Next Catch Up!

So there has been Dirtmasters, Bike Radar Live and Fort William since I last updated! I'm just never at home enough to sit down and type these things up!

Ok so Dirtmasters in Germany:

It was a wicked festival/comp type thing that was going on over a week. The was a wicked slopestyle course with stuff going on all week. I rode in it last year and got 11th in the pro category. There was also a big DH race going on too. The 4x track hadn't changed at all from last year, super narrow smooth downhill bmx track basically. It was a complete race to the first corner, which angered me, the was loads of guys from the world cups here as its quite a big central competition in Germany.

I rode this fun bermy track for most of the week with two of the German Norco riders Flo and Angie. Really good guys that put up with me all week!

The racing was pretty simple, just like world cups, with timed qualifying and then you were put straight into knock out heats. Brutal, but fair. I qualified 31st and was picked with Joost Wichman, the winner of the previous weekends world cup in andorra. I gated well in my first heat with him even getting out the gate slightly faster but falling into 2nd by the first turn. I wasnt going to make any rash moves now (not that I could anyhow as the track was so narrow) because I was in a safe position to go through. So stayed in 2nd and made the 2nd round. From here it got harder, Sydney Gerber, Flo (my german pal) and Joost again. ALL world cup riders! Damn! I got a good gate and hung back to the first turn for safety and fell into 3rdnd after some bashing in the first turn. As with my first heat I couldnt pass because of the track but stayed in 3rd and got knocked out. Prize money went to 20th and I got 21st! Gutted!

Bike Radar Live:

Probably one of the coolest events of this year. It was my first proper dual race and the track was really good! Bassically a pump track on steroids and tight awkward jumps that made it more interesting and less predictable. I spent most of my time practicing with Lewis Lacey (who was riding awesome all weekend) as I was camping literally right next to him so it made sense.

I qualified 15th, I wasn't too happy with the result but there was some big names racing! Gee Atherton, Romain Saladini, Brian Lopes, to name a few. I was picked against my team mate Bernard in the first round which went straight to 32's. It was quite funny. The rules were pretty simple once explained, if you win both races (you have to race once in each lane) you go through, if you win one and lose one, the person who won by the most time goes through. Unluckily for me, I won and lost one, but was beaten by about half a second more so I got knocked out! Not great but I had a great time racing something completely different!

One thing I havent mentioned yet... The weather, was AMAZING! Possibly the hottest weekend I have ever experienced in this country! 27ºC both days! Needless to say my fair skin got very burnt!

Fort William:

What can I say about Fort William that hasn't already been said? Its always a pleasure to go there and experience the patriotism. The track was similar to last year although it looked very weathered, although it was still fun to ride! There was a new welcome section on the track which I thought was pretty daunting but so much fun at the same time. The new rock section! So much fun on the little bikes bouncing through!

We were staying in an awesome little house just on the track side of the main town. It was warm cosy and I had my own bed! The walk in shower was perfect for washing bikes and I did utilize this!

Qualifying went CRAP for me. I had been riding the track pretty flat out in both practice sessions and then went down the track in qualifying like a granny. I was pissed off but I still made 38th so it wasn't tooooo bad. Pretty much mid pack. I drew an ok first moto with Fischbach and an american who I last saw at maribor last year. I got a pretty sweet snap out of lane 3 and cut off lane 2 so I could guarantee 2nd place into the first turn, sure enough I did and followed fischy safely down to the rocks where he slowed off and I almost dived up the inside then decided to keep safe and keep 2nd secure so I would make the 2nd round. Sure enough I did!

The 2nd round was a very british pick. Me, Scott B, and Bernard, my team-mate, again! I had lane 3 again and this was a much harder race. I had a good snap, hit the first jump and got all squiff trying to pedal over it and lost a shite load of speed. I was pretty annoyed by this but I played it safe into the first turn in 3rd place, knowing full well that in the lower part of the course there wasn't much room for passing. I gave it all I had but couldn't get a decent line on Scott's inside. Relegating me and Bernard. Frustrating to say the least but it's racing and I'm still on the learning curve. I made 24th overall which is my second best result of all my world cups so I should be positive in that light!

All I had left to do was drive the 9 hours home all by myself in the fiesta! Not fun!

Next up is the NPS4x round 4 this weekend followed by the world cup in Slovenia then the Euro 4x champs the weekend after that!

Oh Yeh - I got selected to ride for the British European 4x squad! Something I am very very excited about! I cant wait! So thank you to British Cycling for that and all my sponsors along the way.

Over
and
Out

Pat