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Photos Credits, Raewyn Knight.

World Champs, Champery Switzerland.

World Champs is the toughest race of the season, everyone comes in at the top of their game and the excitement and nerves are a level above what I normally experience at any other race. I arrived the weekend before, which gave plenty of time to ride the track. The first few days of practice weren’t the best and I seemed to spend more time rolling around on the ground than on the bike. I think I was feeling the pressure to ride fast and was pushing too hard and making mistakes which was easy to do on such a technical course. Thankfully after several days with multiple crashes I was able to rethink my approach and settle down and get some good smooth error free laps in.

Although the week shot by pretty fast race day was a tough one. We didn’t start till five in the afternoon and I endured a long day of sitting around watching the time tick slowly away. We got there eventually and it was a relief to finally get things underway. A big crowd turned out and it was great riding with such enthusiastic and vocal support particularly on the main climb and the ‘Hell zone’ climb and descent. I was strong for the majority of the race it was just the beginning that let me down. I seemed to be able to ride at only one speed from the start to the finish where as everyone else started fast and then either settled down and got into a good rhythm through to the finish or blew up and got slower with each lap. Unfortunately I got too far behind early on and was playing catch up the whole time. I did feel quite strong and enjoyed the race even though I wasn’t able to improve on my previous years result and finished in 36th position for the second year in a row.

It is now time for reflection with World Champs completed. My season is over and I am looking forward to getting back home to New Zealand and catching up with friends and family after three months away. This trip has been a very mixed bag. I have had a great time and have learnt a lot with some ups and downs and great character building moments along the way. I will be able to take a lot out of the experience with plenty of valuable material to apply to next year.

I would sincerely like to thank everyone who has supported and helped me out along the way. It’s now time for a break and a good long rest.