Bad Bad Barnacle! Tales of Schladming World Cup
6am, Tuesday 15th September saw me and Katy Curd hitting the road for the final round of the 2009 UCI World Cup series in Schladming, Austria. With a 15 hour journey to go, it was the start of a lonnnnnng day.
We picked Tom Dowie up just before Dover, managed to squeeze his bike and gear in with the other 7 bikes we had in the van that we were taking out for various people, and managed to arrive in Dover 2 hours before the ferry was due to set off... just for a change, M25 traffic was flowing fast and loose.
I hadn't met Tom before, but he's pretty funny, and I'm pretty sure only he could come out with something as bizarre as "bad barnacle" at Katy cos she always forgets to put her seatbelt on.
Arriving on Wednesday we got into our apartment, then straight up the hill to walk the course. I've been to Schladming before and really like the track, but walking it I really wasn't inspired. I've spent my summer in North Wales riding steep technical tracks with absolutely no hint of a braking bump in them, so I guess I've been pretty spoilt. Schladming on the other hand looked rough and in need of some serious work.
Practice started on Thursday and I had a plan to do 4 runs. I took it steady on the first to get my bearings and then started to rip it up a bit after that. I tried doing a full run in run 3, but it was so hard. I did a 6.15 with three crashes and one stop to look at something quickly, so reckoned I could knock at least 30-45 seconds off in a clean non-stopping run. Fourth run I tried a jump over some roots, but instead of clearing them I landed on them, crashed out and bashed my leg up big time. Just as well it was my last run!
Dead Leg Emily
Friday was qualifiers day, and after the original sign on list being for 44 women, it was down to 35. This was my first world cup in 2 years, and last time I raced it was top 30 to qualify - now it's top 20. I was pretty sure I could make the cut after feeling so good in practice yesterday, so just did a couple of runs to warm up a bit, before qualifiers started at 2 o'clock.
Being unseeded I was one of the last riders down, so I was going to know pretty instantaneously whether I'd made the cut. I set off well, keeping everything together, though by the bottom I was sooo tired that I felt ridiculously slow. It wasn't over yet though - in the final woods before the grassy finish, the front wheel slipped on a root just before the drop onto the bridge out of the woods. I fell down the drop and the bike fell down off to the right. I jumped up as quick as I could, but it's wierd how you get up and the reaction to run is so delayed, you're so stunned that you're not on your bike any more and you actually have to run to it, instead of just picking it up from next to you. I pushed it back up onto the track, though I got a bit stuck on some divot or other, and jumped back on to pin it down the grass to the bottom. I kinda thought it was all over but you never know - someone else might've had a crash - but I had wasted so much time. I crossed the line in 20th place, just in. However, there was one more rider to go, and I knew she was good. She came through with a time that put her in 13th and pushed me down to 21st. Having been 14th at the split, I was proper gutted.
The rest of the weekend rolled on, sun shone, we hung out and drank beer, good times. The 4x race was a highlight, Katy was racing and got through all the way to the semis. Next thing you know, she's in the Final and finishing in third place - her first World Cup podium! BADass Barnacle - yeahhh World Cup Katy!!
It was ace to be able to personally congratulate Peaty on his World Champs win, and properly watch the women's race, rooting for the brits that did get in. Even better was Tracy coming down with a time that no one else could match, and winning the race.
Despite not qualifying, it was a well good weekend, and reminded me why World Cups are so good. Well keen for some more next year, so fingers crossed I can make it out to as many as possible.
We picked Tom Dowie up just before Dover, managed to squeeze his bike and gear in with the other 7 bikes we had in the van that we were taking out for various people, and managed to arrive in Dover 2 hours before the ferry was due to set off... just for a change, M25 traffic was flowing fast and loose.
I hadn't met Tom before, but he's pretty funny, and I'm pretty sure only he could come out with something as bizarre as "bad barnacle" at Katy cos she always forgets to put her seatbelt on.
Arriving on Wednesday we got into our apartment, then straight up the hill to walk the course. I've been to Schladming before and really like the track, but walking it I really wasn't inspired. I've spent my summer in North Wales riding steep technical tracks with absolutely no hint of a braking bump in them, so I guess I've been pretty spoilt. Schladming on the other hand looked rough and in need of some serious work.
Practice started on Thursday and I had a plan to do 4 runs. I took it steady on the first to get my bearings and then started to rip it up a bit after that. I tried doing a full run in run 3, but it was so hard. I did a 6.15 with three crashes and one stop to look at something quickly, so reckoned I could knock at least 30-45 seconds off in a clean non-stopping run. Fourth run I tried a jump over some roots, but instead of clearing them I landed on them, crashed out and bashed my leg up big time. Just as well it was my last run!
Dead Leg Emily
Friday was qualifiers day, and after the original sign on list being for 44 women, it was down to 35. This was my first world cup in 2 years, and last time I raced it was top 30 to qualify - now it's top 20. I was pretty sure I could make the cut after feeling so good in practice yesterday, so just did a couple of runs to warm up a bit, before qualifiers started at 2 o'clock.
Being unseeded I was one of the last riders down, so I was going to know pretty instantaneously whether I'd made the cut. I set off well, keeping everything together, though by the bottom I was sooo tired that I felt ridiculously slow. It wasn't over yet though - in the final woods before the grassy finish, the front wheel slipped on a root just before the drop onto the bridge out of the woods. I fell down the drop and the bike fell down off to the right. I jumped up as quick as I could, but it's wierd how you get up and the reaction to run is so delayed, you're so stunned that you're not on your bike any more and you actually have to run to it, instead of just picking it up from next to you. I pushed it back up onto the track, though I got a bit stuck on some divot or other, and jumped back on to pin it down the grass to the bottom. I kinda thought it was all over but you never know - someone else might've had a crash - but I had wasted so much time. I crossed the line in 20th place, just in. However, there was one more rider to go, and I knew she was good. She came through with a time that put her in 13th and pushed me down to 21st. Having been 14th at the split, I was proper gutted.
The rest of the weekend rolled on, sun shone, we hung out and drank beer, good times. The 4x race was a highlight, Katy was racing and got through all the way to the semis. Next thing you know, she's in the Final and finishing in third place - her first World Cup podium! BADass Barnacle - yeahhh World Cup Katy!!
It was ace to be able to personally congratulate Peaty on his World Champs win, and properly watch the women's race, rooting for the brits that did get in. Even better was Tracy coming down with a time that no one else could match, and winning the race.
Despite not qualifying, it was a well good weekend, and reminded me why World Cups are so good. Well keen for some more next year, so fingers crossed I can make it out to as many as possible.
posted by Emily at
11:08 PM
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