Erzberg felt like it was a disaster this year. Finishing fourth – the first non-podium position – is pretty much the worst place to be, especially when winning was my goal. But hey, that’s the result I got at the end of what was a crazy race.
In all honesty, I’ve put Erzberg to the back of my mind the last few days. I’ve not gone over the race in my head, reflected on what could have been. Instead I’ve been riding, spent some time on my road bicycle, and been wakeboarding. As I see it, things didn’t work out how I hoped they would, and beating myself up about it won’t change anything. I got fourth, Graham Jarvis won, and that’s that.
I was pretty pissed off when the race finished. Pissed off that we had to ride through the water at the start like we did. And pissed off that I got pissed off with things during the race. I guess when you work so hard to get a good starting position, and then get a good start, for it all to go to shit so quickly is frustrating.
It was a bit of a lottery, and I certainly didn’t win anything.
Saying that I got a good start is pointless, actually, because I didn’t. I was the first rider to the first corner, and should have been the first rider up the first hill. Maybe if I’d have ridden a little slower through the water I’d have been fine, but then again I’d probably have got drowned by the other riders anyway. The start of the race is always important and holding back is never a good thing. Luck was pretty much the only thing that separated most of the top riders – some that got through pinned it, others that flooded their motors didn’t. It was a bit of a lottery, and I certainly didn’t win anything.
As disappointing as finishing fourth was, there will soon be another race to try and win. And there was one massive positive I was able to take from the race – my physical condition. Before the race I’d not done much in the way of racing due to spending time getting myself fit and healthy – properly fit and healthy. I have to thank my sponsors for sticking with me during the last few months because I’ve not exactly set the world alight. Instead I’d been doing all I could to be a ready as I possibly could for Erzberg.
The weather made getting out of bed at five in the morning even tougher
Erzberg takes it out of you, that’s for certain. Like all top racers I was up early looking at the course and doing my prologue run. And with the weather being so crappy this year it made getting out of bed at five in the morning for four days straight even tougher. Snow was something no one expected, but despite it I had a solid prologue run. Everything was good really, apart from the main race.
I’m chuffed for Graham, for finally getting the win at Erzberg. As a racer I’d rather have beaten him, but you can’t take anything away from him – he’s grafted long and hard at Erzberg and deserved the win this year.
I know what to expect at X Games now
It’s only a few weeks before I head to Munich for X Games, and then straight on to Romania for Romaniacs. That’s going to be a pretty full-on couple of weeks, but I’m looking forward to it already. I know what to expect at X Games now, so it’ll be all systems go in Germany… I just hope there’s not an Erzberg style lake waiting around the first turn!