St Felcien was around 3hrs drive inland from Mont Saint Anne in a tiny hick town in the middle of no where.. There was not much accommodation up there either, so we got back to basics, staying in little cabins in the camping ground. No TV, internet or phones.. what to do!? Well, luckily we bought some mini RC cars the week before, so our tiny cabins ended up being as a car racing track as well...



It also turned out to be one of the most tricky courses of the season. It must have had 80% single tracks, which became very tricky after a pre-race rain storm. I had to be satisfied as I once again had really excellent legs. After an average start (about 20th) I was having fun and quite easily worked my way up to a group of 5, between 3-8th place. I was riding easy and without problems, this should almost certainly have been a podium.. but someone up there clearly didn't want this to be! My first puncture was on a grassy field.. no idea at all how that happened. Of the 25 odd races this year, its only the 3rd race I puncture in.. but statistics don't count for much, as I punctured again a lap later.. both times I needed to run around 6-10 min, so I lost a lot of time and finished 38th! I am now going to spend some time testing new preventative liquids.. I'm sick of this!!!


So, that concludes the first part of the year. With problems in almost each world cup, I'm still ranked 7th, so that I have to be satisfied with. This week I'm taking a break and going free riding for 4 days in the Central French Alps.

Here is my racing schedule as it looks for the rest of the year...

15/7 World Cup - Marathon d'oisans
22/7
29/7 German Cup - St Margen
5/8 Swiss Cup - Bern
12/8 Marathon World Champs, Belgium
19/8 German Cup
26/8 French Cup- Mont Genevre
2/9 Benelux Cup - Zoetermeer
9/9 World Champs - Fort Williams
16/9 World Cup - Maribor
23/9 Olympic Test event, Beijing China