Gravity Enduro Champs, Djouce

Gravity Enduro National champs took place yesterday in Djouce Woods. After the dustiest conditions we'd seen in Djouce all week Saturdays practice decided to throw 2 months of rain at us in one day. But practice had to be done so I headed out with Robb, Marcus and Jordan in the pouring rain. Practice went well looking at lines from earlier in the week and working out new ones for places where the track had change or couldn't ride. That evening I went home and put on the mud tyre up front.

 

Race Day 

Once again I woke up to the sound of rain battering the window at 7am in the morning. We made our way to Djouce and got under way at 10 o'clock. After the short first transition and a quick stop to watch a couple of pros go past I was ready to go for stage 1

 

 

 

Stage 1

Stage 1 was very similar to last years stage apart from changing the middle section from the longer, slightly slower Benchcut trail to the newer, faster, flowier Phantom trail. I wanted to start to keep the first stage clean to get the day under way. A slight bobble at the top in the first root section had me pick up the pace for the rest of the stage to make up the time I had lost. Phantom rode really nice in the race and reminded me a lot of the steep stages of Scotland. Quick sprint up the fireroad and then a clean run down the final section of singletrack to the finish put me 19th overall and 3rd in my category on the stage.

 

 

Stage 2

Stage 2 had a new section this year as well switchbacking between the trees. I got the first section of singletrack out of the way pretty quickly. After the short sharp climb I came in to the new section. I took it a bit to slow trying to get onto the high line which cost me time but once I got that the speed picked back up but I was a bit sloppy coming out onto the short piece of fireroad. Rode the rest of the stage cleanly and finished 25th overall and 5th in my category. A bit back on where I wanted to be.

 

 

Stage 3

Stage 3 had the most pedalling of all the stage on the weekend. The new section above the old starting point didn't help either. The new section was run over very mossy ground which made pedalling feel like you were going nowhere. After that ordeal there was even more pedalling along with some really technical root sections. Before the fireroad climb there was a steep section of single track with a couple of lines on it. On the Saturday I had decided I needed to be on the bottom line to get the inside line on the corner out onto the fireroad. So as I came into the section I set up on the low line only to get half way along it to find it had been taped off!! Pulled myself up onto the middle line but had lost some good time... After that I pedalled every where I could to make time back up. I finished 27th overall and 3rd in my category but again a bit back time wise

 

Stage 4

Stage 4 was on of the longest stages of the day. Got my line through the top section of the stage perfectly and came down past the lunch stop pretty quick into the next section which I cleaned pretty well. Hit the water crossing and into the final singletrack section. Lots of off camber in this section and didn't get on of my high lines right which spat me down to the bottom and caught my pedal on a stump which stopped me dead. Got going again and got to the finish in 17th overall and 3rd in my category.

Stage 5

Even before starting the stage I knew it was going to be a mess after seeing the conditions in Practice. Lots of pedalling at the top in the open. As I came into the forest I was regreting the blue tin lens in my goggles as I couldn't see a thing as I dropped into the steep part of the new section they had added. There was a lot of foot out action in this section as it was incredibly slick. Managed to get down it though and got onto the short firebreak where i got the goggles off. As I dropped into the next steep section things got quite out of control. I carried a bit to much speed into it and got side way and bounce of a tree still clipped in but somehow managed to ride it out. Got some cheer from the crowd that had gathered to watch things get rowdy! Sprinted the flat section to the end with a large amount of mud in my throat which wasn't nice. I finished 25th on the stage overall and 5th in the category.

Stage 6 was just a short sprint of a stage and went without any problems.

In the end I finished 4th in my category .5 of a second of 3rd and only 1 second ahead of 5th. Talk about close racing!! Well done to David Conroy on the win and to Conor and Killian on 2nd and 3rd. I finished inside the top 20 overall in 17th. Happy enough with my performance but thought I could have been a bit further up time wise.

Have to say a big thanks to Expert Cycles and their sponsors Yeti Cycles and SilverFish Uk for the support and having the bike running absolutely perfectly.

I'd also like to thank Adrian Van Der Lee and Action Pictures Ireland for the great Photo's in such crap weather. Links to both their websites and galleries below.
             http://adrianvanderlee.zenfolio.com/        http://www.actionpicturesireland.com/