Sean Downey

New Year CX trip

2012-01-05T12:42:00.007Z

As Nationals is on the horizon and the last race in Ireland almost a month previous, I had planned to make a trip over to the UK to regain some race sharpness. I settled on racing in Bakewell, Derbyshire and in Todmorden, north of Manchester with a stop in Nottingham for New Year with friends.
Bakewell was a completely unknown quantity, set in a beautiful location at a country house/outdoor centre in the Peak District. After building up the bike, I headed off on a practice lap and wasn't exactly inspired by what I found...3 muddy fields, which you went up and down twice each. After the kiddie races left the top field like a swamp, the junior race left the whole course as one big, claggy, sticky, grassy mess. I suspected that getting the bike to the finishline would be harder than the physical exertion of racing, and I was right.
I started well down the field, but was pleasantly surprised with my condition and set about overtaking the masses as the bike got more and more clogged up. I managed 4 of 9 laps before that awful crunching sound of rech mech exploding rang out - bummer, race over. That wasn't what I wanted after making the journey over, but on the bright side, it meant saving myself for Todmorden on Monday...as long as I could find a bike shop open, with a Shimano rear mech, late on Saturday evening, on New Years Eve....Thanks to the lads at Zepnat for sorting me out.

Of the two planned races, Todmorden was the one I was most looking forward to..I had heard a lot about it from Greg and watched some footage of previous editions on Youtube. The iconic feature of this gritty, Northern race is a steep cobbled climb at the top of the course, which is a grunt for some and a walk for others. I was hoping to be in the grunt category. The rest of the course was a bit fast, a bit slippery and a bit boggy - the bottom section was really really boggy and meant a long run for the last third of every lap.
The start loop was wide and open, so gridding wasn't a problem, what was a problem was picking the correct piece of ground in the swampy field - I had a great start only to almost stall after 200m when the line I chose led directly into an invisible wet hole. Ah well, you pay your money and take your chance.
Coming onto the course proper, I was a wheel behind Greg as we hit a sliddery off-camber section which required undertaking some portage - Greg took off like a rocket and must have gained 5 places while I progressed at a more steady pace. As expected, the cobbles were a bit of a walk on the first lap due to traffic, but on each subsequent lap I rode up without trouble, to much acclaim and applause from the gathered spectators, which was nice - for the whole race they seemed to cheer equally for the front runners, the stragglers and the "I'm going to die-ers." The other notable feature of the course was a long, sweeping, severely off-cambre, rutted descent, which was a bit of a hit-and-hope on each lap. I hit the ground twice on this corner, once a small slide, but the other time a full on, face in the mud, swamp-monster experience. Which earned me lots of cheers from assembled spectators as I finished the course with half of Todmorden Park on me and proved to be something of an attraction for photographer Joolze Diamond
All told, I finished 24th, not bad but not great. A better start and a clear run at the cobbles on lap 1 would have gone a long was to securing a top 20, as would better running legs. The aim was to improve my condition for Nationals next weekend, and the trip I think achieved that..if only I can get rid of this bloody cold!
A massive thanks must go to my wonderful girlfriend Agata, for all her help on this trip - packer, mechanic, soigneur, coach, photographer, psychologist, girlfriend and #1 fanclub all in one.

Redemption through the 'Cross

2011-11-08T11:43:00.007Z

My 2011 cycling season has been, to be frank, crap. I missed a chunk of early season training through illness and never got anywhere near form again, fell into a deep rut, allowing PhD stuff to get on top of me in April & May. Bringing up the rear in the S1 races was the best I could manage on the mtb. I didn't even manage to finish Nationals, a real personal low moment for me. Lots of head scratching after that! Road racing was a little bit better, at least I enjoyed a few of the races I did, but no results of note. This was not the season I wanted after a strong 2010.
The only real highlight of the summer race season was taking 2nd mixed pair with Agata at Bontrager 24/12. This was something unexpected as neither of us had any form, but I got a good start and we held a good gap for the 12 hours. The atmosphere, the course, the company that weekend was fantastic and it was one of the few moments that made all the endless training in the rain seem worthwhile. Agata wrote about it here

Some time around August, I decided that I needed to do something to resurrect my season and hopefully raise my enthusiasm for the bike again. Cyclocross appears to be the answer...I rode a couple of 'cross seasons a few years back, it's something I love. Just the lack of a suitable bike kept me away for a while.
I spent countless hours looking for a bike, settled on a lovely carbon Focus Mares from Richie in Eurocycles and set about training again. After a few weeks, everything started to feel right again. Motivation was back, I looked forward to getting out and thrashing myself. Evening group sessions hinted at a modicum of good form was returning. I could dig deeper and push harder.

And with that, the 2011 'Cross season began, a 7th place in a muddy Lurgan was a good start and sparked the fire even more. Feeling like I was on the right track again, for the first time in over 12 months. Lethargy banished, hungry once more. In the following two races, I hopefully put any bad luck coming my way behind me - a puncture in Grange Castle cost me dearly and the best start of my life in Lady Dixon Park led to a crash, a loss of nerve and derailleur.
The following week I made amends in Swords, clawing my way from the back of the grid to 10th. Sometimes when I close my eyes, I can feel myself carving through those corners at the back end of the course..few experiences on a bike come close to it.
Another 10th place in Corcaigh Park, spending most of the hour in the big chase group. Wheel to wheel on the flat fast course, loving every moment of it. Feeling right again. Losing the sprint for 9th (damn!)

Early season road racing

2011-03-29T14:34:00.005Z

The first MTB race is just around the corner, so up to now I've been focussing on some early season road racing to get some race sharpness in the legs - and there's nothing like a good road race for some AC training.

Ras Naomh Finian, Clonard
The first one was Ras Naomh Finian, in Clonard. It was a big handicap race, with the A3s getting 2 mins on the A4s, which was closed down pretty quickly on the flat wide open roads, but the A1/2 bunch was kept at bay.
The race was remarkable only for the fact that it was cold, wet and windy. And there was snow! My hands were so cold that I couldn't eat or drink for the last 1hr15 as I couldn't grip the bottle, and changing gear meant taking the hands off the bars and making a swipe at the lever and hoping you hit the right one.
Finished at the back of the bunch, a roundabout 4km from the finish saw the front half of the bunch go around the correct way and the back half going around the (shorter) right hand side, and there was no way to get back when the dehydration started to bite. But first race, in the new Cycleways CC kit, done safely. How I enjoyed that hot chocolate afterwards!
69km in 1:42:39

St Patrick's Day race, Dunboyne
The second race was the St Patrick's Day race in Dunboyne, promoted by Usher IRC.
The weather was a little warmer for this, and there was a big turnout from Cycleways CC - Mel, Stewart and myself in the A3s. The bunch was big and nervous on the windy roads so I used the hill on the first lap to move to the front and did everything I could to stay there for the rest of the race (I heard a few crashes behind me which provided the extra motivation)
Nearing the hill on lap 2, Mel put in a dig and got off the front with 2 others, while I watched from 3rd wheel. Not long after, Bohermeen man Chris Reilly put in one of his customary attacks and I was faced with a dilemma, knowing that it could be the decisive move...to follow or not. As no one else went with him, I stayed put until Mel was brought back on the final stretch before the hill, where I then attacked and got a small gap, but the hill wasn't long enough and I was brought back to the bunch on the descent.
Picture by Amy-Norah Farrell
There was time for one more attack before the finish which again came to nothing, but 3km out I found myself next to Mel and looking at Michelle Geoghegan a little ahead, positioning herself for the sprint. Mel had been joking beforehand that we were there only to lead her out, so I offered and started moving up until I heard a crunch just behind me. As we were moving quickly and everybody was a bit jumpy, I didn't look around for a few seconds until it was safe to do so and couldn't see Mel there...crap, was that her? Fortunately after crossing the line she caught up with me, unscathed - the guy beside her had gone into the ditch but she was just slowed down a bit - phew!
68km in 1:38:03

Lucan/Staggs Cycles GP, Batterstown
The third installment was a 56km, 3 lap affair on good roads with a slightly uphill finish and a slightly smaller bunch. The plan was more or less the same as always, avoid the wind as much as possible and try to attack on a hill or something, doing anything to avoid a bunch sprint. After learning the lap the first time around, I joined in some attacks on the drags at the start of the second lap which ultimately amounted to nothing as the bunch chased and chased to bring anything that moved, back. Recover for a lap, then try again with 8km to go on the only (tiny) hill on the course, doing my usual effort of getting 20 metres off the front then dangling there for a while.
I had another pop with 4km to go, getting into a 4 man move stayed out there for a while but never got the gap we needed to hold off the peloton on the last stretch. As we were caught, the bunch swarmed around and I found myself near the back coming off the last corner, so I had to put in a big effort to get myself back near the business end, but it was too late and I got blocked in for the sprint - disappointing as I seemed to be moving up when everyone else was going backwards, but positioning is something I really need to work on.
56km in 1:25:39

XC National Championships - Djouce Wood

2010-08-03T19:39:00.008Z

Nationals - the big one.
I've spent the last number of months preparing to be in top shape for this race - the same as everyone else really. The nationals this year were hosted by EpicMTB, who put on a huge show in Djouce. Not only was there a big arena, trade stands and a great atmosphere, but also some of the best trails in Ireland.

