Tracy Molesey - Being A Pro

Tracy Moseley is one of the top riders DH in the world that has developed a formidable style and talent. Successfully gaining her World Title again in 2011 she has shown how consistent she is and one of the riders to beat.

However as most athletes will tell you the road to success is not easy and it often requires many physical and mental battles.

In the last round of the UCI world Cup in Val di Sole, Tracy was on a practice run as she was preparing to defend her title and take the 2011 win, but the worst happened and she crashed. It looked really bad, but she got up and managed to race later in the day into 5th position to retain her crown, Tracy spoke to IMTB about her experience and what happened, plus her plans for the next year.

At Vale di sole you had a spectacular crash, but how did it feel and what happened?

Yes it was a pretty good one !! It was my last practice run before the race
on Sunday and it just happened out of nowhere. I hit a hole which just blew
my one hand off the handlebars and the next minute I was head first into the
rocks !

Tracy starts her crash...

How was your result affected by the crash, although you were in a practice run?

I made me realise that a mistake is so easy to happen on his track and I
crashed on a section I had been riding fine all week, so it definitely made
me more cautious when my race came around, as I had so much to lose in that
race. I could not afford to have a crash like that or I would have lost
the World Cup Overall

When riders go down, what type of protection are you personally wearing and does it help?

I have always chosen to wear full upper body armour, so back, shoulder,
elbow and chest protection and when I have crashes like that I am so glad as
I was on my back in the rocks but I really did not suffer any injuries, just
a bit stiff the next day ! Without the protection I think I would have
damaged myself a lot more

Mentally and physically your at the top of the DH pyramid how do you psychologically get over incidents like that does it slow you down?

You have to be able to block it out of your mind and just focus on all the
times you got through that section with no problems. It is really hard to do
and a hard skill to master to not let it affect you.

The new year you have your own team, how is that whats you aim by going solo?

It’s been a lot of hard work, but I have been really fortunate to have great
support from my sponsors to be able to put together a great year of mixed
racing from World cup DH, to Pro Sprint races, some XC and lots of Enduro
racing. Having been focused on just downhill for over 15 years and having
won all the titles I set out too I really wanted the opportunity to take
part in a bigger variety of mountain biking. Its going to be a fun year !

How are you using enduro as part of you training regime?

All my riding and racing will complement each other. The fitness from XC
racing will help my endurance in Enduro and the skills from downhill will
also help with downhill and racing enduro will also complement my xc and DH
so I really feel it will be a great mix.