Atec Munster Enduro Rd 3

The final Round of the Munster Enduro Series took place on Sunday in Thomastown Woods Just outside Ballyorgan, Co,Limerick. The Race format is completely different from the gravity Enduro format. It's a one day race where you ride all the stages blind but you can have a second go at each stage if you want. Dad and I arrived down to the town around 10 and I then went and met up and had a chat with some of the rest of the Xc youth Development Squad that were racing as well. We then went and got signed on and collected our timing chips. We then headed up the road to the Forest and up to stage 1.

 Stage 1

Stage 1 was steep, fasts,loose and off camber with a big long fireroad sprint in the middle of it. My Blind run didn't go so well as I crashed coming out onto the fireroad and then got lost. So I did stage 1 again and gained a huge amount of time which I was happy with.

 Stage 2

Stage 2 was fast. It started with a open section through a felled wood area. i felt pretty fast through this section. Then it was over a fallen tree and into the woods. There was a straight fast chute down the forrest and then out onto a fireroad briefly before flicking right up a steep bank and back into the Forest. From there it was a pedal through the trees to the finish. I only made on small mistake on the stage where i came to a stop but it went well enough that I decided not to do the stage again.

Stage 3

Stage 3 was a mellow enough stage with one main forrest section and then a lot of pedalling. I didn't do a second run as it went well enough. I'll let the video do the taking on this stage!!

 

Stage 4

Stage 4 had to be one of the most challenging. Even the very first corner was catching people out. It was tight, fast and loose with a couple of switchbacks at the top. My blind run was alright but felt a bit slow so I did a second run which felt a lot faster but I had a crash near the top so I ended up with 2 identical times for the stage.

 

Stage 5

Stage 5 was the shortest stage of the day but was one of the most fun stages.It was flat out down the hill with a few jumps and small berms thrown in to add a little extra spice. My first run was fast enough and didn't fell like I need to do a second run but as it was the last stage of the day i made the hike back up to the top again and improved on my time by 5 seconds.

Overall it was a great day with some great racing, fantastic stages and deadly company. Was delighted to take the win over David Conroy and Luke Courtney who also rode well to 2nd and 3rd. Well done to Team Ballyhoura for holding a great event and to Jonathan Maunsell for building some great stages. Thanks to Expert Cycles for sorting my bike out during the week and who manage to retubelessize my front wheel 15 mins before closing on the Saturday evening!!
Scott