So, this was the 4th time I have screwed my race head on and ridden in a World Cup at Schladming, and for the 2nd time, this was the final round.
For some reason, pracci started on the Thursday and race was on the Saturday which was as mixed up as fried eggs on a slice of carpet with a dollop of engine oil for breakfast, I mean, it's a world cup, it's not meant to be rushed!! Whatever the UCI say tho!
The course was AWESOME, it will always be one of my favourites, a true alpine course, fairly natural, steep and fast! It has an element of everything except rocks, but I think that is true to the terrain. It's flowey and smooth to ride, but towards the end of practice and into quali's the braking bumps were pretty vicious.
Much like Fort William, the breaking bumps and length of the course were the killer and drained your energy so quickly, those smart enough to sign up to the self preservation society did the best thing and rested, there wasn't much to learn......it was more a case of conserving energy!
True to form, I loved practice and nailed everything I set myself up for.
When Quali came around, I rode cautiously and fluffed
up in places which I should have blasted through. 
I finished 25th, miffed and questioning whether it is possible to race to this level and work and do everything else whilst maintaining any kind of level satisfying personal achievement is possible.....it is all to easy to spread oneself thin and become that ever so common, 'jack of all and master of none'. I have some training and thinking to be done over the winter........one thing I we all need to remember is....... FAT BURDS don't fly!!
Fi Kicked off the after party in style scrounging not 1 but 2 kegs of beer from the local Schladminger brewery, we gathered in the troops for some pre party party beers and collected donations for our friend Tara Llanes! As always, everyone was super generous and dug down DEEP! Everyone was in the pits, kicking back for what seemed like hours after the race. Intense threw an awesome party for the riders with cranking beats and beer which took us upto about 11pm.
When we had to figure out a away infiltrate this crazy building where the party eventually moved too. For some reason, the club was incredibly hard to get into, the riders were like spiders, sneeking in through any open door, ducking and diving, bribing the bouncers, climbing in through the ceiling, you name it...but we all did it!
The day after we had the most perfect hangover cure, schnitzel and strudel with ice cream followed by a 7km downhill off road go kart race............it kinda speaks for it's self hu!! The go karts were just awesome, beat up ragged ole things with crappy brakes! You could slam on the anchors and rail them round the corners......you needed goggles for sure as you kick up so many rocks when you braked!
On our last day, we all hung out at one of the coolest castles I have ever seen inbetween Schladming and Salzburg, the silliest thing is, I don't know what it was called, but it had an awesome falconary centre in it with the coolest collection of birds I have ever seen in one place...check it. The castle looked like sonething out of the Sound of Music, it had the coolest brickwork and surrounding fortress.
We headed to the airport, all ready for home, exhausted and craving a home comforts....cleared security, spent the last of the euros on chocolate and crappy flavoured water only to be told out flight had been cancelled.......dooom loomed! Thankfully we were in the safe hands of Mr super organised and super efficient B, who got onto it sharpish. Before we knew it, we were back in Salzburg in a comfy hotel waiting for another day in the land of the Sound of music and another bunch of traditionally laderhosen clad Austian chappies to slap our visuals senseless!!
Rhodeo Mart.
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