Do you have what it takes to ride with the best?

June 26th, 2013 2:02pm

Watching pro riders race a world cup course is vicarious fun, captivating and motivating to say the least. If you don't feel like gettting on a downhill rig and sending the gnarliest trail you know or hitting some ridiculous gap after watching these guys then you're probably dead or just plain smarter than me because you know that its the riders that make it look easy. It's why they are called Pro's.

But what if you are pretty darn fast and have been found tickling the podium on your local or regional downhill circuits? Chances are you have had the chance to race against some of the worlds top talent in one event or another. Maybe you fared pretty well, within a calendars reach of their times even. You have the desire and you have some skills. Mix in a couple of results and you wonder, "could race with those guys?"

Well, the story of chasing your dream isn't new, but I found this one by a young Canadian rider Forrest Riesco embarking on his own journey to see how he stacked up, honest and succinct. His brief recap probably wasn't intended for publication on fine websites such as this, but it has some good insights for all you shredders who think they have what it takes to ride the World Cup circuit. I could actually feel his learning taking place and think I heard him mutter "we're not in Kansas anymore Toto" as he hit the next steep section...

Enjoy

....Fort William, Scotland was the first race.   First day of practice on Friday was a bit of an eye opener  to how fast and rough World Cup tracks really are.   Practice was very short so I struggled a bit to dial in my lines, but I was also having a lot of fun riding the wide-open track and hitting the massive jumps at the bottom.   Qualifying on Saturday didn't go very smoothly,  I was on a good run until I had some small mechanical issues and slid into a tree halfway down which stopped me for a few seconds.   I finished 103rd in qualifying, 5 seconds off that top 80 qualifying spot.   I was a  little bummed, but was happy to have survived my first World Cup!

Then I was off to Val di Sole, Italy.   The track was insanely rough and full of G-outs.   Again it was hard to get up to speed and be ready for qualifying after only six or so runs down the mountain.   In qualifying I had some close calls that I was able to ride out of but I also had two that stalled me up and slid me into the tape.   I finished 113th, 5 seconds off that top 80 again.   I felt good, but just couldn't put full runs together.  

Road gap drop at Fort William

After Val di Sole I stopped in Venice for three days of being a tourist before I headed home.  

I didn't come away with the best results, but I definitely learned a lot and gained a lot of experience riding those tracks.   Its a big step in my riding moving up to race the World Cups as an Elite, but with these first two races under my belt I know what to work on and know what to expect for the next races.   I feel confident in how I'm riding and know what I can do, just have to put it all together.

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