World Cup Round 7, Val di Sole

Last weekend was the final round of the World Cup series in Val di Sole, Italy

The race weekend started out on wednesday with the registration and track walk, the track was looking pretty similar to last year, with a few small changes and it looked like it had been used alot since the last year, with alot more roots and rocks exposed!
Thursday was the first day of practice, the dirt had a bit of moisture in it so it was super loamy and heaps of fun to ride! although with the 30 degree heat the track was drying out and getting cut up pretty fast and the lines were changing alot
Friday morning was another short practice session, after walking the track again the night before i changed up a few lines and was starting to feel good on the track.
Friday afternoon was Qualifying, and i wasnt really too sure what to expect, after only being back on my downhill bike twice since breaking my hand in Windham i wasnt really feeling to strong on this gnarly, rough track. I managed to put a run together that felt pretty bad with some big mistakes up top and ended up in 9th place, so i was pretty happy with that, as i knew i could take a bit of time off in my race run.
Saturday was a short practice session in the morning, and after having over 250 people Qaulifying on the t'rack the day before it was super rough and blown out and with every day being super hot it had dryed out alot and was now ankle deep dust. I decided just to have a couple of cruisy runs as there were alot of people getting wild and getting injured with the speed and the gnarlyness of the track.
Sunday rolled around and it was another sunny and hot day, i put in a couple of practice runs in the morning, i wasnt feeling amazing on the track as it was pretty blown out and rough and was hard to have a good run, but after talking to a few people in the pits after it seemed everyone was feeling the same.
My goal for this race was to crack into the top 15 as i had been just outside it all season, my race run ended up going pretty good,  i got all the top sections pretty good with just a few small mistakes, but then coming into the bottom section i was pushing a little bit hard and made two big mistakes, luckily they didnt loose me too much time, and i finished up in 10th place. So i was pretty happy with that! Especially with a messy run like that

World Cup Round 6, La Bresse

Last weekend was the 6th round of the World Cup series in the small town of La Bresse, France.
After breaking a couple of bones in my hand at the last World Cup in Windham, i wasn't sure whether i would be able to race in La Bresse or not, but after cutting of the cast on the Monday before the race to see how it was feeling, i decided i would race, although it wasn't feeling too flash after being in a cast for the last couple of weeks, but i didn't want to loose my 19th position in the World Cup overall!

We headed up to France on Wednesday and after about 10 hours of travelling and being stuck in traffic jams we finally arrived!


Thursday was track walk, and the track was looking pretty much the same as it was for the World Cup back in 2009, although the had made a few small changes to help it flow a bit better.

Friday was the first day of practice and i wasn't really to sure what to expect as it was my first day on the bike since Windham.After getting the first practice run over with my hand wasn't feeling the best but it wasn't too bad, and the track was good fun to ride especially with the rain the days before in the open grass sections! I got 4 runs in before my hand started feeling a bit average so i decided to head up and walk the track.

Saturday was practice and Qualifying in the afternoon, after changing to dry tires and getting a couple of good practice runs in, it was qualifying time, and i ended up in 39th with a pretty slow run, on a short 2 minute track like this though the times were super tight!

Sunday was race day and after a massive storm overnight the track was looking super wet and loose! so my aim for practice in the morning was just to tidy up my lines and try carry some good speed. but after 2 days of riding my hand had taken a bit of a hammering and wasn't feeling good at all, I got half way down the track and had to pull off and ride down the road. I decided to sit out practice and give the hand a bit of a rest and hope it was feeling better for the finals. Finals came around and after re-strapping my hand a bit differently it wasn't feeling to bad, but I wasn't too sure what to expect from the track after not doing practice.

I ended up having a pretty messy run with a few too many mistakes for a short track, and i ended up in 42nd place, not so stoked, but it was enough to keep my 19th in the overall standings.
Next up is the World Cup final in Val di Sole in Italy, so hopefully my hands feeling a bit better by then and i can get back in that top 20!

Update from the past month

Been a bit slack over the last month and havent got around to writing a report so here we go!

First up was the 2nd round of the Italin Cup, in Prali near Torino, back on the 26th of June
After driving on a windey mountain road for a few hours we finally arrived in the super small town of Prali which seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere, usually pretty common for an Italian cup!
Luckily tho the track was awesome,it was super wide and fast up top with some natural doubles, then tightened up in the bottom before a bit of a pedal to the finish, so it was super fun to ride but pretty hard on the brakes!
Race day rolled around and my main aim was just to have some fun as i was off to Canada the next day for the world cup there. I ended up taking the win by 7 seconds...

