.5hrs I had thought. The plan was to get in some good race practice, take it steady, focus on the process and have a good, well-paced ride. I was concentrating on riding smoothly and was keeping it silky.

It was fair to say the legs did not feel good from the gun. With no racing in the legs and some hard work in the past few weeks they were definitely ‘training’ legs. The course was a full body workout and the key was to remain relaxed and loose on the slippery singletrack and strong and fluid on the long steep climbs.

The race went without any major hiccough; I paced well, kept good flow on the trails, riding in the 50s. With the legs that were attached, that was evidently as good as I could have expected. Unfortunately though, I got pulled as I was just about to head out on my final lap, which was a bit disappointing, finishing 1 lap down in 59th place and 11th U23.

Overall, a good check to see things are on track. Riding solidly now and with just over a month before worlds the train is on the rails. Next stop, Bromont next weekend, to which we make our way to tomorrow, hopefully the trails over there are as good as they are hear in Mont Sainte Anne!

Thanks to DiscoverTasmania.com MTB Team Sponsors, Riders and Staff. Thanks for the support form my Family, friends, coaches Chris Clarke and Neil Ross, Oakley, Castlemaine Cycles, The VIS, Reynolds and Melbourne University Sport.