Race Report: Mont Sainte Anne

           From Sugarbush I packed the truck and made my way up interstate 91 across the Derby country line into Canada. I made my approach late Tuesday night and was rewarded with an easy drive to Quebec City, where I made an accidental wrong turn and found myself in the heart of the city. After breaking out the old Rand McNally I quickly diverted back onto the highway and fallowed signs to the classic World Cup venue of Mont Sainte Anne. I found an uninhibited patch of earth near the base of the mountain and with the excitement of the weekend ahead I drifted off to sleep sticky from the humid air. For me, one of the most exciting parts of every World Cup weekend is registration and track walk. I get fired up seeing everyone at the venue and I cannot wait to get on the hill to check out the course. I’ve been to MSA twice before and it has evolved since my first visit in 2006 and since last year. There is only one word to describe the nature of this course: Fast!

            Last year was extremely muddy and the top course was a disastrous mess of mud bogs. This year the organizers decided to go back to its roots and to possibly avoid another year like last, they sent the track straight down the ski run until the first woods section. This negates close to a dozen turns in the process of speeding up the track times and also sending riders well over 45mph. Once in the woods it was back to business with a nicely manicured track weaving around trees with smooth berms and some rough drops. Out into the wide open and back into the tight tree bobsled track that leads back out and onto a high speed off camber turn that always proves difficult to push. The next section makes MSA great. Directly underneath the gondola is a high speed swath of trail chalked full of step downs, hip jumps and huge banked turns, that, once completed spit you out full bore straight down the hill and past the speed trap. It is rough and ragged at high speeds but a blast to ride. Things slow down slightly as the track approaches the last two tree sections. Slab rock jettisons outward and winds through the first tree section, little break in between the second tree section allows you to catch your breath and re-grip the bars for the last plunge into the forest. The last trees are awesome and if you have strength left there are a lot of double line options and big gaps to jump. The end of the track is near once on the old mountain cross course, some table top jumps doubled and a sprint to the line and it’s finally over. Its one of the longer tracks on the circuit and this year it got hot and dusty making for one of the fastest and roughest.

            Practice went very well as I was one of the first riders on the hill and up to speed in no time holding my own on every section upping the speed time and time again. Once I felt my speed was where I was almost comfortable with I started to dial in the lines. I did a total of 5 practice runs on Thursday and was looking forward to Friday’s qualifier run. Last year I was having a good run and riding well into the top 50 until disaster struck and I picked up a flat tire towards the bottom and ended up finishing just outside the qualifying time, .7 away from the show. I came back looking forward to a little redemption and to give it my all. Friday morning rolled around and I went up for 2 runs, the speed felt really fast and I had to keep reminding myself to look way ahead. Not wanting to risk beating up my bike or body further, I ended up calling it a run early and spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon preparing for my run. After 5 hours between practice and my qualifier run I was back up at the top in the start gate. I felt mentally ready and was calm as I cranked out of the start gate and was up to speed in know time, but as soon as I hit the first woods section that is where the problems started. When I ride a trail for the very first time I’m loose, always looking ahead and let my reactions and muscle memory take over. In this case I allowed myself to over think everything and caused myself paralysis by analysis. By the time I started to ride like myself again, I had been riding tense I was already blown and had a tough time holding on near the bottom riding off of the trail in one spot. I still gave it my all across the finish line but it was not enough and pretty disappointed, my weekend of racing quickly came to an end. 

            I did not throw in the towel though. I spent the rest of the weekend exploring what the rest of the mountain had to offer, and wow was I blown away and on occasion off of my bike by the amount of extremely technically difficult trails. It felt good to get back on the bike and ride wet mud, roots and rocks in preparation. Even managed to find time to do some self filming before watching the top 20 men come down the hill. To really end the weekend on a high note, I went on an xc night ride with the Furbee brothers, got lost out in the woods and got muddy once again and really just got back to having a ball on the bike. I absorbed everything like a sponge this weekend and look forward to this Weekends World Cup round in Windham, New York where I plan on having a blast on my bike.

Media:
http://dirt.mpora.com/news/sebs-mont-sainte-anne-wc-finals-photo-gallery.html#slide-16
Qualifying :
http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/2012-Mont-Sainte-Anne-Downhill-Qualifying,3902/Slideshow,0/sspomer,2
Qualifying Video:
http://dirt.mpora.com/news/dirttv-mont-sainte-anne-qualifying.html
Helmet Cam:
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/CONTOUR-Course-Preview-From-Danny-Hart-At-Mont-Saint-Anne.html 

Ride On!