Valberg is one of those venues that just surprise you when you arrive. A few hours from Nice and the landscape changes rapidly, you find yourself in high mountains and incredible rocky scenery. Coming into this event I knew we would be climbing the most of any race so far in the season and it was quite evident arriving into the town with the valleys showing off some superb exposure.
With 8 stages over the two days of racing and a prologue on Friday night it was going to be a busy week-end. The forecast was not looking too promising either, so it was on my mind what it would be like climbing a 4-hour liaison in the wet.
As it was set out in the program Day One would be the climbing day and longer trails and Day Two would be more on DH style tracks and shorter intense stages. Setup for the weekend was leaning towards a more DH setup for me again this race, lots of grip and strong brakes were going to be important. A good vision too and that was being taken care of by brand new goggles that offer better vision with larger frames. So important for the steep stages.
It was a crazy first day of racing for me, after a flawless couple of days of training and feeling awesome on my bike everywhere, I woke up on race day nervous, not hungry to eat my breakfast and tight. This is not the feeling I usually have so I was surprised why I had woken like this. Just trying to relax wasn’t happening for me and this transferred into my racing. Fightingthe bike and fighting myself I spent the first stage in a constant battle between too fast, then too slow and standing myself up in corners with missed braking points. What the hell?
Disappointed with my first stage and overall feeling it was then time to climb for the long second stage of the day and I had a lot of time to reflect. I felt like perhaps it was just the first stage of the weekend and I would ride well in the second stage. The mind is a powerful thing and whatever was affecting me in stage one continued in stage two, as my run was plagued with average riding. I needed to reset myself so I decided the last stage of the day I was to be more on the edge and forget about the first two stages. Even if I made mistakes I was going to just pin it and ride fast. Fortunately this worked and it was a much better stage for me, more on the limit and although I nearly crashed a few times I was happy to finish the day with a much better feeling.
After Day One I was sitting 16th and that was not where I planned to be overnight. I needed to work on my mind, while my body was sore from riding tight. I booked in for a quick massage and during this I realized just how bad my legs felt. The massage was the best thing I could have done before Day Two as once I got off the table I felt like I had reset and had a new body again.
Waking up for Sunday’s race day I was hungry, relaxed and ready to get on and race. My head was in a better place. First stage and boom a top 5 finish. The day was started and I was feeling so much better. No thoughts today just riding my bike! The day continued in the same way all day, good stage finishes, some moments but I found myself not worrying about them and just riding.
Last stage of the day saw me finish with a 4th place and that pulled me back to 12th for the final result.
Although not a top 10 overall finish, I was much happier with my riding and reminded myself that racing is sometimes simpler than what we make it. Outside factors can create a negative feeling and that hinders performance, really, don’t think too much, be happy and just ride your bike!
With Finale Ligure now under 2 weeks away it is about keeping relaxed and showing up in a good head space. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
Justin
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Photos: Sebastian Shieck