Dont need the camelback in Whistler, its a XC race day and the weather is perfectly cool. Ive never been to a ski resort where people are swimming and skiing in the same day. The guys at the back of the pack think a shorter 1.5 hr day sounds easy, but most of us towards the front thought it sounded like torture.
Whistler is famous for its FreeRide parks. However we are XC racers so first we have to pedal to the top. The climb was on doubletrack and was all switchbacks. This is much better for me than the long straight grinds. At the top I was inside the top 15 and then we started back down. We flew through part of the freeride park which was awesome. Huge tables, doubles, berms. It was a blast and I was really wishing for a dropper post. At the bottom I had caught guys that usually finish in the top 10 and we made a u-turn and had a huge climb back up. My legs were shot from the downhill and I couldnt even think of staying with those guys. I did my best and ended up 19th on the day which meant I moved up one last spot for a 19th overall.
Earned my belt buckle for finishing. If I didnt have some many problems what could have been.... maybe next year Ill find out.
Me and the crazy Belgian Karel at the finish. This day suited his hardtail perfectly and he was 12th. Notice the rainbow stripes, pretty cool. It looks like beer, buts some sort of crazy mixed energy drink that Katie and the finish line crew concocted each day.
Katies buddy from the week Natasa and her boyfriend Primoz. He has done Absa Cape Epic and said this was a much tougher week. I dont think they have a lot of roots and rocks in Slovenia. We had dinner with them later in the evening at the awards banquet to cap off a hilarious week of language barriers and cultural differences.
Final Results are Here.
More Pics are Here.
Awesome report buddy.
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