Respect to Col and all the others who decided to call it a day, a really tough decision to make, and to be honest it was brutally cold up the top with snow falling then rain, wind, fog etc i personally could'nt feel my hands until i hit Alpe d'huez and merrily ripped off all my tear offs in one go due to numb fingers by the time i got to the woods it was no goggles all the way to the bottom slipping and sliding all the way, it was'nt a true Mega but considering the alternative a very good compomise by the organisers and the weather at the bottom was ridiculous considering what we started in at the top!!
Heres hoping the snow start returns for 2009 (but secretly i love the qualifying track and spend 95 % of the week just riding that) i achieved my goals, did'nt fall off, got cold and muddy but had a lot of fun

The mud on the way down to Allemont was the best bit for me. Going back next year to try and improve on my result and actually do the mass snow start hopefully.

Just got back this morning. We headed South after the race for some sun, Antibes was great and really warm ! I was just about to go up in the DMC when the lifts were stopped, so back to the motorhome to stay warm. I had all my UK rain/mud gear with me so I was fine, not many others did, it must have been terrible.

I had an enjoyable but frustrating week. My qualification time put me in a wide range of positions, from 35th to 54th across all the Qualifiers. I was in the Qualifier where I came 54th ! I would have qualified in 5 out of 8 Qualifiers, I'll have to get faster, a few seconds would have made all the difference. It was a great improvement on last year though, especially as I've hardly done any racing this year due to exams.

At least the result put me on the front row of the Promo. 8th coming out of the first turn, up to 4th through the switchbacks, that felt good. Shame I crashed after the snow, somehow got my lace wrapped round my handlebars and suffered from the lace wrapping itself around the crank. Considering how many went past me with my lace problem, 21st in the combined Promo/Affinity and first Cadette/Youth was ok.

My objectives were achieved, I hope my exams let me back next year, unfinished business.

I was wondering whether 1st in Cadette would give me anything on the Promo. Si (Paton) was getting on the bus at the bottom so I just dived on with him, I didn't spend much time at the finish. I didn't even bother checking where I came after the lace incident. I'll contact Olivia now, I saw her a lot on Sunday & should have asked, but I'm kicking myself that I didn't hang around to get on the top of the podium. I'll have to do it again next year !