Soelden, Not My Best Race

After three awesome weeks of training and riding in Europe, we raced in our World Cup Parallel Giant Slalom Opener Sunday in Soelden, Austria. Unfortunately it didn’t go as well as I would have liked. I’ve been riding fast and feeling good, and was confident I was ready. I rode solid on the steeps on top of the course and carried good speed through the transition to the flats. As I was working the flats, building speed I came into a heelside fully committed on-edge and hit a hole, a cross-rut left over from the women’s race course the day before. I lost my edge and sketched off course, losing my speed before the final flat gates to the finish. It was over. I was so pumped for this race it was devastating. I’ve never felt better on my boards or had better training camps leading up to a race. Maybe I was too confident or perhaps put too much pressure on winning and qualifying for my third Olympic Winter Games all in that race.I’ve reflected the past days on what went wrong and I guess I just made a mistake. That’s racing. One of my best friends on the circuit Gilles Jaquet said to me afterwards, “Don’t worry Klug, you know you’re fast.” Later he advised me, “Sometimes you’ve gotta learn to lose.” Maybe he’s right. It doesn’t always go how we’d like. I feel like I was one of the fastest out there, but it wasn’t my day. I’m stoked for my teammates Eric Warren and Adam Smith who finished 15th and 16th respectively, but honestly it was hard to chill at the bottom and be a cheer leader. I’ll bounce back and get it done in Copper in November and Quebec in December. I’ve gotta stay the course and keep the faith. At the next race, relax, have fun and let the rest take care of itself.I’m relaxing at home in Aspen this weekend, riding my mtn. bike and enjoying sleeping in my own bed for a change. I’m hoping to head over to Moab next weekend for some warm weather and riding. My next training camp is in mid. November at Copper Mtn., followed by two Continental Cup Races there Nov. 21st and 22nd. Our next FIS World Cup Race is Dec. 17th and 18th at Le Relais, Quebec. Thanks for believing. Talk to ya soon. Enjoy your weekend!CKSoelden, Austria October 2005