Add content to this section using the sidebar. Was I nervous, so much yes as I barely chocked down my plate of delicious pancakes. The only expectations I had was that I would finish in the top five. Beyond that I was excited to be in this arena with these people and have a chance at really pushing myself. I had been looking forward to this event for months. As I stood at the start line with all of the other competitors eagerly waiting for the ride to begin, I noticed that I was feeling a sense of calm.
I knew the feeling; I had experienced it many times before sitting at the start gate of a downhill world cup. It was the sense that I was ready and looking to get the ball rolling, or in my case the wheels. As we headed out of the sleepy town and into the outskirts and desert landscape I began to look around and see who was who and try and keep my position near the front.
My plan was to attack the first dirt segment, and never look back. With my riding background I tend to look forward to the technical sections of trails, to my luck at mile 25 the course would become more technical and diverse with loose dirt and downhills.
I had made it out with the lead group despite three earlier crashes from the peloton which I narrowly missed each time. One of which I found myself riding on the top tube with one foot unclipped desperately trying to steer away from a few poor souls who hit the deck in front of me.
As luck would have it, I crashed hard on a degree pavement to gravel turn right at 20 miles. I swung wide and got pushed out into the deeper gravel, like I was on ice I lost my wheels and slammed into the gravel road with both my knees, shoulder and head.
