2014 Season Recap

I haven't written a post for a long time now. 

A lot has happened since. A lot of time on the bike and the trails.

I have raced all but one XC NPS races and learned a lot as a result of them.

A big lesson was to stay hydrated during the race using natural electrolites. 

Even a bigger one, that proper food, fuels your body and the brain for the race, and no "shortcut" energy gels, bars or drinks can substitise it. 

The biggest lesson of all, was Enduro.

I finally built up the courage to race Enduro event. I know my bike is not Enduro racing machine but non the less I decided to have a go. 

First it was Djouce. 

I asked Stephen and Gary what do they think, will I manage, and come back home in one piece. They said I will be fine. That the trails are like the stuff we ride up Mt. Leinster. 

Filled with confidence but still nervous I went down to my first Enduro. 

Bit of a wait in the morning and cue up for the race numbers and we where ready to go. Stickers on frame, fork and wheels to ensure nothing is changed during the race.

I relied totally on Stephen and Gary to guide me thru the stages and to find my way around. 

We where also joined by Harry who came over from Wales. 

Unfortunately the weather decided to not be on our side. We left the race village wearing rain jackets but in high spirits. After the first stage I wasn't as scared as before it. It was difficult, technical, slippy and wet. There was no way I could be fast, but I was happy that I will be able to do all the stages. 

Little did I know that stage five had a bit of a suprise for me.

Have to admit I was scared at times on some drops and decents. 

Off camber switch backs, fast turns, and roots. Lots of wet roots.

Couple of times, during the transitions between the stages, we passed a drop into a fire road or off the fire road, I said to Stephen "I hope we don't have to go down that!" And Stephen with a grin would say "we just did!"

Needless to say I learned a lot on these stages. I would say every stage gave me experience of few months of "normal" riding. 

After stage four there was a long transition, and then we got to Stage 5. Now that was something else. Boys have said it's a hard stage. So me and Harry took it easy at the start of it, but then you just couldn't take it easy anymore. My breaks where so hot that I had virtually nothing to break with, on the back. 

It was steep. Very steep. 

And with all the rain that day, bits of it turned into a muddy stream. If I had seen  that stage in a dry, after walking it for few times I might have decided to ride down it. The fact that there was no turning back, and the trails just became steeper and steeper I just went for it. 

I bounced from tree to tree, I fell, I slid on my back so many times I can't even remember the most of it. To my surprise I didn't get injured. Now, I can't say it didn't hurt but it wasn't too bad. 

I was truly delighted with myself. At the bottom I had so much adrenaline in my body, it was hard to calm down. 

I can't remember the last time I felt like that.

 Just pure joy and a sense of achieving something more than I anticipated. I was so happy, (tiredness and cold from being soaked to the bone, didn't exist). 

And then it happened. With a big banana grin on my face I was pushing the bike backup to the race village, across the river, and I slipped. The bike went sideways, wedged between two rocks I landed with all my body weight hitting  the rib cage against the seat. 

Heard a crunch. 

I thought it was the seat at first, but I was wrong. Bit winded I rode the bike back to the race village. Adrenaline still rushing throughout  my veins I drove home.

It hit me when sat down on the couch. Oh the pain... But I wasn't going to give up the race after all the hard work. So the next day after only few hours of sleep, filled with pain killers, I went back to Djouce. Gary gave me even better tablets then I had, and we set off again. This time joined by Chris.

I must say I remember only very few things compare to practise day, but I remember stage five! It was even worse than the previous day. Two days of rain and all the riders have turned it into a steep mud slide with bridges, roots and lots of trees. 

Have to say I struggled a lot to get down it, with the conditions and the pain. 

Never the less I did it! Maybe I shouldn't have, but I did. 

Five weeks later we went up to Carrick. 

Broken ribs almost healed it was a completely different event. I only had few hours for practice day so we did three out of five stages and I had to leave the lads. After Djouce there was no scary stuff for me. Have to say level of confidence went from 2 to 9. Trails where just perfect, weather fantastic, just a total pleasure. Now bearing in mind previous event I took it easy. And not only because of my abilities but also the little voice in my head saying "don't over do it". 

It took most of the practice day to get the level of confidence back up.

Once I convinced my brain that I'm not going to break the ribs on purpose, it was all good. I could enjoy great trails, beautiful weather, and superb company. The only downside of the day was that Stephen had a nasty crash at the stage five. Luckily nothing broken, but I'm sure he could do without it. 

Now, back to winter training it all seems like a distant memory. 

I have to say skill level required for Enduro is higher than I thought, but experience gained after each event is huge. I can recommend Enduro to every body who is undecided, but you might need some guidance as to how to ride the stages from someone who has done the races of that sort before. 

