2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS    WET WINDY AND WILD

• The World Championships comes to Britain. This is the biggest mountain bike event ever to happen on these shores.
• It has taken six attempts but Sabrina Jonnier finally gets her first win in a rainy and windy Scotland.
• There are changes to the top of the track, making it better for riders and spectators.
• Ruaridh Cunningham becomes Junior World Champ, Scottish national hero and makes the cover of Dirt.
• Dirt’s SNAP photo exhibition at the Lime Tree Gallery is a huge success.
• Josh Bryceland punctures in his run ending his hopes for the rainbow stripes.
• There’s a lot of pressure on the Brits, but Rachel Atherton takes silver in the women’s DH, as does Katy Curd in the juniors. Gee Atherton takes bronze.
• Jared Graves blows a tyre off the rim in 4X semis. Brian Lopes cuts it close coming from fourth to second to go through to the final. He and Jill Kintner make it a US double gold.
• Peaty gets to the event injured and then snaps his seat off in his run. Minnaar rides part of the track with a dislocated shoulder and Gracia breaks his wrist in 4X finals.

“I feel like I am in enemy territory.” Sabrina Jonnier

“It was pouring with rain and the wind was so strong I couldn’t stand up.” Mick Hannah

I have been racing Fort William every year for 10 years; it’s always been one of the best events and one of my favourite tracks to ride and race. We have had all kinds of weather conditions over the years, from really cold to nice and warm. I remember the first year, the woods were so muddy that it was hard to stay on the bike and it was so windy at the start that bikes hardly stayed attached to the gondola…pretty scary indeed! The track has improved a lot over the last 10 years, it’s always fast and fun to ride. It’s always packed with a massive crowd cheering loudly and getting so excited.

My best memories was winning the World Championships in 2007, it was an epic’ly cold week! On race day the crowds were all along the track, all packed in, there was no empty spots – people were cheering so loud, it was amazing!

Any place where you can accumulate three World Cup wins, and a Rainbow jersey is going to warrant a few fond memories. Scotland has treated me well over the years, but as far as atmosphere, show and good times, 2007 was the best event/World Champs I have been to. Fireworks, racing under lights, jumbo–tron TV, announcers wearing tuxedos, thousands of enthusiastic fans, photographers, beer tents, packed grandstands, it was like a fairytale.

Fort Bill was packed that week, but a small town with a big crowd meant that our hotel was a 40min drive out to the neighbouring town of Ballachulish. Pretty far, over the river and through the woods, but it was a quaint little bed and breakfast on a golf course near a lake with the best home cooked meals ever. Quiet without TV or internet, but kind of nice to kick back and have a cup of tea around the fire and converse. We had booked the whole place out with 11 of us in the GT and Mongoose crew. We were a tight little family that week.

First few days we kept ourselves entertained, went out looking for Nessie, played some golf, took in the countryside, had dinner together every night, it was really quite lovely, it could not have set the tone any better. We were as dialled as we could’ve been, the ladies from the hotel even made us sandwiches cut into triangles and packed lunches each day for training.

Everything was going perfect, till I had a dumb crash in practice and got flipped backwards onto a straight locked arm, which hyper–extended my elbow and broke my little finger. I was in shock, not a nice feeling seeing your hopes and dreams fly out the window with the World Champs two days away. The rain masked my tears, but the damage was done.

We headed to the hospital straight away, and I sat in the back seat and watched my skin change colour on the car ride over. Swollen, and not moving so well, the X–Ray said my elbow wasn’t broken, which was good news. I didn’t want to stick around to hear the rest.

For finals, I was not feeling better, but sort of woke up determined. I had not been sleeping well, had aches and deep purple bruising all down my arm, but strapped it up tight, took some pills and managed the best I could. It was my day after all, I’d waited all year for this, and that was it. Sometimes an injury can take you out of your mind, and really present in the moment at hand. In the start gate I said a few words to myself, hoped for the best, gave it everything I had, and was able to pull and the pain disappeared for a minute, and I won! It had been an uphill battle, but to be World Champion is an unbelievable experience, let alone to win three in a row under those circumstances! Right after that, my teammate Brian Lopes, came across and won the men’s 4X World title! It was one of those nights that can never be touched.

At the end of it we were all drenched in Champagne and victorious as a team. The presenter on the podium shook my busted arm so hard, I was nearly dropped to the floor, but I kept it together. Mission accomplished, and I survived to tell the tale. We celebrated a bit, taking photos in the pits. The ladies from the hotel were so excited to have two champions staying in their place, they came outside and greeted us in their thick Scottish accents screaming, “Ahhh, you were wee stars out there!” I love Scotland .