Crankworx. It’s arguably one of the most hectic festivals for athletes to attend while also being the most fun at the same time. The first round of the series kicked off in Innsbruck, Austria this past week and I was lucky enough to be there for it.

Crankworx. It’s arguably one of the most hectic festivals for athletes to attend while also being the most fun at the same time. The first round of the series kicked off in Innsbruck, Austria this past week and I was lucky enough to be there for it.

We had made the trip over to Austria from Canada the week prior to allow plenty of time to recover from Jetlag, but the first day of practice/racing still arrived quicker than expected. Dual slalom was first up and it has always been an event I look forward to racing.

Everything about dual slalom is fun. Racing bikes on tracks filled with jumps, rollers, berms, and of course flat grass corners, is hard to beat. The event is almost comparable to sessioning your favourite trail with a group of friends. Everyone pushes each other to go faster, corner harder, and half the time it ends with a crash or two but everyone is still smiling at the end of the day.

For me, slalom is what biking is all about and that’s why I continue to do it even if I am not standing on the top at the end of the day. With that being said, I didn’t come away with any amazing results from slalom in Innsbruck, only qualifying P.16, but it got me fired up for the next time I can get on a slalom track for Crankworx in Whistler.

After the slalom finished up, all eyes were on the downhill. As someone who used to race downhill religiously but has stepped back in recent years, part of me was excited to get on track while the other part was worried I would be in over my head among the other elite women who do it for a living.

After day 1 of practice, I made a couple of observations.
1. The track was so much fun and was exactly the type of trail I enjoyed riding.
2. The Process X was more than capable on this DH race track that the majority of racers rode their DH bikes on.
3. There are some crazy fast women here.

I came into day two of practice cautiously optimistic about riding and what would come later in seeding. This was quickly thrown into a whirlwind when DH practice was cut to an hour which only allowed pro-women to get one lap of the track before seeding started. Prior to my seeding run, after practice finished, my mental game was a bit off and my only goal was to not be in last place. Having such limited practice had fully cut my confidence down and I was wondering what I was even doing at the race. When I finished up 15th in seeding everything changed in my mindset. I was no longer questioning if I belonged and instead I was aiming for a result that would push me to ride at a higher level than before.

Rolling into day three and racing, I was in a really good place and was loving every moment. The pure enjoyment of riding my bike and pushing myself to be better had me in that flow state that we racers strive for. With the vibes as high as the scorching temperatures, it was bound to be a good day.

When I rolled across the line into third place with only 11 women left to drop, I was over the moon. I had backed up my top 15 seeding result and gone one position better for 14th place in the final when all was said and done. My run was loose but that’s rather typical for me and there really wasn’t much I would have changed. I know there are certain aspects I need to work on to get into that top 10 range, but as always, it’s a work in progress for me. The 14th place may not seem like much to most people, but like any racer, I have certain riders I always compare myself to. Coming away with either a faster time or at least an extremely close time to some of those riders was the highlight of the weekend for me personally.

With everything now wrapped up for Crankworx Innsbruck, I can look back and be proud of the week I had and use the highs and lows for motivation for the next stop on the world tour. Crankworx Whistler is bound to be even bigger and better than Innsbruck and I can’t wait!

Above Photos: Boris Beyer