British Marathon Champtionships and BMBS XC Series

This weekend saw me take part in the penultimate weekend of racing for the year. I was heading over to Wales for both the final round of their National XC Series (BMBS) (UCI C2) and the final round of the Trek Marathon Series (100km) which was dual rolling as the British National Marathon Championships, so a lot of racing hours was going to be logged...

The race was being held in the Welsh MTB mecca that is, Coed Y Brenin. Getting their was easy, Richie Felle, our bikes and the Silver Bullet (my Peugeut 205) made our way to the Irish Ferries ferry from Dublin to Holyhead in Wales, once there, it was a relatively short rainy drive (about 1.5 hours) to our B&B that was about 10 miles to the race course. After checking in and having a quick nap we headed down for the preride. The course for the XC race and the marathon had been billed as being the most technical course of the year but upon finishing my first lap – it was anything but. The XC lap was 10.5km long and only about 1.5 to 2km of singletrack. Coed Y Brenin has TONS of amazing singletrack and yet it was almost completely on fireroad. I mean, it's one thing to do all the climbing on fireroad (a lot of the time that suits me) but a lot of the descending was on fireroad too! There were a couple of techy sections on the course and a really fun final 4 minutes but just way too much fireroad. It also didn't help that it rained the whole time and made everything very slushy. (One thing though, with the constant rain the course for both days held together well with it all being 100% ridable – the HUGE puddles and rivers we had to ride through meant that not too much got to clog up the drivetrain)

Race morning arrived but my legs didn't feel that up for it. They didn't feel bad, just not that good. After the warmup we were all ready to start. Not much really to add from the race... I didn't feel very quick, my legs feeling pretty dull but I did have a few good fights during the race. The last lap James Fraser Moodie and I had a great tussle (me losing out to him just before the line) exchanging positions throughout the final lap. I finished up coming in a respectable 17th. I wasn't overly happy with the ride but I had one more long day on the bike to look forward to the next day so I simply refocused on it. Results of the XC race can be found here and a report here.

On Sunday I got up to a very soggy, rainy morning – the type of morning that when I'm at home I would reschedule a spin to latter in the day... Not today as it was going to be 100km of a (mostly) unchanged XC course. The rain continued to pour down right up to and past the start of the race. It was actually my first off road race that I left arm warmers on for! The pace at the start wasn't too fast (probably because no one warmed up because of the weather) and I was able to stay with the leaders for most of the first lap. Three quarters of the way around, the people in the group I was with allowed a gap to open in the single track and unfortunately, I couldn't chase back once we hit the climbs again. The second lap started with me in a small 4 person chase group and something worrying started to happen. My front brake starting to lose power. Another few kilometres and I had no front brake. (I had checked the brake pads on the front the night before and they were fine – I replaced the rear ones) For the next 4 laps I only had my rear brake to stop me. Luckily the course was not too technical so good brakes was less critical then normal but I would say it still added a minute or two to each lap time. Mid way through my sixth lap, disaster struck – on a fast descent my rear brake lost all power. Now I'm flying down a hill with no brakes... Time for some old school foot on the front wheel braking... With the smell of burning rubber I was able to stop and check out the situation. Brake pads (and back plates) were completely gone on the front and rear brakes. A nice walk/run back over to the start meant that I lost a ton of time (it was about 4km...). Robin, who suffured double punctures in the race, was able put on a set of pads on my front brake but I was going to do my last two laps with only a front. (Well, I did 4.5 with only a rear, only a front should be faster...) Before I left, Robin mentioned that I was as high as 5th but had now dropped to 8th (I think). With this, I had my motivation set to go hard for the final 80 minutes or so. The last two laps were uneventful enough – I felt good throughout and was even able to push hard on my last lap. I finished up the race in 5 hours 30 minutes for a decent 7th place. Having looked at the details from my Garmin, I probably lost around 20-25 minutes due to my braking issues... I could have had a 4th or 5th... You live and learn. Results from the marathon can be found here, as well as a report here.

The race was a serious mudfest. Lots of photos here

Mud, mud, mud...

The huge puddles meant that the Epic stayed 'roughly' clean

In general, even with the disappointing course I had a great weekend of racing. Thanks to Richie, Geof and Paul for helping me out in the feed zone and Robin and the Pipedream crew for the brake pads!

On Saturday I'll be taking part in the Irish Marathon Championships. It's going to be the final race (don't know about the cross season yet) of the season for me. I'll have nice, new, bedded in brake pads for that...

2007 National Road Hill Climb Championships

Last weekend (I've been busy since so no updates) I took part in both the National Hill Climb Championships and the National 'B' Road Race, both of which, as I mentioned earlier, where in my home town of Monaghan.

Saturday's hill climb had a really late (for me at least) start of 3pm so I spent most of the day before hand just wondering around Monaghan. I even ended up being the first person to sign on for the race. There was a little confusion over the starting order etc... and it ended up that I was going to be the first off – not really what I wanted as I would have no 'rabbit's to chase... Also, finding out so close to the start about the starting order meant that I had a pretty terrible warm up... For a 6 minute event, the warm up should have been crucial!

Anyway – with an anchor for a rear wheel (was using my training wheels as my light wheels were still being serviced) I waited for the countdown... 50 seconds I was told.... I back pedaled a little and the chain dropped on the lower, 39tooth ring (the climb, as it was so short at 2.7km and only 150m of climb was a big ring only climb)... I thought I had lots of time – so I told myself, don't panic, I'll get it on... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.... The guy said 50 seconds when he meant to stay 10!!! Crap, I flaffed about with my gears as I started up the hill loosing a bit of time. The climb was very short with several down hill bits so it was never really going to suit me – I would have much rathered a nice long 15-20 minute (or longer) sufferfest. I crossed the line in 6:25 which, when everyone had ran was enough for a 7th place. I was happy enough considering the mistakes that I made (warm-up, gears, wheels etc...) but I believe I should have easily been another 15 seconds faster. (Also, the last heavy week of training wouldn't have helped!) Not enough to touch the overall winner, David McCann though! Fellow mountain bike, James McCluskey finished a few seconds behind me.

Sunday morning was the turn of the road race. The course was a 13km loop with about 175m of climb per lap (yeah!). We were going to be doing 9 laps so around 3 hours of racing. My plan for the race was to conserve as much as I could during the first half and then be ready to work really really hard for the last 30k or so. (Simple, I know – but I'm not that experienced in road races!)

