Well this Mt.St.Anne venue has been on the world cup since 1991? And for good reason, it captures the speed and technique that world cup DH courses demand. I think it is probably the hardest XC course too, with steep technical rock gardens, rooty woods, pinch climbs, etc. DH today, first day of practice was loose, fast and really dry. They have rerouted the top to be a cannonball run down the ski slope into a tricky right hander, then into the woods again. Lots of rocks, then high speed, then dust, some turns, and more rocks. The rock garen is pretty fun, just less and less dirt each year.
I did a near full run in timed training. Just one stop in the middle. The ol heart rate was charging 120 out of the start straight into 177-187 nearly the whole 5 minutes. I haven't even seen my heart rate do that, just cruising without pedalling too hard too. Why not max it out:) my heart is working well, but hey DH is intense, breathing is your friend in the threshold:).
Tried to pace it out today, unlike the other first days where I just get really excited. The course is always in the best shape on day 1, so fun!!! got 3 days left, quali tomorrow. I saw nothing, nothing to report. Just riding. Norco had an awesome pit set up for us, so that was cool.