Gravity Enduro Round 2 Ballyhoura

So last weekend was the second round of the Irish Gravity Enduro series in Ballyhoura. Dad and I left Dublin at 7:30 and travelled down. We arrived at 9:45 and I got signed up early and got a nice early start time for Sundays race. After sign-on I waited around for the rest of the MAD lads to arrive while my dad went off on a spin.  Once the lad's arrived we headed out onto the course. We did all 5 stages to know what to expect for the race. The stages were a mix of mainly coillte trails and some natural trails with lots of pedalling involved. The course ended up being just under 30 km and with nearly 1000m climbing, it was a long day. Once we finished up the spin we headed back to the hotel and hit the jacuzzi and sauna!

Sunday and I was up at 8 got breakfast and got in the car to go back to Ballyhoura again. It nearly didn't happen though as the van wouldn't start. After getting that sorted we got to Ballyhoura. My start time was 10:38 so I had a bit of time to chat to people before I set out on the course. After getting through scrutiny with no problems I headed out onto the course with Scrivo and Fergal. The first transition was only 20 minutes long so it wasn't long before the action started.

Stage 1 

Stage 1 was completely coillte trail. It was quite pedally and flowy. I started behind Scrivo. Off the start I was sprinting as hard as I could. No problems so far. Got out onto the fireroad and was back on the pedals. On the fireroad I passed Scrivo who had a puncture. Weaving through the tree's and pedalling at every moment. Towards the end I had a little bit of a slide on one of the corners but manage to keep myself upright and got to the finish line. Tagged out and Done. 2nd on the stage a second down on Conor Lavelle ( although I didn't know this at the time as with all the stages throughout out the day). Got Scrivo's Puncture sorted and headed to the next stage 40 minutes away.

Stage 2

Stage 2 started with a long boggy decent that was full of mud. I managed to get all the way to the bottom with no problem. Just before the flat mud section I had a small off but recovered quickly and put the boot down on the fireroad to the section of coillte trail and passed a rider on the fireroad. The Next section was quite fast but pedally as well. Finished it out and ended up coming 1st on the stage. On to Stage 3 only 20 minutes away but the bike sounded like it was 20 years old!

Stage 3

Stage 3 was another coillte based stage. It started with a fast rocky shoot and then a small fireroad sprint. I had caught a rider just as I got to the beginning of the coillte trail but he let me by no bother. No mistakes on the stage and even more pedalling but got to the end in one bit unlike Scrivo who had a nasty crash. Once again 1st on the stage in my category. Next up the lunch stop and then Stage 4.

Stage 4

Stage 4 was a verity of a bit of coilte trail, fast single track and Muddy natural trail. At the start I nearly missed the chicane as I came into it a bit fast. after that it was on to the coillte trails. This was the one of the best parts of the coillte trails as there wasn't a huge amount of  pedalling involved. Once I got to the end of the coillte trail it was a short sprint to the start of the muddy section of natural trail. I must say I was the most out of control but in control that I've ever been on this section of trail in my life. It was great craic barrelling down the trail to the bottom and into the finish line drifting around the last corner. 1st in my category again on the stage.

Stage 5

My god the climb to stage 5 was the most painful thing I've done in a while. For 40 minutes Fergal and I climbed and pushed up from 200m to the top of Seefin at 509m. Once Fergal and I got to the top we had a bit of a break before getting into the line to start the final stage of the day. I started off pretty fast hitting the rock drops and getting a good amount of air. Down the rest of the first rocky section passing 2 riders as I went. The next section was a crazy fast straight downhill piece of single track. I managed to hit 56km/h down it before dropping out onto the slalom road. Weaving between the poles and then into the next section of steep loose rocky trail which I nearly missed and had to ride down the side of the bank to get into. Lots of sideways fun down it, passed my dad who was taking photos and then the final sprint on the coillte trail for about 2 minutes to the Finish area. Done!!



1st in my category 14-18 nearly a minute ahead of Conor Lavelle in 2nd place. 12th overall just 20 seconds of a top 10 spot. Delight with the result in the first Gravity Enduro of the year for me.  Also well done to Jorday Kelly in 3rd, Luke Courtney in 5th and Leah Maunsell on taking the win in Pro Women. Looking forward to Round 3 in 3Rock next month now.


Big thanks to Expert Cycles for sorting me out with a set of American Classic's All mountain wheels which are super light and strong at a fantastic price which got a real test in the Enduro and ran great all day.  Thanks to both Alfie and Robin my bike ran great for the whole event without a single problem.

Finally thanks to Niall Davis and Biking.ie for holding a super event that was so professionally run from start to finish.

Scott