Nathan Parsons Reports from Mont Saint Anne

Nathan Parsons (BikeYard/NukeProof 4X team) competed in the UCI 4X World Cup last weekend. Conditions were mixed and the track was suffering badly. Find out how Nathan got on below:

After a week at home of training and riding it was time to get my bags packed again for Round 4 of the UCI World Cup from Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada.

After Delays in London and New York we landed in Quebec on Wedsnedsay after a very long flight. Once we dropped all our baggage off at our condo where we would be staying for the week, we headed to do a track walk of the 4X track which had been slightly changed in places since the Worlds.

Most of the corners and jumps had all been reshaped as well as a new pro line and finish line jump. The rock garden was really the main feature of the track which looked to have 3 different line choices.

Thursday morning I awoke to the sound of rain coming down on the roof. So after a relaxing morning we headed up to the track for the first pratice session which turned out to be cut short due to the track being in such a bad way. The UCI only opened the first straight, rock garden and pro line just to save the track for qualifying as it would do so much damage. We would also see lots of takeoffs being boarded up to help with the conditions. We were limited to a 45 minute session so I got as many runs in as I could and got all my lines sorted for qualifying.

After Thursday’s rain I was expecting much of the same weather again and it rained up untill and hour before practice which left the track quite rutted and wet practice and qualifying.

Practice went well, I was feeling good getting all my lines grooved in as well as a few gates with all the Brits. Practice didn’t seem to last long and it was time for qualifying.

Graves was first to go and he flew down the first straight, after him we saw both Slavik and Graf both go out with big crashes caused by punctures, which seemed to make everyone quite nervous. I was feeling quite confident after practice and ended up qualifying in 24th after quite a good run apart from a few mistakes lower down the track. The cut off was 32 instead of 64 due to there only being 47 entries which made it that bit harder for everyone.

Saturday was sunny and hot all day which did wonders for the track. We went into practice with a near perfect track after it being baked hard and dry all day. After getting all my race lines dialled in practice I took it easy towards the end after practicing a few gates.

After a 30 Minute break after practice it was time to go racing, I was in the 2nd heat along with a good friend and fellow Nukeproof rider Micheal Mechura along with Quentin Derbier and Yuuki Kushima. The gate dropped and after a bad gate I was in third coming into the first turn so cut to the inside and came out the corner just behind Mechura then into the left hander. I went outside and Derbier went inside and from that point I was right on his wheel to the finish but just couldn’t find a place to get past.

Overall I ended up finishing 22nd and improving race by race. I was happy with my riding but still alot to work on to reach my goals. Thanks again to TheBikeYard, Nukeproof And Hotlines who made this possible. Next race in the National champs at Harthill in Cheshire in just over a week.