Cycling BC High Performance athlete Georgia Astle recently travelled to her first UCI Mountain Bike World Championships with Team Canada, coming in fourth place in the Junior Women’s DH. We caught up with Georgia about her time at Worlds, and what she’s looking forward to for next year.
It was really fun hanging out and getting to know the team. We had some good laughs and got to know one another pretty well.I was able to ride with Vaea (Verbeek) down most of the course which was really nice during the hectic practices. Claire (Buchar), Miranda (Miller) and I held down condo E29 as roomies, and had a little too much fun! So cool to be with Claire for my first World Championships and probably her last!
What were your strengths out there?
I was able to keep smiling and having fun through everything that went down during the week. Crashes, technicals, horrible conditions, getting stuck behind riders in seeding and was straight up scared of parts of the course. I just had twice as much fun in the steep chutes at the end and the jumps, to make up for the ridiculously muddy bridges that I kept crashing because of.
What do you need or want to focus on this off season in preparation for next year?
The biggest thing for me right now is to get more hours in on my bike. I am still new to racing, and once it’s time to drop in for my run I need to know that I have everything dialled in, especially my confidence on the course.
This off season I want to bump up my training program. Last fall/winter I was in recovery mode from a crash I had at Crankworx. I had a pneumothorax and punctured my lungs, broke 6 ribs, 9 transverse processes and my collar bone, and had a concussion. I still notice a difference in my breathing and have trouble with cardio. It would be nice to get that back for next season.
What type of support are you looking for next year?
A team would be ideal, but I still have so much time to develop as a rider and could do another season picking out World Cups and National races that fit within my budget if I can’t find anything else.I am looking for all kinds of support for my first year Elite: bike sponsor, clothing, components, training, financial etc. The search is on! 🙂
Photo © Rob Jones/Canadiancyclist.com
Photo courtesy of Georgia Astle.
Photo courtesy of Georgia Astle.