Josh Carlson: CT Blog: Switzerland Is Epic

Better let you guys know how it’s going over here....ITS GOIN FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!!! haha
the scenery is amazing and some of the riding around in champery, Switzerland is epic!

I’ve sussed out the course here and it is so different to anything else in Australia and I love it!! I’m trying my guts out not to ride the shit out of it and and try and rest a bit haha. I rode a few laps round it yesterday and it is real punchy, rooty and you've gotta maintain your speed over the roots other wise it zaps all your speed and throws you over the bars. Its got a new section at the top of a pinchy hard fire road climb that drops straight down into this super steep bit and the a line goes off a drop and there is 2 other options that are way slower..we got these German dudes to show us the lap and he said to us "yar jus go up and go in off road and descend.." no worries I thought so I rolled down, kinda checking it out but once your committed you kinda got no choice but to send it, so I just thought. she’ll be right! and went to roll off what I thought was a roll in for this big shoot...WRONG!! with no speed I rolled off what was a 2 or so foot drop and kabang went my wheel on these exposed rocks from the rain and flying down the hill I went with these German guys staring at me like I was bout to die!!!! all good now but at the time the poofer valve was def pumping!!

I’ve sussed it some more now and actually looked at it and its pretty easy just a bit steep. The rest of the track is all time but in the race it’s gonna be real bottlenecked and painfully stop starty.

Other than the track the food here is awesome!!! We've made friends with the lady who owns a cafe/cheese shop and she hooks us up with some coffee that puts diggies to shame!! haha I've had a bit of an explore up the other side of the mountain into France the other day and we got to watch the finishing stage of stage 8 (Tour De France) and do some pro stalking. That was pretty cool to see the size of the circus that rolls through for a tour stage!

It'd be super easy to do some epic rides here and eat yourself stupid! Every time I go out for a ride I find more rad little trails or sick climbs that wind up through awesome forests or on the sides of cliffs then after you've been climbing for an hour..all of a sudden a little cafe pops up in the middle of the alps in the fog!! what the!!
I’ve done a few hard laps of the course now and there is stuff all time to rest! its flat bickies the whole course with stuff all sections where you can recover properly before hitting it again.

I’m getting super excited bout this race next weekend and I’m expecting the teams to rock up early this week which will make it all even more exciting. Been struggling hard core with the French language though haha but fumbling my way through meals, supermarkets and the wrong orders!! definitely been getting some funny looks when you drop the “gd-day mate!" bomb. doesn’t really go down too well straight away! I think they think I’m swearing at them or abusing there cows or something haha



I’ll try and upload some photos for you guys and videos over the next few days on here and facebook.

One thing I'm definitely not missing from home is the cold winter weather but I hope everyone is getting out amongst it and still smacking out the riding!

My first world cup is on Sunday 25th July at 2.30pm Swiss time (8 hours behind aussie time) and for those interested in watching can be watched lives on freecastertv. I'll keep you guys posted and let everyone know how it all goes.

luv your work!

JC.