Hannah Report: Racing In Bali

'Where do I begin?' was the question I asked myself before starting this post. Knowingly having an audience really puts the pressure on. Yes, I know I have an audience on my web site, Facebook etc, however they don't quite compare size wise. I've always used writing to get things off my chest and write down how I felt about a race, trip, training, injury - not particularly to please an audience. So you can see why writing a blog for Pinkbike could be a bit daunting. On that note, I am flattered and I now have my opening paragraph.

Bali Bali Bali….who'd of thought that a place like Indonesia would be a place where you could feel like a rockstar? There are millions of people in this country. Somewhere out of town a long way, on a little mountain village, by the ocean there it was: the race track of the Asian Pacific Championships.

We walked the track and it was hot!! 35 degrees and water in the air. There was no way of staying dry from sweat or cold from heat. There was no cool breeze to stay cool, we were surrounded by trees and hot ocean air hitting us like an open oven. The track was rad, as we walked down you could see the ocean from every turn. The track was my favourite type - "Dusty ". It was sharp and technical, and a little bit physical too. At the end were 2 options, one way A-line and the other B-line. They were 20sec+ long and the B-line was about 100 metres longer than the A line. The track had difficult off-camber sections and a bizarre rock garden. 

First day of practice was hot, hilarious and a great deal of enjoyment. You wouldn't believe how many crashes I saw in the span of a couple of hours. To the Indonesian riders this track was really technical and challenging. It made for a great show.
 
Seeding had popped around and the schedule said practice at 6am!!! What kind of crazy person thought up this schedule? Ok so I opted out of practicing and just woke up in time for my seeding run. When I arrived at the top I was informed that I would not be allowed to ride the A-line, it was off-limits to the girls. Well devastated is not the start of how I felt about that. I arrived at the bottom after my run with a 40sec lead. The men's practice was after the first group of seeding runs. So we made a plan so I could practice with them, I got a number plate, they put me on the start list and in one *kaboom bam* I was an elite man.
 
I was so happy about being a competitor in the elite men's category so I could ride the A-Line! I suppose the real motivation was racing my 2 teammates Cous Cous and Guillaume. We all went up for practice, I had a smile on my face as we took the shuttle to the top and I was in the midst of my new competition. I was so determined to go fast that on my first practice run I made some kind of mistake which allowed my foot to hook on a tree which in turn threw me sideways and I went flying off my bike down the side of the hill. As I lie there thinking about what a silly move it was I tried to sit up and I was pegged down by the pedal on my bike. Lesson learned; and the Indonesians weren't the only ones crashing. Anyway, I got over it, went up for my next seeding run and finished up 11th.
 
Race day was about and another schedule glitch, practice for women was 6am!! I took the chance and skipped it, woke up in time for my race run and off I went. Waking up and then doing a race run is not an ideal situation and I would suggest a "don't try this at home" comment right here. Racing out of that gate with no warm-up or practice is such a shock to the system. Your body doesn't expect that kind of adrenalin, heart pumping, legs hurting without some kind of pre-warning. I finished my race in good form and took first place.
 
That wasn't the priority race for me. My big race was coming in the afternoon. We had our practice after the morning race runs. Again my competitiveness towards my teammates got the better of me and I tried something different, I dropped off a weird section of the track, I hit a small stump which threw me over the handlebars and I landed directly onto my head. As I dizzily stood up I heard in the background "Tracey". It was Guillaume, he came over and pulled up the visor covering my face and brushed some of the dust off me. I was confused as to why my line didn't work, I asked how he rode this section and his answer was "I SLOW DOWN". Ahhh gotcha.

Racing time was here and I enjoyed watching rider after rider start before me as I would go 11th - last. I began my race run super excited and more ready to go fast then ever. I was slipping and sliding everywhere, I sprinted where I needed to and cruised through the hard off camber turns. I arrived at the bottom happy with my run and exhausted from the long hot day. I finished 12th in the Mens class just over 11 seconds behind my teammates.

It's the first time I've raced in Indonesia. The atmosphere is just crazy. I couldn't leave my pits without someone wanting a photo. The crowd stayed all day long in the hot sun just to watch us race down the hill. The local riders race in their local communities and will never get a chance to go to places like Whistler or Queenstown. What they have is what we bring. They love mountain bikes!! I will always be willing to come back and bring a taste of the world to a country less fortunate than us. Thank you Indonesia for humbling me.

Thank you Polygon bikes for opening my eyes to a corner of the mountain biking community that is untapped and amazing. Thank you to my Team and all my sponsors. A race I will never forget!




traceyhannah.com
facebook/tracey-hannah-racing
twitter/TraceyHannah