Due to the schedule of the BC Cup series this year, we decided that it would be cheaper and easier to stay on the road for the month of July and not come back to Vancouver between every race. There was a BC or Canada Cup race four weekends in a row. A few friends of ours, Caleb, Mom, and I traveled to Panorama, Sunpeaks, Silver Star, and Kicking Horse to see how much damage we could inflict.
Panorama would be the first race where I could meet up with my team for the first time. Although all of us weren’t racing, it was still our first race as a team. I walked the track on Thursday night and I had no idea what to expect. It started out with some small (way too small) jumps and berms out in the open, and then got more and more technical as it went in and out of the trees. It looked pretty average for a race course, but one thing that bugged me was this awkward uphill section near the end. It was a brand new section where they cut out trees with grass still growing where we were suppose to be riding until it came to a drop right after a 45% rock filled corner. Then it was over a jump, through some uncut trail and sprinting the fire road to the end.
Practice was ok the first day and I felt slow because I had never ridden the course and was still finding lines. Since it wasn’t a very big race, the track was staying relatively packed and not too dusty and blown out because there were only 100 or so riders. Day two was a different story. More and more people were showing up and it got hot. The open sections and berms started to get powdery and blown out. Luckily for us, It rained on Saturday night. Unfortunately, it got slippery in the trees and I had a little crash that twisted my ankle. I didn’t notice the pain until later, so that wasn’t a big deal other than blowing my confidence.
My race run came around and everything was going alright. As usual, I got nervous and went a bit slower than I had practiced which actually wasn’t such a bad thing because the course had deteriorated quite a bit. I was having an average run up until the fire road. Upon exiting from the newly cut out trail, my front wheel slipped out and before I could do anything, I was on the dirt. After getting tangled in my bike and trying to get up as quickly as I could, I wanted to make the best effort that I could to make it to the finish line. Being in my lowest gear on flat ground didn’t help that much and I entered the finish arena quite defeated, braking before the line.
Did I learn anything? I’m not so sure about this race. I had the fitness and the strength to do well on it, but somehow couldn’t make my lines work too well. I still have no idea how I slipped out in a place where I had been fine all up until my race run. Overall, it wasn’t a very good weekend, but it was still good to meet my team and ride with friends that I haven’t seen for months.
