Gravity Enduro Series Champs Ballinastoe.

So with a months gap between the last round and the weekend there was a lot of waiting to be done for the series champs this year. The weekend started out with practise on Saturday. Practise went well and I felt I had got all of the lines I wanted remembered and had some great craic with Max and Alfie on some of the stages we did. The stages were really good with a good mix of fast sections, really loose steep sections and a bit of the coilte trails.

 Race Day

At 10 o'clock I lined up and headed out onto the Course. I made my way up to stage 1 by my self. The transitions to each of the stages were short enough so within 15 minutes I was at stage 1 ready to go.

 Stage 1 

So out of the start I felt fast getting through the first section of forest pretty fast and out onto the cross country singletrack section. As I was riding it I got a bit of the trail and hit a few rocks and came to a stop. I quickly dragged the bike back onto the trail and got going again as fast as I could. Got down the rest of the stage pretty well. I felt I could of gone a bit faster on the steep section From the bomb hole to the Finish but it was still fast enough to put me 3rd on the stage.

 

 Stage 2

Stage 2 started with a good pedal along one of the coilte trails. There was a quick section of grassy trail before dropping back onto the coilte where a hiding rock in the grass nearly sent me over the bars. Got back onto the pedals and hit the fireroad sprint. On the fireroad I started to hear a loud ticking noise from the back of the bike. At the time I didn't know whether It was the disc rubbing or I had bent my derailleur but I ignored it and continued on. Further on down the trail I ran of the trail and came to a stop again. I Got back on the bike as  quick as I could and got to the end where I slid out onto the fireroad and stopped on the timing pole. I finished 4th on the stage.

Stage 3 

Stage 3 was all Coilte trail. There was a lot of pedalling in this stage. There was no real technical sections on the stage so it went without any problems. The stage also brought you back to the pit area for lunch. I finished 2nd on the stage 2s of the stage winner. Time for Lunch!!

Stage 4

Stage 4 was one my favourite stages of the race. It started with a fast loamy forest section with a few tight turns and some flat out straight jump sections. I got all my lines through this section. After this We were on a straight fast double track and out onto a fire road and then into a coilte trail to the finish of the stage. I finished 2nd on this stage as well only 2s of the fastest time.

Stage 5

Stage 5 was definitely the most fun of the day. It started of with a super fast straight run down a gullied doubletrack that I hit 50km/h on. After that it was into some technical rooty tight singletrack. This section led onto a wide singletrack through the trees and into the open. Hit Big Vinnie And then into the climb out of it which on the last stage took a lot of effort. The final sprint down the fireroad brought you to the flyover bridge and into the finish. I finished the stage in 2nd on the stage.

At the Ended of the day I finished in 3rd which I was happy with but I felt I could of gone a bit faster. A big congrats to Conor Lavelle on the win and Stephan McCormack on 2nd.

Well done to Niall Davis for holding another amazing race and to all the GravityEnduro.ie Crew for their work to make the course.

I'd like to say a big thanks to Expert Cycles for keeping my bike running perfectly for every race and their continued support throughout the season.

Also Thank you to Action Photography for the Great pictures.

Scott