Guy Gibbs – World Cup Virgin

I was excited, nervous and apprehensive about what was going to happen. The only things I knew were that it was very possibly going to hurt and that I would probably have some factory team rider breathing down my neck at some point. The prospect of my World Cup virginity being taken would be something of a dream come true ever since I started racing ‘push bikes’ 5 years ago. Now it was finally going to happen and it was going to be rough, dirty and thrilling, just the way I had always imagined it.

It was just a matter of right time and the right place that had me poised on the start line, eyes wide and heart pounding in Andorra on the Friday of the World Cup Round 3 qualifying. The mechanic for the Norwegian National Team had happened to be staying at the Chalet Nantegue where I was working the week before. It was him that told me to get in contact with the National Team Coordinator Bjørn Ballangrud because there were still spaces available on the Norwegian Team quota for the Andorra World Cup. By blowing my own trumpet and confirming my permanent Norwegian residency, I managed to get a confirmation of my registration at 11:53 Monday morning, 7 minutes before the UCI registration deadline. I was going to race a World Cup! I couldn’t believe it.

I woke up Wednesday morning in the front of the national team’s rental van really needing a piss. Due to my last minute hijack of the Norwegian national team, there had not been a budget to cover my costs for the week so I had stolen a mattress from the chalet and wedged it across the front seats of the van and claimed it as my bedroom for the remainder of the week. It wasn’t the most elegant solution but who cared; it meant that I could be there.

Track walk after registration was interesting. I had to remind myself that it was just the same as any other race: just pick different lines and try to memorise the track. The problem was that every so often someone like Steve Smith or Aaron Gwin would stroll past not taking any heed of the snake pit of roots that I was analysing in fine detail leaving me wondering whether my efforts were wasted and questioning whether I should have been there at all. These worries were soon put to rest when some of the boys I knew from the UK scene reminded me that seeing as this was my first World Cup race, there were no expectations. They also reassured me that my urge to whip out a permanent marker and ask for autographs every 5 minutes would subside after a couple of days once I started riding my bike.

Due to my low ranking in the series, I was put into training group B which had scheduled practiced with the girls and juniors. This was a bit of a relief and helped me concentrate on what was important, my riding and no-one else’s. It also relaxed me a little and I started having fun because one thing was for certain, this track was awesome!

Starting with a flat pedalling section, the track got steeper and wilder the further down you got. It seemed to go on forever with flat-out off camber sections, chutes and technical rocky sections that threatened to leave you soiled with the out of control speed you had going into them. There were a couple of man-made jumps, gaps and natural doubles that kept you on your toes because on this track it was easy to go wrong with consequences you would rather not think about.

When Friday came around I had 6 hours to wait between my last practice run and qualifying run. I was glad I had my mattress with me as it meant that I could have a good rest and avoid thinking too much about my race run and the nerves that were starting to grow, churning my stomach inside out. When the time came to kit out and get myself to the start line I was treading a very thin line between excitement and fear. All I wanted to do was stay on the bike and put a solid run in, but most importantly stay on my bike because if I came off, it was game over. It felt as though I had something to prove, like I wanted to justify my attendance as a racer at the most prestigious level of racing in the world.

And just like that it was over. I had crossed the line in 77th place with still 14 riders left to go. No way was I going to stay within the top 80 with that many riders left. It turned out however that my slightly conservative approach had paid off and only one of those 14 riders beat me pushing me down into 78th place. I had qualified! I could go home happy now, regardless of what happened Sunday. I had proven my point and achieved a goal of mine which I was always unsure of as to whether it was a fantasy or a real possibility. That night I would celebrate with a delicious pizza rather than my regular budget meal of cold, tinned beef ravioli.
Unfortunately, the other boys on the national team had struck out and crashed or had mechanicals so when Sunday race day came around, I was the only one left warming up on the turbo trainer and trying get into a racing-ready state of mind. They were all great in helping me to get my bike ready as I went from dry tyres to spikes and then back to dry tyres as the weather played tricks on us that morning. It was a slow morning and I just wanted it all to be over but then as I approached the start gate I suddenly got really excited to ride bikes. My main aim had been to qualify, and now that that had been done, I could enjoy myself.
Race run was wild and loose and rather than my arms pumping up, I felt my legs starting to ache. The reason for this was because you were so over the back of your bike when trying to slow down while going down the steep chutes, I was maintaining a squatting position for the majority of the run. My claim to fame was my few minutes of glory on the hot seat, but as I was only the third rider down my glory didn’t last long.

Having gone 13 seconds quicker than my qualifying, I enjoyed the idea of improving on my qualifying position as I watched the remaining 77 riders come down. The finals were very exciting with the top boys putting on amazing shows of skill, stamina and balls. With Remi Thirion taking the win using the help of some creative (wild) line choices, this amazing world cup experience was topped off with the fact that my 61st place in finals gave me exactly the 20 UCI points I needed to race more world cups. Ecstatic, I made my way back to Morzine to ride some more bikes, do some more IXS races and begin my preparations for my next world cup. In the meantime the excitement of watching the world cup footage of Mt. Saint Anne will keep my hunger for racing fuelled as I eagerly await to see how my team mate Will Soffe does in his first World Cup experience.

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Words – Guy Gibbs
Images – Nathan Hughes (nathhughes.tumblr.com)