I prerode on the Saturday and found the course really dry and fast, I wasn't sure if it'd suit me or not...despite it being a tough course, there didn't appear to be as much climbing as the numbers suggested, most of it was hidden away in the singletrack somewhere.
My NPS position put me on the front row of the grid, alongside my main rivals - Matt, Tomek and Max. As experts is a non-championship category, we were set off last, behind about a million masters and vets, so the entire first lap was a lottery as to who got into the singletrack before the slower riders. It was only as we started the second lap that racing really began, and I was already a good bit behind the leaders by now. (I was so far behind, Agata was getting worried in the feedzone!) A downhiller, Greg Callaghan had taken a flyer and opened up a gap, which forced myself, Tomek and Matt to chase. I passed Tomek halfway around the second lap and set off in pursuit of Matt, who I caught by the end of the lap. We pushed hard for a few mins and caught Greg on a climb - he had blown so it was going to be down to myself and Matt for the win, with half a lap left. I passed Matt just before a sketchy descent, at the bottom of which he crashed and rolled into me, taking me out too. I think he was at his limit, which forced the mistake, but I was comfortable enough and had a bit left in the tank. Up Toro, down GC, hammer the climb home, pass a cheering Agata and Jagoda on the last fireroad and cross the finish line with 30secs to spare. Job done.
Not my best race ever, but pretty damn close. I did it the hard way, coming from 4th place and it was just one of those days that everything came together.
I'd been doubting whether I could compete on such a technical course (as several informed people said, it was not my type of course) but I found I was at least equal on the tech stuff, which was something of a novelty for me.

The prizegiving was cool, huge glass pieces, flowers and champagne. On the podium were myself, Matt and Tomek - the 3 who have been trading places all season, with very little between us. I'm just delighted it was me that had the legs at Nationals. All those horrible intervals now seem worthwhile :)

Thanks to all at EPIC MTB for the great event, and all the supporters on the course and in the start/finish. And especially to Agata, for all her support...she also won the women's race!

Ulster League 5 - Castlewellan

2010-08-03T19:39:00.005Z

After a great race in Djouce, and months of training leading up to it, I was more than happy to take a week off to recuperate and decide where to go next. Even sleep in late on the weekend. Being honest, it's a mental as much as a physical break that's important, so I didn't even think about cycling for a week. After that, I was looking towards next year, and the step up to Elites. So with that, I decided to ride the remaining Ulster league round with the elite category, just by way of introduction and gaining some experience.

The pre-register sheet lacked most of the big names, so I was hoping that it'd be a nice introduction to the top category and I wouldn't embarrass myself too much. That changed when I looked around the carpark to see Robin, Joe, James etc gearing up. Uh oh...

The pace from the start wasn't too bad (even though the start is one of my weaker disciplines) and I was midpack going into the singletrack, after which Joe kicked and shelled half the field out the back. From there on out it was 5 laps of pain, keeping the head down and not many people around to race with. Just concentrate on not blowing up, on the steep, tough course, which claimed over half the elite field...so I finished 4th (and last) 16 mins down on Robin, but 10 mins back on James - the aim over the winter will be to reduce that gap as much as possible.
The longer race was tough, the extra 30mins over the expert races I've been doing this year meant having to throttle back a bit at half way to save something for the last lap. Strange also the difference in going into a race challenging for a win, and going in aiming not to get lapped - totally different mentality...

Stamullen GP

2010-05-11T12:53:00.002Z

My first road race of the year, part of the Stamullen weekend, and the hilliest of the three races. The course was quite rolling with one big climb in the middle, which I hoped I could do something on. Big enough A4 bunch, but everything was very well marshalled and policed and not much in the way of crazy riding going on.

The race was almost entirely dictated by the eventual winner, Chris Reilly, a guy from Bohermeen who beat me in the Leinster Champs last year. Starting up the climb on the first lap, he attacked and I followed, to be joined by 4 or 5 others. Looking back on the descent, I noticed the pack coming back to us and sat up, knowing it was too early in the race to be burning unnecessary matches. On a fairly uneventful run back to the finish in Stamullen village, I just noted the little kicker climbs which might come in useful on the second lap and stayed out of the wind.

Second time around, Bohermeen man went again, I didn't immediately follow out the front but sat in a group that split off the front of the pack by the top of the hill and organised ourselves on the descent. We numbered about 15, good mix of clubs and started moving along at a fair pace. I was sure that we'd contest the finish amongst ourselves and was quite eager to see it stay away, so I did probably a little too much work on the front than was wise, but seeing as I wanted quality training rather than a placing, I was happy enough. About 6km from the finish however, we were completely swarmed by a bunch which reeled us back in and suddenly things felt a bit nervous. Guys getting jumpy and heading off the front and fading as soon as they were away, only to go again, no one willing to chase and general chaos were the order of the day.
With a slight rise to the finish, I hoped I could do something, but was 10 wheels too far back when Bohermeen man Chris Reilly kicked it off and had to be content with a finish somewhere around 10th, nice and safe.
Really enjoyed the race, nice to be riding in a bunch at high speed again and the constant attacking and suffering was good fun, but importantly, good training.
37km in 1:03Hrs. The course was a lot of fun, just a pity that the hill was neutralised by the long run and headwinds back to the finish, so there was no chance of staying away. Was pretty cool to have the finish line in the middle of the village too, makes a bit of a change from in the middle of the woods somewhere :)
Some photos and results on irishcycling.com

NPS 1 - Slade Valley

2010-04-15T13:38:00.005Z

Suffering is the word which neatly sums up my start to the NPS, in a sunny Slade Valley outside Dublin.
The IMBRC laid on a fantastic course (most worked-on course ever?) with superb singletrack for most of the 5km lap. A very disrupted Saturday, prior to the 1 lap team relay, was not good for race prep but I signed on with a big Expert field hopeful of at least hitting the podium. Usually I go well on such tough courses, and I figured my usual method of starting slowly and working up would be useful on such a warm day.
Photo by Shay Barry

Plumes of dust (DUST!) rose as we tore off up the fireroad and I found myself towards the back, my legs completely blocked and knowing it was not going to be my day. I started making up some places as the lap wore on, but I was labouring over every pedal stroke and making mistakes which I really shouldn’t be making.
I hoped a gel at the end of the lap would give me some kick, but I think what I needed was way past anything Zipvit could provide (it’s good, but can’t work miracles!) so I settled back a little and tried to focus on just riding smoothly, but even that wasn’t going so well. Each lap started with a steep gravelly climb, which as I crested for the 3rd lap, my HR went through the roof and my legs just stopped. I took the bottle and gel from Agata, downed it quickly and spun up the fireroad, but I knew it was game over for me, just halfway through the race. Feeling pretty frustrated and a little shellshocked, I rolled back down to the feedzone and slumped on the ground, relieved to take the weight off trembling legs.

Photo by eryk2kartman

So not a good start to the NPS, but thankfully there's plenty more races left this season, and more time to train for them.