Next up was the 4th round of the UCI World Cup in Mont Saint-Anne Canada
I was lucky enough to get helped out by the guys at Elka Suspension, which is based in Montreal Canada, I flew in on Moday and Patrick from Elka was there to pick me up, and also Matej Charvat and Adam Brayton who are also getting helped out by Elka.
Tuesday we all woke up super early, due to the time difference, so after Pat cooked us up a beauty of a Canadian breakfast it was off to the Elka factory for a bit of a look around, meet the guys and pack up the trailer ready for Mont Saint-Anne which was about a 4 hour drive away.
Wednesday was track walk and rego and the weather was average!It was my first time there so i was pretty keen to get up the track and have a look at it as i had heard it was a goodie! After walking it i was super excited to ride it the next day! The track had a bit of everything, from some fast open turns up top, awesome flowing sections in the trees, a super fast section in the middle with some sweet jumps, then into some technical rocky sections in the bottom tree section.
Thursday was practice day and the weather was still pretty average with heaps of low cloud hanging around at the top of the hill and the odd shower of rain, so it was on with the mud tires!Practice was heaps of fun in the mud though, until we had to clean and dry everything afterwards!!
Friday was Qualifying day, i still wasnt feeling super fast on the track and the lines were always changing with massive ruts and holes appearing, so i just wanted to have a clean qualy run, but that didnt quite go to plan,i was my own mechanic at these two races and after checking pretty much everything on my bike except the pedals...I lost one in my run and had a big crash.So that wasnt ideal! But luckily i am in the top 20 in the overall standings which meant i went through to the finals on Sunday anyway.
Race day came around and the weather had finally cleared up and warmed up and the track had dryed out alot,i was feeling pretty good on the track and had all my lines sorted, so i was feeling pretty confident for the finals! My run went reasonably well, i made some big mistake up top but when i got into it i rode some sections the best i had all weekend,i ended up in 19th, a little bit off were i wanted to be, but its always good to have a bike and body in one peice after a track like that!

Next up was Windham in the US of A,
After some big river fishing on our way we arrived in the little township of Windham which consisted of a petrol station a couple of shops and a handful of hotels,
The hill in Windham was looking pretty small so I didnt really know what to expect,but after walking it, it was looking sweet, it was super fast and flowing with some steep rocky sections and some fun looking jumps!
Next up was practice, It took me a while to work the track out but when i got into it, it was wideopen most of the way and heaps of fun,
Qualifying was on friday and after some good practice in the morning I qualified in 17th place, so i was pretty happy with that as i knew i had alot more to give in the finals on Sunday,
Saturday was an extra day of practice and i was having heaps of fun so i decide to go up for "1 last run"... never a good idea... I ended up having a stupid crash on probably the easiest turn on the track and tweaked up my hand pretty bad.
Sunday rolled around and i was hoping to wake up to a new hand, but it wasnt looking/feeling to good and it was swollen up pretty bad...
We headed to the track and i decided to try do a practice run, but after riding around the carpark and hardly being able to grip the bars i wasnt feeling too confident!
I got about 50 metres down the track and had to pull off and ride down the ski slope, as i couldnt hold on to the bars,
I was feeling pretty gutted after that as i thought i might have to miss the race, but after convincing myself the pain was all in my head i went and got my hand/wrist strapped up and found some painkillers and we were back in the game...kind of.
My race run soon came around and after not doing any practice in the morning i wasnt to sure wat to expect, but i had heard i was alot dryer and faster. My goal for the race was just to get to the finish line and try not to loose my top 20 placing in the overall.
My run went better than i thought it would(I guess the adrenaline cancels out some of the pain), although my hand almost blew off the bars a few times in the rough sections and i held back a bit too much, which you cant afford to do on a short track like that...I ended up in 30th, and droped back to 19th in the overall, not the best result,but i was happy just to be able to finish the race!
After getting back to Italy i went and got my hand checked out and turns out i broke my 4th and 5th metacarpal,so im all casted up now so hopefully it will be healed up enough before the next world cup in France!

Italian Cup Round 1, Abetone

Just back from the first round of the Italian Cup series in Abetone Italy

We arrived in the ski town of Abetone on friday afternoon after a few wrong turns and 4 and a half hours of sitting in the van, we arrived with just enough time to set up the pits and head up the hill for a couple of runs to see how the track was looking,i have raced on the track a couple of times and was looking much the same as usual, but was rougher than last year and it was a bit wet in the tree sections which made for a bit of fun on the rocks and roots!!
Saturday was practice, and the weather was pretty average, it was super windy at the top and it was a bit nippy!

