In search of one UCI point: Tracy Moseley writes for Bikemagic

http://bikemagic.com/news/in-search-of-one-uci-point-tracy-moseley-writes-for-bikemagic.html

Action sports videographers, the Parkin brothers, have created a video of the action you can expect to see from T-MO racing in 2012 –

(London) – Tracy Moseley announced her list of sponsors, and provided additional details of her 2012 race plans while at The London Bike Show last week.

Tracy sat down for a Q&A session alongside World Cup commentator Dan Jarvis. She spoke of how the T-MO racing idea came about and her plans for 2012 in more detail. The sponsors that will be supporting Tracy in 2012 are a mix of companies Tracy has worked with for many years, with the addition of some new sponsors for 2012.

Trek and Bontrager

T-MO Racing – NEWS

Tracy Moseley, the 2011 downhill World Cup champion and 2010 downhill World Champion, will be refocusing her racing efforts in 2012 under the T-Mo Racing banner. The Trek-sponsored rider will expand her racing calendar to include a variety of race formats next year. Having begun her racing career in the early 1990s, downhill became Tracy

My final 2 weeks in Europe were spent riding, riding and more riding and racing. It was so nice to be in the mountains at this time of year as the autumn colours were just amazing and the trails and towns were really quite. It was definitely out of season for the alps and we made the most of it riding in some beautiful places without seeing a soul. We spent a few days with friends Lucy and Phil that run the mtb holiday company in Verbier, Bike Verbier. They have so much amazing trail knowledge not just of Verbier but also the area around. More big days, hike a bikes and 1.5hr climbs meant we got to some of the most remote, unused perfect alpine singletrack descents that went on for hours ! Back to back big day riding was not the best preparation for more Enduro racing but this trip was all about enjoying the riding and trying out some different events. Whilst already in Switzerland we took a short but very mountainous journey over the Furkapass to Flims to take part in the final Maxiavalanche race.

Maxiavalanche is a smaller version of the Megavalanche, still a mass start and predominantly downhill race but a little shorter, times for Flims were around 13mins. The early snowfall across the alps left the start of the race in the snow and with some warm sun over the weekend it was quickly melting snow, but for the first race on Sunday morning it was still frozen solid which made for a pretty scary start ! The terrain in Flims looked amazing as the mountains were not super steep, chairlifts linked up miles of valleys and I can imagine it could be a great spot for some big day trail riding.

The racing took place over 2 days with practice and qualifying on Saturday and then two race runs on Sunday. There was a good field of around 25 ladies, enough to give us nearly 3 rows on the start line. I had no idea how I would fair amongst the enduro crowd so I just made sure I got the best start I could and kept accelerating down the first wide open section trying to get away and avoid any carnage ! My plan worked as in every race I got a good start and led from start to finish. The wet slippery conditions definitely helped me as it was pretty technical in places so I felt my downhill experience really helped me take some time out of the rest of the field. It was another great experience doing a mass start race, it

Having finished the Transprovence race in Monaco I decided to stay out in France and visit the big French Bike Festival the Roc D

The Transprovence race is now in its 3rd year but I only found out about it during the Urge event I did in Cabo Verde back in February when I spoke to Mark Weir and Jerome Clementz as they were signed up to do it. I emailed the organiser when I got home and managed to get the last two of the 50 spots available. It was going to be our end of season holiday for myself and my boyfriend James ! As James has spent most of the year watching me race it was going to be a chance for us both to race and take part in adventure together. The concept of the event was amazing, 7 days of riding from Gap to Monaco with 10,000m of climbing and 15,000m of descending and during the course of the week there are 24 timed stages which were meant to be predominantly downhill…..but we soon found out that Ash the organiser loves the climbs and even more the hike a bike carry sections !! It was going to be the most unrelaxing holiday we could have chosen !!

The journey started with a transfer from Nice up to the start just outside Gap. Having to pack just one bag with all the kit and spares you might need for the week ahead, your sleeping bag and pillow was already the first challenge for me ! Once packed we then had a 4hr drive up to the start through some of the most beautiful scenery but also one of the most windy roads ever. I had the back seat which was a bad choice for any feelings of car sickness ! Once we made it we entered the campsite and found our tents which would be our home for the next 8 nights ! Having done a similar type of event earlier in the year at the Cape Epic this was so different in the fact that there were 58 riders and around 30 staff compared to over 1500 people at the epic. Camps at the TP really had a family feel and super social nature. Pretty much as soon as we arrived it was dinner time and the food that came out of an outside camp stove kitchen was just amazing. We ate so well all week it really was 5* camping. The following day we had a free day in which we sorted out all our stuff, the boys all talked rubbish and tried to mess each other

The World Championships in Champery were always going to be an interesting one as the downhill and cross country courses are some of the most technical of the whole race circuit and in previous years the weather has always played a big part in the event ! This year was to be no exception !

This year at the world championships I was going to be taking part not only in the downhill but also in the XC team relay ! I have really enjoyed my exploits into xc racing this year and the added fitness that it has brought to my downhill has been noticeable too. The Champery xc course is one of the most technical tracks I had seen and I was chosen to ride just one lap of the track alongside 3 other GB team mates in the Team Relay event. It sounds easy just to do 1 lap of around 15 mins but I soon found out that it was far from easy ! A maximal effort in a stage such as the world champs where the adrenaline is flowing created an effort that I never recovered from right from the start ! I went so hard that I never managed to regain my composure and suffered for the 17mins it took me to complete my one lap ! I gave it my best shot, but just never expected it to hurt so much for the entire duration. However my efforts helped the GB team to a 9th place finish which was a good points scoring result for them. For me it was an unpleasant experience but one that I really felt helped unite the XC and DH communities as so many downhill riders came out to watch me suffer !!

With the relay done it was back to the downhill track and although I had missed a few practice sessions it didn