It wasn’t all bad news though...Agata won the women’s race to complete her sequence of 3rd, 2nd, 1st in her first 3 races after riding really well for 2 laps. She even wanted to do more laps afterwards :)

Leinster League Round 1 - Bunclody

2010-03-31T10:26:00.005Z

First race of the 2010 season, and getting the season underway was not something I had been particularly looking forward to. Really, I had a crap January and February, coughing relentlessly and spending most of it on antibiotics unable to shake off a stubborn chest infection. This meant zero mileage and any hopes I had of racing Elites went out the window, as I heard back from my friends taking in training camps and racing abroad, which made me more than a little jealous!

After a couple of weeks of training, I didn't feel like I was going particularly well, a few of good days aside, and resigned myself to trying to race experts for the time being. In the days leading up to the race, I had completely empty legs and a heart rate that refused to rise above 83%, regardless of how hard I pushed it. But a race is a race, and reports from the course made it seem like a good one, so myself and Agata headed down early on Sunday morning (after a short nights sleep - was at the Irish Concrete Society annual dinner the night before, and the clocks moved forward an hour)suited up and rode a practice lap. I enjoyed the course immensely, some nice climbs and cool singletrack and it all rolled really well, even after the rain during the week.

While watching Agata's race, I started to get that familiar yawning feeling that indicated I'm either going to have a really good or really bad day. Knowing that I didn't have enough kilometers in the legs, I kept the warmup short and lined up with 8 Experts for what would be a nice short race. As the gun went, the elites disappeared up the hill but to my surprise the experts stayed more or less together for the first lap at a less-than-furious pace, with a lead group of 2 followed by 3 MAD riders and Colm Mullen of WORC. Midway through the second lap, on the steeper climb, the 5 lead riders and top Masters were coming together again when I started to realise that the legs were good and I seemed to be pushing a little less than the others, so I started considering how to race it from here on.

I must say that to this point, this race was one of the most fun I've ever taken part in, the course and field combining for ultra-close wheel-to-wheel racing with constant fighting for every piece of ground.
Starting the third lap, myself and Colm made a move to break clear of the others and got a gap going into the singletrack, but I made a mistake here and lost a few seconds which I had to make up on the climb - I was happy that I could not only regain the time, but push on through and establish a small gap which Colm didn't close until the end of the lap. I had been carefully watching how much ground he was gaining on me in the singletrack so I knew what gap I needed on the last lap.
After hitting the finish line for the penultimate time, I pushed on and thankfully got rid of Colm to enter the singletrack alone. Encountering Arek on the second climb, I asked him how far behind the next guy was...his answer was "a bit," which was good enough for me :)
I knew I just had to be careful coming back down, no panicing and no silly mistakes and I was home and dry with a 15 second margin. My first win!

Results of the race are here and loads of photos here

Thanks so much to Agata and Aine for the feedzone support and the various photographers and supporters around the course.
The Racing795 crew put on a really great event and I'm really looking forward to going back next year.

The plan for the next couple of weeks is to put in plenty of long spins and build kilometers before the start of the NPS, and polish up the singletrack skills

Kilbroney Challenge

2009-06-22T12:08:00.005Z

With the exams finally over (just found out today, I scored a 2.1) it was time to think about having some fun - preferably outdoors. So with exactly 1 week of training in the legs, the obvious thing to do is enter a 5 hour race with the fastest female mountainbiker in Ireland, clearly...

The Kilbroney Challenge is a single-day adventure race set in the beautiful Mourne Mountains, comprising about 40km of biking and 12km of running, with a short paddle thrown in at the end to break tired minds and bodies.
A sleepless night and 6am start did not make for the best race prep, but we arrived on time and signed in to find that Mel was missing a rather crucial bolt from her bike, so a bit of gunthering and begging from friends was required before we got to the start line. The start was neutralised behind a truck before getting out onto the open mountain, with just a short trip over the bars for me to punctuate the beginning of racing proper. Lesson No 1 learned fairly quickly: in adventure racing, don't follow anyone's wheel except your trusted teammate - there was some seriously dodgy bike handling going on!

Once we got back out into the open it was time to put the heads down and make the most of our advantage on the bike - our plan all along was to hammer on the bike and hang on for dear life on the runs. Arriving into the first transition in 3rd place, we set off after the leading teams, on the short run we did not lose any time to them, but were caught by several teams chasing from behind. Not to worry though, no mixed-pairs teams in sight, and with the longest biking section to come, we once again reiterated the need to just keep our wits about us, be careful with the navigation (although the course was more or less completely marked, missing a checkpoint along the way would have been disastrous) and press on with the cycling. Flying along the return leg, we hit warp speed on the fireroad before adjusting to the slightly slower climb. This long, draggy climb was really suited to our strengths and we pulled back the 5 or so places lost on the previous running section. More importantly though, the sight of Mel passing them appeared to wound the pride of a lot of the men, and several teams seemed to really ramp up their effort to stick with us for a bit before falling away again. I was just happy to suffer in silence on her wheel - safe in the knowledge that the plan was working, and we were hurting other teams.

On the run

Again we arrived into transition in 3rd place, just behind the 2nd team, but with our Achilles Heel still to go. Mel was definitely the fresher of us, so she led out on the run, and having slightly misheard the wonderful marshals, we set off towards the wrong mast, on the wrong hill. Doh!
The run was slow but scenic, our eyes trained on the beautiful mountains and sea around us, and the plethora of teams catching us. A glance behind every couple of minutes to check for any other mixed teams and I was getting a bit nervous. I was also suffering big time, on a long sloggy climb back to the transition. I know when I'm asking myself why I am doing this, that I am pushing hard, and I asked that question a lot on that climb!
Once we were back on the bikes (having lost about 6 places) it was one more hike-a-bike section to the top of the hill before an amazing descent along sheep tracks and through some woods which made all the suffering worthwhile. We gained 2 more places on this, and caught another team and hit the finish together with them, to find out that due to inclement weather the kayak stage had been shortened to about 300m, which suited us just fine.
After 5 hours and 1 minute of racing, we tagged in for the last time, as the 1st mixed team, and 8th overall.

Finishing - Note: Mel smiling, me tired!

Thanks to Rowan McMahon and the Not The Sunday Run crew for putting on a great day, to Mel for being a wonderful partner and not cracking the whip on me too much, and to Ryan for letting Mel take time off her hectic training schedule to race...we even made it back in 1 piece!
All images used are by NTSR and results are available here

2009-04-01T00:03:00.000Z

;-)

IMRA Crone Wood Race

2009-03-22T13:56:00.004Z

Photo by Gerry Brady/IMRA

Yesterday was the final race of the IMRA Winter League. With 3 races from 5 to count, I had already notched up enough finishes to score in the league, but with my 35th place in Annacurragh dragging me down, I knew I could improve on my 17th place going into the race.
More importantly, however, this race was also the 2009 University Champs, and I was determined to do well. With this in mind, I had run the course 5 times over the last 2 weeks and was feeling good about it, it seemed well suited to my strengths, with a tough climb up Maulin and some steep descending. Only the final fireroad run in of 2km gave me any real cause for concern, so with that in mind I had done several sessions of 400m (1:20) and 800m (2:55) intervals to try up my leg speed a bit in preparation.

Race day started with a trip into town to pick up Ciara from Busaras, though having taken the bus from Belfast, her day had started considerably earlier than mine! Arriving in Crone I was greeted by what I didn't want to see - loads of IMRA speedsters who had come out of hibernation on this sunny day and I knew this was going to be a fast race. Felt good during warm-up, and positioned myself well on the startline, about 2 rows back, alongside some people I was hoping to do battle with.
Then the countdown began..10...blah...4...3..and then a cold feeling came over me and my body just felt empty. I was zonked before the race stared! No bueno. Usual tussling for position off the start and I found myself alongside Mick Hanney on the first climb, so started thinking this mightn't be too bad. Mick is a much faster runner than I (going for a sub-3 marathon in 2 weeks) so I thought if I could stick with him I'd have a chance, but the legs weren't there.
Up the very steep grassy bank, I made a few places but was suffering badly by now. After that the climb to the summit of Maulin was harder than it should have been, but I knew the descent was coming so wasn't worried about losing 2 places here, one of them to Ciara. I had told her earlier about the better line off Maulin, so was glad to see she strayed away from the obvious path and we dropped the 2 guys that were between us at the top, as well as catching 2 more. With some semblance of form returning, I eased ahead a little and got back up to Martin Francis, who was looking very strong. He dropped me again on the next bit though :-( The hairpins provided one last chance to draw a breath before the final climb up the grassy ride and the plunge back to the carpark. Again, I was pleased to make ground on the steep descent and was amazed to find that nobody passed me on the fireroad until Mags Greenan and Niamh O'Boyle shot past before the last corner, fighting for 3rd place.

