Truck 'n trailer practice at Mont Ste Anne

Just a quick update. I have spent the last 2-days up at MSA, training on the World Champs course. It was great to get some time on the track. It is a cracker. I raced it last year in my first World Cup and had an absolute blast. It didn't take long to get familiar with it again. The 'tech' rock garden was pretty sweet in the dry...but anything could happen race day! Stu got a picture of me comin down...

OK so it does not look very steep but it kind of is. There are a couple of berms at the bottom to catch you as you literally have to 'let it go' once you line it up.

The course is a busy one with 2 main climbs up or across a ski slope & several sections in the trees littered with mostly rocks & a few roots. Throw in a few tight corners & trees to go around & I liken riding my MTB to piloting a truck & trailer through here. It pays to have some precision in knowing where your rear wheel will track because like a trailer, it shortcuts when you turn corners. If you calculate this well enough a 'line' can be alot smoother depending on whether you go around or over an obstacle, and in tight sections it can certainly help maintain go forward.

So, it is a good thing I am a farm girl & learnt to ride a four wheeler often with a trailer on behind. Precision! What else did I learn? Grunt. To get up and over a short climb, obstacle or pinch give it throttle, but the correct gear is key - wheel spin & you are probably stuck.

I am back in Bromont this evening. I have a couple of days training here before we make our way south to Windham (USA) - World Cup race day is Saturday. Keep you posted. nic :)