World cup aftermath.

Well, it turns out that I completely threw away the most important race of my would-be career. I was feeling well on race day, did one practice run to make sure my wheels would make it through the qualifiers. Got plenty of rest, went through the bike one final time and headed up to the gondola with Hank to do our qualifying runs. My qualifier was good, that is until I heard the noise of my chain clanking against the spokes about a minute into my run...No worries, I would just need to keep up my momentum and hopefully have enough to qualify. I suppose I did a good job of this because I was well in the top 40 at the split without having a chain. I got through the high speed section well and proceeded to make my way into the lower tree sections. I had a slip in the lower rock garden where my brother and Wes were set up, no worries though I still had speed. pumped the lower section like never before and boosted over the final rock section and onto the bridge huck. I smashed this as much as I possibly could for as not to lose speed upon landing. I pumped the last open ski-run and held the throttle wide open into the last tree section which ultimately led to my demise. I spotted a straight line through those trees and attempted it at full speed. Just as I was to exit this final section towards the finish I hit a tree with my shoulder. The force from the impact caused me to spin off my bike and land in the centere of the course. As I lay there I shouted for someone to get my bike off the course for fear of getting hit by the next rider. Nothing was done and I lay there confused and dazed with a sharp pain in my right shoulder. Once I got my wits about me, I scrambled to my bike and grabbed on to my bars, a piercing pain struck me as I mounted and I almost dropped to the ground again. I managed to pedal-kick myself down the next small slope and towards the finish line. As I came across the finish the pain in my shoulder was very strong, and I felt as though I damaged it severely. When I came across the line I was inspected, taken to first aid and it was determined that I had bruised ligaments and a minor separation in the shoulder but nothing was broken. After some time back at the hotel room it finally sank in that I had thrown away one of the biggest opportunities of my life..it angered me for a bit. Even more so after I saw the split times and the fact that I had missed qualifying by a couple of spots in spite of all my time lost.

When it was all said and done however, this race was an enormous learning experience. I dont think I will ever think of racing the same. The level of competition here was so far above and beyond anything I had ever done and it taught me many lessons that I will apply in the future(mainly not body-checking large trees at full speed). Besides the travel woes returning home, Mont Saint Anne was an amazing event (the party was wild, and Fabian Barel cannot dance!!!haha).