MTB: Having a blast before riding with the best | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

I've been  based in Bromont, Quebec, in Canada for the past four weeks having a brief, but invaluable, period of what it's like to be a professional mountain bike athlete.

Training is the number one priority. Second is making sure you are best prepared to train - rest, nutrition and maximising muscle recovery.

The task in Bromont was to transform the graft of winter into my best cross-country race form for the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships at Mont-Sainte Anne, also in Quebec this weekend.

The hard work is done. A double session on Monday saw me complete my final set of pre-world champ intervals. With my legs suitably trashed, I rode home weary but with a smile. I love nailing a tough session and I'll celebrate with a fist pump out of pure satisfaction.

This week, I race in the event that is the pinnacle of my year - the world champs. Mont-Sainte Anne is a tough course on a rock and root-infested mountainside. The single track is rugged, demanding a greater amount of bike control, physical strength and stability.

As you can imagine, this is accentuated when you enter a technical section, after cresting a climb, with your legs burning and lungs bursting. Suddenly your fatigue is more apparent and your entire skill-set is tested. Typically in NZ, you can be lacking in an area but still descend OK because the trail is often more forgiving. Not here.

I am relishing the practice I have had here and look forward to the day I am able to dance up climbs and ride with the finesse of Julien Absalon, France's Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champion, who appears to float over the roughest pieces of track with apparent ease.

Two weeks ago, I came fourth in the Canada Cup final. I had an opportunity to measure up against top American and highly accomplished World Cup rider, Mary McConneloug. She won and beat me by eight minutes. I was a bit gutted about the time gap.

It was refreshing talking to her afterwards. Mary told me how much she loved visiting Rotorua (for the world championships in 2006) and then said: "You were fourth today right? Good job. So how long have you been competing?"

I replied, two years - with my first trip to Europe this year after an awesome first World Cup at Mont-St Anne this time last year.

"Wow, really?" she said. "Mont- Sainte Anne was my first World Cup too ... and that was 12 years ago."

Laughing out loud, we agreed that there is a good bit of time for me to fulfil my aspirations. At 39, Mary is clearly someone who continues to achieve amazing results because she gets a huge amount of satisfaction from lining up and putting herself to task. She embraces it.

So, this weekend I know what I have to do. It will be a damn hard race.

But I'm prepared and ready to put myself to the task. The result will take care of itself. I will finish extremely tired ... and, hopefully, extremely happy.

Nic is a Rotorua physiotherapist and current New Zealand and Oceania cross-country champion racing in her first world championships this week. She'll be racing in her second - the Singlespeed world champs - in Rotorua in October ...