Three weeks of racing in the Rockies

The past three weeks I have been in the interior of BC racing at the Canadian National Championships, the Canada Cup finals and the Western Open BC Cup.



I stayed with the Cycling BC team for just under two weeks at Panorama, which was great and a lot better than camping. Nationals was the first race in Panorama. We did a course walk Thursday and had a bit of practice in the afternoon. Friday was a full day of practice and then Saturday was seeding. For seeding I had a good consistent run, I pedaled hard but kept it steady through the tough sections. I seeded 3rd in Junior which I was satisfied with. Sunday I had a good run and kept it consistent and finished in 7th. I wasnt too pleased with my time or placing and figured out that I just didn't push it enough, I was thinking about my placing and who I had to beat too much which distracted me from having fun and going fast.



Getting loose during practice at Nationals (FYI I rode out of it)



The next weekend was the Canada Cup finals also at Panorama but on a different track. I learned from the mistakes I made at Nationals and made some changes to my mental game. There was no seeding for the Canada Cup, so we got two days of practice and then raced Sunday. Sunday the Juniors and Elites were mixed and placed in the start list by ranking. I was within the last 20 riders to race. My run was great, I pushed it and got quite loose on some sections. I didn't get too serious before or during my run because I ride the fastest when I'm having fun. When I came across the line I had the third fastest time if the day. I finished 4th in Junior less than two seconds off the win and 4 seconds off the fastest time of the day. I was very happy with my time as it placed me with the 12th fastest time of the day.



Race run at the Canada Cup finals



The next weekend was the Western Open BC Cup at Kicking Horse Mt in Golden. My parents came up for the last Canada Cup and than I stayed with them for the week and weekend of the BC Cup. We camped out in our Westfalia van. The course was the same as last year except a bit rougher and drier. It was a lot of fun practicing and racing on the course because it's so fast and loose. My race run was very good, I got a bit loose and put everything I had into the last horribly long pedal. When I came down I had the second fastest time of the day and fastest in Junior. I stayed in the hotseat until the last junior, a local racer Riley Suhan, came down and bumped me out. I was very happy with my result because it was Riley's home track and he's unbelievably fast on it. At the end of the day I finished 2nd in Junior and had the 14th fastest time of the day.



2nd place podium at the Western Open BC Cup



After all these races I finished 4th in the Canada Cup series, 1st seventeen year old in Canada. I am also leading the BC Cup series in Junior with two more races to go.



I am still waiting to hear if I've been selected for the National team to go to World Championships in Switzerland. There are four Junior riders going and I am in contention as I finished fourth in the Canada Cup series, but nothings official yet. That was one of my goals this year was to make it to Worlds and I am anxiously waiting to hear if that will become a reality.



I'd also like to give a shout out to NRG enterprises for helping me out a couple times on my trip. I was stuck and needed some parts twice and both times they pulled through and got me the right parts when I needed them.



Thanks



Forrest





Be sure to check my blog at forrestriesco.blogspot.com for more updates and photos.





Thanks to Dave Hord for all the awesome photos.