Tollymore National Round pics

Thinking about this race and the incredible slippy corners still gives me goosebumps! To be honest, what a race. Even in the muddy conditions that we saw not long ago. Next time i'm bringing mud Tires though!

Here's some pictures from Graham Boyd's facebook gallery (he's quite the camera man!) well done on finishing up in University too Graham!

Me fixing my goddam puncture on the LAST LAP! I can only blame myself having too much fun on the trail jumping roots!

Exam times )-:

The last few weeks have been about getting through the exams, training sufficiently and attempting a National series race which fell exactly one day before the first exam leading to a last lap puncture after clawing my way back up the ranks. Avoiding the inevitable exam biking performance slump is always a challenge in this time but I still managed to make it to club races albeit feeling a little wrecked and low!!

On a positive note,  I'm just getting back to my usual self now 'quickness wise' so that's good!! but its amazing how much these college exams take it out of me!! And I don't even study 'cram' or leave it to the last minute! I also got a tooth problem sorted that's been bugging me a little bit in the last month, so I'm looking forward to performing!

Back on track and hungry for some more good results!!!

Check out these crazy light tires from KENDA, the Klimax Lite 345G suitable for super flat speedy race tracks! But, my favourite Kenda tire is definitely the Nevagal on the training bike and the Karma on the race bike mixed with a small block on the back, the Nevagal has awesome grip anywhere any time of the year, Fit and forget.

Klimax Lite below

The Dublin Blitz 3rock

This was an amazing race with a HUGE atmosphere. Kudos to Niall Davis and the rest of the crew for organising this. The event itself was all about the opening of Dublin's first official mountain bike trails just 20 minutes cycle from my doorstep in central Dublin!!! This means money, with plenty of newbies taking up Mountain Biking!

The race saw an entry of around 200 People! with a few of my fellow Elite time racers up front ready for the Gun to go! Luckily the rain didn't affect the course too much, and the Kenda Small block/Karma up front kept me rubber side down! I eventually finished 3rd not far off the Winner. I made a tactical error and I learnt by it!

We got cool Paris Roubaix Style trophies too!!! They are essentially  big 3rock rocks!!

Richie

2 Races and a string of bad luck

So, I DNF'd at the first National race in Cork.This was down to two punctures and a 40 minute walk back to the start finish area. This was not cross country racing, this was atrocity on a hilltop. 


I was feeling great legs wise, the long climb at the start suited me and within a few seconds from the gun, myself and Niall Davis rode away from the pack comfortably up the steep 10 minute climb . It was such a shame that the long descent happened to go down a bone rattling enduro moto track instead of some nice flawy single trail sections that you find in forests!!  Anyways, after 5 hours driving we were back and I was home forgetting about the experience!




In the second National round I didn't manage to go as well as weeks before performance wise, it seemed to be an off day/l off last few days running up to event. I rested extrememlly well during the week,i slept a lot with my legs up but none of it helped. I remained philosophical about my lack of speed but made sure that in the end I completed the race! which was good even though I was slower than a dying pig! So in retrospect it turns out, I had a case of gum infection during the week, I thought it would dissipate by race day, but in fact they got worse. Anyway, Salt and water 5 times a day is the job, and now i'm back to normal. 


The race course was phenonomal! here's some pics!

This is where I blew my lights!!


I have a hard block of training coming up to keep the body confused and sore!, Its in preparation for the middle season races, internationals / Champs. This pretty much includes an excellent club race on a tuesday, tempo on a wednesday, and another cub race on a thursday and a sprinting session on a Saturday with a Race on a Sunday! 


Tomorrow is an excellent local mountain bike race. The start line is only 30 minutes away on the bike! Bit of light mist around the hills Kenda Small blocks tomorrow??!