World Cup #4
Grouse Mountain, Vancouver BC
July 4-8, 2002

Hi everyone,

It is early Sunday morning and I'm sitting on the plane flying back to Colorado Springs trying to stay awake. We raced in Vancouver but decided to fly in and out of Seattle instead because the tickets were much cheaper. Since our flight left at 6:50am Sunday morning we had to drive to Seattle Saturday night after the race. I think my head hit the pillow of the airport hotel at 1am and the wake-up call came a short four hours later at 5am. Ouch!

We raced our fourth world cup of the season at a ski area called Grouse Mountain, just outside of North Vancouver. It is a challenging venue because the tech area, start/finish and ski lodges are all at the top of the mountain. To get to the top involved a ten minute gondola ride. Sounds like fun, but when you've got to haul bikes, spare wheels, trainers, coolers, food, chairs, the tool box, bike pump, duffle bags, and clothes it gets to be quite challenging. Add to that the hundreds of little Japanese tourists who are going to the top of the mountain to eat lunch and look at the view. We all got stuffed into the gondola each day and hauled up the mountain. Not such a big deal on Thursday and Friday when we were just training. But add the stress of race day and the gondola ride becomes a pain in the #$%@#. And of course in the back of my mind, "what if the gondola breaks down?"

The course was by far the hardest we've raced on all summer. Lots of man eating roots and rocks. A lot of the descents were scary and some were exposed. If anyone is familiar with the North Shore of Vancouver you know that that area is famous for its extreme mountain bike trails. The area is so moist and swampy in places, that the locals have built narrow (very narrow!) pathways out of wooden planks and logs that go over the wet mucky sections of the forest. To make things more exciting these "bridges" are usually two to five feet off the ground. So of course the people that designed our mtn bike course thought it appropriate to add some classic "North Shore" bridges. Most of them were short and only a foot off the ground. However, one section was quite challenging. It was a steep granny gear climb on a platform only two feet wide and five feet off the ground and maybe 100 feet long. And there wer! e two ninety degree turns you had to negotiate. Doesn't sound that bad until you add in the fact that your heart rate is close to 190bpm and your arms are full of lactic acid from struggling through all the roots and rocks, and then the media people are standing right in front of you taking flash pictures as you go by. It required complete control, concentration, and a bit of luck. Falling off wasn't an option.

The course started off with lots of nasty descents and then eventually climbed all the way back up to the start/finish. We did six laps plus two short start loops. All of the usual players were in attendance. I was wearing the world cup leader's jersey for the first time. I absolutely had to have a top three finish to cement my lead in the overall standings. No pressure. Ha!

The race started faster than ever. Annabella Stropparo, who won last week, exploded from the start. Sydor and I passed her just before starting the first descent. I was in second place when my foot prematurely released from my pedal. I had no control over my bike and had to come to a complete stop and get back on the main trail. I lost valuable positions, but luckily didn't crash. I had to run another section of the descent later on and had trouble getting back into my pedals again. Because there are riders right behind you it is hard to stop on the trail and get your feet back in the pedals. So I tried to do it while riding. But it doesn't work too well when you're going down a steep root and mud filled descent. I went down something really nasty with both feet completely off my pedals at one point. My eyes were bigger than my head and I can't believe I didn't flip over the handle bars. The! only thing that stopped me was a small tree that I kind of fell into. And this was all in the first ten minutes of the race. It was going to be a tough day.

Luckily for me, everything got better. As you get into a rythm and relax, the course flows better and you start riding better. The first lap is always chaos. I felt strong all day and was in the top five for the first three laps. Then two riders ahead of me flatted. Yippie! All of a sudden I vaulted into third. Sydor was only a minute ahead of me and she became my rabbit. With two laps to go I turned on the after burners and made my late race surge. I caught her with one to go and quickly dropped her on the next climb. I rode alone in second place to the finish!! I was thrilled with my result because it means I get to keep the leader's jersey for another world cup. It was an exhuasting effort and I can't believe all the bruises I have on my legs right now.

Sabine Spitz of Germany was 1st, I was 2nd, Sydor of Canada was 3rd, Sue Haywood of the US was 4th and Stropparo of Italy was 5th. I have a 75 point lead over Sabine Spitz of Germany going into the final race in Les Gets, France on Sept 6th. Should be an exciting day!

Now we're off the Telluride for the 360 Degree Festival. We race on Friday and Saturday. This will be our fifth weekend in a row of racing. I'm getting tired I think.

Hope everyone is healthy and happy and until next time!

Alison