The course in Telluride was quite slow and had a very technical start which doesn’t suit my riding style but that’s exactly what I had been working on in Hintertux so I felt a lot happier and rode a lot better on the course than I would have just last season.
In the qualifying I didn’t have a very good first run but my second run was a lot better and I beat my first time by 2 seconds, a massive difference on a 1 minute long course, that second run time qualified me in 9th position.
They have changed the format for most of the world cups this season meaning that instead of 4 riders in each heat there will now be 6, the same as they have at the X games. This makes the races even more exiting and unpredictable than they already were!
So I lined up against the other 5 girls in my first heat. When the gate dropped I had a good start and was in 3rd position, as there were 6 girls in the heat the first 3 went through to the next round so I was in a safe position and therefore there was no need to try to pass the girls in front. I held 3rd place all the way down the course to get through to the semi-final.
In the semi-final I was off balance going off one of the jumps near the start and fell on the landing unfortunately, it was one of the flattest parts of the course too and even though I felt a little silly doing it it’s always worth completing the course in boardercross just in case there is a big crash down below so I hopped along the flat and up the next jump to finish the course. There hadn’t been any crashes so I didn’t get through into the final but I am glad I finished the course.
I was then in the small final which decided places 7 – 12. We all pulled out of the gate and kept in a big group together, we were still in a big group when we went into the air over the jump I had fallen on in the round before. That’s when I saw the girl directly in front of me had taken off wrong and looked like she was going to fall when she landed, I was only about a meter behind her so I turned my board while I was in the air so that as soon as I landed on the ground I would be turning away from her. My guess was right and she did fall on landing and I was very glad I had turned my board in the air because I only missed her head by about 10cm! If I hadn’t have turned so sharply I would have crashed into her for sure and that would have hurt both of us.
The down side from my sharp turn was that I lost a lot of speed because of it which allowed 2 girls to pass me meaning I was now in 4th place. I finished the race in 4th which gave me an overall placing of 10th.
So some good points and some not so good from the competition but my 10th place means I am now ranked 10th in the world which isn’t too bad I guess.
One great thing that happened in December is that as a BMW ambassador I got to pick up my new BMW, it’s a brand new X3 3.0l Diesel M with heated seats, heated steering wheel, reversing cameras, 8 gears, pretty much everything you could imagine, it’s awesome and great in the snow! Click this link to see a quick edit of my first few days driving with it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhs4_kfJoNA&feature=youtu.be
www.IsleofDeals.com is going really well in the Isle of Man and I'm really looking forward to integrating my latest title sponsor - Optimal Payments / Neteller - as a payment option during checkout. Not only are Optimal Payments / Neteller my Olympic title sponsor along with Pokerstars but they are also about to be an integral part of my business venture - a huge thank you to them.
I have also just signed a new clothing supplier - Dare2B - their clothing is absolutely awesome and I'm looking forward to wearing it at competitions all over the World. Dare2B have been absolutely fantastic and I'm proud to be wearing their clothing.
I’m also about to launch www.ZGCityDeals in Leeds early in the New Year which will be an exciting, but extremely busy time!
I had a great Christmas and New Year with my family and now it’s back to training as the next comp is only 10 days away!
Finally, a massive thank you to my sponsors Optimal Payments / Neteller, Isle of Man Sport Aid, Pokerstars and BMW and my suppliers Dare2B, Oxess snowboards, and Von Zipper goggles.
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