Also I have to congratulate the youngest member of The ML Syndicate, my daughter Amelia, who came fourth in national championship  and is second overall in under 8 girls National Points System. It was her first season and I'm very proud of her. 

Flat pedals and adjustable seatpost

Flat pedals. 

Coming from road racing, I always took it for granted that if you are serious about biking, you have to be clipped in. Become one with the bike, let the cranks be the extension of your legs, my old trainer used to say. Although that is quite right for the road racing, it's not necessary true for mountain biking. I took the advice from Gary and Sinéad, and thanks to Stephen who was kind enough to give me his flat pedals to try, I never took them off the bike again (well, I did but only for cleaning and service). 

I think that everybody who uses clipped in pedals and shoes, should at least try to ride flats on different terain. For me the difference was colossal. Not only it gave me more confidence during cornering at speed but made me feel the corners way better. For those who ski or surf it's like trying to do it with the knees bent as oppose to straight. For me the freedom of movement on the bike makes all the difference. Of course it gives me more confidence, but most important it's  the ability to move the centre of gravity to follow the trail. But you might say, what about the climbs? That was something I was wondering about too. I think the time has come when people should realise that mountain biking is not road biking off road. That's called cyclo cross. We, mountain bikers should know that climbing the mountain on the bike should not be compared to running ( like road cycling is) only to dead weight lifting. Just like during the lift, we should be trying to push the ground away from us with our feet. And again flat pedals are just perfect for that. 

Next great recent invention for the mountain bikes is the adjustable seatpost, or like some would call it a dropper post. The idea behind it is simple. When you climb then seat goes up allowing you to use maximum of the power transfer from your body to the crank arms. During descending you can drop the seat down to allow free movement on the bike letting you adopt a centre of gravity to the steepness of the slope or severity of the corner. In my opinion this device is as necessary on the mtb as brakes and gears. I've yet to meet anybody who disagrees. It surly is a game changer to your riding style, speed and a comfort for every type of riding, but especially AM , Trail and Enduro. 

XC NPS round one Slade Valey.

So there it was, the first XC race of the season. I was really looking forward to it. Lots of training leading up to it, I felt ready. 

But it wasn't to be...

I started off very well I thought, moving up few riders on the first climb, then single track, then another couple, catching up the lads down hill and overtaking some on the climbs. 

 After the first lap, bang! 

My left crank fell off! ( later I found that the pin in the security plate snapped), quick stop, I put it back on, few riders went pass me, but I didn't loose the spirit. 

When I got back on the bike I heard someone shouting " you're  flat on the back" , but I didn't think he was talking to me. 

Unfortunately he was.  

On the next climb I noticed no air at all in the back tyre. I didn't give up yet though. Got the punctured tube out, replaced with a new one. 

At that stage I knew, that I've no chance in the race, but I continued with the work. All was ready, just to pump up... and that was the end of the race for me. 

The pump failed! 

I got little bit of air in but could not continue the race that way. 

I was gutted. 

Slowly walked down the hill to tell the organisers that it's a DNF for me. 

Not all was bad though, there was five of us from the club racing that day. Sinead has come 2nd, but what really made my day was, my daughter Amelia raced as well in U8 Category and came 2nd!  

Her first race and already on the podium. I felt so proud, and still am. 

 

So now bring on Round 2! Hopefully this time I'll complete the race. 

Amelia is really looking forward to the racing as well.

Biking Blitz 2014 roundup

That's the end of 2014 biking blitz series. The last round was very XC even more so than the rest. Ballyhoura has some great trails but the race for Baggy Shorts is mainly climbs on fire road and nice flowy trails down. Nothing to technical but very enjoyable. I finished 26th which is a great result for me. Very, very happy with it. I think it helped a lot that I had a chance to go for a spin few days before the race on that trail. Good form before and after.  Sinéad has finished fourth and got overall bronze for the whole series. Chris and Tom have been racing too. Tom raced in Super Pro.

Its really great help having Gary there before the race. He's so knowledgable, especially with all the stuff that you will only learn with experience not from the web or the books. 

Our club is getting stronger and better every week. We have decided on the logo and the jersey design and Gary is going to order the first batch this week. 

Blitz in 2014 so far

I just finished third out of series of four Biking blitz race. This time it was Ticknock in Dublin. Starting from the top...

