Day 38: Some Rain in Wagrain

7 Aug 2011

Day 38: Catching the end of the Symphony Jam Session. It was tough to leave Saalbach this morning – it really is an MTB mecca and we came nowhere near to riding everywhere that we wanted to ride. But I guess that just means we’ll have to go back sometime! It’s not far to Wagrain, only just over an hour in the car and an easy drive. Something to consider if you are planning a road trip… Saalbach, Leogang, Wagrain and our next destination Planai-Schladming are all pretty close to each other so would make a nice quartet of destinations for a week of biking. On the way out of town we spotted this gorgeous Corvette Stingray. We thought very hard about trading the WorldBikeParks van for it but basically they would be getting the better deal. Plus we’d never get the bikes and the rest of the kit in the back, although it might look pretty cool with the WorldBikeParks logo down the side and a bike rack on the top.

We arrived just after lunch and set up in another great hotel that offers dedicated mountain bike holidays, The Alpina Hotel, up the hill from Wagrain town centre and conveniently right next to the ‘Flying Mozart’ bike park lift. This weekend was the Symphony Jam Session Event at Wagrain, and we had hoped to arrive in time to catch the action so we headed straight out with the camera gear. We said a quick hello to Jason, the head of the bike park, and then hiked up the course to try and get a few pics. Sunday’s event consisted of a DH and slopestyle combo, 2 separate races – 1 time based and the other style based, with results combining to make the final standings. The DH had already started when we got on the course so we had to make a quick decision as to location – difficult when you don’t know the course but our own fault for not getting here earlier. Still we got a couple. Then just as the DH finished the heavens opened! Really heavy rain too, but as the slopestyle course was in the woods it was OK to go ahead. So we put the flashes in transparent plastic bags to keep out the wet, sat Tim under an umbrella, and got a few moody pics with rain drops and riders braving the wet…

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