The first few laps went by pretty easily – high/low pace takes a bit of getting used to but I was actually really enjoying the race. There were a couple of nice descents that really seemed to flow on the road bike. Half way through the race, I ended up bridging (with 2 others) a 20 second gap to a break that I thought was going to stick. A while later the peloton caught us again :( Early in the 7th lap, the break of the day got away and unfortunately I missed it. They didn't get too much ahead but by the time we started the 8th lap it was 1:30. The peloton flexed a bit (of the 50 or so riders remaining in the peloton, about 6-7 were working) we brought it down to about 30 seconds... Enough so that we could see the break. At this point I felt very strong but the others that were working with me seemed to have had enough and were happy with letting the break win. After another 10 minutes of trying to urge the peloton on I gave up with that and with about 10-12 minutes of racing left I decided to really test my legs and see if I can catch the break which had a 40 second lead at this point. I worked hard up the hills (and unfortunately, into the wind for a chunk of it) and actually caught 4 or 5 of the break but not enough for me to be pulled up to the top ten. (I finished 12th in the end) I was disappointed about missing the break and not getting a better result but I was happy with how my body and my legs felt for the second half of the race... What I lacked in this race most of all was experience. As a training exercise, it beat going out on a solo ride for a few hours :)

The official results from the weekend are here.

Chasing Cows...

I'm in Monaghan (my home town) for the weekend as the National Hill Climb Champtionships are on here this weekend. I prerode the course today and something funny happened - there were stray cows everywhere, feckin pooing all over the lovely road :( Also, each one of them thought that they could take me on the climbs so they ran with me each time. I had no problems dropping them ;)


The course is actually really short (less then 4k) and not very steep. It is actually an undulating climb with not much elevation change. A track sprinter could do well tomorrow. Not really my type of climb. It climbs 150 meters and descends 40 meters.

Dry trails gone? Back to the road bike...

I think the dry trails are gone - you should be able to see Three Rock...

It should be like this...

Finally some dry (ish) weather...

The last week has been reasonably dry which has been great for making the trails fast again. I had almost forgotten how to ride fast on dry trails as we have had to deal with so much slomp this year. With the dry trails I've mostly been riding the mountain biking and getting ready for the British races and the Irish Marathon championhips at the end of September.

I'm also probably going to give the National Road Hill Climb Championships a go next weekend. They are actually being held in Monaghan (Irish capital of drumlins - not mountains) on a climb that's not very big or long. I'm not sure of the climb it will be on but I know the mountain and it's only about 250m high so the race will probably be a 10 minute effort... I still have to find a nice light set of wheels to use for it? Anyone got a spare set for Saturday? Sub 1.4kg?

The view from the Hell Fire Club (believe me, this was a 'nice' day!)

Mel and I cycled home from Joe's BBQ on Saturday night, this is Mel in a good tuck on one of the descents on her commuter bike...

A Weekend of Hill Climbs - Kippure and Kilmashogue

This weekend turned out to be a weekend of timed climbing races. First off was the Team Worc Extreme Hill Climb. It was a handicapped, (small) group start road climb. The course wasn't a constant climb (see the profile) but was almost 20km long and had 748 meters of climb. Robin, James and I were the last to start so we had many 'rabbits' in front of us to catch. We worked well together for the first 'rolling' 30 minutes of the race and we started to catch some of the earlier starters from about 25 minutes in. The conditions were very windy up around the Military road so our time wasn't going to be setting any records. Into the wind for the final few kilometres before the turn off to the final ascent of Kippure I somehow ended up on the front – unwilling to put much work into the wind I cruised along at a recovery pace as we all tried to recover a little before the final steep (17% in places) ascent of Kippure. As we made the turn and accelerated towards the masts, it was James and I in contention. We ended up playing cat and mouse the whole way up... Unfortunately, I miss timed my final sprint (I thought the penultimate bend was the last) and James pipped me to the post for the fastest time of the day – with the handicaps in place, we were still a little off the overall win. The Irish National Hill Climb Championships are on in a few weeks so I might give them a go – hopefully I'll have my light wheels serviced by then as I had to ride my 'heavy' training wheels for this race.

A graph of the climb from my Garmin

After a false start on the morning spin (more about that in a later post) I ended up heading out on the Epic for an afternoon spin. This week has been mostly (race aside) about recovery so I was only going to be out for a couple of hours but I still wanted to do one hard short effort. Every time I feel like this it's good to give the Kilmashogue hill climb a go. I physced myself up for a fast time and rode half way up it for a warmup dumping my bottles and saddle bag in the ditch, rode back down and made a go for it. I went hard from the start but was careful not to over do it on the steep sections so that I would have enough in my legs to really hammer on the less steep sections. I was about 2:54 in when I turned off the road for the first time (I remember last year doing this when I was really happy if I was under 4 minutes at this point!), negotiated the closed barriers (another few seconds could be saved here) and hammered on up the hill. I tried to remain relaxed and not over cook myself but I noticed that I was riding fast – Big and 8/9 for the 2% 'flat' section. By the time I got to the quary I looked down at my watch and I was still under 10 minutes – I remembered reading a report by Robin from a few years ago when he said he was at 10:something at this point and yet he still posted the second fastest (recorded – as far as I can find) time up the climb (he did a 12:13 in 2001 - the record of 12:12 was set by Craig Brady in 1997). I put my head down and hammered the last second hopping to stay in the low 12 minute mark. I crossed the crest of the climb and hit the split button – I looked down to find 11:56 a new (if unofficial) Kilmashogue Hill Climb record. I let out a few cheers and then realized that I need to get my breath back before I fall over. My heart rate average was actually a little low for the climb (173 – my LT is usually around 178 – last year I averaged 190 up a 17min climb in the states) so I might be able to squeeze a little more time out there. The weather conditions were pretty much perfect though – dry with little wind but some fresh gravel and the closed barriers would have slowed me a bit. A great end to a recovery week :)

My HR versus the climb... The coloured bands are my heart rate zones

Dear Santa...

I know it's a bit early for Christmas but I think I know what I want...


It's the new 2008 Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL... Probably costs around 7,000 euro - but I can dream. Picture is from here.

