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
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
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!
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 jobSo, 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!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
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 :)
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.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
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...
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...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
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...
Monday, June 11, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
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 :)
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.
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 courseIrish 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.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Images from a Tenerife spin...
This is the first section from where we were staying in Puerto de la Cruz. (about 200m above sea level)
The other side of the mountain. Max elevation hit was about 2,350 meters
This section of road was mental - twisty, perfect, quiet roads :)
A long spin to go for Crepes...Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Edgespace changes function and moves to Tenerife for a bit
As I've mentioned before a few times, I work for a software company that a few classmates and I set up when we finished college back in 2004. Our plan had always been to work as a consultancy company in the real world for a couple of years to gain experience and capital to help fund future projects. At the end of March the time for us to transition from a consultancy company to a product company arrived. We all got a lot from the previous two and a half years worth of consultancy but we were glad that it was time for us to move on to our own thing. A plan for the short term after ending was pretty simple – a couple of weeks off to recuperate from the last development cycles we completed for our clients and then a business trip to Tenerife in order to properly formulate our plans for the following year.
The trip to Tenerife was a lot of fun, our evenings were filled with nice dinners and business related discussions while our days were filled with various outdoor type activities. Me, being me, my days were obviously filled with a lot of cycling. Trying to get back in form after my injury I was fortunate enough to be able to put in a lot of good road miles in pretty nice weather. (Descending through clouds is always cold though!) The climbs over here were amazing. I had not ridden anywhere else before where I could go on an 40km climb that was a constant 5-6%. It never got too steep :) (I am trying to stay away from steep climbs until my knee is perfect) Another on the highlight spins was a 5 hour 120km spin that took in 3,300 meters of climbing – some of it on crazy windy roads :)
The view of Mount Teide from about 2,200 meters
The view from our Villa
Some of the crazy (beautiful) roads.
The quality of the roads was amazing
I didn't spend much time at the beach :(
Overall, the trip was productive from a business, biking, social and relaxation perspectives...
The trip to Tenerife was a lot of fun, our evenings were filled with nice dinners and business related discussions while our days were filled with various outdoor type activities. Me, being me, my days were obviously filled with a lot of cycling. Trying to get back in form after my injury I was fortunate enough to be able to put in a lot of good road miles in pretty nice weather. (Descending through clouds is always cold though!) The climbs over here were amazing. I had not ridden anywhere else before where I could go on an 40km climb that was a constant 5-6%. It never got too steep :) (I am trying to stay away from steep climbs until my knee is perfect) Another on the highlight spins was a 5 hour 120km spin that took in 3,300 meters of climbing – some of it on crazy windy roads :)
The view of Mount Teide from about 2,200 meters
The view from our Villa
Some of the crazy (beautiful) roads.
The quality of the roads was amazing
I didn't spend much time at the beach :(Overall, the trip was productive from a business, biking, social and relaxation perspectives...
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Promo Video for the Irish NPS Series...
A short video that the lads over on www.irishxcmtb.com made for the current NPS series.
I've raced one of the races (the second one last weekend - report on it soon) and there is another on this weekend.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
K-Capital Cup Round 4 - Castlewellan
Last Sunday saw the final round of the K-Capital Cup series taking place in Castlewellan. It's a course and a location that I really like. I raced there twice last year (the first race, in April, was my first race in Ireland and second race ever) and the weather had been perfect each time. As it turned out, the weather was again perfect with the race with the course running even faster then last year! (About 1.5 minutes was cut from a 19 minute lap time with extra single track added!)
My knee had been feeling a bit better over the last few days before the race (2 of the last 3 weeks were mostly off the bike :( ) and I felt that it would hold up okay for the race. The thing that I worried about was that it had been a while since I had gone hard on the bike – I didn't know if my legs and lungs would hold up to the fast pace I expected. Shortly after 1:30 the Elite race started at a very fast pace. Adrian Lansley was pushing the pace hard and unlike the last two races I felt myself slip off the back from the start. My legs just did not have the power to keep up – it basically felt that I was carrying an extra 10kilo back pack up the hill. By the top of the first climb (100m vertical over 1.3km with a few flat sections and bits of single track) the leaders had opened up about 20 seconds on me and I already felt spent – damn my knee! The next two laps or so I spent trying to hang on as best I could. I know when I'm pushing hard when I question why I'm putting myself through this... For the first 2-3 laps I felt like selling everything I have and giving up cycling completely! I guess I know I was pushing myself :) The remaining laps felt a good bit better (the first lap was my fastest with the following 6 all being around the same time - around the 19 minute mark) but I was still loosing time on the climbs. My descending and single track navigation actually felt really good. At the start of the season, before I started riding Elites, that is where I thought I would have had most problems – I guess 100mm of travel front and rear and nice wheels and tyres (Got SLRs and Huthinson Pythons recently – more on that later) can help! All the single track was very fast with the only breaking needed when you approached a tight switchback. I finished feeling I could continue for a while more, cooled down well and joined the MAD crew... (Thanks to Shane for helping me out with the bottles and mechainically throughout the series! I really appreciate it!)