Finished 32nd overall, @ 128% of the winning time, which is a big step back from my average leading into the race (119%) The faster field will have had something to do with it, but for my own part I must wonder what went wrong. I had harboured ambitions of a top 20 in this race, but couldn't pull it off on the day (my training times indicated that it may have been possible) Case of the jitters maybe? I know I need a lot more race experience to get used to the pace off the start line, and help get rid of the nerves.
6th in the colleges ranking, but 6mins down on the winning time. Also, somehow became a scoring runner for Clonliffe, in a very tight teams competition.

Ended up 21st in the winter league, would have needed to finish 26th or better to move up to 20th.

Not sure what I'll do next, maybe the Black Mountain race in Louth. At 14km, its a little longer then the winter league rounds, but should be ok.

Djouce Trail Challenge

2009-03-15T21:19:00.003Z

Its mid March and I can count the number of times I've been cycling this year on 1 hand, so I needed little extra incentive to hit today's Djouce Trail Challenge hosted by Team WORC. Robin and the guys obviously put a heap of work into the trails, in what is already the best area in Ireland to ride and with the sun shining, about 160 riders of all shapes and sizes set off on a dusty dry 20km loop.
Wasn't really bothered about pushing myself or racing, but that's not to say I didn't :-)
After the chaos of the start, things settled down a bit after Bench Cut, but I was still getting stuck behind a few people on Off Camber and then made a silly mistake overtaking someone on the way into a really cool steep descent...only to find out later that we shouldn't have been on that descent at all. Nevermind, nearly everyone seemed to miss the markings anyway, so only lost out to the top few riders. After that, I met up with Gareth Gormley, Ian and Jordan Sutton and tootled around with them. The new singletrack is AMAZING! Having been off the bike for so long, it felt great to just get out and get the bike flowing through the woods again. Had 1 slide, lost the front wheel down a bank but nothing serious.
A day well spent!

My preparations for the next hillrun continued yesterday with another lap of the Crone course. Another sunny day, but a bit windy up top...despite the beautiful day and inspiring scenery, my legs were absolutely shot from the minute I left the car and I was really struggling. Don't know why, just spent the whole run hoping I'm not coming down with something (my brother has been very sick all week, so there's lots of germs floating about :-(
On the way back down, I had zoned out and was just plodding onwards, when - WHOOPS - I'm lying face-down on the ground after tripping. Lots of cuts on my hands (1 deep slit) and legs....and oh no! another shredded pair of tights. Need someone to sponsor me some running kit at this stage!

The aim for this week is some hard workouts early in the week (provided my legs are good - not pushing a body which doesn't want to be pushed) and rest at the end, in preparation for Saturday. Also plan on getting the bulk of my dissertation written up this week too, so busy times!

Running some more

2009-03-12T20:59:00.006Z

I'm pretty bad at updating this, despite my best intentions. Not as if I'm doing really interesting stuff like our elite friends in Cyprus or have the impetus to write opinionated and argumentative columns like some other blogs I read.
So I'll try summarize the last 3 months in 1 post to get up to date and see if I can keep on top of it from now on...

In the main, my time has been occupied by college stuff and running (not cycling!)
College stuff has been tiring, sometimes boring, sometimes frustrating, sometimes enthralling but most of all, time-consuming. On top of all the usual study and learning bits, a good chunk of the final year marks go for a dissertation, so thats taken a lot of my time and energy. I'm thoroughly looking forward to taking a few days off in early April before cracking into exam preparation. Anyone want to go away for a few days???
One of the most frustrating things has been preparing and sending off job applications, mainly to companies who aren't hiring, are scrapping their grad programmes, or are just accepting CV's to burn and save on their office heating costs. There's a definite air of resignation around college, I've not yet heard of anyone even getting an interview anywhere. Last Friday was our last day of lectures and should have been a nice milestone on our way to becoming engineers. Instead, the class joke was that it was another milestone on our way to the dole queue. Certainly picked an awful time to graduate into the construction industry. The other option open to me is to use the time to pick up some more qualifications, so with this in mind I've applied to do a PhD in engineering, expanding the scope of my dissertation project to fill out a thesis and hopefully make some sort of contribution to my field (bridge maintenance stuff, if you're interested) That's all dependent on securing the funding, so fingers crossed that IRCSET comes up trumps in April.

To keep me somewhat sane during all that, I've taken to doing a bit of running. Not much, certainly nowhere near enough to call myself a committed "runner," but enough to make me feel like I'm getting some workout and satisfy my competitive urges. I've done 3 IMRA races so far, Ticknock (25th) Annacurragh (36th) and Trooperstown (26th) All of the races I've tried to take something from - positioning at the start, pacing, racing a bit smarter (ie letting a big road runner catch me on a flat section, tucking in behind to save energy, then gapping him again on the technical stuff) The races have reinforced what I already knew, that I'm a stronger runner on harder ground, and that fireroad descending absolutely kills me. The kind folks on boards.ie have given me some help and I'm hoping to improve on this in the coming weeks, as its annihilating any chance I have of doing well.
Surprisingly, I think I've taken to running rather easily...much more easily than if I'd not been cycling in years anyway! Maybe there's some latent miles in my legs from all those rugby sessions (4 years ago now since I picked up a rugby ball in anger?) or maybe I'm a bit more suited to running after all...The other thing I love about mountain running is the opportunity you get to get out into the wilder hills which isn't possible on a bike, where we tend to stick to paths and trails. Few things are as nice as pouring over a map in the carpark, then following compass to wherever it leads you and taking in the stunning Wicklow views, away from anyone or anything.

My next race will be the Crone Woods finale of the Winter League, which also doubles as the University Champs. It's a race I'd love to do well in, so I met some IMRA stalwarts there last Saturday for a recce run and completed 2 laps for 14km. Again, the guys were most encouraging and I made an effort to really glean as much knowledge from them as I could, and also to try become acquainted with some regular runners. I absolutely loved the course, the climbs and descents (up and down Maulin) should really suit me, so I ran it again with Nigel on Tuesday and plan on getting another couple of laps in next week. It'll probably be a bit more competitive than previous races, but I'd be really delighted to break into the top 20 in this for a good finish to the winter league, and hopefully a scoring place for Trinity...

Day in the hills

2008-12-07T22:43:00.004Z

After Saturday's antics at the MAD Club Champs and the post-Champs night out, it was decided that a later start would be more appropriate today, with a plan formulated to hit Crone wood for a run up Maulin and Djouce (following the IMRA Powerscourt Ridge route) with a bike session in Djouce to follow.

And so, on a spectacularly crisp morning, myself, Jackie and Mel laced up and started up the fire break. The view from Maulin extended for miles, with not a cloud in the sky, and the frosted ground was good underfoot. I thoroughly enjoyed the descent to the river, but loathed the climb back up to Djouce. After checking out the lovely Mountain Meitheal work at the top, it was off the brakes again and down to the bottom. Had a really interesting experience here, whilst bounding from tussock to tussock, a gust of wind took me mid-leap and blew me into a vaguely horizontal orientation. My first engineless flight :-) The long grassy stretch down towards Djouce wood was a welcome opportunity to stretch the legs and enjoy the negative gradient before the last drag up to Ride Rock. Then the suffering began....I just hate running down smooth trails...I don't know why, it just messes with my body. It was all I could do to hang on to the 2 girls and not crumble into a heap at the side of the trail to be laughed at by the walkers...

