2018 Mount Washignton DH
Hi All,
This weekend I attended the final race of the BC Cup DH Series and my season at Mount Washington.
This race had by far the craziest riding conditions I have ever competed in. It had heavy rain pouring down all weekend. I was very keen coming into the first day of practice and was putting all my skills developed over this season to use. The track was muddy loose and fast. But still had surprising grip. Which allowed me to take different lines and experiment, instead of just going full survival mode.
On day two the track had changed a lot and it was mostly a mainline muddy river. I learned that the hard way when I came into the first woods section of my first practice lap way too fast, and flew over the bars into a pile of rocks. Giving me a gnarly charlie horse. I had to sit out the rest of practice to recuperate.
On race day the track had rutted all the way out and had worse conditions than the day before. But I still felt strong and confident in my morning practice runs and was ready for the big show. In the start gate I was totally calm and prepared for what lay ahead and I was confident that my preparation would not let me down. When I left the gate I put down the hammer and nailed all my lines out of the gate and carried great speed through the next section and the corners. But when I came into the fade away section I felt my rim hit on a rock and the tire slowly losing air. I was so gutted to have that feeling of helplessness that I have become well too familiar with this season. But I was still determined to finish the run. So I rode it out which actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Because in the deep mud it did not make much difference. It was in the flat sections where I came to countless near dead stops. It felt like I was doing the longest interval on the trainer bike ever. But I finished the run and ended up beating the kid ahead of me who had no mechanicals. All in all it was still a fun weekend and I look forward to next year and the new challenges it will bring.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me this season it truly was such a great experience.