World Cup, Cairns

U23 ~ 18th

I don't know how but this photo from Flow Magazine got 651 likes and 17 shares on Facebook!

The Cairns World Cup lived up to the hype with the step up in gnarlyness in the tracks of both XC and DH.

Mark Tupalski described the XC track well. "Its in your face". So many features to this wet rooty rocky muddy track.

I heard that 20% of the downhillers that raced had to go to either a medical tent or hospital.

In the XC I had my fair share of injuries. Going into my second practice lap on day 1. I started to get more playful as I started the lap with the 4X styled start I sprinted into what I thought was a jump, but was a actually a decent drop into a ditch. I exploded my wheel, tarcoed my rotor and drove my shoulder into the ground. I thought I was just winded but my shoulder was pretty bad. I started to black out so I layed down. The pain had warn off by the time they offered me any pain killers in the ambulance. I then took the ambulance to the hospital where I had to wait for 5 hours for an XRAY. 8 blood pressure test, blood tests, temperature and asking me for my full details ten thousand times, I finally got the XRAY, the results where pretty good. No AC damage just a really hard impact bruising around shoulder blade. I also loosened up the ligaments round my hip. So with the shoulder, hip and badley damaged bike it wasn't the great start I had planned.

Myself doing 'Croc Slide'

The next day it was pretty hard to lift my arm in line with my shoulder. The Torq crew and myself headed out to track, I had to turn back due to a sneaky placement of a lindt bunny bell inside my stem on my bike. Still thinking of a revenge tactic for Mark Tupalski.

We did one lap, the course was a slicky slosh fest, but I was prepared with my new Schwable Rocket Ron on the front. I had two big over the bars trying to do an 'A' line of a rock garden. The first crash I got my leg caught under a fence and because of my bad shoulder I couldn't get up by my self. The second which was less than a minute later I ended up in the same spot but upside down on my head with my helmet pushed down covering my eyes. Both crashes were due to touching my wheel on the same rock which face down the side of the bank. Then straight away was the 'Croc Slide' a long slippery rock face into 2 mini drops into a berm. It was so steep I had to get my arse so far back that I was getting it caught behind the seat.

The next feature on the course was Jacobs Ladder which I didnt even consider due to how wet the course was. This is where Jodie Willett had to be carried out of the course. Broken Scaphoid.

Here is that line
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSXtH7OQd2I&feature=youtu.be

The rest of the track felt just as bumby....turns out I did the whole course with my lock out on my suspension causing it to be a fully rigid bike. Rookie Error. I thought It just hurt because of my shoulder.

I looked forward to doing the course in the dry with squishy bits on my bike! :D

Tristan's unit smells of dead toads because he killed them and left them right out front. Idiot. He deserved the dim sims and custard apple we all put in his bike bag.

I became the new king of 'Super Hexigon' of the Torq Crew. (Athletes need to kill time while resting)

I gave 2pac (Mark Tupalski) a new nick name due to his excessive Tea drinking... teapac... 2bag... 'Tea Bag' its settled.

TeaBag going down "Jacobs Ladder'

We all had a great time screaming at the TV as we were watching the Eliminator with our legs up in the air trying to rest. Watching our team mate Em Parkes on the world stage to compete for her 11th in Elite

Em Parks

Tristan Ward

Woman. Em Also got a 9th in the U23 XCO! it was getting intense. In one of the woman's heats I saw a girl crash on the same thing I did, looked bad. Then Tristan Ward's race had us on the edge of our seats and Scott Bowden on the the edge of the foam roller destroying his legs as we got super excited to watch our Torq Team mate go up against our current World Champion Paul Van Der Ploeg and some other top end riders. Well done Tristan for finishing 11th In your first world cup Eliminator, Elite Men.

Here is the section were I talk about the locals.

We were all told not to get bitten by the insects and wildlife. But our Chris Hamilton got bitten by a local. She was our neighbour that did alot of fire twirling and weed. She also had a passion for wanting to fight someone. She started off by doing some hand moves but ended with biting Chris, punched in the face and a ''grab of the spuds''. A 40 year old woman was also very interested in Tristan.

Race report

This is the start of my race. Poor Seb Jayne didnt have the best start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFgaRvQ0eWA (The music is quite fitting)

The morning of the race still had a sick gut from what I thought was taking Nurofen without food but I still have the gut pains which could be due to the crash.

In the pens waiting for call up, Nathan Rennie holds an umbrella over me. I was stunned. I felt so spoiled to have a ledgend like a downhill world cup series winner looking after me. 

Mid Race Scrub

I was in second row on the start line. In the first 20 seconds I was 5th. I definitely tried to hold to much pace. By the start of lap 2 I was 15th. Then I slowly got pulled back to 18th as I had bent my hanger in the start somewhere,  I had blown my horses too quickly in the start for this level of racing. But that's what this experience is for. Its also very easy too get sucked into pushing hard when you have so many Queenslanders cheering you on that have travelled to watch. Even my mate Stefan Majewski who doesn't get to see me race.

Just to add to my injuries I ran off a foot path in the dark off a drop into a drainage made of rocks, I now have a hole in my shin, swollen knee, sore shoulder and a mystery gut pain :/ thank god I have 2 weeks off training. 

Even tho the stars didn't align, it was still an amazing experience to participate in such a milestone event for Australia. with 9 Australians in the top 20 in the XCO U23.

On my way home to the accommodation 3 kids got me sign all their stuff, I thought it was so funny. I dont think they knew who I was at all, I should have just wrote Julian Absolon (The Winner of Elite Men) 

I raced on the Schwalbe Rocket Ron for the first time which was outstanding. Perfect for these muddy conditions. And a Racing Ralph on the rear of course.

The Team is also still testing out the delicious Apply Crumble gel that is due to be in stock soon this year.

ED Holinger, I cant thank you enough for your amazing work. Deadset best mechanic/run around after everyone.

The Torq Australia team will next meet up for the Port to Port in New Castle.

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My Finish

Here are some big crashes from the downhill at Cairns

Shelly Flood scorpioned
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152282243567326&set=p.10152282243567326&type=2&theater


There was also a spectator that took a riders bike after a crash. The spectator then rode down the track and tried to jump a big section of 'Woops'. He now has 2 broken vertebraes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHU2c9wXRCs