At that stage, it would have been pretty easy to jump in the warm cars and roll home, but we were only halfway through the adventure. Summoning up enough motivation to go back out into the cold, it was a short jaunt around to the top of Djouce wood, to take in some of the best trails in Ireland. And they are riding amazingly well these days! Almost bone dry, they seem in better condition now than July. A midweek return trip may be required :-)

All in all, 4 hours of exercise, 3 tired and hungry bodies, 2 activities and 1 fantastic day.
Can I have some more please?

Plodding

2008-11-30T20:13:00.007Z

Zero time on the bike lately, but my Ascent file shows a bit of this curious "Running" thing showing up...
In short, I find running a bit more time-efficient (put on shoes, go for 45 min run, go home) and in that sort of timeframe, I get more out of a run than an equivalent cycle session. Also means I don't have to do any bike maintenance :-)

Had planned my first road spin in a while for Saturday, but after meeting Arek, we agreed that it was too icy to risk going any further. Posts on boards.ie showed it to be a wise idea.
With another icy day expected today, I resolved to get my exercise au pied, which meant a run in the cold around Tymon Park. Seeing as Accuweather thought it to feel like -3deg outside (I really love the Real Feel application) I wrapped up in 2 Helly Hansen layers and my MAD winter jacket and was just about warm enough (after returning home after 3 mins to get warmer gloves)
Lower body protection was provided by some Under Armour HeatGear tights. These kept me lovely and warm, but after just a few minutes, I became quite aware that my legs weren't feeling good, like something was wrong with my shoes or stride. Seeing as I've not had any trouble with either of those recently, I wonder if it was due to the compression qualities of the tights. Who knows...more experimentation required I think. I'm reasonably aware of the supposed benefits of compression clothing, but I'm also aware of the need for unrestricted blood flow to muscles during exercise...

The tights (and some other bits...) came from the most excellent www.likeys.com of Wales. I stumbled across this store on the web one day and was impressed with their range of brands and prices (it helps that the euro is strong against sterling right now) A quick email last Monday asking for a bit of info about a product was greeted with a super-quick and researched response...to the extent that the store owner actually went out with a measuring tape and measured some items for me to get the correct fit...Placing the order at 7pm saw it packaged and ready to post by 10pm on Monday night, and it arrived in Dublin Thursday morning. They even threw in a free fleece neck gaitor, which was most welcome this weekend!
So if you're looking for any sort of running/AR/outdoors gear, Likey's is the place to go!

Busy week expected this week, last of the term. Loads of assignments and reports due these couple of weeks, looking forward to taking a day or two off at this stage...maybe I might even get to venture out on two wheels...

Pondering

2008-10-31T12:34:00.003Z

Seeing as I had nothing to show for 2008 (see previous posts) and the first half of 2009 is already written off with dissertations/finals, I've been thinking of setting some challenge or other (or even this) to sink my teeth into next year.

We'll see....

First race of the year - Djouce NPS

2008-07-18T20:51:00.003Z

After various mishaps, illness and injury, I finally managed to put together 2 consecutive weeks on the bike and, against my better judgement, lined up in experts in Djouce on June 15th. Really the only reason I raced was because I knew the course would be a cracker and I was itching to feel a part of a race again (my last real XC race was the nationals last year...)

After a slow practice lap, trying to get my head around the course (have not ridden in Djouce in 6 months...major disadvantage) and get my legs into gear, I somehow got myself onto the front row of the grid and waited anxiously.

Actually, thats not true, I wasn't as nervous as usual, as I had no expectations for this race and the only goal was to get around in one piece, so I was pretty relaxed.
The start-line sprint didn't seem as hard as I remembered and I was in about 6th place entering the first bit of singletrack, a steep rooty climb. I had to let a few of the guys go from the front once the track opened out on the next climb, but I had no hope of keeping up with them anyway, so wasn't too bothered. Riding XTC wheel to wheel in a pack of 15 or so was a riot, and was exactly why I wanted to race. After the next climb, I had a decision to make, as I knew I was pushing far harder than I could sustain (and was much further into my anaerobic zone than I'd been in about 8 months!) and had to sit up to save something for the next laps. It really was a course that there was no recovery on, the climbs were steep, the descents technical and the fireroads fast.

Focusing really hard

I was still really enjoying it towards the end of my second lap, but by that stage I was shivering (despite the fact that is was pretty warm) and couldn't speak properly. I tried to thank Shane for handing up my bottle, but nothing but unintelligble grunts came out. Don't remember feeling much pain, but I think that was more numbness than anything. Caught Cait at this stage too, I think she told me to ride through, but I couldn't get the words out to respond and didn't have the power in the legs to ride past, so sat up a little bit, took on some extra fluids and gels before moving on. Later that lap, I suffered the indignity of being caught by masters riders Morgan and Paddy Daly. Luckily, they caught me just before the last climb of the race, which is where I was strongest and made time back up on them.

Gritting out the last climb

After 3 hard hard laps (one climb was so steep, I accidentally turned off my Garmin with my chin!) I crossed the line in 13th place in 1:40 and was delighted to have done so. The main thing I learned in the race was that the mind is far stronger than the body and I rediscovered my ability to suffer on the bike, the ability to push so hard that nothing else outside of the few meters of trail ahead becomes an obscure blur, the thought that you know you should ease up, but you go harder instead. The part of the sport I enjoy so much.

Starting to feel like a cyclist again...

2008-07-13T22:31:00.002Z

Working on The Tan
(Don't worry, its not actually as red as it looks, just bad photography)

Finished exams and riding again

2008-06-07T21:21:00.004Z

Lovely weather today for a 60k road ride. Pedalled a while with an XTerra champion and Primal Quest veteran, developed the tan lines a bit further (still pastey white!) and still felt good after 60k.
One thing I've noticed since jumping back on the bike a week ago is that my legs feel pretty good on the hills. Not a lot of power or anaerobic capacity, but they just feel good ticking over. I'm probably doomed to a month of bad days now after saying that!
The new club kit is really cool, the shorts feel great. Time to organise another order :-)

The less said about exams, the better.

I'm Back. No, wait, I'm not

2008-05-10T21:19:00.003Z

1 week back on the bike, a few nice spins with good company and feeling energetic and life is good. Delighted to be back out on the trails and on the road on the nicest week of the year so far. Thanks to James for pointing me in the right direction.
Then I tried cycling into a car at about 35kmph.
Ouch.

Glasses for sale

2008-05-02T22:28:00.003Z

Rudy Project Kaylos glasses.
Black frame, smoke and yellow lenses.
Includes hard and soft cases, spare lens case & original packaging.

EDIT: Sold

Want some cash to buy new ones for the great summer we're going to have :-)

2008-05-01T22:03:00.000Z

Classic BKW
Says it all, really...

Life in the pit lane

2008-04-12T14:44:00.002Z

Saturday April 12th....Wicklow Way Ultra day. This was one of my first goals for the season, but I had to give up on it a long time ago. Maybe next year.
Nearly 4 months out of training now, still don't know what's wrong with me. A very brief road ride a few weeks ago proved that I've lost pretty much all of the hard work I've put in on the bike over 3 years. I was zonked after 30 easy minutes on the flat and nearly suffered the embarrassment of losing out to a group of 70 year olds, probably out training for the Wicklow 200. Poker-faced radiologist wasn't reavealing much last Wednesday, just said she'd "send her findings" to the consultant. Swallowing a camera on Friday, maybe it'll be the day when everything becomes clearer. Cabin fever is setting in :-)

I've mainly occupied myself with college work (never realised I could be so up-to-date with my work when not training 20 hours a week!) and helping out at the K Caps doing the bottles for the MAD crew and a few assorted others. MAD has had a really good showing this year with some very strong results. Needed 4 layers (inc 2 waterproofs) to stay warm and dry last week in Djouce, the feed zone was very exposed. It was pretty cool being able to see the bands of hail and snow rolling in over the Maulin Valley however. Really wish I could have raced, as I know that those conditions would really have suited me. Still, I'm buying lots of good karma in the hope of a speedy return to action.
Thanks to all those who have offered kind words.

