Mont St Anne day 2 (by Bryn)
MT.ST.ANNE, QUEBEC
Friday afternoon, we have had 2 days of practice now, and St Anne is as tough as ever.
This place is so rad, even though it has bit me in the ass a few times in the past, I still would say St Anne is one of my favorite races of the World Cup year. It's always rough, slick, and fast.
This year the course builders tried to smooth some sections out, but with all the rain lately, it has turned to mud bog. There is one section in particular that goes through a natural spring, the mud in that spot smells so bad, I have noticed hair (I'm assuming its bear hair) on pedals and knee pads.. Nasty. Other than that, it is so fun to be ripping big old ruts, and sliding around at high speed.
There is a pretty big jump at the finish of the DH this year, It's actually built really well, and is super nice to jump when you have the speed. But i watched at the bottom today, and saw a few riders bounce case the landing after pinning a 5 min run. This will probably add to some of the excitement for tomorrows racing. I have to crank as hard as i can and super-boost it. For the run in, its a big jump.
The 4x has been put on hold until tomorrow night, after the dh, that was always the case for the racing, but these guys didn't get to practice or qualify yet. They will do it all tomorrow night. The track has been too muddy. I know after speaking with a few of the Euro 4x racers, that they are bummed, and were especially bummed when they heard it might get cancelled, It is such a long way to travel, for your event to get cancelled.. As of now, it will go ahead after the DH tomorrow.