The view from Kippure

Descending (and climbing) around Kippure today was crazy. One minute beautiful sunshine, the next, mist, cold and time for thermal arm warmers. At least it wasn't raining...

2007 Outsider Annacurra Adventure Challenge

The story of this race started a little over a year ago when Mel and I took part in the first running of the race. After almost four and a half hours of racing and sitting in second place in the mixed category we ended up missing out on the second place due to a mistake I made – I missed two punched checkpoints... To say Mel was a little annoyed is an understatement.

A year later, and a lot fitter (well, I was, Mel was a little banjaxed due to her last Adventure Race and a lack of training due to her studies) we planned to return to the Annacurra Adventure Challenge and banish the ghosts from last year. First though, I had to get the bikes and gear ready, a process that started at 6pm on the Friday and didn't finish until almost 2am! Enough to almost push me away from heading down to the race at all! Anyway, we woke bright and early (why can't all races have a nice 1:30pm start?) to see a wet miserable day await us. Undeterred, we headed down to Annacurra.

At 10:30 the 50 teams (or so) started the race by a run around the local GAA pitch (to split us up I assume) before we got to our bikes to start the first 16km mountain biking section. From the very start, some of our preparation started to pay off. Due to the difference in our fitness levels we were going to use a bungee device between my bike and Mel's as much as we could. In the end, we used it for all non technical climbing stages throughout the event – even the running. This allowed us to pool our fitness and stay with the lead group for most of the first stage, just drifting off the back on a long slightly technical flat section.

By the time we got to the running section we were around six minutes behind the leaders. Me being a mountain biker, the running section was going to be the hardest on my body – the last decent run that I went on was this race last year... (Although I did do five short, low intensity runs before this event to lower the pain...) Wet conditions meant that the run was reasonably technical – it was short at 6.5km but it contained 575 meters of climb! Considering Mel's injuries (tendonitis in both ankles and the onset of cramping) and my allergy to running we didn't lose too much time on the run and started into the third stage very positive.

A climb just after the stage 2/3 transition

The third stage was a 25km mountain biking section. The section contained a lot more technical riding then the first stage and would have suited us more seeing as we are more mountain bikers then adventure racers. Throughout this stage I was very very attentive to our location and the location of the next checkpoint. It was during this stage last year that I missed the two punches that robbed us of the second place. After about three and a half hours we arrived back at the finishing area for the short course.

A quick refuel transition

After a quick transition (grabbed a few gels and fresh bottles from the car) we headed straight back up the hill for a long climb followed by a fast descent back to the finish. The bungee was vital here as Mel was starting to tire and the cramps were taking over. (I think I heard her curse more in the last hour then I had anytime before) For me, I put my head down and tried to remain focused on getting to the top of the hill as fast as possible. Funnily, about a kilometer from the top we caught Eoin Keith's elite adventure racing team. They looked to be in a bit of bother but I knew that they would catch us again on the running section so I tried to put as much distance between them and us as I could. Unfortunatly, they did catch and pass us on the running section and the final descent didn't give us enough time to catch them again (they were 20 seconds faster then us...).

We arrived back at the start to find out that the first and third (the one we had a final battle with) teams had missed checkpoints (the bane of last year) so we were actually catapulted into second position overall. In addition we finished first mixed team. All my goals for this race were met.

Big mucky smiles after the race

The event was very well run with the course marked out excellently – the weather was terrible throughout and all the off-road was shlomp – but thats Ireland this year... I know we had smiles on our faces throughout and I had to remind Mel afterwards that we rode through torrential rain at one point (she seemed to block that out).

A great feast was put on for us after the race (I think we must have looked like a swarm of locusts to the poor ladies who were helping out with the food) and we enjoyed chatting and sharing stories with our fellow racers. Overall, an excellent event and a great day out - many thanks from Mel and I to the Annacurra team and Outsider magazine and I'll be there again next year.

First and second placed teams

Photos are from here and results can be found here.

Another reason to fly to California...

Not only does Palo Alto have nicer weather then here (On Tuesdays club race I wore full winter gear - two jersies, arm warmers and my thermal jacket!) but I also have a new niece to visit. My brother Kieran and his wife Cynthia just had their second child - Ella. Together with Orlaith the Sherlock family has been extended by two this year.

A short and long spin...

A short and a long spin made up this weekends riding. Saturday I rode around the usual spots concentrating on technique with a couple of laps of the Epic Club course thrown in at the end for good measure. Sunday's spin was a long MTB group affair. In the end I covered a few new trails and a good few that I have not been on in a while. While in Balinastoe I got to see the new purpose built mountain bike trails that Collite are building. They look awesome in the fast flowy sort of way. Very similar to a lot of the trails that I used to ride in California. Completely weather proof - something that I really look for in trails given the Irish 'summer'.


6 hours of active time meant it was the longest MTB spin of the year - I felt pretty good afterwards (infact, better then normal) but I think the chocolate milk, food and nap as soon as I got home did that.

A new frame - Giant XTC Composite

With the sale of my Enduro last week it was time to get myself in gear and pick up a hardtail frame. I had been thinking about getting one for a long time as I've all the bits I need hanging around to build up a nice bike. Initially, I wanted to pick up a 2007 Specialized S-Works M5 hardtail but unfortunately, Specialized UK are out of stock in my size. I then looked at getting a Salsa Moto Rapido but having talked to the guys over in The Cycle Inn I ended up going and getting a Giant XTC Composite. It was a little overkill for what I set out to do – build a decent hardtail for training on and using over the winter and is now turning into a pretty darned good race bike. (My Epic need not worry, it's still the best bike I've ever ridden)

At 1383 grams it's a pretty light frame with seat post collar and chain stay protector

The build is mostly XTR/XT and some carbon bits with the weight around 9.4kg...

All built up and ready to go - some minor changes to come

It had been a long time since I was riding a hardtail having sold my Aluminium Stumpjumper over a year ago but after the initial hour or two getting used to being bucked around I started to really enjoy the feel of the hardtail. I think the carbon made it a lot more forgiving then the old Stumpy that I was used to.

Another piece of kit that I have really gotten to love recently is the Stans NoTubes conversion kit. I started running tubeless earlier on this year with my SLRs but recently I converted my XTR/Mavic 717 rims to tubeless too – I use them as a backup in races and some training. I've put about 400km on them so far and there has not been a single issue. Well worth the investment.