Pictures by Cormac Ahern

Playing with the Blog

2008-03-24T22:20:00.004Z

Google have updated the Blog dashboard, so far it seems pretty user friendly but you need to reshuffle any links and things you've got in the sidebar >>>>>>
Updated some of the links (new sites from Mel and Cait) and added the big picture (from Shay Barry) up top. Just as well most people are on broadband these days :-)

Other things I've been doing include going to the K Capital Cup races in Kilruddery and Moneyscalp and doing the bottle handups. This has made me very hungry to get back on the bike and I'm having cravings for 6 hour spins covering as much of Wicklow as I can...
Great to see lots of folks from MAD doing well, especially Ryan, Mel, Oisin and Fergal with great finishes in their categories this weekend as a payoff for their hard work. Pretty cool to see groups of racers travelling over from GB and Belgium - brings a bit of international flavour and shows others are taking an interest in Irish racing.
There seems to be an awful lot of nice new machines on the race circuit this year. Maybe someone found a pot of gold hidden on a mountainside somewhere. Must locate it and see about updating my steed for when I get back into it...

Seeing a consultant on April 3rd...onwards and upwards from there I say!

Driving Test

2008-02-18T23:14:00.003Z

Passed the driving test today - woohoo!
Felt very well prepared, thanks to plenty of lessons from the Irish School of Motoring, but was still pretty nervous.

Just for a laugh, I wore the HRM and put the Garmin in the door pocket of the car.
Here's the output:

You can see it spikes where I had to do the various manouvres and for some strange reason, the biggest spike is at a roundabout, which was not heavily trafficed and I had no trouble passing through.
I honestly expected to average a lot higher, as my heart was pounding and my knees trembling in the pre-tests which I did.

Only managed 1 fault, a minor observation fault on the reverse, so almost blemish-free.
For my first solo drive, I headed out to UCD for our Monday evening climbing session. Time to hang up the L plates.

2008-02-16T21:33:00.000Z

Engineering ... it is a great profession. There is the fascination of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings jobs and homes to men. Then it elevates the standards of living and adds to the comforts of life. That is the engineer's high privilege.

The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned....

On the other hand, unlike the doctor his is not a life among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not his purpose. Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are not his daily bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort, and hope. No doubt as years go by the people forget which engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician puts his name on it. Or the credit it to some promoter who used other people's money ... but the engineer himself looks back at the unending stream of goodness which flows from his successes with satisfactions that few professionals may know. And the verdict of his feloow professionals is all the accolade he wants.

Herbert Hoover, Engineer & Politician

Wake up call

2008-02-10T21:14:00.000Z

After too many weeks of not training, mostly on account of not feeling well, (Christmas is the last time I spent any decent time on the bike, and also the last time I was feeling OK) I was very anxious to get back out on the bike this morning. Can't say I'm feeling any better, but I'm going stir crazy without getting my weekly ration of pedalling action and the call of the hills was strong. Plus, I figured, there's been no change in my condition thus far, so some cycling at a fairly easy intensity may not help things, but it more than likely won't do any further damage either...
With the weather mild and dry, I forsaked the usual overshoes and headed off towards the Sally Gap, not decided yet where I would end up after that. The first few kilometers were good as I got warmed up on the flat. The pedals went around easily and I settled into a groove which lasted until the graveyard on Stocking Lane, when I started to suffer a bit, but nothing more than was expected after a long layoff. After adjusting to the gradient a bit, the going felt easier and it was up onto Military Road where I helped a motorcyclist who had dropped his bike. Some lovely scrapes on his brand new BMW but nothing more serious. The weather was colder and pretty foggy up on the Gap, but there was plenty of traffic around for distraction and even a bus for some motorpacing along the flat top section. Once I turned west down towards Brittas, the sun came out and brightened everything up and the world was good once again.
After about 37km, my legs started to tell me that they weren't happy (only 37km!) and I started to feel the pinch. I started to get quite annoyed at this stage, as 6 months ago this was a route which I would have done as a warmup on a big day, not something that would break me! Stopped in Brittas for a bottle of Lucozade to provide 1 last spurt of energy but I still felt myself grinding up the final hill and nearly cracked. It was a fatigued and relieved body that tucked into the drops for the final run down to Bohernabreena and on home.
55km in total, it felt a lot longer with all the suffering. Really showed the poor condition I'm in and the fitness I've lost recently.

Question is now, where to go from here?
To a (trustworthy) doctor is the obvious starting point, but in terms of planning events, everything is now on the back burner.
First to go will be the 2 Day adventure race in Castlewellan which I was planning to do with Fergal. Was looking forward to this as an oppurtunity to gain some more experience and develop some skills (navigation & kayaking for a start) while working towards the bigger summer races.
Next off the list will be the remaining IMRA Winter League races, and unfortunately most likely the University Champs in Crone on March 9th, which I had set as an early target race for the year. It's still a month away though, so maybe some cosmic forces will realign and provide a miraculous cure and return to form. Unlikely though.
The Big One.
Having tried a few times to get long runs under my belt since Christmas and failed miserably with the stomach cramps, its looking increasingly unlikely that I'll have enough km's in my legs by early April to attempt this. If I can get cured soon enough and back on my feet again, I'll do its Little Brother instead, but its both disappointing and frustrating to be calling it quits before I even got going...
Thinking about all of this, I'm starting to feel somewhat rudderless, as while everyone else is setting out their stalls for the year ahead (L'Etape, XC Elites or whatever) I'm backtracking and putting things off. Its the first time in years that I've not had a goal to work towards, where simply getting back in the game would be enough and it feels strange. I'd always seen myself as someone who saw looked towards the big prize(Nationals, usually) , which generally was enough to get me through and motivate me in the long, dark months of winter road miles knowing that the benefit would come on the start line in March or April or whenever. But now, the big, long term goals have been wiped from the horizon, all bets are off.
I read in a magazine somewhere a quote from mountaineer/climber Conrad Anker: "Never get so out of shape that getting back into shape would be a monumental effort"
To be honest, seeing today how out of shape I've become, its creeping towards that "monumental" status.
Not that I doubt my ability to get there, I just wish it was somewhat under my control, that my body is able to get to where my mind wants it to be, and soon.
Going to see a new doctor soon, a friend and someone trusted and widely respected, so hopefully he can put me back on the road to recovery post haste.

Plus, there's always those most enjoyable climbing sessions to enjoy, which is something.

Spanky

2008-01-18T21:03:00.001Z

New line of running gear from Scott USA
They also make superb bikes.

Warm & Toasty II

2008-01-16T22:14:00.000Z

Looks a bit dodgy, but possibly one of the best pieces of winter kit ever.
Just pull the face part down unless its reeeaallly cold.

Warm and toasty

2008-01-03T19:41:00.000Z

Thanks Mam!

Objective: Achieved

2007-12-31T16:33:00.000Z

To an outsider, it might seem slightly crazy. To my family, it seems insane. Yet to the 50 or so individuals standing at Kilmacanogue on Thursday, it seemed perfectly reasonable.
Being so near to Christmas, and in the off season, everyone seemed pretty cheerful and no one appeared to be taking it seriously - until the gun went off on the 2nd Charles Barrington Memorial Race. The all hell broke loose.
As it was my first race and I knew very few people other than the very fast, and the not quite as fast I decided to line up towards the rear of midpack with Rachel, despite her urging me forward...should really have listened...Once the gun went I noticed that the top 15 or so took off up the tarmac at decent speed, but everyone else seemed to mingle about in a pack together, despite there being singletrack from 200m right the way up. As I was feeling good, I tried to drift towards the front and found myself in about 20th entering the slippy, muddy singletrack. My shiny new runners, which marked me out as fresh meat, were completely filthy 300m in! Probably lent me some credibility :-)
After a few hundred metres, I was feeling great and the HR was nice and low and I was sitting in a pack of 5, just behind the top 10 or 12, whom we could see were starting to stretch out ahead. Time to do something! One by one, picking off fit looking people who were coming to a standstill. Talking to Alan Ayling afterwards, he remarked that I seemed to be sprinting when everyone else was walking, and passing an EPIC jersey did feel good :-) Now the HR was climbing fsater than I was but just kept the head down and focused on the guy in front. Colm Mullen, the winner passed me on his way down just as I got to the foot of the final scree slope, with Peter and Eoin Keith chasing down like a pair of hares after him. I caught 1 more on the scramble to the summit, then let go of the brakes for the nice long descent back to the finish, fully expecting anyone to come charging past, as I had noticed that Fergal can easily outpace me on the descents in training. As it happened, no one caught me, but I didn't catch the duo in front either, despite the vocal applause from a few walkers en route.

