Seth Sherlock shares the story of his shoeless World Cup run in Slovenia
Catching up with Intense Factory Racing's Squamish junior ahead of the final downhill World Cup of 2020
Photo by:
Chris Pilling / Crankworx Summer Series
2020 World Cup downhill season has been short, but wild. Squamish junior Seth Sherlock has been right in the thick of it, which has mostly been thick mud. Starting with Leogang world championships, the young Canadian had three major races in less than two weeks, all in epic weather.
The last of these ended in a memorable, half shoeless run at the second World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia. Sherlock was on pace to make his return to a World Cup junior podium when a mid-run crash left him without a shoe. Rather than pack it in, he rode out the rest of his run, shoeless, to still finish 21st.
Sherlock has two more chances to race in 2020, both this week in Lousã, Portugal. Before the racing begins, we caught up with Intense Factory Racing’s Canadian to see what all went down at the first three races.
Canadian MTB: Leogang world champs looked wild, to say the least. How did you deal with the mud? What was the biggest challenge to training and racing for nearly a week in such challenging conditions?
Seth Sherlock: Leogang was crazy! The new track was insanely hard in the mud. It was fun to ride but definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever had to race. We don’t get mud like that in BC so it was quite hard to adapt to it quickly. The mud was really hard on bikes and gear. For example, if you were to unclip from your pedal in the mud and put a foot down your shoe and pedal would get clogged up with mud and it would be really hard to clip back in. Your drivetrain would also get clogged up with mud and stop working, or your tires would stop spinning. It was all very hard on the bikes.
You had no break between worlds and the first World Cup. All in, that’s 5 races in 8 days (qualification runs and finals). How are you dealing with such a compressed schedule? What do you have to change to make it through a race week like that?
Yeah, it was a pretty busy couple of weeks. I didn’t do much differently because of it, I just really maximized my recovery whenever I could – especially on the Monday and Tuesday between races.
In your final run in Maribor, you ended up finishing with just one shoe on. Can you take us through what happened, and how you managed to hold on to finish the race without one shoe?
Yep haha, my finals run in the second Maribor race didn’t go so well! I was on a great run and was on pace for the podium but got ever so slightly off-line and my front tire sunk into a soft patch, so I went over the bars. I’ve never tightened the laces of my Afton shoes, I just slip them on and tighten the strap. Turns out that’s not enough to keep them from slipping off, haha. From now on I’ll definitely be trying them up properly. It was unfortunate but it’s a funny story to tell!
It’s been a crazy year! Feels great to be back racing. It’s been difficult to get right back into it. I was fortunate enough to have raced the Crankworx Summer Series in B.C. which was a good warm-up to the season, but that was two months before Leogang. It was quite strange going from nothing to World Champs so quickly, and I feel like I’m just starting to get back into the race mindset now. The travel was pretty simple for us Canadians, we didn’t need a negative COVID test or anything to get into Europe. Once we arrived at the races we needed to get tests about once a week. You also aren’t really allowed to hang out with anyone outside of your team and you need to wear a mask obviously, so it’s a very different atmosphere than last season.
This is your first chance to race with the full team set up. I’m sure it’s a bit different this particular year, but how’s the Factory experience compared to privateer life last season?
The factory experience has been amazing! Intense Factory Racing has been super supportive and gotten me everything I’ve needed. Having a mechanic has been great too, especially in the mud which is a lot harder on the bikes. Obviously, there are some higher expectations that come with it, but that hasn’t really been affecting me mentally.
RELATED: Seth Sherlock: From privateer to World Cup podiums
Another doubleheader in Portugal is on the schedule next. What is next for you after that?
Super excited for the races here in Lousã! I am feeling really great on the bike and am ready to get some redemption from the crashes I’ve had in the races so far. The weather forecast is looking good so hopefully we will have some dry racing. After this, I am going right home and am required to quarantine at my house for two weeks, Then I guess it’ll be time to start training for next season! The first race of 2021 is only 6 months away now which is crazy. Outside of that I’ll probably do a lot of skiing over the winter, and ride as much as possible.
The last two World Cups of 2020 are scheduled for this week, with finals falling on Friday and Sunday. Here’s the full schedule, and how to follow Sherlock in the junior men’s races in Lousã, Portugal.