Tires that I've been using recently:
Bontrager Jones XR Tubeless Ready 2.2 - great intermediate tire, rolls really fast and are pretty light (around 600 grams) for such a large volume tire
Maxxis Crossmark LUST 2.1 - very very fast tire on dry trails, a bit sketchy on mud but fine if you drop the pressure a bit. At 705 grams each, not too light.
Hutchinson Bulldog Tubeless Light 2.1 - great in all conditions except on loose over hardpack (or road with dust/stones on it) - had a nasty spill during the 6th NPS due to the front washing out

Video from the Ballyhoura Beast Adventure Race

Mel's Beast of Ballyhoura race report

It all started a few weeks ago when I got a phone call from Ivan Park (Causeway Coast Adventure Races) - asking if I wanted to take part in the Ballyhoura Beast - they were looking for a girl to complete their team. The Ballyhoura Beast is a non-stop 24-hour adventure race in the Ballyhoura/Galtee mountains region, including disciplines such as orienteering, mountaineering, mountain biking, abseiling, clay pigeon shooting and kayaking. The other two guys on the team where Paul McArthur and Rowan McMahon (Not the Sunday Run) - both mostly unknown to me. I had actually already decided to not take part but then I thought, what the heck, changed my mind and said: "Sure, I'd love to!". What did I get myself into.... Due to various other race commitments and them living up North, we didn't manage to have a single training session. A few e-mails back and forth we had all the gear sorted between each other and I made my way up to our lovely B&B with another team. Meeting Rowan and Paul in the evening for the first time for 5 minutes before we went to bed, we all woke up the next morning to a full Irish breakfast fry - mmmmmhhh. Might not be the best food from a nutritional perspective before a strenuous 24 hour race, but from a mind perspective it was exactly what I needed.

After the breakfast, we made our way up to the race HQ in Ardpatrick and then the kit sorting began. I had to get a puncture sorted on my bike - making Rowan the official bike doctor for the race. After the kit check and being each fitted out with an electronic SI card on an irremovable wristband, we were transported to the race start. A short briefing and we were off at about 12 o'clock for the first orienteering stage - closely watched by some TV cameras. A short sharp run along a river we retrieved our first orienteering maps from under a bridge and tactical discussions began. There were 8 mandatory points to find and each of them giving clue to an optional super control worth 40min as well as about 13 optional, closer spaced controls, each worth 10min. With jogging pace we made it to a ruin after fighting through some jungle, down to a river, over a river, down to another river, up that river, onto a saddle, down to the woods, down to another river, through some undergrowth, through some gorse (ouch!) and along some fire roads back to the orienteering start - having found all the mandatory and 4 of the optional controls. At the start we were awaited by a zip line over a river which was a fun bit - especially seeing some of the heavier folks bum skimming the water .... Unfortunately we didn't figure out the super control location correctly.

Ah well, we didn't get deterred by that and made our way towards the mountains for the mountaineering stage. The weather, which had held up beautifully until now turned worse and it started raining (and didn't stop for the next 14 hours.....). Anyway, we struggled our way up on the open mountain, through heather and some burned gorse. With deteriorating weather conditions, we all put on our warmer rain proof coating and arrived up on Galtybeg mountain in now atrocious weather conditions to be greeted by a poor marshal in a tiny tent guarding the control. As we were too late for the cut-off for the optional orienteering loop up here (thank god!!) we headed straight towards Galtymore mountain along the ridge walk in knee deep mud. One wrong step and you could have tumbled down a few hundred meters on either side. The rain was joined by fog when we tried to navigate our way after Galtymore towards the gorge where the abseiling was taking place. Due to Paul's and Ivan's excellent navigation skills we found the gorge even in deep fog with less than 10m visibility and were greeted by the abseiling marshals. So, after harnessing up, we had to abseil 50m down a river turning waterfall in a swollen riverbed on slick slippery stone with cold water streaming down on top of you as you were hanging down the edge of the waterfall.... Just as a beside, this was Ivan's and my first abseil.... Oh my god!!! However, after overcoming our fears, we arrived safely and soaking wet on the bottom of the waterfall and made our way down to the bridge to pick up the last control before the run-bike transition. Followed by the TV crew we sped along the road to the transition and were welcomed by a cheer from the support crew after being about 8 hours or so into the race.

After filling our stomachs with food and changing into dry clothes we got ready for our biking stage. At this moment in time, we had darkness breaking in. We followed a network of small country roads till we had to face some hike-a-biking up an overgrown single track along the Ballyhoura way (thanks Rowan for pushing my bike!), ending up in a dead end. Luckily we found the right way eventually and headed along fire roads to the clay pigeon shooting place. Earplugs in and gun loaded, we were given instructions and each fired our 10 shots (each missed shot was a minute penalty). Coldness and tiredness made it harder to aim (try and hold a heavy gun still after about 11hours of running and cycling!!), but we were pleased to hit about half of the fluorescent clay dishes. Back onto the bikes and into the relentless rain, we hit some formidable single track and followed the signs along the Ballyhoura way until we hit the Ballyhoura mountain bike park a few hours later. Greeted by the TV crew (who were BBQing and not sharing any of it!!!) and an ever energetic Vanessa, the main organizer we were given instructions on the next bit on the new and purpose built Ballyhoura mountain bike trails. Along the sheer endless single track which made it hard to concentrate after such a long time on the track, we were surprised by some glow stick enhanced masks, the beasties, some of which contained our controls. A crash and a "brufen" and some more single track later we made it back to the start of the trails after about 2 hours and 13 kms and headed on for the rest of the mountain biking stage which was mostly along fire roads with the day ahead dawning on us. Sounds easy? Not when there has been 12 hours of rain! The tracks resembled full raging muddy rivers and I was wondering why they hadn't added wetsuits as mandatory gear to this stage! After an unfortunate waste of time searching for a control near some ruins we were caught up by another team when we eventually found it, so we went back on our bikes as fast as possible and raced towards the kayaking transition where we arrived after a total biking time of about 12hours.