1st run, 122% of winner, 9th place.
Happy with that.
The primary goal was to be inside 125% and set a good benchmark for the season ahead, hitting a top 10 was a bonus really :-)
Looking forward to lots more in the New Year....

Pain

2007-11-10T21:12:00.001Z

K Capital Cup Round 2

2007-03-25T20:28:00.000Z

After a dismal showing in round 1, I was eager to get into action in the second round, held in Rostrevor.
The course consisted of one long, steep fireroad climb which sapped the legs before darting down a very technical singletrack section, which I did not enjoy much - of the 1 practice lap and 5 race laps I did, I can honsetly say I was happy with just 1 of my attempts at this section - I was making mistakes everywhere. The fact that I was using brand new pedals and cleats, one of which came loose on the practice lap and was just barely screwed tight enough to hold, but made it impossible to get my feet out - will remember never to use any new gear without having put at least 10 hours in on it beforehand.
The second climb was a lot shorter and not quite as steep, but still testing. This led into a much nicer singletrack, still technical but faster and flowing with lots of roots to beat you up.

Off the start line, I hung with the lead group up the first climb but was not feeling good. My HR was refusing to budge above 187 and my legs were a bit numb. To make matters worse, a goo which I had taken prior to the start began to repeat on me and left a horrible feeling in my stomach. In the first singletrack section, I lost touch with the lead group but diced out with Niall Quinlan, Andreas and Alfie for the rest of the lap. My legs suddenly woke up on lap 2 and I could turn the pedals a bit better. Andreas was first up and soon after catching him, I made it up to Niall again and followed him down the singletrack. At that stage I was feeling good and enjoying the battle, Niall pulling away in the singletrack and me getting ahead on the climbs. At the beginning of lap 3 I pushed a bit harder an dropped Niall on the climb but the effort had worn me a bit and I made a huge mistake about 50m into the descent. Off I came and planted my hip on a large, hard root or rock The pain caused by the effort on the climb was instantly replaced by a shock up through my hip and thigh. After a second or two hopping around getting my bearings, I climbed aboard but the first few pedal strokes confirmed that the pain was here to stay. Every turn of the pedals resulted in a pain like a knife being twisted a little further into my hip. Niall got away from me here and I was not to see him again until the finish.
I could manage the long climbs OK, as I could settle into the pain a bit and climbed alright, but was lacking a bit of power and suffering a lot. Different story on the singletrack where sudden, sharp bursts of power were required for digging out of holes and clearing roots and things - this became very painful.
Managed to get around the 5 laps and put some points on the board, but could have done so much better if it wasn't for 1 stupid mistake.

Here's some pictures of the war wounds:

Hip Damage.

Some interesting tyre marks on the inside of my right calf - must keep my legs out of the way of my tyres in future.

The beauty of cycling

2007-03-07T22:33:00.001Z

A missed oppurtunity, a meeting and a slow spin

2007-01-14T22:17:00.000Z

The AGM of the CI Off-road commission was held yesterday in Carlingford, Co. Louth - one of the coolest places to ride in Ireland.
Originally a plan was hatched that we would drive up there early in the morning, ride some of the Marathon Champs course and then attend the meeting. I agreed to take Ryan's bag up for him as he would be cycling up (120km) That all fell to pieces when Morgan bailed out and decided not to go riding up there, and as I had Ryan's rucksack, I couldn't really join him for the ride up with Robin and Niall. So it was an 8am start on a very windy day to get some solo road miles in before taking the 1.5 hour road trip with Morgan for the meeting.
As meetings go, this one was as banal as any other, no real sticking points or heated debates. MAD had a strong representation of 4, Morgan, Fergal, Ryan and myself, possibly the largest group from any club. No trash-talking and only one major argument early on, with CI president Micheál Concannon becoming embroiled over something that nobody seemed to know about.
After the meeting ended, Ryan, Morgan and I toured the town for some food and found a small Pizzaria. Due to a mix up with the Italian monikers, I ended up with the wrong pizza - olives, anchovies and capers - none of which I like, and even after I expertly picked off the toppings, there was a woefully fishy taste from it. The others enjoyed their pizza though.

Sunday morning saw 10 riders assemble at the YH for a trip to Djouce, a route I've done several times lately. The pace was quite slow - myself and Chris dropped everyone going up Ticknock hill while at conversation pace! After much stopping, slowness and a bit of frustration on my part, we eventually reached Djouce with the piéce de resistance, XTC, riding beautifully as always. There's a rather large hole after appearing on it though. I spent the whole day in cruise control and unfortunately this carried through to my descending, I just wasn't concentrating and my mind was elsewhere.
By the time we reached Maulin, I had given Tom my second bottle after he had finished his Camelbak and lost his remaining bottle, fortunatley I know my body well enough to be able to control myself and get through. I wasn't exactly exerting myself anyway. 5 hours after leaving home I had still only had taken on 500ml and wasn't feeling any worse for it. I filled up with some water in Enniskerry and took on some Coca-cola and some jamtarts in the garage, which was fine for getting me home. Need to take on extra water tonight though :-)
I arrived home at 16:15, 7hrs30mins after I had left and feeling no worse than I would have had I just popped around to the shops!
Spins like that won't go any way towards the top end of experts this year.

Cyclocross Picture

2007-01-07T21:55:00.000Z

Jumping the barrier at the Larne CX race on October 14th last.

Base Training & Christmas

2006-12-31T17:17:00.000Z

Time of year again to be getting in the big mileages with long spins on the road and MTB the order of the day.
I've been out 4-6 times a week since finishing college, doing long road spins on Saturdays, long MTB spins on Sundays, evening road rides in the Phoenix Park and any other rides that are going.
To break from tradition, myself and Ryan did a big MTB spin on Saturday (and earning a telling off from Robin :-), but Ryan's road hub had exploded so his road bike was out of action) meeting at Viewpoint and covering Glencree, Cloon, Knockree, the road around to the front of Djouce, a few laps of Djouce, down to Powerscourt and then a climb to Crone, back around Knockree, up Prince Willies, then a secret little track and back to Viewpoint and home.
Total distance was 80km with 1900m of climbing, the pace was pretty good and both Ryan and myself were feeling it by then end, but it was a really enjoyable spin.

The previous Saturday, was had a disaster of a road spin, with 6 punctures in total - I blew out both tubes on the same pothole, damaging both rims and tyres in the process. I then managed to follow this up with punctures on both Christmas Eve and St. Stephen's day MTB spins. Both spins were really relaxed, casual affairs and really good fun, Christmas Eve was small and good craic, Stephen's Day was just riotous fun :-)

Cool Road Cycling Video

2006-12-04T22:27:00.000Z

Just something I found on the net.

A guide to understanding engineers....

2006-11-24T21:27:00.000Z

OK everyone's probably seen it at this stage but.......Morgan has decreed that I must update the blog with something, so here goes......

Comprehending Engineers-Take One

An engineer was crossing a road one-day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess." He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out," If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want." Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, and that I'll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"
The engineer said, "Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool!

Comprehending Engineers-Take Two

An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it
was better to spend time with the wife or a mistress. The architect
said he enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for
an enduring relationship.

The artist said he enjoyed time with his mistress, because of the
passion and mystery he found there.

The engineer said, "I like both."

"Both?"

Engineer: "Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will each
assume you are spending time with the other woman, and you can go to
the office and get some work done."

Comprehending Engineers-Take Three

What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil
Engineers?

Mechanical Engineers build the weapons; Civil Engineers build the
targets.

Comprehending Engineers-Take Four

The graduate with a Science degree asks, "Why does it work?"
The graduate with an Engineering degree asks, "How does it work?"
The graduate with an Accounting degree asks, "How much will it
cost?"
The graduate with an Arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with
that?"