After having some good fun runs and some wild moments with Petrucci my team mate, the wind at the top was getting too strong, and on our last run up the gondolas were almost hitting the poles, so they decided to shut the lift for the day so practice was cut a bit short.
In usual European style there was some rain over night so sunday mornings practice was pretty loose as the track was super slick, but the sun was starting to make an appearance!
The first run was a seeding run, and after a 40 minute delay due to a crash in practice we were finally underway.

After a pretty good but slightly messy run i caught a pedal on a tree in the last rock section and got sent over the bars,after untangleing myself from my bike i rolled to the bottom and finished in second place, 4 seconds behind Marco Milivinti, my team mate Francesco Petrucci was 3rd,and the top dog Lorenzo Suding in 5th also with a crash,
i knew i had alot of time up my sleeve for the final run, I had a pretty solid run and came down in to first position with a time of 3.53, and ended up taking the win by 8 seconds over Milivinti.

Next weekend we have the 2nd round of the Italian Cup so looking forward to that!

World Cup Round 3, Leogang, Austria

Last weekend was the third round of the World Cup series in Leogang,Austria.

Team Cingolani Trek set up

The Event started out on Thursday with the registration and track walk, the track was much the same as last year,but they changed a few sections that didnt flow that well and the top section was mostly new,and with the rain during the week it was looking super fun !
Friday was the first day of practice and the track was a bit moist and was starting to cut up nicely getting some big ruts and holes! so it was heaps of fun to ride.
Saturday was qualifying day,and being in the top 20 in the overall meant i was protected which meant i would go through to the final on Sunday no matter where i ended up in the Qualifying run, so that took a bit of pressure off! and after changing some of my lines in the mornings practice i was feeling good and just wanted to have a clean run down in qualifying and not push it too much, and i ended up 24th.
Pretty much straight after qualifying the rain came which made for pretty horendous conditions for the 4X which was on that night and the rain didnt really ease up till sunday morning, race day.
First run down for practice was a whole lot worse than i expected, the top section was super boggy and it was a bit of a lucky dip weather you chose a good line for a corner and if you came out of the turn on youre bike or not! which i found out the hard way with a ripper of an over the bars on my second run when my bike stoped in the mud in the turn but i kept going.
For the race run i decided to just back it off a little bit and stay on my bike.My run started out pretty average with a few stall outs in the top turns so i backed it off a bit and just tryed to ride smooth but i think i rode a little bit too cautious and ended up in 29th position, so i wasnt too stoked on that but at least it was still a reasonably consistant result and it kept me in 18th in the overall.
All up it was a pretty good weekend and i was having heaps of fun on my bike in the mud!

 Next World Cup is Mont Saint Anne so looking forward to that!

World Cup Round 2 Fort William,Scotland

Race Report Fort William

Hey everyone, just finished up a couple of weeks on the road for Round 2 and Round 3 of the UCI World Cup
First up was round 2 in Fort William, Scotland.
We arrived in Scotland on Wednesday, and after being a bit slow on booking accomodation,everything was pretty much full up so we decided to hire a motorhome from Glasgow airport,which turns out for 4 people isnt that ideal! After about half an hour of being told the features/things that didnt work on the camper we were on the tight and winding road to Fort William.

Ricci's monster fish

Thursday was registration and track walk,the track was looking good, they made a few changes to the track for this year and it was looking super fast as usual and was looking like heaps of fun! After a bit of an evening fishing session, where our mechanic Marco Ricci caught a monster of a fish after the lady at the camp ground told us we wouldnt catch anything,it was off for another great nights sleep in the camper.
Friday was practice and the track was riding fast and starting to roughen up, i wasnt feeling too good on the track in the morning but after changing a few things with my suspension etc. i was feeling a bit better by the afternoon.
Saturday was practice in the morning then qualifying in the afternoon, and after walking the track the night before i changed up a few lines and was feeling pretty good on the track and ended up qualifying in 20th position.
Race day on Sunday was another good Scotland day and the sun was shining! Race run soon came around and the track was dryng out and getting pretty dry and slippery, i had another solid run but held back a little too much in the top sections and finished up in 20th.

Big ups to all the other NZers aswell, there was 5 of us in the top 20 and especially to Brook for his first World Cup podium,of many to come!
After an 18th in South Africa and a 20th in Scotland it put me into 18th in the overall.

Big thanks to my team Cingolani Trek,and all my other sponsors

Team video WC #1

Team video from first world cup in South Africa

Thanks to Vittorio at www.tri-ride.com