After exchanging the wet gear one last time, this time for a warm wetsuit and filling up on some food we headed down the overgrown and swollen river in sit on top kayaks. Oh - the rain was stopping now - of course, no rain needed when we were going to get wet in the kayaks! Under trees, over trees, over rapids, around rocks and again under and over trees and more trees and trees and trees and some capsizes and lost rucksacks later we had collected our last two points and even had had a bit of a competitive time with the other team that had caught up with us. We made sure to get out of their eyesight as fast as possible and kayaked down the river over and under trees and more trees and trees and did I mention the trees? A last fun section around the weir and we could already hear the drums of the finish at the castle. Spurred on by the near end we ran up the finish and were greeted once again by Vanessa and Co., drums and an amazing feeling of achievement. We took just over 24hours non-stop to complete the course. What an amazing and great race! I had soooo much fun on the race and am sooo happy with how we worked as a team, everybody supporting each other and we just "gelled" really well which was very lucky considering we had never raced with each other and barely or not knew each other. I really really enjoyed this race! Can't wait to do the next one! Hold on, is this pain that I'm feeling? And this and this and this..... Ouch and what is this? Chafing from my rucksack? Tendinitis on my Achilles tendon? Ok, I'll wait until I've cured my various injuries.... The post race scenario included lots of food, a hot shower (aaaahhhhhh) and a free sports massage (or bum grab as others prefer to call it). Unfortunately I was too tired and wrecked to stay on for the post racing party - so I only found out later that we actually placed third - a formidable achievement. Thanks to Vanessa and Outsider to put together such a great race and thanks to my team-mates for just being, well, a GREAT TEAM!

Mel.

P.S. What I have eaten/drunk during the race:
15 Energy gels,
6 Powerbars,
2 bags of pasta,
1 bag of porridge with raisins,
2 sandwiches,
6 cereal bars,
2 bags of wine gums,
2 bottles of sports drink,
4 cans of red bull
2 pain killers
a big bite of cracker cheese
several liters of murky river water with nuun tablets

and my stomach was still grumbling of hunger at 8am!!!

A week of long spins

After tapering for the nationals last weekend it was time for a bit of a long week. Lots of long distance endurance stuff with no drills or intervals. Just some time on the bike riding and trying to enjoy any nice weather we get.

Saturdays road ride was the most interesting – Mel was off racing in the Clec (and winning the all ladies category!) so it was just me at home and I decided that as the weather was going to be nice for most of the day that I should get a long spin in ahead of the Annacurra Challenge which Mel and I are taking part in, in a couple of weeks. 172Km and 3000 meters of climb I completed one of my longest spins of the year. At 6 hours, it was pretty long but felt like how a 3.5 to 4 hour ride felt last year. I was a bit tired around the 3 hour mark but felt great towards the end (maybe the thought of diner pulled me along). I actually really enjoyed the two climbs towards the end – Slieve Mann and the Shay Elliot. I hope I get to do those climbs in a race at some point soon.

The Profile for Saturdays ride

The route around the Wicklow Mountains

Did I miss some nice climbs? Let me know :)

2006 S-Works Enduro for sale

Due to spending almost all my time on XC wippet bikes and road bikes over the last year I'm selling my prized Specialized S-Works Enduro. I've not used it in about 6 months due to all the racing and I really have to clear some space in my house. The Enduro is an unreal bike fit for long Sunday spins or downhill races. I took it with me on my biking holiday in New Zealand and did DH runs with a former world champion (Vanessa Quin) one day and a 100km XC spin the next...

Picture taken this morning

The bike is little over a year old. The spec is the same as the 2007 Specialized S-Works Enduro. Here are the updates for it:

Drive Train: Replaced 1000km ago
Cables: all new
Tires: Comes with 2 * Maxxis Swampthings 2.35 ST (about 200km on them - practically new €50)
1 * Maxxis High Roller 2.35 ST (€30)
2 * Maxxis Wet Scream 2.2 (Brand new €70)
1 * Syncros BHT Factory 2.35 Front Tire (New)
2 * Specialized Enduro 2.35 (One almost new, one a little worn)
Front and rear shock had a complete service with new seals two spins ago.
Also comes with EnduroForkSeals bearing kit (€55) for rear suspension (not yet needed)

The bike is a large but would probably fit anyone from about 5 foot 8 inches up... (I'm about 6 foot 2 and it was just about big enough)

The price for the bike, all the tires and bearing kit is €2400 - a LOT less the the $5,900 list price! Email me at biking ( at ) ryansherlock (dot) com if you have any questions or want to have a look at it.

There are lots more photos available here.

EDIT - Sold
The bike is sold and gone to it's new home. I've no plans for picking up another bike yet - 3 is enough for now but I am on the lookout for a hardtail frame for use as a training/crummy conditions bike.

2007 Irish National Cross Country Championships

This past weekend seen me take part in my biggest race of the year so far. It was the Irish National XC Championships weekend! The race was being held in Tollymore Forest Park which is at the foot of the Mourne Mountains close to Newcastle in Northern Ireland. Even though it had been raining constantly for the last 8 weeks when Mel and I arrived at the course for the preride we were amazed to find a mostly dry track! The course was pretty interesting – a short fireroad climb followed by some flowy single track (with slick corners) followed by a 1.9km fireroad climb. It wasn't particularly steep but seemed to suit me pretty well (I usually like steep climbs :)). From then, the rest of the 5km course was all single track. The first half was a very tough off chamber single track section with a few kickers followed by a long swoopy section back to the start. Lots of roots, rocks, slick corners and a double bomb hole kept everyone on their toes...

The morning of the race arrived and I had some of the big race nerves (have not felt that since the K-Capital races – it's a good sign for me) and started to wonder why I was about to put myself through two and a half hours of suffering... After a decent warmup on the roads surrounding the forest we all lined up for our 1:30pm start. It was funny, my resting heart rate is in the 30s yet I was sitting on the line 'relaxed' with a heart rate of 100 – guess it was the nerves again. The first seven or eight minutes of the race was reasonably uneventful. We all simply went through the motions and got to the top of the climb to enter the single track – not particularly quickly. Once on the single track, I made a silly mistake (and fell off) and got stuck behind another rider. This meant that I lost touch with the leading group. I was a little annoyed about that at the time but I knew it was a long race and my legs felt good so I got over it. Lewis Ferguson, James Mc Cluskey and I rode the first lap mostly together. Half way up the climb on the second lap I dropped Lewis but James was still there about 20 seconds back. For the following few laps James and I stayed around the same distance apart, I would add a few seconds while we climbed and he would close up to me by the end of the single track. On the fourth lap, I left James (who was having some mechanical issues as far as I know) for the rest of the race. Also, on the fourth (or maybe third...) lap I passed Conor McConvey who was just finishing fixing a puncture, knowing that he was hot on my heals was real motivation to hammer up the climbs. I rode the top section of single track terribly on my 6th and 7th lap but recovered well for my final lap to post my second fastest lap of the race... Overall my laptimes where very consistent. 17:15, 18:17, 18:17, 18:18, 18:16, 18:59, 19:04, 18:10. Lap 6 and 7 hurt me!

