Fort William - Nationals round 3

It was a long agonising journey up to Fort William. We left at 8pm and travelled until about 1:30am where we got stuck in a very bad traffic jam. We were just about to pull off the motor way to take a sleep but were stuck in the jam for 3-4hours until the accident workers stripped down the barriers and we took a detour. We took a sleep for about 3 hours and got to the venue by lunch time.

-we watched as the sun rose in the massive que.-yeah that is me in the top left hand corner of the van!

It was sunny as we arrived and it although the ground was wet the sky was promising. We put the easy-up up and walked the course. We were walking the top section of the course when it threw it down. We hid under a cable car pylon but we were soaked before long. The shower was about 10 min’s long and by the time we were walking down again the sun had dried us out. I really liked the look of the new section at the top of the course. It made it a considerable amount longer and its new berms and north shore really added something else to the usual rough rocky ride all the way down. It couldn’t wait to ride the course and it was still pretty early so after meeting with Will and Greg from Rezurgence I walked the course again. This time I really had a good look between the tape and where I could go. I had a few lines in the bag!

I went to bed relatively early ready to get up for an 8:30am start. Getting up in the morning wasn’t a problem for me. It was sunny and I couldn’t wait to ride the same course that the world cup was held on.

- here's a collage of our pit area

I had about 7 practise runs during the course of the day. My 6th was my favourite run as I went up in the ski lift with Greg Minnaar. We know each other through Rezurgence so I helped him set up his helmet cam. It took quite some time to position the cam on his goggle strap and a lot of tape. He also was to attach an audio micro phone to his helmet. He was asked to commentate on his run whilst he was doing it! Here’s the link to it... http://www.dirtmag.co.uk/news/category/events/minnaar-wins-round-3-of-the-nps-at-fort-william/dirt-1231638.html

Greg said he was just going to cruise down so I followed him. I managed to get to the wooded section before there was quite a gap between us and a rider pulled out in front of me. It was awesome to follow his lines and watch him fly about ahead of me.

I readied myself and my bike for my seeding run. I was pretty confident about my run and I wasn’t going to push myself but to do a smooth fast run. I messed up the woods a bit but other than that I had a good controlled run. I was 4th with a 5 min 23 sec’s. I was pretty happy with this as I knew I would be able to do a much better time in my race run.

I went up in the lift and walked down whilst the expert and elite riders were doing there seeding runs. I watched closely and got 3 new lines I wanted to try the next morning.

We went back to the fish and chip shop where I had 2 cod, a portion of chips, gravy, a fish cake and a coke. It was mega!

I got up Sunday morning in time for an 8:30 start. I went up for a practise on my new lines. 2 of the 3 lines I thought were better so I had a break and planned to do just one more run. My next run went to plan and I did a full run down at race speed. I could tell that I was a lot faster today and didn’t feel nervous at all. I had a good 3 hours to rest up for my race runs so I soon got very bored attempting to do nothing; Haha. I had lunch with Greg Minnaar, Will, Greg and my dad. I have lately found it good to go stand in front of the event speakers before a race to get myself in the mood and raring to go. I went up for my run.

This was it... surely his was going to be my weekend. I was having an awesome run down when I missed a high line into the woods. A root sent me over the bars; it wasn’t a bad crash but I hit my knee on a stump pretty bad. I scramble about on the floor for a while and clambered up to my bike. My bike was a little stuck between trees but I pulled it out and jumped on at the next corner. I tried to get the rest right and fast which I did but the last motorway section was a struggle with my knee in pain. I reckon I wasted a good 15 seconds from my crash. I got down with a 5 min 31 sec’s. Just 6 seconds off the podium but as it was I came 11th. I was the most gutted I have ever been for some time. I had wasted another National where I really could have proved myself. I had messed up both my knee’s again with more grazes and blood. By the time I saw the medic my right knee was the size of a fat man’s knee! Apparently I have just damaged tendons so all should be good joint wise. I definitely need some decent knee pads.

I hobbled up to the finish to watch the elites come down. I couldn’t wait to see Greg come down and obliterate everyone. And that he did; he whipped it huge over the hip jump as usual. When he came to the last jump (the triple) he went huge with style and looking at race organiser and commentator Simon Patton as he flew that 30-40 foot to the finish. He had a 4min 50sec’s. Some 5 seconds ahead of everyone. Nice one! I stayed to watch Greg on the podium and said my goodbyes.

-some pictures of Greg doing his thing!

It was a long 11 hours to get back home.

This weekend is the Welsh Champs which is also the Hardtail Champs so teammate Lee will be there to claim his title!

Thanks to DMR, Rezurgence, Lifestyle Ford, Mojo, Mace, Nike 6, Twenty26, Funn and Geax.