The Expert race starts off - Yvain (215) wins the race and series
I should really try not to unzip the jersey! (Pic from here)
Robin finished out winning the race, and the series with Niall Davis coming in second. Results and report available here. I'm still annoyed about having to deal with my knee injury (I know, injuries happen) as I would have loved to have been able to push hard in Castlewellan.
The series overall was an amazing experience – the races were supper well organised and every course was magnificent. I really can't fault anything about it. I really hope that the series will be run again next year as I think the people organizing it all learnt a lot and the Irish XC scene gained a lot from it.
4 races down, lots more to go... Racing Elites has been great so far – the commitment to it all has been huge and there was a great speed boost over Expert but it has been such a rewarding experience so far.
My knee had been feeling a bit better over the last few days before the race (2 of the last 3 weeks were mostly off the bike :( ) and I felt that it would hold up okay for the race. The thing that I worried about was that it had been a while since I had gone hard on the bike – I didn't know if my legs and lungs would hold up to the fast pace I expected. Shortly after 1:30 the Elite race started at a very fast pace. Adrian Lansley was pushing the pace hard and unlike the last two races I felt myself slip off the back from the start. My legs just did not have the power to keep up – it basically felt that I was carrying an extra 10kilo back pack up the hill. By the top of the first climb (100m vertical over 1.3km with a few flat sections and bits of single track) the leaders had opened up about 20 seconds on me and I already felt spent – damn my knee! The next two laps or so I spent trying to hang on as best I could. I know when I'm pushing hard when I question why I'm putting myself through this... For the first 2-3 laps I felt like selling everything I have and giving up cycling completely! I guess I know I was pushing myself :) The remaining laps felt a good bit better (the first lap was my fastest with the following 6 all being around the same time - around the 19 minute mark) but I was still loosing time on the climbs. My descending and single track navigation actually felt really good. At the start of the season, before I started riding Elites, that is where I thought I would have had most problems – I guess 100mm of travel front and rear and nice wheels and tyres (Got SLRs and Huthinson Pythons recently – more on that later) can help! All the single track was very fast with the only breaking needed when you approached a tight switchback. I finished feeling I could continue for a while more, cooled down well and joined the MAD crew... (Thanks to Shane for helping me out with the bottles and mechainically throughout the series! I really appreciate it!)
The Expert race starts off - Yvain (215) wins the race and series
I should really try not to unzip the jersey! (Pic from here)The series overall was an amazing experience – the races were supper well organised and every course was magnificent. I really can't fault anything about it. I really hope that the series will be run again next year as I think the people organizing it all learnt a lot and the Irish XC scene gained a lot from it.
4 races down, lots more to go... Racing Elites has been great so far – the commitment to it all has been huge and there was a great speed boost over Expert but it has been such a rewarding experience so far.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Barcelona
Two weeks ago saw Mel and I head off to Barcelona for 5 nights. It had been a while since we had traveled together (Paris last summer) due to Mel's college work etc... so it was nice to get away. The morning before leaving we ended up booking a hostel in the Gothic area which, as it turned out was a great location. Everywhere that we usually wanted to go was right on our door step.
Our main plan for the trip was simply to spend lots of time just hanging around relaxing in the nice weather. Unfortunately, the weather didn't join us (Ireland actually had a lot better weather for the week!) but lots of relaxing was had :)
Our main plan for the trip was simply to spend lots of time just hanging around relaxing in the nice weather. Unfortunately, the weather didn't join us (Ireland actually had a lot better weather for the week!) but lots of relaxing was had :)
One of the streets beside our accommodation
Mel in Park GruelThe first couple of days we walked around to see the sights, Park Gruel, the Safrada Familia and the main produce market off Las Ramblas... were all pretty good but I think the constantly cloudy cold weather detracted from it all. As an excursion, one of the days we headed off to Girona for a day. The (old part of the) town was really nice. Small cobbled hilly streets with old churches and great pastries and decent coffee.
The produce marketSunday, April 08, 2007
Praying to a Porcelain God
The last week has been pretty annoying. My company, Edgespace, is taking a little time off after our last contract so I've been off all week and the weather has also been amazing – that's all the good bits that serve to elevate my annoyance, my knee has unfortunately not gotten much better over the last few days. It's mostly fine but sore if I put any pressure on it while pedalling so the only spins I've been on have been pretty short and very very relaxed. It's been really frustrating with all the nice weather, the free time and a race coming up. I could have been out on 4-5 hour spins out into the backcountry... I have not had an injury since this time last year so I guess I should be thankful for that! 14 days to my next big race...
