The flight was much longer than any flight I'd been on before but the plane was pretty comfy and we had a TV so it wasn't too bad. Finally 7 and a half hours later I had my first real glimpse of New York. It looked so big from the sky, I couldn't even imagine what it was like to be in it.
When we landed into Newark airport I wasn't expecting the crazy heat that greeted us. And everything seemed huge. It was all on a scale much larger than anything I'd ever seen before.
After we'd stood in an immigration queue for what felt like hours, spent ages lugging the bike box and suitcases around trying to find the car rental place, and then faced the nightmare of trying to drive out of Newark, we were finally off. Driving up the New York State thruway was like one extreme to the other as when I looked around there was just forest for miles around, as far as the eye could see.
The day after we arrived was Wednesday: track walk day. And it looked fun! So loose, and fast with some big jumps and drops. But I also knew it was going to be pretty tough.
It took me a while to figure out the track in practice. It was so different to most tracks I've ridden before. But I was pleased that I managed to get all the jumps apart from the 12 metre road gap and the double in the woods that had like no run in to it. I could feel the track tiring me out already and I realised just how much strength you actually need to be able to properly tackle these World Cup courses, a lot more than I currently have.On Friday morning during practice I had a pretty big crash in the rock garden and injured my wrist and tore a ligament in my thumb. So I put ice and bandages on them, had some painkillers and just took qualifying really steady because the junior girls don't need to qualify.
I was super nervous but excited for the race. I wanted to try and push it as much as my injuries would let me. During Saturday morning practice I managed to find a bit of speed on the track which I was happy about. And the weather was so good: so sunny and dry. But that also meant the track was so loose and dusty, and I was struggling a bit in the heat. I was also still feeling a little tired from the travelling and time difference.
Before the race Rachel Atherton very kindly got her physio Laura to tape up my hands which was very helpful.
The race run was hard but at the same time so exciting and fun. The American crowds were so crazy cheering us all the way down the course. I had a small crash in the rock garden and towards the bottom of the track my wrists and thumb were really starting to hurt griping on to the bars, but I was pretty happy with how it went. I ended up 18th women and 1st and only junior girl racing. And then got to watch the British girls get top 3 and Aaron Gwin win in front of a home crowd.
Two years ago I had my first shot on a downhill bike at Fort William. A few months later I bought my first downhill bike. Now I've got my first top 20 at a World Cup. I've still got so much more to learn but I definitely learnt a lot from my time in America, and feel now that I know a bit more what I need to work on to compete at World Cup level.
Big thank you to Natural Retreats for helping fund the trip and for getting me some awesome jerseys and hats.
