2014 Xc Nps Rd1 Slade Valley

The Xc NPS race season kicked off on Sunday with the first round in Slade Valley held by IMBRC. Being mainly concentrated on Enduro this year, I hadn't had any time on the cross country bike before the race but decided that it would be good training for the year. Dad and I arrived at the track early Sunday. I went for a practise lap just to make sure the course hadn't changed from last year which it hadn't. At 2 o'clock we lined up behind the S1 and got ready to race. I got a good start of the line and got up to the kicker on the start loop in 5th but couldn't hold the spot into the singletrack and dropped back to 8th going into the dh section of the start loop. After going through the start finish to start the first lap 6th and 7th started to pull away a bit up the first fireroad. Marlena went past me and I pulled in behind her and drafted behind her all the way back up to 7th again. The group of the 4 of us stayed together through the first single track and down the fireroad to the next section of singletrack. Just before the entrance I put in a sprint and got into the singletrack ahead of 6th place.
I pushed hard down the singletrack and opened a bit of a gap.I held 6th into the "Rabbit ride" section of the course which was the most technical section on the course. I managed to catch 5th place on this section but lost him on the fireroad after it again. I stayed in 6th for the next lap not making any mistakes and keeping it clean and fast. Towards the end of the 2nd lap my back started to get pretty sore but I pushed on. Half way round the 3rd lap I got passed by 2 other riders as I had slowed down a good bit due to my back. I got a gel into me towards the end of the lap and then put the hammer down. Even though my back wasn't right I pushed hard and caught back up with 7th place and passed him. Towards the end of the last lap I had to make a quick stop before the last climb to the singletrack to the finish as my saddle had dropped about 3 inches. After that it was straight forward to the finish with no problems. I finished 7th in the end a good bit behind the winner but I'm happy with my result considering having had no real training and a sore back. Well done to Paddy, James and team mate Dan on 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Big thanks as always to Expert Cycles for their support. I'd also like to thank Adrian Van Der Lee for the amazing photo's. Check out his gallery here: http://adrianvanderlee.zenfolio.com/p981573289

See you guys in 2 weeks for Rd2 on my home turf, 3Rock

Gravity Enduro Ireland RD1 Ballinastoe

Yesterday saw the return of the Gravity Enduro Series with Rd1 in Ballinastoe. Practise took place on Saturday where I spent over 5 hours out on course looking at lines and trying to get those lines dialled in on the new bike.The course was a bit wet and muddy on Saturday but thankfully it dried up overnight and we were left with perfect conditions for race day on Sunday.




Racing started at 10 o'clock on Sunday morning. A new timing system which worked out amazingly well meant no more trying to tag in and out awkwardly.

Stage 1 went well, I tried to keep it clean and fast and not throw it away at the start of the day. I was 2nd quickest on the stage in my category which was a good start to the day.

Stage 2 went well. I put in a good sprint on the fireroad section and managed to catch the rider infront of me just at the end as we went through the finish gate. I ended up 2nd again in the stage times for my category.

Satge 3 was one of the best stages of the day. The new section up top was amazing with loads of jumps and berms. Once again I kept it clean and smooth and ended up putting in the 4th fastest time on the stage in my category.

Stage 4 had a lot of new stuff on it and with not being allowed to ride it on Saturday due to the weather and soft ground I didn't really know where I was going at times. Riding it without knowing where I was going made it hard to keep it clean at times. But that's something I need to work on for the World Enduro Series in Scotland in a month and a halfs time. I put in a good enough time to put me 4th on the stage in my category


Stage 5 was the longest and best stage of the day. At over 6 minutes long it's one of the longest stages in the series and was a real test of overall rider ability, with lots of pedalling and lots of fast decending. The new top section was tight and technical and I made a small mistake just before joining back onto the stage from last year. From there it was a clean run till I ran wide on a corner and caught a tree and had to get off the bike and pull it out from under the tree. My time on the stage was still good enough for 3rd quickest in the category.


In the end I finished 3rd in Juniors with a time of 21:56, 7 seconds behind Robb Hales in 2nd. My time was also good enough to be 8th fastest overall on the day. I'm happy with how the day went but I now know I have one or two things to work on for 3Rock in a months time. Well done to Conor who won our category (and set the second fastest time overall on the day) and to Robb coming 2nd.

As always Biking.ie put on a great race and Thanks to all the photographers for the photos!

Big thanks to Expert Cycles for sorting me out with the new bike for this year. Really happy to be riding the new Yeti 575.

Munster Enduro Series Rd 1 Tracton

So Sunday saw the start of the 2014 Enduro season in Tracton woods for the First round of the Munster Enduro series held by MBCC. It was a 5 stage, 2 run format (Best times count) with no practise on the Saturday. Racing started at 12 o'clock on the all natural course. The first 2 stages were very pedally, but went by without major problems. I decided not to take a 2nd run at either stage to try save energy for the next 3 stages. My first run down stage 3 I binned myself infront of a big crowd of people and backed off till I got to the end, and then went for a 2nd run which went much better. Stage 4 was much the same. Came off the bike on the first run, cruised to the finish and then went back up to do a second run. Stage 5 was definitely the best stage of the day. Steep fast and muddy. My first run went well and I managed to make the full run without any off's but felt I could go a bit faster so went back up for my 2nd run and managed to take 13second off the first run time. Overall I felt I put in good enough days racing. I finished up 3rd in the under 20's catagory and 5th overall which I'm really happy with considering my injury during the  winter. Well done to Robb Hales and Conor Lavelle on 1st and 2nd. Well done to MBCC for holding a great race.


Thanks to Expert Cycles as always for their support.
See you guys this weekend for the first Gravity Enduro in Ballinastoe!