Stop 1 - Lillehammer, Norway. Our usual stomping ground for pre season. It was the same as every year to be fair, nervousness with getting back onto our sleds, sore necks from the crazy g-forces that our bodies had been without for 6 months and the age old headache of setting up sleds. The sled side of things always takes time, fitting new runners, optimising setups etc etc, but everything seemed to run a bit smoother than usual with the help of sled tech Rachel Blackburn, i'm not alone in being very thankful for all her hard work getting us all sledded up and ready to roll! Lillehammer allowed us to get back into the grove so to speak, and everything went without a hitch.
Stop 2 - Selection race 1 - Winterberg, Germany. As the title says really, the scene for our first selection race, literally a whistlestop tour here, 3 days of training followed by a 2 run race. Within our mens team we had 7 athletes capable of winning spots. To cut a long story short I had a nightmare on my first run here, literally the first corner of the track screwed me over and from here all speed was lost. My push times were the fastest in the team by a considerable distance, but were unable to save me from 6th spot. Disappointing but not the end of the world considering the calibre of the sliders in the British setup. Anyway, onwards!
Stop 3 - Altenberg, Germany, selection race 2. This was to be the tough one. One of the toughest tracks in the world to get down safely on let alone do it quickly! I was also the least experienced at this track in terms of runs down the track over my 5 previous years so an uphill struggle was on the cards from day 1. Same format as before, 3 training days with 6 training runs and straight into the race. Training didnt go well by all accounts, runner setups were a struggle and the final days training was a complete no show in terms of performance. Sometimes however we need days like these, maybe its a kick up the backside to focuse, maybe its teaching you what not to do! Either way I pulled the second race result literally out of thin air to come 4th. My push starts were incredible, smashing a massive .12second off my push personal best and from there, a lead of almost 2 tenths to the next fastest pusher, it was a case of catch me if you can. Admittedly 3 people did catch me, but thats besides the point, ide rather have it that way round, it means that when i finally do learn how to drive as well as some of our other guys il be a real force to be reckoned with! :)
Loading onto the sled at Altenberg. Picture by Phil Searle.
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