St Columba's High School student Luke Brame was completing his HSC trial exams one moment; the next he was pedalling through mud and driving rain in the oxygen-starved heights of the Pyrenees against the world's best junior mountain bikers.
"For a while it was kind of like 'go to school, do some training, study, sleep and repeat', but I managed to do pretty well in my half-yearly exams the week before I flew to Europe - my teachers were all really helpful," said the 18-year-old Glenbrook resident.
Despite juggling study with sport, Brame said his preparation for the Mountain Biking World Championships in Andorra in early September was good as he arrived early enough to compete in two warm-up events.
He came 72nd in a junior world series cup event in Mt Geneva, France and then scored his first win overseas, clinching the 37km Grand Raid race in Switzerland.
"I really surprised myself in that one and got a lot of confidence from it," Brame said.
Then Andorra's cross country Olympic course turned on the cold, the rain and the mud just in time for the five-lap junior men's solo race.
"It was so slippery that even the guy that won [Denmark's Simon Andreassen] crashed at least once - you'd just slide down the grassy sections," Brame said.
"There was even a 2km section so steep that we all had to walk and carry our bikes up as it was impossible to ride.
"I had a good start and stayed in the main group chasing the leaders, just trying to go as hard as I could in those conditions.
"At one stage I was in the top 30 but got hit by cramping in lap three that was so bad that I needed to be helped off my bike.
"But I was able to continue and managed to catch up from 79th place to 61st, which I was really happy with.
"The high altitude [up to 2700m] really hits your breathing, but I'd put a lot of work into riding up hills in training and that sure did help - I felt pretty good up all the steep climbs."
Despite the torturous conditions, Brame couldn't wipe the smile off his face at the finish line.
"I was just loving all the mud - it was a lot of fun out there."
Brame also qualified as the junior rider in Australia's four-member relay team by nailing the quickest lap out of all the Aussie juniors in an onsite selection trial.
"That was definitely a highlight of the trip," he said.
The Aussie team had a bad start with an early crash and finished 20th out of 23, but Brame could hold his head high after completing his relay leg in the 13th fastest time out of the juniors.
Brame will now concentrate on preparing for his final HSC exams and hopes to gain a sports scholarship at an Australian university so he can take his mountain biking to the next level.
He'll then spend summer competing in the six-round national series in the U23s division for the first time.
"My goal will be to earn enough points to qualify for the world cup series event in Cairns in April 23."
The U23s will be a challenge but I'm up for it.
"It's always good to compete against people who are faster than you - it keeps pushing you."