The first one I entered this year was in Balinastoe, wicklow. I was curious how it would be to enter the race as a Super Pro ( twice the distance than the last year), so I signed up and participated in that category. I came last, but I was happy I finished it at all. Distance was very long, too long for me to be racing it, but that's not the point really. I wanted to experience how elite XC racing looks like these days. Well I'm not going to go on and on about it but I was discusted. It's a road race on the mountain bikes. Exactly the attitude and behaviour I hated in Road Cycling twenty years ago. Young guys so drugged up and wound up that it was scary to look them in the face. 

But hey, I wanted to see it and I did.  I know I will not be pushing my children into XC racing. Next race was in Derroura ,Galway. This time I entered Baggy Shorts (same cat as previous year), more suitable for beginners. I was very happy with the result. I finished mid table. 

Today's race was in Ticknock and my wife and two kids went with me. 

I was so happy they were there and they got to meet the guys I'm riding with. The fact that they were there, made so comfortable on the trail, that I bet all of my records I have previously set on that mountain. Another great thing about today was, there was four of us from The ML Syndicate racing. So great results! And Sinéad ( one of The ML Syndicate riders) was on the podium again, like on all the previous races. Well done Sinéad. 

The year 2013 in short

So, I as said in the earlier post, I was a happy owner of Cube AMS at the start of 2013. Darragh ( the bike shop owner) introduced me to Kilkenny bike club Crucial Mtb. All was good on the Facebook but when it came to spins I just could not go whenever the boys went out for the spin. Thru the Facebook I found out about Biking Blitz. The race series, that was beginner friendly. I thought I have to give it a shot. And I did. Had a great time on all the races, but my results where rather poor. I was never last mind you but almost...

Nevertheless I got to meet people, and again via Facebook I found out about a new club KMBC starting out in north kildare. I knew few lads ( and ladies) that where already members, so I asked can I join them on few spins. I had a good time with them but, I couldn't go on all the spins with them, as they where all long distance away from my house. The one I really enjoyed was going from Dublin to Glendalough mostly over the Wicklow Way. Great spin, over 40 km on the trails across the mountains. 

During all that time I kept in touch with the people who were training on the Mt. Leinster. And almost at the of 2013 Garry Williams, numerous downhill champion, announced that he will be starting a club on the Mt. Leinster. So I waited untill that happened and here we are today I'm a proud member of The ML syndicate. 

Past to present. A little bit of history.

Just to recap my story with MTB so far...

When I was a young boy....well a teenager I started doing a bit road cycling with a local (almost) club. After about a year I got bored and got into mountaineering and rock climbing. 

But I missed cycling. Then one of my pals got himself a newest trendy bike with flat handle bars, a million of gears and thick, off-road tyres. That was it, it clicked with me straight away- the love of  cycling and the love of mountains and adventure. Before long I was climbing my favorite mountains with two like minded fellows on the 18-gear, rigid forked, steal framed, ton weighing beast. We were happy as pigs in a ... 

Then came competitions and racing. The beginning of XC racing was somewhat different than it is now but none the less it was XC racing. Some successfull starts some not so successfull, constant need of an upgrade to better, lighter components that was my goal. 

In my head anyway. The reality was that I was struggling even to get propped set of cycling shoes.

 All was fine untill an accident while climbing. I fell during rock climbing and fractured my wrist. Not a big deal, only the following weekend I insisted and went racing XC race. I won alright, but my wrist was in bits. Broken in three places. That was the time when I realized that professional sport has nothing to do with good time and good health. And that was me finished with propped mountain biking untill autumn 2012, when I decided its time to give up smoking and start looking after myself. Twenty years after I gave up racing MTB I started cycling again. After a year of, on and off biking my employer introduced a bike to work scheme, witch gave me an opportunity to get a propper bike. Cube Xms. All was good I enjoyed the bike. It was way better than any bike I had before. Everything was going great. I was trying more and more difficult trail centres, untill after only three months, my bike was stolen from the boot of my car. I was devastated. I really wanted to ride. I took out the old hard tail from the shed, but it wasn't the same. Then, when the owner of the bike shop, who sold me the Xms found out what happened, he offered me any bike I wanted at the cost price. I was thrilled. With the help of friends and my father, I got th Cube AMS. That's a second expensive bike in one year. That's a bit of a stretch for the father of three kids below 10. But I'm happy I was able to do it. Would not go back at all. So far the bike has helped me with giving up the smokes, sorting out my back pain, easing down headaches and much more physical stuff, not to mention all the brain stuff like stress, self confidence and more. But later about that. 

So that's my story with the bike almost up to date. Next post will be about my 2013 year as a mountain biker. 

The first post

Hello World. So here it is, I decided to write a blog about my return to mountain biking. More for myself but also might prevent someone from repeating some of my  mistakes.