We are off!

Somewhere in the single track...

Mel riding away

Mel and Morgan riding together

I eventually came in in 5th position behind Robin (14th National Championship in a row), Niall Davis, Roger Aiken and Peter Bugle. I was very happy with how the race went overall – I had a few crashes (the singletrack was so tough) but no real problems and my legs felt good the whole way around. I didn't even suffer that much! The next big race for me is probably the National Marathon Championships in September – a long way away so I'll look around for some other races and possibly do a road race or two again.

Another thing was that the my Epic seemed to be tailor made for the course, the suspension really helped me out on all the roots. I was using Bontrager 2.2 Tubeless Ready Jones XR tires for the race which are now my favorite tires.

Some of the MAD winners from the NPS series

There are reports of the race here and here as well as photos here, here and here. I'll be adding more photos as I get them.

A weekend of racing

The National Champs were on this weekend - a report and some photos to follow...

A fine weekend of racing :)

Second Life

There has been a whole lot of buzz about second life recently. Basically, ICQ with a graphics engine... I heard lots about it being the next big thing so I spent a few hours messing around in it. I got bored quickly.

Alan showed me this video of people in real life pretending to be in second life - I thought it was funny.


While I am writing about online things I'll mention a few other bits and bobs I use.
Joost - the future of TV? Application is still pretty buggy
4oD - Channel 4 online (windows only but pretty good)
Google Reader - Collecting all my RSS feeds

A week of sickness and some racing - NPS 7

This last week has been a little funny – since the 6th NPS in Djouce I have been pretty sick. After the race, in which I almost got sick, I had stomach cramps all evening (attending a wedding the day before and changing race drink, where can I get Cytomax?, probably causing most of it), Monday, I did an Active Recovery ride for about an hour and felt fine, then on Monday night, I woke up feeling as if I had drank 20 pints and was about to get sick. The next day was horrible feeling as if I had a terrible hang over – I was bloated as if I was 6 months pregnant. Wednesday, I felt okay and tried to do a little technique training on the mountain bike but was just totally unmotivated. Thursday I was on the road bike and couldn't eat or drink. (This lead to be bonking while trying to eat dinner later that night) Friday, I didn't/couldn't do anything... Not exactly the best way to prep for the final round of the national series :(

IMBRC were hold the final round in one of Dublin's parks called Tymon Park. It was the first time that an XC race was being held in a city park in many years and it was going to be a dramatic change from the mudfest the previous week. The course was a flat 4km, hyper fast raceway that didn't really suit me – give me some big climbs any day :) On Saturday, Mel, Sean and I took part in a team relay race what was being held as a 'fun' preride event. Our club had a huge turnout with nine teams. Our team, gobuckMAD, finished up in 9th position.

Mel during her leg of the relay

Some beautiful singletrack

Team gobuckMAD (my stomach is still bloated in the picture!)

Most of the MAD contingent from the relay race

Sundays elite race was going to be a 10 lapper and started out quickly with the initial lap being faster then the laps all of us did the previous day. From the start I felt dead and my heart rate barely went above my lactate threshold (basically, the max heart rate I hit in the whole race was less then the average of the first 30 minutes of almost every other race I did this year). My mind wanted to go but my body wouldn't have any of it. It wasn't that I was suffering as I went around, I just couldn't go any faster then a fast Sunday spin type pace. It was really frustrating but I have to remember the week I had leading up to it. The funny thing is that I've actually won the NPS Elite Men title – crazy... I wish they gave jerseys out for that – like the national champions one...

The weekend of racing was fun overall, especially from a social point of view as the course really lends itself well to watching the other racers race. The weather, for the first time in ages, behaved and I think I may have even got a very slight tan - wow - just when I thought my mountain biker tan lines were gone forever. This type of race course isn't really for me but everyone I chatted to loved the event as a whole and I hope that there will be another of these type races in Ireland in next years calender...

There is a report available here and some more photos here.

NPS 6 - Djouce

A report and some photos to follow - boy was that a mudfest! Great fun though.

Photo from here

Another picture from here

My bike after the race (I scraped off most of the muck before I left the carpark)

Sean Nolan Meath GP Road Race

The weekend saw me take part in my second ever road race in Navan. The race was advertised to be a 112km but at the start line they informed up that it was actually going to be closer to 162km... A bit longer then I wanted! The race started like the other race I took part in, fast fast, slow slow, fast fast.... Unlike the last time, I decided that I was going to be aggressive from the start and bridge breaks and basically try to get into the lead break... (Riding fast, putting out a lot of power was the purpose, from a training point of view, for the race) I rode hard and over a 25 minute interval my average speed was around 50kph – pretty nuts (for me at least) on a flat course. Still though, I missed the break that occurred at around 27 minutes and could not catch it (no one in the Peloton seemed bothered). I was a little annoyed about that with the amount of work I put in, but I'm still a newbie...

The course was basically ride out to a lap, do 4 laps of a big lap and then ride back to the start. After the third lap my back had been giving me a little trouble (something that happens from time to time since the Castlewellan race) and I decided that as I wasn't in the lead group and this was a training race anyway that I'd call it a day and pull out early... I have XC races the next few weeks and I was a little weary of doing such a long race especially since I was not in the mindset of 162km... (didn't have enough food/water either). I rode back to the car and ended up (including the warmup/cool down) doing about 150km anyway...

I didn't like the course, it was really flat with no real climbing so I don't think it would suit me – although I hear that almost all the road races in Ireland are like this.... Give me a proper 1000 meter climb any day...

Results can be found here

Rain repeats...

