The Amazing Race

Apologies that this has been a long time coming, but yeesh…it seemed like our finals race at the World Champs simply extended into a mad panic to pack the bikes up straight away, a fast-paced party evening, and then three solid days of travel from Andorra to Barcelona to Doha to Johannesburg to Howick…not a lot of time for blogging.

The World Champs finals day dawned bright, early and hot on Thursday the 27^th and like it or not, we had two more runs down the mad Vallnord DH track. Rika had been icing her wrist since she’d got home the day before (and packed a take away set of frozen bottles of water and a bucket so she could ice it between her practice run and her final run), and I think all of our stomachs were basically jam-packed with butterflies. Fat butterflies with no sense of direction, slamming into our intestines with glee.

Jo and I held off until the very end of the practice slot to take a run down the hill to avoid being crushed by the mad men, and the track had changed a heap from the day before, becoming rougher, looser and drier in every turn. I was glad I got to see it that way because it definitely affected how fast you could push it and how much you could brake. Rika struggled with her wrist but took it easy and got down in one piece, and the boys seemed happy with their practice runs. It was a bit disconcerting that the track was closed for about half an hour due to a nasty crash, but to be honest, being carted off via ambulance and helicopter seemed par for the course by the end of that week.

At 12 o’clock it was game on, and full blow nerves kicked in for me…as well as a strong wind, which ripped down half the metal fencing and gazebos while Rika was in the start gate. We’d met a couple of cool SA XC riders just before we started, and Rika told them she’d be doing the start jump so they were psyched to watch. Rika later told me she figured if she told them that she’d be doing it then she’d have no choice, and it psyched her up for ‘death or glory’ approach that she took. Rika got down in one piece with a decent time, coming second in her age group and third overall. I have to hand it to Rika, she is tough as nails, skilled, knowledgeable, focussed, kind and fun. She is definitely one of SA’s top athletes who flies just under the radar, who I have a heap of respect for. If she hadn’t had that accident the day before, I know she would have taken the overall for sure.

Rika rocking the start jump with a messed up wrist

Rika on the podium with Birgit and Claudia

Jo had a clean, focussed run and got down the hill with no spills, however I let my nerves get the better of me and crashed twice by riding too stiff. The crashes were enough that I had to run back to my bike each time and get going again, but nothing too epic. I caught up with other riders down the bottom and it was just too tricky to pass people, and not worth the risk considering I’d already crashed twice…I was happy to take second in my category, and Jo took third. Two SA shirts on the podium at once was pretty cool in the pictures, he he.

Two SA shirts shining brightly…Jo and I had to down our free beers behind the stage like proper red necks!

Happy to be alive and able to lift flowers in the air without our arms in casts

Mark’s run was a little nuts and he wound up crashing out in an unusual place (what we called ‘the humps’) into the rocks, frightening the marshalls but bounding up as fast as possible to carry on. He shaved a fat roastie into his arm, and then unfortunately took another spill near the bottom. He was a bit disappointed (understandably) and came in 50^th out of a field of +-80 in the 35 to 39 age group. Nigel kept his run extremely clean and took 10 seconds off his previous time, coming in 40^th overall. Cobus was our last rider down the hill, and he belted out his run cleanly…but not to leave his crash bandicoot status behind, he very nearly offed himself when he couldn’t feel his hands anymore on the two ending jumps…narrowly missing a tree and landing off the ending jump with his head almost on his pedals. He came in 62^nd in the 30 – 34 age group.

Nige & Mark, not the placing they wanted but also happy to be okay and to have learned a lot about World Champs racing

Cobus flying high

After the event, with ZERO hospital trips, we were all pretty pumped to be honest. I was happy to come out of it sans operations or expensive helicopter rides, and I think most of us felt the same way. It was like coming out of battle together, some kind of unique bonding goes down when your adrenalin has been pumping for four days straight. And you all smell really bad so that’s also helpful.

Mark and I had a bit of an epic getting home, when we landed in Doha it was 5:30am and our boarding passes for the next flight stated a boarding time of 5:20…it took us 20 minutes to get off the plane, and then we ran, literally sprinted, through the 40 degree Doha heat for about a kilometre through the airport, DH helmets banging into our legs, sleeping pillows flapping up and down onto our heads…and we just made it, drenched in sweat for the closing of the gate. Mark regretted his choice to wear jeans, and I think a lot of people regretted their placement anywhere near 19F and 19G as we smelled truly awesome.

The trip was radical. I don’t have other words to describe it, just radical in the true sense of the word. You get to live like a child for ten days, riding and eating cheese and drinking beer. Eat, ride, sleep, meet cool people, get scared, progress, push, crash, get frustrated, do it better, get elated…it’s something I hope that every person over the age of 30 get’s a chance to experience. To be fair, going over with Nigel, Jo, Peter, Mark, Rika and Cobus was a large part of the radical; and I’d go again in a heart beat.

Next year the Masters World Champs is set to be in Val di Sole (Italy), and it’s a super gnarly track that chews people up for breakfast. I’m not sure if I’ll be there, but part of me is already wondering if it’s not the worst idea I’ve ever had…sorry Mom.