Return to the Source - Hannes Slavik Ready for JBC 4X Revelations 1

by Hannes Slavik // photos by Markus Slavik

One year ago I won my first 4X Pro Tour World Cup in Italy and right afterwards I took one of the most massive crashes in 4X history at the infamous JBC 4X Revelations in the Czech Republic. By luck, I walked away from that one with “only” a 30-minute knock out, a concussion, a whole lot of bruises and double vision for a few weeks.

It took me quite a while to feel confident on my bike again and for sure a hard winter of training to get my power back. The race season is always long, so for most of my cardio work I would grab my Source pack and get my enduro on. Business and pleasure!

After all this I was able to start my 2015 season with a qualifying win in Germany and a 4th place podium finish in Fort William. Not too bad for the season openers, but it would get much better this past weekend at the third round in Poland.

​With winning my qualifying and winning the final I was back in that special first place, one year after my last win.

Every single heat was clean and smooth, and I was able to save some energy during the first runs, important on such a physical track.

After I took the hole shot into the first turn of the final I was able to defend my position without any problems, and turned that day to one of the best in my career.

Now taking a look at the race schedule, our next Pro Tour stop this upcoming weekend will require my mental strength more than my physical condition to conquer. The hardest 4X track ever built is ready for race action once again and I really hope I am ready too -JBC is back. At the moment my feelings are mixed. For sure there is some fear but I finally feel ready to handle it - a good thing, because taking on that track with any kind of mental block could go horribly wrong.

Riding all these different disciplines - BMX, 4X ,Enduro and DH - means changing bikes many times during the season, which can be quite hard. So I am very thankful I just had the 4X World Cup stop in Poland, which along with other recent 4X and BMX races has left me feeling absolutely confident on my Ghost 4X gun. The second fact which perhaps makes this situation easier for me is that I still have absolutely no memory from the moment when my head impacted the ground to waking up at the hospital. So there is no recollection of the initial pain and the preparations for the helicopter flight, and to be honest I am really glad about that, because I think it makes handling the mental aspect much easier for me now.

So I am feeling ready again and this weekend’s win gave me some helpful confidence for taking on the JBC. A little fear will hopefully remind me to slow down just a little bit coming into the the big pro set this time, so that I will not overshoot it as massively again.

Right after JBC another dream will come true... Crankworx Whistler here I come!

Ride on!

-Hannes

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