Friday was also a bit of an annoying day too – Mel and I cooked a Bangers & Mash recipe from the web – all went well and it was really tasty. We then watched a few more episodes of Six Feet Under, however, by the end of our second episode both of us started to feel bloaty and sick. Regardless, we went to bed – both our bodies spent the next 12 or so hours trying to deal with food poisoning! It was horrible, just like a very very bad hangover. We ended up spending yesterday (another glorious day) walking around like dead zombies.
A photo I took yesterday when Mel and I went out for a walk
Today both us are heading off to Barcelona for a couple of days – neither of us have been there before so it should be good :) Hopefully by the time I get home my leg will be up for hard training again...
Friday was also a bit of an annoying day too – Mel and I cooked a Bangers & Mash recipe from the web – all went well and it was really tasty. We then watched a few more episodes of Six Feet Under, however, by the end of our second episode both of us started to feel bloaty and sick. Regardless, we went to bed – both our bodies spent the next 12 or so hours trying to deal with food poisoning! It was horrible, just like a very very bad hangover. We ended up spending yesterday (another glorious day) walking around like dead zombies.
A photo I took yesterday when Mel and I went out for a walkToday both us are heading off to Barcelona for a couple of days – neither of us have been there before so it should be good :) Hopefully by the time I get home my leg will be up for hard training again...
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Tootling along...
My knee has been pretty sore since Sundays race. I bashed it during one of my off single track excursions and then several things happened afterwards that meant I was driving cars for about 5 hours which I'm sure didn't help. On Monday, I was cycling into the city on the road bike but decided that it was sore enough that I should leave my bike with Mel in town. Then yesterday, I wanted to go on a very gentle spin to keep my leg loose... So I ended up cycling into town again, except this time on the Epic. I was riding by UCD anyway, going very easy (pratically only using my left leg) when I heard a jingle jingle noise coming past me. Turning around I saw what looked like a 20 year old student with long brown curly hair (no helmet!) passed me on what looked like an out of shape granny bike. I was riding along on a €5k bike in my club gear and got passed by a girl on a granny bike! I was good and kept going slow...
I had to laugh :) My knee feels good today so hopefully it's back to normal...
I had to laugh :) My knee feels good today so hopefully it's back to normal...
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
K-Capital Cup Round 3 - Carlingford
So that was an interesting weekend of racing.
Sunday saw the third round of the K-Capital Cup visit Carlingford, Co. Lough. Luckily MET Eireann predicated beautiful sunny weather for the weekend so the pre-ride on Saturday and the race on Sunday were both held in beautiful sunshine. The course was amazing, if a little new (less the a week old in it's current incarnation). Basically, it was about 150 meters up a fireroad then left on to a steep single track climb and then a single track descent back onto the fireroad (about 1.5 minutes...) then another 900 meters up a fireroad, nowhere near as steep as last week. Then we hit single track for the remaining 3 kilometres of the loop. We were going to be doing 8 laps of the course.
Sunday morning was arrived and I felt more prepared then I did last week, my warm-up went well and I was looking forward to a bit of racing. Shortly after 1:30pm our race started and the Elites accelerated up the hill. Again, I was glad that the speed was not too fast and I set in behind James McClusky (out of the wind) for most of the climb. You could tell everyone was being careful in the single track the first time around and over the first 1km or so I passed a few racers out. About three quarters of the way around the first lap I was riding very comfortably (read – I wasn't going so hard I wanted to quit) and was enjoying a tussle between Lewis Ferguson, Lee Williams and myself. Then on a dual track the specific hiss of a snake bite came from my rear wheel – to say I was a little annoyed is an understatement, I was really really enjoying the racing and I still felt strong. About 2 minutes 20 seconds (wasted 20 seconds trying to find my CO2 cannister – rookie mistake) I was on the way. It was hard to get myself back up to full race speed, but I tried anyway... By the single track on the fourth lap (I think) I was back in 8th position and enjoying the race again when another flat occured. This time, as I had no CO2 or spare tube it was going to be a 2.5 km run across the single track back to the technical area... A new wheel greeted me at the technical area and I sped off – by the top of the fireroad climb I was in 9th when, this time my front tire flatted (I had given up to laughing about it all at this point). About 3km of single track running was ahead of my and I got lapped by the race leaders. When I crossed the line (5th lap complete of 8 total) I assumed my race was over due to being lapped so I put on warm clothes and drank chocolate milk and talked to the other races... About 15 minutes later I found out that I should keep racing as it's not over until the leaders finish. So, I ripped off my extra layers and cycled off without my gloves (the Bontrager foam grips are actually really really nice without gloves). I enjoyed the last lap and used the second half as recovery as I knew that the was no one to catch....
