A dusty downhill race ?

So here we are guys, our first Downhill race of the year and what a benchmark it set.. the dusty track, the race atmosphere, the food from Kurt and Una, the general craic and of course the weather were all just unreal.

My weekend kicked off at about 8am from home in West Cork where I headed up to the race with Richie "The big man" Thornhill. As we arrived in Mallow after our 2 hour drive there was a mist covering the forest that made it look like a scene from a horror movie.. After we signed on we headed up to the top of Mt Hillary for our first drop in on the beast of a track. As the practice day went on the speeds began to get insane, my poor Kona Process 134DL took every smack like a champ and continued to accelerate everywhere (It really can do anything) as practice day continued the vest was pulled out as it just got too hot. Practice day ended on a puncture for me and I headed back to Tralee with my Paul Lenihane and Oisin Shanahan for the night.

Race day:
There we were, another clear hot day, the same roosty, dusty monster of a track we kicked off our morning with a track walk

 

For the day I decided I would go full Enduro and just pedal up the hill for all my runs so I just did one practice in the morning which went great, hit all my lines and mentally I was set.
Next came seeding.

For seeding I again rode to the top, clear head, excited for my run. I took off the start line for my seeding like a mental case on the sprint and as I dropped into the first corner my chain came off meaning I had to cruise the full way down until I went into the Gully. As I entered the Gully I went for a sprint having forgot about my chain and went straight over the handle bars. I rode to the finish in seeding and was sat dead last in the Senior Category. 

 Chainless in seeding

After half an hour of freaking out, I headed off for an hour of pedaling before my race run which seemed to do the trick, I rode my race run slightly cautious but still controlled and as I came into the finish I remained in the hot seat for the next 17 riders until the final 5 came down. I finished up fifth in the Senior category with a 2:14 just 4 seconds off first, a 41 second improvement from seeding. An absolutely sick weekend was had, a big congratulations to 021 Racing on running such a great event.

I Just want to congratulate my great friend Oisin Shanahan on his first win in the sports category, Oisin is a rider who is progressing phenomenally quickly and I am sure as the season goes on I will be trying to fight him off in the Senior category.

Also a big thanks to Derick Davoren for looking after any mechanical I had all weekend (mainly punctures), it was massively appreciated.