Sun’s healing Erzberg hurt
By Jonny Walker on 14th Jun 13
It is a good job the sun has been shining since I got home from Erzberg because if it had been raining like it was in Austria Id be going crazy.
Not because I hate rain, but because since I got home I've been able to get out on my enduro bike, road bicycle, and wakeboard – anything but staying in thinking about Erzberg.
I have to say Erzberg didn't exactly go the way I hoped it would this year.
I don't need to tell you that it's an important race, so to not finish on the podium is seriously disappointing.
Although I don't feel like I did too much wrong, things just didn't work out.
There's no point thinking ‘what if' because nothing will change.
What happened has happened and it's time to look forward to the next race.
Hats off to Graham for winning. Of course I wanted it to be me stood on the top step of the podium, but I know no one has put in the hours at Erzberg over the years like Graham has, so he certainly deserved it.
It was a really strange event this year. The weather was crazy, with the snow on the first, and – as it turned out – only day of the prologue.
I had a good run and even though I was the first rider to head off into the snow I got the third fastest time and was just six seconds behind the fastest rider, which I was really pleased with.
And I didn't take any hot lines!
Right after the race I was pretty annoyed that the start didn't get moved as it put a few of us in a really difficult position.
Having got the job done during my prologue run and got a prime starting position I should have just pinned it and got my head down.
Instead I was half-trying to take things easy and half-trying to go as fast as I could to stay ahead of the other riders.
I got water into my motor and like a load of other riders had to re-think my approach to the race. I wasn't left with much option other than to ride as hard as I could and hope that others ran into trouble.
They didn't, but I made a few other mistakes, which kept me off the podium.
But, I'm pleased with the way I felt, physically, after the race.
Yes, I was tired but I felt much better the days after the race than I had been feeling.
I went riding the day after I got home, which I don't think I could have done a few months back.
The time I spent getting myself back into shape seems to have worked.
Now I'm feeling better I'm looking forward to the races I have coming up.
X Games in Munich should be great. Things didn't go well in Barcelona, so now that I know what to expect I'm going after a podium result.
If the track's as wide open as it was in Barcelona then the racing's going to be really competitive – but it'll be good.
Ciao for now...
