So, what happened?! This is the question I have been asked about 1000 times since finishing a disastrous 28th in the Olympic race on Saturday. Well, the very first corner of the race was an off camber right bend, and with all that nervous energy blasting out of everyone, it was always asking for a pileup. I just was not expecting it to be at the front of the race! There was no one to blame, but it was Thomas Frishknecht that ended up going over the handle bars, and then everyone on the left of the course was forced to stop while those on the right went by grinning. I had to stop, then run a bit while changing into a lower gear before I was back on the bike again. Then just as I had some momentum again, I got shoved by someone from behind, and ended up off my bike again. By the time I got going the second time I was almost dead last. This was a devastating blow, and one I was not prepared for.
I managed to fight passed a number of back markers to finish the first lap in about 30th place, and from there I tried to convince myself that I could make it back to the front. I rode steady and caught a lot of good riders, and after the 4th lap I was in 16th position. But I was always losing time on the loose gravelly descents, and it meant I was having to ride harder on the climbs to catch up. By the 5th lap I was starting to make mistakes and almost crashed quite a few times. This slowed me down a lot, and I was starting to get passed again from behind. This was hard to take, as I knew I should be in the top 10, not moving backwards out of the top 20! I tried to clear my head and re-gather, but I didn't manage it. I really felt like pulling the pin, but I knew I had to fight my demons and at least finish.
The one great piece of news from the day was that Abs won! So in the end, its a great day for Bianchi and my team. Afterwards in the village I meet a lot of the riders sitting in the Mac Donald's area, finally able to enjoy the junk food that the rest of the athletes have been eating for ages! There were a lot of other hard luck stories going around. Christophe Saucer perhaps the worst of them all.. after also being held up in the start he had fought to catch the lead group, and looked in good contention for a medal, but then on lap 3 his chain broke! It seemed like everyone had an excuse of some sort, and no body except the first 5 seemed happy with the course! But this is mountain biking, and I think we just have to accept it.
Last night I went to the closing ceremony, which was a great feeling. I caught up with a bunch of friends, and we were all just buzzing about being center stage with 70,000 cheering fans around! In the end, we were all Olympians, and it was a great to be there. Now we have the worlds in just 2 weeks, so there will be a few riders turning up with revenge on our minds.. me included!
Finally, a big thank-you, to all those that watched the race, wrote me emails and supported me. I'm sorry it didn't work out better.
Cheers.
Kashi
I managed to fight passed a number of back markers to finish the first lap in about 30th place, and from there I tried to convince myself that I could make it back to the front. I rode steady and caught a lot of good riders, and after the 4th lap I was in 16th position. But I was always losing time on the loose gravelly descents, and it meant I was having to ride harder on the climbs to catch up. By the 5th lap I was starting to make mistakes and almost crashed quite a few times. This slowed me down a lot, and I was starting to get passed again from behind. This was hard to take, as I knew I should be in the top 10, not moving backwards out of the top 20! I tried to clear my head and re-gather, but I didn't manage it. I really felt like pulling the pin, but I knew I had to fight my demons and at least finish.
The one great piece of news from the day was that Abs won! So in the end, its a great day for Bianchi and my team. Afterwards in the village I meet a lot of the riders sitting in the Mac Donald's area, finally able to enjoy the junk food that the rest of the athletes have been eating for ages! There were a lot of other hard luck stories going around. Christophe Saucer perhaps the worst of them all.. after also being held up in the start he had fought to catch the lead group, and looked in good contention for a medal, but then on lap 3 his chain broke! It seemed like everyone had an excuse of some sort, and no body except the first 5 seemed happy with the course! But this is mountain biking, and I think we just have to accept it.
Last night I went to the closing ceremony, which was a great feeling. I caught up with a bunch of friends, and we were all just buzzing about being center stage with 70,000 cheering fans around! In the end, we were all Olympians, and it was a great to be there. Now we have the worlds in just 2 weeks, so there will be a few riders turning up with revenge on our minds.. me included!
Finally, a big thank-you, to all those that watched the race, wrote me emails and supported me. I'm sorry it didn't work out better.
Cheers.
Kashi
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