Just one of those days

My day started off like every other back at home in west cork, I headed up with my friend Podge O'Driscoll (WCCC) to the First round of the Munster XC series in Tracton Woods, Co. Cork.

To avoid the inevitable future accusations of sandbagging I said I would make the jump and race in Elites (I was told by four different people that I was to race elites between the car and sign on)
This was my first opportunity to finally compete with my trainer of the past 2 years Mr. Donncha O'Brien something I was really excited about.

At 12 our race set off, I was sat in the second row behind Donncha and my team mate Johnny (MBW-Kona Ireland Racing) and off the start Johnny took off like a bullet sitiing in behind the monstrous Sean Prendiville (Killarney CC) and I was just four places back in 6th. 

First set of single track

From this solid start my race went rapidly downhill as I just lost everything, I lost my flow, I lost my legs, I lost my stomach and I lost my motivation, I simply rode around the track back to the start finish area, stomach in my mouth and I had to call it, as the evening passed on my joints stiffened and my stomach stayed shook, It was just one of those days every racer has at some point, It was one we try to suppress and hope they dont return to torture us any time soon.

My animal team mates the Maunsells rode as strongly as ever with Leah taking a well deserved 2nd in Baggies and Johnny riding to 3rd in the strong field of Elites
A weeks rest now and I will be well set for Biking Blitz Dublin on Sunday the 16th of March.

With some constructive criticism from Cieran and a cup of tea from Caroline "Mammy" Maunsell my day began to look up, and shur I still had the craic after.  Great to be back racing at home a good day or not!

Derroura Biking Blitz

I honestly did not think id see myself back into XC this early in the season but I have already caught the bug.. After a winter of hardship my first XC result of the year set up my years benchmark.

We headed off last Saturday (March 1st) from Tralee over to Mallow and onto Galway for the second round of the Biking Blitz. We arrived at Moycullen in Galway just before closing time on saturday and it was then that I got my first look at MBW's facilities.. its insane. Massive pumptrack next to the shop, as you walk in the front door your greeted by an Indoor BMX park, I was in awe. After a chat with the boss man Garry we went for a play in the BMX bowl and after several wipe outs and one dead pair of skinny jeans it was time to leave.

the ridiculous downstairs in the MBW shop

Johnny, Paul Lenihane and I stayed in our team mate Michelle Muldoons for the night and Sunday morning were escorted to Derroura mountain bike trails for the race. Once we arrived we signed on straight away and I met with Garry (MBW) who supplied me with my weapon of choice, A brand new Kona Process 111DL with full XX1 drive, safe to say I was cautious on board.
On the advice of my team mate Johnny I chose to race in baggies for my first ever biking blitz, it was a short 16km loop (single lap).
The races kicked off at 1pm with the Super pro leaving 2 minutes before they left the baggies off. I sat on the start line with a feeling of no pressure for possibly the first time and as we took off I simply spotted my gap between the four men in front and I opened out to the top of the hill, pulling out a gap I simply had to maintain to take my first win in what felt like forever. All was great until I hit the super pro traffic on the first single track and this ended up being my entire race, just weaving in and out and looking for passing opportunities throughout. The Kona process 111DL was the first 29er I have ever rode and it has converted me.. bigger wheels are better, they go faster. The phenominal grip from the tires and sharp gear changes from the XX1 are just a winning mix.. it would be inexcusable to lose on that absolute weapon.

In the end I took my first win of the season sitting 2.5 minutes in front of second place, the boss man Garry Davoren.

I just want to shout out a thanks to Garry and all the MBW-Kona Ireland racing team for keeping me going on Sunday, Michelle for her hospitality and Paul Lenihane for being my driver and grRANA Energy Europe for driving me on, Also thanks to action pictures Ireland for the great pictures.

Gravity BC Winter DH Cloon Report

Here it is.. We have finally reached the first race of 2014,
My weekend kicked off with an early morning train trip from College in Tralee over to my friend and team mate Jonathan Maunsells (MBW-Kona Ireland Racing) in Mallow from here the levels of craic soared rapidly, I spent from the minute I arrived in Mallow to the Minute I was on the train home..
From Mallow we suffered away through the long drive up to Cloon in Co.Wicklow and at 11pm in quite possibly the windiest spot in Ireland we set up our home from home (our tent) for the weekend, it was so windy we ended up tieing our tent to the van just in-case we lost it..

It was business as usual on Saturday morning with early morning sign on and as a non uplift race it was pretty damn nice, the push up was a short 15 minutes on board my little hardtail and the track was absolutely packed with features, it had pretty much everyhing you could pack into a sub 2 minute track with a seemingly endless amount of line options, rock gardens, doubles, berms and slippy wet routes. Saturdays practice rolled on and I began to get up to speed on the hard tail and just as I became comfortable my flow was burst by a sneaky rock ending my 2.1 XC rear tire, at that I called it a day and hid away until Sunday morning. 

Saturday morning Co.Wicklow

On Sunday after some angry shouting at my wheel I was offered by the lovely Joe Bergin (Ballyhoura Trail riders) a new Giant Glory to race on and how could I pass that off? I walked up and it turned out my first run on the bike would be my race run.. All I can say was after two years of riding hardtails.. it was mad.. After a cautious and frankly poor first run following my hardtails lines down the track I decided a new strategy was necessary so I went and made up a blind route for my second race run.. and it took 11 seconds off.

I finished off Sunday with a 7th in seniors just in time to go and see my  team mate Johnny animal his way to a 4th in Elites on his Kona Process 153DL. Our other team mate Michelle Muldoon also showed the ladies whoes boss in her season opener taking the win by 1 second on her Kona Process 153DL. Some great results for our season opener, smiles all round. Massive thanks to everyone over the weekend, thanks to Gravity BC for a great race and venue, Thanks to Johnny and Leah for the bike and gear and thanks to the MBW-Kona Ireland racing team ( https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mbw-Kona-Ireland-Racing/503614179726656 ) and grRANA Energy Europe for taking me on board for the season.