Well the second round here in Loudenvielle went a bit better for me! After a top ten finish in the pro stage on Saturday, I gained a bit of confidence within myself and started to believe that’s where I can be for every other stage. I was really happy with my riding for the rest of the race on Sunday. I made minimal mistakes, blew through minimal turns (which is a big achievement for me racing enduro) and really gave it everything I had in all the pedalling stages. I had a couple top ten stages and no stages outside the top 20, which compared to the race here three days ago is a massive step forward. I finished ninth in the end with close times in front and behind me. I’m looking to keep the ball rolling for the last two rounds.

Round two of Loudenvielle started out much better than round one! Focusing on the small wins, I was stoked to be starting the day today in P9 after a strong Pro Stage the evening beforehand. Alas, a mechanical at the top of the first stage of the day (S2) had me lose the day before it had started! I refocused, with the goal of an overall result gone, it was again about the small wins. I had a sneaky tenth on S3 and I was hoping to continue to build on that. Unfortunately a timely crash on S4 ruined what was feeling like a strong stage and a huge improvement from round one. Heading into S5 I was really pissed off, sore and had some small issues with my bike – this stage was hard! I knew I could have another good run down S6 (the pro stage) but I’ll admit it was hard to keep the energy up after what felt like a defeating day. I had moments of riding really well, just unfortunate when there’s nothing to show for it! Pretty stoked on Connor’s ride today – very impressive stuff.