I was out on the road bike last night (I'll take the rain over the turbo trainer any day) and I swear the rain was out training with me... I think it was doing some sort of Lactate Threshold drills. Basically the rain was going heavy 2 minutes, light 4 minutes, heavy 2 minutes.... It did about 3 sets of this with a 6 minute mizzle between sets... (Or maybe it was doing Ryan persistence testing drills...) Maybe it has a big storm or something coming up soon that it's getting ready for. I know that the weather has been terrible around her these last two weeks :(

In other news, I'm probably doing my second ever road race this weekend, the Sean Nolan Meath GP... Hopefully the weather wont be as bad as the last one... Also, Mel and Fergal are taking part in the Rogaine this weekend. Mel and I did it last year and with the current weather forecasts, I'm glad I'm not getting ready for it this year.

Tubeless wheels and tyres

Since my multiple puncture incident in the Carlingford K-Capital race I have switched to using tubeless wheels and tyres for racing. More specifically, I've been using a set of pimping Mavic SLRs and Hutchinson Python Light, Bulldog Lights and Maxxis Ignitor tyres. Initially, I didn't really notice that much of a difference when using them – I felt that they (in general) rolled a little slower (or maybe I was just riding slower) then my old wheels/tyres but after about a two months of use I can give a bit more of a verdict – I love them.

I'm still a long way away from being completely comfortable with finding the right setup per race and it is a pain to change tyres (since I currently only have one set of tubeless wheels) but for racing I find it gives me so much more security. The whole puncture resistance and pinch flat proofness is great but what really gets me is the feel when riding over slightly rocky/rooty terrain. The tyre really molds itself around the ground as you ride over it and the comfort level and grip that I get is so far ahead of the tubed version... Last night was a great example – I went up to the Team Worc club race around Djouce – it was a terrible terrible night, thunder and lightening and very heavy rain. Everything was waterlogged but yet I was very comfortable and secure riding the single track (about 30psi in a front Bulldog and 33psi in a rear Ignitor). The amount of grip cornering and climbing that I got in those conditions really surprised me.

The red hubs worked well with the rest of my bikes paint job

So, go tubeless or not – for me the answer is tubeless – I'm even looking for a set of (cheaper) Mavic tubeless wheels to use for training now. Oh, and thanks to CRC for helping me out getting the right wheel tyre combinations!

NPS 5 – Killaloe and a picnic

The weather this last week has been a bit annoying – I find it so much more difficult to go out for a long spin when it's raining and there are grey skies. I don't find it to bad to get out in the winter under the same conditions, but it's the summer! It should be nice... All the rain over the last few days meant that Saturdays race was going to be a muddy affair – indeed, it turned out to be probably the muddiest most technical race I've ridden with a few sections being bad enough that the only way to get over them was to get of the bike and run (not a thing that I like doing).

The course itself would have been amazing if it was not for the terrible monsoon conditions over the last week – possibly the best course of the year but as it was, it really suffered from the rain. The course was a 5 or 6 minute fireroad/trail type climb that got steeper as you progressed – about 110m of climb of a kilometre. Some flat singletrack (that was a lot of fun to power along) and a bit more climbing lead you to a long single track descent with a few kickers. Then a short fireroad linker section to a final bermed DH section that leads down to the start/finish area.

Unfortunately, with most of the other Elite racers hunting for UCI points for the Olympics (or not travelling down to the bottom of the country) I was going to be the only elite racer. With this in mind, we (the race organizers and me) decided that it would be more fun if I started with the Masters and Experts – it was a good move. At the start of the race Dave Barry flew off from the start line at a pace I wasn't prepared to go at (I didn't think it would last very long anyway with a 5 minute climb that gets steeper) so I sat in and hovered around 6th or 7th. As it started to get steeper I moved to the front and that was it (mostly) for the race. Joey, who is an excellent technical rider, caught me on the single track on the first lap and lead for a couple of minutes, but I passed him again on one of the kickers and that was it for the race. I found it hard to keep the intensity up for the race but in the end I enjoyed it – not much suffering was had and it was a bit of practice racing in muddy conditions :)

It was difficult to stay on the right line here

It was a bit mucky!

As it was Mel's birthday on Saturday (she did an Adventure Race up by Newry instead of the NPS) we were organizing a picnic/bbq in a remote (ish) valley that we like between Crone and Cloon. MAD were also going to drop by as part of their Sunday spin so it was going to be a pretty busy affair in the valley with lots of food to be eaten.

Some of the MAD folk

All of us (minus the MAD folk who just left)

In the end, the BBQ went really well and I think everyone enjoyed it – it was interesting to see the people who spend less time then us (or the MAD folks) in the countryside and I think everyone enjoyed escaping the city for a couple of hours. Food wise, the Apple Crumble that Mel and I made on Sunday morning was probably the highlight, but the burgers and salads went down great too. I cycled over the mountains to the BBQ (Mel drove my car) and then for another couple of hours afterwards. The first hour of the cycle afterwards was tough carrying all the extra food around! I didn't feel low in energy though :) I wasn't hungry for the rest of the day which is very unusual for me! There are a few more pictures here.

Time Machines...

It's been pouring all day here today (the blissful Californian weather of just a few days ago is but a distant memory – the tan is still here tho :) ) and I had the bright idea of giving the Turbo Trainer a go instead of getting soaked outside as my ride for today was going to be a pretty short (about an hour) active recovery spin. I have a Turbo Trainer for about 14 months now and have used it about 3 or 4 times so, I set up the laptop, turned on an episode of the Sopranos and started to pedal... Time passed, more time passed, started to get thirsty, drank some, keep pedaling, moved through the gears... I looked down at the clock and 3:47 (as in 3 minutes 47 seconds) had gone by! Ahhhhh!

Anyway, I stuck it out and did the 'spin' but I think I'll be throwing the thing back in the cupboard and put on the rain gear the next day...

Preview Video of this weekends course

This weekend I'll be racing in the 5th Irish NPS race down in Ballycuggaran Woods. The course last year was steep climbing and steep super wet (it poured right before the start of the race) descent. Hopefully this year it will be a bit drier...

British XC & Marthon Series Round 3 - Margem Park

Last weekend saw Sean and I (as well as a few other Irish racers) head over to Wales for the third round of their National XC and Marathon series. There had been talk of rain for the whole weekend but fortunatly enough it never materialized and all the racers on in the XC race on Saturday ended up getting burnt!

