Caroline: When I arrived the first thing I noticed was that the hill was taller and when speaking to a few people we found out it was slightly taller than normal. First impressions where spot on what I thought that it was going to be...but it looked a lot bigger in person. Do you think you got enough practice time to get used to the track?
Caroline: I definitely think that we all had enough time..If there wasn't a cyclone happening every day of riding and the wind swinging direction. I believe that everyone including the guys would have dialed the track a lot faster.
Did you manage to jump everything you wanted to jump during the first session?
Caroline: Not at all...I was riding quite timid in practice at about 90% commitment because there were so many crashes and everyone including the guys was sitting around watching each other.
How much harder is it for you to go from one at a time, to a full race of 8 people on the gate and then ride the track?
Caroline: By the time racing came around I had felt my confidence on the track build and riding next to other people around the trac
k I actually found it easier to get through because you had 8 other riders pushing you to commit harder. The wind definitely didn’t help with the difficulty of the track. Would it have been a different race without the wind?
Caroline: I believe that the results all would have been similar. But there would have been much less crashes, the racing would have been a lot tighter and faster and everyone would have felt less fatigued.
The men had to take the box jump. What needs to be fixed with that part for the 2012 Olympic track? Caroline: I think that the box jump looked fun and not too hard. The guys' 2nd straight looked a lot harder....I think that the girls need a little box jump in London :)
How often did you crash?
Caroline: NONE :)
Did you wear extra safety gear at this Supercross World Cup?
Caroline: I actually wore less..I usually wear knee pads but I was feeling restricted so I didn't wear them. I always wear a moto helmet, neck brace, goggles, gloves and elbow pads Do you think this Papendal track would be a lot easier to ride in two years from now?
Caroline: I believe that for the girls if we all went back and rode the track again next week we would all be faster and it would feel easier. The UCI by building this track has made everyone step up, rise to the challenge and take our riding to the next level.
Ok, imagine you’re the track designer for the London Olympic track and you can make 3 changes to the track. What would they be?
1. Add in the tunnel for the girls on the 2nd straight
2. Make the 1st turn for the girls bigger
3. make the girls 1st turn line up straight with the start hill so that lane 8 is not the best lane.
Any thanks to the sponsors or any people in particular?
Caroline: Thankyou to Cycling Australia, ACTAS, Sport Australia Hall Of Fame, Layne Beachley "Aim for the stars", UNIT clothing, Oakley Eyewear, Leatt Neck brace, Stromlo Forest Park Canberra, Musashi nutrition, Intese bicycles, Tioga, Stealth, Thompson and Sinz.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.