Comprehending Engineers-Take Five

To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Comprehending Engineers-Take Six

Three lawyers and three engineers are traveling by train to a
conference. At the station, the three lawyers each buy tickets and
watch as the three engineers buy only a single ticket.

How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asked one
of the three lawyers.

"Watch and you'll see," answers one of the engineers.

They all board the train. The lawyers take their respective seats
but all three engineers cram into a restroom and close the door
behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor
comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the restroom door and
says, "Ticket, please."

The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket
in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.

The lawyers saw this and agreed it was quite a clever idea. So after
the conference, the lawyers decide to copy the engineers on the
return trip and save some money. When they get to the station, they
buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the
engineers don't buy a ticket at all.

How are you going to travel without a ticket," asks one perplexed
lawyer.

"Watch and you'll see," says one of the engineers.

When they board the train the three lawyers cram into a restroom and
the three engineers cram into another one nearby. The train departs.

Shortly afterward, one of the engineers leaves his restroom and
walks over to the restroom where the lawyers are hiding. He knocks
on the door and says, "Ticket, please."

Comprehending Engineers-Take Seven

Three engineering students were
gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body. One
said, "It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints." Another
said, "No, it was an electrical >>engineer. The nervous system has many
thousands of electrical connections. "The last one said, "Actually it was a
civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a
recreational area?"

Comprehending Engineers-Take Eight

Normal people ... believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet."

Comprehending Engineers-Take Nine

Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said,
Where did you get such a great bike?" The second engineer replied,
Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a
beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the
ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want."

The second engineer nodded approvingly, "Good choice; the clothes
probably wouldn't have fit."

Biking, lots of fun

2006-09-18T20:47:00.000Z

After a miserable August of rubbish non-performances at races and sickness, I'm finally getting back into form, just in time for the Marathon Champs which are on this weekend in Carlingford.
I'm a little hung up about having to race over such a distance (50km) as its twice as long as any other race I've done.
To prepare, I've been doing lots of miles, including a 80km spin to Djouce which was plagued by punctures, mostly on the IMBRC bikes. MAD got off lucky on that one. Surprizingly I actually felt great after that ride, not even tired.
This weekend I started out at 8am on Saturday to meet Morgan in the Leadmines at 9am, gives us an hour to find our way around the place before having to bring the beginners around it! After 2.5 hours with the beginners, I decided to take a bit of a roundabout route home. Turning south on leaving the Leadmines, I headed for Enniskerry and then west to Cloon wood, on a road which has a most horrible and numbing climb, especially on when riding on your own. I think thats the first time I've ever actually complained about a climb :-)
In Cloon, I put a bit of power down and sprinted up the fireroads to the top, feeling real good at that stage. The weather was great, the solitude was good and I was feeling quite content. Until I was chased by a flock of sheep, which was a little strange. On top of Cloon and heading north again, I took in my favourite piece of trail, the featherbeds/Glencree valley and out onto the Military road, which for once wasn't howling with wind! 28km from the Leadmines to my front door in 1:50 which I was quite pleased with.
Certainly it was a nice self confidence boost after a debacle of a midweek training ride with Ryan, in the pooring rain. I struggled up Kilmashogue hill in a time of 17mins 30secs, at 90% effort. Which basically means that I was fitter last Christmas, before I started training, than I am now. Starting to worry about the 'Cross season......... Naturally, Ryan cruised by me without even breaking a sweat. I then went on to puncture and put a small tear in my new back tyre and hit to fix it atop 3rock in the monsoon conditions, reason enough to go tubeless I think! Disastrous ride, I was glad to get home from it, soaking wet, freezing and pissed off.

Then there's always the highs that make you think why you love it all. Like the introductory days that we've been having. Great to see high turnouts and smiling new faces, and hopefully a few new club members for the future too.......

Why not leave a comment, I have a sneaky suspicion that nobody actually reads this......

About time I updated this.......

2006-09-03T22:03:00.000Z

Well, there's been quite a lot and quite a lot of nothing going on in the 2 months since I lasted posted........so here's a list.
-Mtb holiday in Spain with Freeride Spain Highly recommended!
-Running the MAD Dash
-Working in the county council
-Getting 12th place in Experts in the Nationals
-Getting a kidney infection
-Trying (and failing, no matter how hard I train!) to get some fitness back after 4 weeks off
-Drinking nothing but water and cranberry juice for 6 weeks
-Missing the Limerick NPS, dropping out of the Castlewellan and Slade Valley NPS' after 1 lap :(
-Watching Ryan and Mel tearing up the racing scene, trying to stay in the same timezone as them in training!
-Selling my beloved yellow bouncy bike which I hadn't been using.

And thats about it really.

I've now got about a month off before returning to college, the plan is to ride lots and get into shape for the Marathon Champs (September 22nd) and the 'Cross season, starting October 1st.
Also, I'll be doing the Saturday beginner/introductory spins to try get some new members into this great sport of ours.......

A new baby, all shiney and new.....

2006-06-21T19:26:00.000Z

Yesterday I got to see Helen and David's newest addition to the family - Matthew.
He was born on April 19th at a healthy 7lbs 11 ounces and is now about 8 weeks old. I was amazed by how tiny a kid can be.....before being reminded that I was even smaller at age! Apparently he looks a lot like me when I was younger, but don't all babies look the same anyway? Helen tells us that he never stops crying - but he was remarkably silent when in our place, he only cried once and that was quickly cured by picking him up - all he wants is loads of attention!
Someone pointed out that by the time he's celebrating his 21st birthday, I'll be celebrating(?) my 40th, going through a mid-life crisis and have sprogs of my own, which is a bit freaky. 19 years is now the gap between oldest and youngest in the family, I'm starting to feel like an old fogey!
What was really scary was to see how his older sister, Rebecca (3) reacted around him - my heart was in my mouth as she lies down next to him, then manages to roll on top of him, hit him with a loose arm and drop her shoe on him and try to fold up his mat - while he's still lying on it! - he's one tough little fellow!

I'm off to Spain in the morning with some friends from
MAD, Morgan, Mick, Paddy, Nigel and Mark. We're staying with www.freeridespain.com and I can't wait!

Back on the trails....

2006-06-03T16:47:00.000Z

Finally finished the exams on Wednesday and couldn't wait to get back out into the hills again. First up was the 4th round of the club league on Thursday night, where I came third (podium place, woohoo!) but felt absolutely wrecked having not been on the bike for so long. Felt satisfied that some semblence of fitness was still there when I passed and dropped Mick on the last climb, but he wasn't too pleased about that!
Saturday we took a beginners spin up to Masseys, had two 12 year olds with us who struggled quite a bit, also another kid who has to be watched carefully.....very slow spin but a beautiful day for it.....
The weathers been great this weekend, so getting in as much biking as possible before returning to reality on Tuesday with a new job.....

2006-05-21T21:13:00.000Z

Hmm thought I might start a blog, no real reason for it, just for a laugh really. It's not as if I have anything worth reading anyway!

The last few weeks have been tough....hurt my shoulder in the NPS in Ballinastoe on May 7th, so missed the next round on May 14th in Lumpers, though in a way I'm sort of glad I did, it was a horrible day and very muddy, not the sort of riding I'm best at. Besides, standing around in torrential rain getting soaked to the skin and handing out waterbottles and encouragement to the fine lads and lassies of MAD was fun! As usual, Ryan was our star performer, putting in some fine races. Someday I'll be as fast as him! Got a lot of catching up to do in the Club League also.... Up until the injury I'd been riding / training 3/4 times a week and now I haven't been out in 2 weeks, I'm itching to get back in the saddle again, feels like an eternity! Also getting quite fed up with the shoulder rotation exercises too....
To compound the problem, I also splashed out on some pimpy Hayes HFX Carbons and XT shifters for the hardtail and I'm dying to use them.

To add insult to injury I've been studying hard for the exams, which start Monday 22nd. To say that I'm totally screwed would be a massive understatement....

Thats about all for now, I'll update when theres anything I reckon is worth posting...or I just become bored.....