Today was the second round of the Pre States. I'm not too keen on the Cockburn track, especially the first two doubles. I practiced about 25 laps before the comp, focusing on the doubles and I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. Well, you'd hope so after 25 laps!
Now I guess I just have to think more about pedalling. Everyone's off in the distance by the time I've finished with those two dreadful doubles! I've had my Monster energy drink, I tried to eat the hot chips (which were so foul, I had to spit it into the bin) and I know the track, I mean I've ridden it once before. I still have a few days to get my act together.
I'm riding against girls who've ridden for 14 years! Woah. I've ridden for 1.5 years but I know I can't let that stop me from going good. Everyone always says if you think about the distance, you're building yourself a barrier from achieving what you want to achieve.
My first Nationals was an interesting experience.
The ramp was incredibly steep, as they'd left most of it from the Supercross several days before. I rode down it with no brakes and got so much air, I stacked it hard too far over the first double. Soon after, a rider from NT did pretty much the same and broke his collarbone and two vertebrae (which had been broken before). Then the sprockets came out all at once and crashed on the first double. Splat!
So they had to spend several hours changing it into a table top, which I was quite happy about. When they had that sorted, we went to practice some more. The ramp was about eight metres long at a 45 degree angle, four metres high. The only method of getting up there was to climb 6 sets of scaffolding stairs. It was pretty crazy because it wasn't easy to haul your bike, especially the kids. The parents had to help and they looked like they were getting pretty tired. A couple of days later, they put a ramp on one side of the stairs.
One older rider clipped the bottom of one of the top stairs with his bike and we watched the stairs hit another rider on the head when it came out of its bracket and fell. Thankfully he was wearing his helmet. So they tried to pull it up when it fell again and it hit a pregnant lady on the shoulder. She'd been going up and down to comfort her terrified son who'd backed out of riding down the very steep ramp - and I don't blame him one bit! I would have pulled out the first time I went down but the gate dropped on me too quick. So, she was furious, as you can imagine and they had to close it down for the rest of the day to get the scaffolding crew and Worksafe out there. It seemed ridiculous that they didn't have any wiring or reinforcements to hold the stairs in place.
Team Geraldton and several others noticed that the structure didn't even have a scaff tag. When I did my basic scaff course, the lecturer told us that the scaff tag was put in place by the person in charge of the structure, confirming that it was safe to use and had been rigiously inspected for safety.
A parent was telling me that they saw a boy in lane 1 at the gate who had unclipped from the bike and had almost fallen through the triangle gap between the ramp and the handrail. There was no bunting in place and she'd relayed this to an official who said "He'll be right" and walked off. They later put bunting there.
I was amazed at how many injuries there were. A mate, who'd been to Nationals many times before, said that this was probably a record. There's talk of insurance premiums rising due to the costs and accidents involved in this years Nationals. It's already very expensive. Two people had their spleens taking out, numerous broken arms and wrists and reports of up to 10 people breaking their collarbone.
I didn't do too well but at least I know what to expect. During Pre-States, I kept my brake on going down the ramp. Kero from Tom Price said that he'd cut my brakes if I kept them on so I was too scared too use them. I had to bribe myself with bike parts. Because I didn't use the brakes on both bikes during the actual racing, I bought THE grips for both. I was only able to balance on the 20", so I get to have coloured spokes for that bike. Balancings not too hard but seeing how steep that ramp is before you, makes everything scary. I was relieved when one of the Elite riders told me she was scared shitless of the ramp herself.
Kirsty Dellar came first three times. I wonder if that's an Australian record??? First in 20", 24" and Champbixx. I think a lot of its got to do with her mentality. She's been saying she's going to the 2012 Olympic Games so that's why she can achieve great things - by living the feeling, picturalizing it etc. She's definitely my motivation and inspiration. I soooo want to ride like her, even though she's been riding 9 years and myself 8 months. Her sister Emma came 3rd too - her best ever. Awesome stuff Em!
Today was the Cockburn Super Series, home to this year’s State Titles. When I flew down, it’d been raining so much in the morning, the flights from Sydney and Adelaide were diverted and many planes were held off for six hours. The queue to check-in was absolutely crazy, from one end of the airport to the other and out the door.
So the idea of travelling over 1900 kms for a one day comp that looked to be cancelled, was disheartening. I rang up Mike (Karratha BMX Club President) and he informed me that Cockburn was on a site of an old quarry and drained easily on rainy days, which was great news. But Law Of Attraction proved to be stronger and the clouds slowly disappated. Come Sunday, it was dry as a whistle.
My Mum is awesome support. She took time out from her heavy home-business schedule to drive me there and back, make my lunch, resupply me with Red Bull etc. I am one of the luckiest people to have such a fantastic Mum. Merci beaucoup Maman!!!
Today was the first time I balanced at the gate and even clipped in too. Kero (President) had given me my first training session at Tom Price the week before, something you’d never get at Hedland. He gave me confidence to believe in myself so I tried it for the first time and had absolutely no problem. I even had better balance than some of the other girls. I just need to start standing up before the gate drops. It’s easy at home with the manure bags and the side of the shed but I just have to - once again - believe in myself.
First time ever, I didn’t come last in one of my races. The first moto for that event, I didn’t have to overtake the girl. The next time I did and the third, she didn’t bother rocking up and went home. It’s got to be the most awesome feeling to feel yourself improving, especially so quick. Sometimes I think I’m too amateur to be competing with the Elite but we have to start somewhere and the challenge can be so much fun. I want to be in this sport for another 60 years because it’s such a great sport, the atmosphere is exciting and the people just make it great.
Now I have to fly home. Thankfully, it’s only for four days before I come back and go to Adelaide for Nationals. Some people say they build a very scary and lippy track. I’m yet to learn how to ride lips. Others say it’ll be a breeze and it’s so exciting and fun. So who knows. It’ll definitely be a great experience.
