Saint-Etienne BMX indoor championship
Hi there everyone. André here with my first race report. On the brink of the 2011 season - looking really foreward to it! I went down to France and Saint-Etienne Friday morning. It was a long day, and I felt OK during practice on Friday night. Felt really good and spent time on getting “on track” for the race.
A big shout and thanks to my man Bertrand Briois from Redline. He helped me get my bike up to standards and I got some nice swag from him as well!

Saturday, Open Race
Started well with wins in the 3 prelimenary rounds. Spent the heats good and treated each run as a final. My approach is that this is good training.  1/16th final and another win. I felt that I got more and more speed as the race went on. 1/8 final pretty much the same. Lane 1 in the semis. This mean that I would get the inside track
and could be among the first riders to the first turn. Got an OK start and was elbow to elbow with one of the best
French riders. But I lost a lot of speed and had to work hard to get a decent position.
Came in as 5th and thus, didn’t qualify.
A bit dissapointet when I think about how well I rode.
Packed my stuff and started to think positive about the day to come.

Sunday, Elite Men
A bit tired after the race on Saturday, but got stuck in there in the preliminary heats. For every heat I felt better and better. 1/8 final and another win, the same in the 1/4 final. Semi final and lane 2. The same French rider next to me as yesterday. This time though I wanted to give absolutely everything to get to the final. I was doing it all and leading untill the second turn. I fell over and brought with me most of the riders in my pack.
Bummer!
Still, after some thinking and speaking to my coach Petter Dalen, I was pretty pleased with the weekend at Saint-Etienne. This is not the time when I will be in my best shape. I’ve been training really hard and working on my start. I have showed that I’m capabale and that come the new season - I’ll be on fire!

On another note, working hard every day and doing my training. 2-3 times a day. It’s “the Good Life” and I really enjoy my self. A big thanks to my new sponsor 2XU (Svein and Kim), the clothes are amazing. Thanks also to everyone giving me the chance to set the world on fire. Some good news and new sponsors on the way. Stay tuned.

2011 next...
--André #20