Today we went to Bonelli Park to do the first races of our camp. I was racing in the first race and had a good start but my recent sickness seemed to slow me down as I slowly dropped back to the bottom third of the U-19 field. I am not too upset as it is my first race of the year and I am going to use it as a learning experience for future races. After the race we had a long gap between the XC and Super D later in the day. But we were able to fill this in by watching the Pro men and women race that featured multiple Olympic medalists and World cup winners. It was amazing how fast Geoff Kabush was going as he dropped the likes of 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist Marco Fontana. After watching those races I competed in the Super D, which was not really a true Super D as it was almost as much climbing as descending and a XC race bike was definitely the weapon of choice. I had an ok run even though I crashed on one of the loose sandy corners. I pushed hard and ended up getting third place in Junior and was only two seconds back of second. It was an interesting day on the bike and I gained some valuable experience for the future. I would like to thank Cycling BC, all our sponsors and my parents for supporting our trip.
-Mahon Lamont
Today was my first race I have ever done outside of Canada and not sure what to expect. The course at Bonelli Park was not the kind of course I am used to as there was a large amount of road involved, and not a large amount of technical riding. We had a VERY early morning, and I think that it was good for us to go through something like that, as it’s possible for it to happen again, and it goes to show that we really can’t control anything except ourselves at a race. I just got over a cold before leaving and hoped to use this race to see where my fitness and lungs were. All in all it was an awesome experience, particularly watching the pro women and men. It was truly inspiring to watch so many fellow Canadians race at such a high level, and then to podium. The Super D was very interesting, and it reminded me of Eliminator time trials, as there was a large amount of uphill compared to how much downhill was involved. This was great practice for Nationals.
-Jenn McTavish
Today was awesome, it was the first day of the camp that the downhillers got to ride a true downhill. We dropped off the XCers at Bonnelli Park for the Short Track XC and then headed out to Fontana to meet Donny from Southridge Cycling (team manager, shop owner and Fontana DH Series organizer). It was a bit of a push up in the hot sun, unfortunately, there were alot of lines and we didn’t know which one would be the course so we sessioned some awesome rock lines and doubles that we saw in videos from previous Fontana races, hoping they’ll be on the track!
-Henry Fitzgerald
So far my time in California has been really good. I am very happy with what I have taken away from the weekend, simply just remembering how to race my bike and getting the first race jitters and cobwebs out of the way is great. This week we are planning to do some hard training in the nice weather. So far, a highlight for me is just getting back into the racing atmosphere. I am really looking forward to the upcoming season and would like to thank the sponsors and team staff for making this happen.
-Quinn Moberg