Saturday saw the cross country race. It was basically 5 laps of an 8km course with about 300m of climb per lap. The climbing on each lap was split up into 3 major climbs with single track descents following each one... At 12pm the Elite race started and the pace was frantic from the start. My legs felt terrible from the beginning and I knew that it was going to be a long 2+ hours... On the fourth lap, my hamstrings locked up half way up one of the climbs – it was pretty steep so I wasn't really able to stand and climb in order to get into a different position. About 3-4 minutes of agony (I thought I was going to have to turn around and freewheel back to the start) the pain subsided and I was able to race on. By the time I finished in 26th place I was absolutely zonked – pretty dehydrated (it was 27C and humid with no wind) and didn't really have the energy to get ready for the next days race. I even contemplated dropping from the full 100km marathon down to the 50km! A long bath and some good food meant that by the time I was going to bed I felt a lot better.

The Marathon race went somewhat better – it was going to be 4 laps of a 25km course with about 700m of climb per lap. It basically was the full XC course from the previous day plus a big chunk out the back hills. From the start, the pace was a lot easier then the day before and I didn't have to push to hard to keep (roughly) with the lead group. (One of my regrets from the race was that I didn't go that little bit harder and be in the lead group...) During the second lap I had a great tussle with two other lads – unfortunatly about two thirds of the way around the lap one of them punctured and I dropped the other guy (who seemed to be suffering more then me) on the last climb of the lap. The third lap was spent passing about 300 riders who started the 50 and 25km races about 15 minutes before I came through on my lap. It was pretty amazing – all levels of riders and a constant stream meant that I was riding off the racing line for much of the lap. Apart from a 10 minute interval on the last lap when I felt a bit bonky it all went pretty well. I finished the race and didn't feel like I needed to fall of the bike. Overall felt easier on my body then the previous days XC race even though, at 4:50 on the saddle the race was more then twice as long! In the end, I came in in 7th position (Robin won the race) which I was really happy with :) Again - my bike, wheels and tyres (if a little heavy) blew me away...

There are some reports and photos from the race here, here, here and here.

Panorama from New Zealand

A panorama overlooking Wanaka from about 1,800 meters

Racing, racing and more racing...

It has been a long time since my last proper post and I've been doing a lot of racing both in Ireland and abroad recently. I'll briefly go through the races and hopefully get back to normal posting soon.

Irish National Points Series – Round 2 – Balinastoe – May 6th

This was the second time that I was going to be racing in Balinastoe, last year we had a round of the NPS on roughly the same circuit. This time however, they cut out the parts that I didn't like (a fast gravel road descent!!!) and replaced it with a reasonable enough single track descent through a cut down forest. The course itself was actually quiet short (and dry!) and we only had to complete 7 laps. My lap times for the laps were around the 12:30 mark... (3.7km, 160m climb per lap). The race only saw Peter Bugle, James McCluskey and myself take part in the Elites. We all headed off with James putting on the early pressure. Me, my legs didn't really hack the pace and I ended up staying about 40 seconds back on him and Peter for the first two laps. On the second last lap I passed James on a single track section with his bike upside down. Unfortunately, he snapped his dérailleur hanger somewhere on the section. I didn't see Peter again until the finish line.

A view over the course

Mel at the start of her race

A tough climb at the start of the lap

Towards the end of the lap there was two lines, the slow line or the jump :)

Freerange Sports Optics British XC Series Round 2 UCI C1 – Sherwood Pines – May 12th

I travelled with a bunch of Irish riders over to my first race in the UK. The field looked impressively strong (about 50 Elites) with all their shiny team sponsored bikes and the race looked set to be a fast one. The course was almost completely flat (well, a few short 'climbs') but was 11.1km long! 5 laps meant that I'd be averaging about 22.5kph on twisty offroad single track :) That's almost as fast as my recovery rides on the road bike on the flat! My inexperience was apparent from the start when I went to the start area 10 minutes before the start to find that I'd be in the last row! All the Irish races with 12-16 Elites had me spoilt! The race went by pretty quickly with me never leaving the big ring. I had a few good tussles with the riders around me – it was one of the first times where I was constantly racing behind fast people. I guess with so many Elite starters the chances of having riders at an equal speed as me goes up dramatically. I ended up finishing 34th which I was reasonably happy with all things considered... After the race, I had another race, to the airport to get ready for my next days racing...

Sherwood Pines course

Irish National Points Series – Round 3 – Carlingford – May 13th

Arriving home on a Saturday night, tired, hungry and with a bike to be built up is not the best way to prepare for a Sunday morning race. The race in Carlingord was going to use much of the course from the one used in the K-Capital (the race I had all the punctures, blew up my cars engine and hurt my knee...) with some parts reversed and a new technical descent. Briefly, I felt squirely on the single track (it was pretty technical) for the first two laps and my legs only started to feel good on the 3rd (of 5) laps. Roger Aiken finished out winning the race (he went on to race in the Ras) a full eight minutes ahead of me - eeek.

Irish National Points Series – Round 4 – Larne – May 20th

This course was really unusual – it's basically an old quarry that will (hopefully) be turned into an outdoor sports adventure centre type place. Unfortunately, at the moment it resembles a quarry more then a sports centre. The race course was about 6km with 110 meters of climb per lap. The climbs were all made up of very short (some times very steep) climbs – not really the type of course that suits me. I'll leave the report of this one short – basically, Lewis Ferguson and I were having a nice wee tussle for first for the first couple of laps. For the 3rd to 5th lap I was about 30-40 seconds back on him then about two thirds of the way around the 5th lap my rear wheel burped and I lost most of the air. I hobbled to the tech zone, got some air in and as I left the tech zone I found out that I was about 1:40 behind Lewis. My body felt really good and my legs felt perfect (I had barely used the up to this point in the race as I couldn't get myself to go any faster then a cruising pace). I hammered off with my mind focused on catching him... Two minutes later, my front wheel hit a rock (not very hard!) and burped all the air out – my air canister failed and my race was pretty much over. To say I was a bit pissed about it is an understatement.

That's basically all my races up to last weekend. Last weekend I raced in the UK again but I'll write about that another time soon.