July 23, 2008

Beth Parson reaches the podium

In her first race since turning pro, SCOTT rider Beth Parson reached the podium at Psychosis in Golden, British Columbia, “the most demanding downhill mountain bike race in the world.” Here is a view of the race from Beth’s window…


Beth on the 3rd place stump...

It was a long overnight drive from Whistler and we arrived about 5 am and crashed with the boys from Cove Bikes at the hostel on the river.

Around 4 pm on Thursday, we finally got to the very top of Dead Dog, the first section of the trail that is pretty much a dusty chute that is steeper than anything I've ever seen, with some even scarier loose corners and roots that make you pick up more speed than you can handle.


Beth in action

I was so scared and excited and kept looking over the edge. "This isn't even the steep part," said my friend Jeff, "but it won't be any less scary next time." So, I just went for it.

I'm glad I rode it then, because it was my only time down Dead Dog before my race run. The next day rain and thunder came rolling in and made "Nutella" (or goose snot) out of the trail so it was impossible to ride. There was lots of talk of how the race wouldn't be run from the top in wet conditions. There were a few injuries, a life flight and a 12-man rescue carrying one guy with a leg injury up Dead Dog.


Hanging out with friends (Beth is in the middle)

I knew that on my race run, I'd have to focus on getting through Dead Dog in one piece, and past the dreaded hike-a-bike without suffering a heart attack. The rest of the trail was fast and really exciting.

My race lap was so much fun. Lucky for us the weather held out and we rode from the top. I crashed twice but loved every dusty minute of it. I also crashed once after the hike-a-bike because my arms were so tired I actually couldn't squeeze the brake levers! I crashed into a tree and went over my bars.

I loved this race because it really pushed my skills and my enthusiasm. I've never had such gnarly crashes, ridden such steep terrain or ridden so hard for so long. I'm sad this was the last year for Psychosis.

I'm looking forward to competing at CrankWorx. Thanks so much to the Evolution team for keeping my SCOTT bike so pimp and race-ready, and to GLC Restaurant for supporting my racing.

See you on the dirt!