Photo: © Mikkeli Godfree

Tassie devil: The Sid Taberlay diary 2004

24 year-old Tasmanian Sid Taberlay is a man on a mission. The current Australian and Oceania mountain bike champion, Sid is, like so many athletes this year, striving for a berth at the Athens Olympics Games. But his never-say-die attitude, down-to-earth deameanour and a desert-dry sense of humour - not forgetting a bloody big motor! - puts Sid in the best position possible to realise a life-long dream.

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XC World Cup #4 - CDM, Schladming, Austria, June 19-20, 2004

Chaos prevails

After leaving the L'Hexagonal MTB Tour de France early for Sunday's World Cup, the travel adventures started. Left France for a three hour drive, followed by the world's worst check-in at Limoges airport. No joke - check-in was in an extra large market tent and inside was like a glasshouse, with every one taking shelter from the heat outside, you just had to laugh. We made it to Austria, via an overnighter in London.

Typical Austrian course, zig-zag up a grass paddock, then back down again - they sure know how to make it fun! Saturday night before the race is fast becoming predictable in Austria - it's going to bucket down and make the course a minimum of 60 percent unrideable.

The race - is this the first World Cup in history to start in the small chainring and dismount 20 metres after the start? Not so bad being on the front line, only I slipped a few times and dropped back in the 20s. Wasn't a problem until 100 riders behind cut the course and I suddenly ended up last. I had fun taking some stupid downhill overtaking moves, until I came around a corner too hot, hit a tree root and rolled my tyre off the rim, back to last again. That was my race.

After a complaint to the UCI, I am told that as long as a majority don't go the right way, it's OK. Typical of the weekend's organisation. So, will it be OK if everyone cuts the course at the Olympics or the riders find a better course?

We are now back in Holland after an all-night drive, fly home on Tuesday. Yay, until I think about it. I usually can't sleep on the plane and having missed last night, I'm going to have a serious case of jet-lag.

Cheers,
Sid

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