Was the amount of fans in attendance for the Men’s 12.5 Pursuit @ World Cup #5 in Ruhpolding, Germany.  That is the highest amount of fans I have ever raced in front of.  Last year I believe there was 20 000 so it was a very impressive amount this year and you could hear, see and smell it from a mile away.

My first race was the 10km sprint and it was a tough one,  Robin Clegg and I had flown in just the day before training day.  We did race prep and prepared for the race which would take place after only 48 hours in Europe.  It was a different experience I was more concerned about getting over jet lag and getting rest then about the races.  It seemed to work out ok,  I ended up shooting 8/10 in the Sprint which was kind of average for the day so I was satified I have struggled in getting a 90% this year on the shooting range.  It was clear to me on my final lap that I was very close to not making the  top 60 out of the 125 competitors.  And I pushed with everything I had but I had no 5th gear I might have even been missing my 4th gear but I pushed on and qualified for the pursuit in 58th place.  It would be my worst start in the pursuit this season but considering the circumstances I was satified,  now I had to try and sleep, drink and prepare for the Pursuit.

So it is Sunday morning I wake up from a restless night at 9:30 I am not nervous for the race just tired and looking forward to the experience.  Upon arriving at the race site at 2 pm I am yawning and tired so I try to fix it with some false alterness and down a couple cups of coffee.  It worked for a while but made no difference on the course.  It was a very fast start and I did all I could to hold a pace that as reasonable but today I had no 4 or 5th gear was bagged,  Fortunately however I was able to save face by having some of my best shooting I managed to shoot 18/20 in speeds I have not seen in two years, needless to say this was very satisfying and necessary.  I crossed the line a disappointing 44th a decent result but with my normal legs I would have certainly made some points today!

Ok well that is done and it was great the fans were motivating and I have now raced my first World Cup pursuit in Germany.  With these races I achieved the intensity I wanted and needed to get and can hopefully recover and find myself for the races in Antholz this weekend.

Wish me luck!  Sorry not pics right now next week though when the internet is not costing so bloody much.