World Cup round 7 - Val Di Sole... and the lead up to it

So after La Bresse I had a week and a half to train before Val Di Sole. First stop was Lac Blanc bike Park (www.lacblanc-bikepark.com). It was raining and windy but loads of world cup riders had heard about this bike park and were keen to see what it had to offer. There were 4 main tracks down the hill with the usual hidden tracks branching off all over the place. It was well worth the visit; I managed to do about 7 runs and tried as many tracks as I could. If I am near the area in the future I can easily see myself back there!

It was off to Morzine and I stayed with Pete Williams, his dad Trevor and a whole load of mates. It was a definite feel good factor to be riding the best tracks known around. Not to mention for the next week with a group of friends all just as keen on riding as myself.

For the last few days in the Alps I went to stay with fellow teammate Josh Lowe in his new house in Champery, Switzerland. We had been riding previous days all over but it was now when riding took for a change. We were on for first lift up the mountain and were sweet talking our way into getting the last lift at the end of the day. We probably did as many runs in a few days as we did the week before. We rode the world champs track, loads of secret steep tracks that I don’t think anyone really knows about, and much more. The most memorable day I think was when we rode the Swiss national track. It was our last day and we chose this track to build up our speed for the world cup ahead and make sure we were as thrashed as we could be for the next couple days travelling. We would get straight off the lift with formula 1 like reactions straight onto the bikes, race down to the start of the track and shoot down. Then role right up to the ticket barriers to get on the ski lift back up. As I think back, it’s scary how many runs we must have done! It defiantly got us ready for Italy! Thanks Tim and Kath Lowe for letting me stay, it was sick!

From Champery it was on to Val Di Sole but we had a day to spare so a quick trip to Pila went down a treat. Josh and I rode what we thought was the IXS race track from 2 days before and did a few runs in the morning. The track was so much fun! We needed to hold back to not tire ourselves out before the world cup so we found a table tennis table.

check out the GoPro; http://www.vimeo.com/28192737

That night was quite hot, well into the uncomfortable °C. This is how Noshy slept, with his head literally in the mini fridge! Haha

The final round of the world cup of the year was here, Val Di Sole, one of the most if not the most physical and hard tracks on the circuit. It was Josh “Noshy” Lowe’s first world cup and what a place to start! It was so good both being there to follow each other down and try out lines to see what one is faster, we did tones of runs and had the track pretty dialled in. After the first day of practise we walked the course down with Brendan. We were all but one line off of what he was doing so we must have done something right. I did 10 mins in the freezing cold river before qualifying day to repair my body. I won’t lie and say that I enjoyed it but I felt better for it after.
Qualifying day came around quick with it being on the Friday. Everything was in place and I was ready. I felt good enough on the track to pull through qualifying but it’s always in the back of my mind. I started my run full on, you have to here, its just the kind of track that involves a lot of bravery. With it being in Europe, there will always be another 300 racers all giving it their all to break that top 80 cut for finals. My run went pretty controlled through the top section which was definitely the hardest bit. It was on a high speed compression about half way down where something big started to happen. I lost my feet off of the pedals and began getting bucked over the rocks. My left foot was on and my right just on the edge of the pedal when I hit a massive rock again only to send me back to the drawing board with my feet flailing around for the second time. It was lucky but I managed to get my feet on but had lost a lot of time having to pedal a hill in ninth gear with no speed left. It was a panic to go fast to qualify from then on and I made a couple more little mistakes. I came through in sixty’s with over a hundred to go. By the time everyone was down I was in 76th. Very lucky indeed!

There was a day of practise between qualifying and race day. Not many racers used it to ride a lot. The course was so physical that everyone wanted to sort out their final line choices and rest up. It was an eye opener for me how much faster I could of ridden the course with a stronger upper body. It was a track where half way down you couldn’t look to the next section with the intension of hitting it as fast and you can but how fast you think you can with how tired you were. This is something I am incorporating into my training from the second I am home.

I was desperate for a good result here and one race day I felt it! I got off pretty unlucky at the start of my run. As I jumped over a root into the top rock section, there was a loose rock on my landing pad to greet me and it stopped my bike dead. I flung myself over rocks into some catch netting. It was a while to gather myself and carry on. I was stiff riding with a dead leg but I loosened up eventually to go over the bars yet again trying to go too fast. This time I missed the catch netting and slid under it. By now I knew the chances of getting a good position were over so I cruised down having a lot of fun and enjoying my last world cup race run of 2011. I came 75th which was far from what I wanted. Being injured for some of this year and not having the best luck has really hit hard. The year isn’t over yet with Fort William BDS finals to come but as of right this second finishing these last few words I am off out to train...and I am hungry for results!

Don’t forget to watch the team video of Val Di Sole if you haven’t seen it already!

See you at Fort William!
Harry