So, after the weekends racing I learnt a lot of things
1.Tubeless is the way forward – I'm getting a new set of wheels
2.You need a spare wheelset in the pits ready to go
3.Have spare tubes and CO2 ready to go
4.Keep racing until the commissionaire tells you your done!
The race left one other bad taste with me – at some stage I bashed my knee off a rock and it's been pretty sore since. I had to get off the bike yesterday after only a couple of minutes of easy riding and I wont be on a bike today. I'm icing it as a type and hopefully it will be perfect again soon.
There is a report available here and some more photos here.
Sunday saw the third round of the K-Capital Cup visit Carlingford, Co. Lough. Luckily MET Eireann predicated beautiful sunny weather for the weekend so the pre-ride on Saturday and the race on Sunday were both held in beautiful sunshine. The course was amazing, if a little new (less the a week old in it's current incarnation). Basically, it was about 150 meters up a fireroad then left on to a steep single track climb and then a single track descent back onto the fireroad (about 1.5 minutes...) then another 900 meters up a fireroad, nowhere near as steep as last week. Then we hit single track for the remaining 3 kilometres of the loop. We were going to be doing 8 laps of the course.
Sunday morning was arrived and I felt more prepared then I did last week, my warm-up went well and I was looking forward to a bit of racing. Shortly after 1:30pm our race started and the Elites accelerated up the hill. Again, I was glad that the speed was not too fast and I set in behind James McClusky (out of the wind) for most of the climb. You could tell everyone was being careful in the single track the first time around and over the first 1km or so I passed a few racers out. About three quarters of the way around the first lap I was riding very comfortably (read – I wasn't going so hard I wanted to quit) and was enjoying a tussle between Lewis Ferguson, Lee Williams and myself. Then on a dual track the specific hiss of a snake bite came from my rear wheel – to say I was a little annoyed is an understatement, I was really really enjoying the racing and I still felt strong. About 2 minutes 20 seconds (wasted 20 seconds trying to find my CO2 cannister – rookie mistake) I was on the way. It was hard to get myself back up to full race speed, but I tried anyway... By the single track on the fourth lap (I think) I was back in 8th position and enjoying the race again when another flat occured. This time, as I had no CO2 or spare tube it was going to be a 2.5 km run across the single track back to the technical area... A new wheel greeted me at the technical area and I sped off – by the top of the fireroad climb I was in 9th when, this time my front tire flatted (I had given up to laughing about it all at this point). About 3km of single track running was ahead of my and I got lapped by the race leaders. When I crossed the line (5th lap complete of 8 total) I assumed my race was over due to being lapped so I put on warm clothes and drank chocolate milk and talked to the other races... About 15 minutes later I found out that I should keep racing as it's not over until the leaders finish. So, I ripped off my extra layers and cycled off without my gloves (the Bontrager foam grips are actually really really nice without gloves). I enjoyed the last lap and used the second half as recovery as I knew that the was no one to catch....
So, after the weekends racing I learnt a lot of things
1.Tubeless is the way forward – I'm getting a new set of wheels
2.You need a spare wheelset in the pits ready to go
3.Have spare tubes and CO2 ready to go
4.Keep racing until the commissionaire tells you your done!
The race left one other bad taste with me – at some stage I bashed my knee off a rock and it's been pretty sore since. I had to get off the bike yesterday after only a couple of minutes of easy riding and I wont be on a bike today. I'm icing it as a type and hopefully it will be perfect again soon.
There is a report available here and some more photos here.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Sauser's new Specialized Epic
Slightly old news but over on Christoph Sauser's blog he posted a picture of his new prototype Epic for this years Cape Epic. Unfortunatly for him, his team mate had to drop out which put him out of trying to defend his title from last year.
The new bike lost a bit of weight on the wheels (Stan's Wheels) and the frame (some new type of carbon). Pretty bling bling looking... His old one was about 9kg depending on tyres - this one is even lighter. I though I was pretty good with a 10kg bike.
The new bike lost a bit of weight on the wheels (Stan's Wheels) and the frame (some new type of carbon). Pretty bling bling looking... His old one was about 9kg depending on tyres - this one is even lighter. I though I was pretty good with a 10kg bike.
Friday, March 30, 2007
A few more pictures from K-Capital Cup Round 2
Monday, March 26, 2007
K-Capital Cup Round 2 – Rostrevor
Sunday seen me take part in the second round of the K-Capital Cup in Rostrevor. I headed up to the course on Saturday in beautiful sunshine for a pre ride of the course. Afterwards, I decided to spend some of the weekend at home in Monaghan with my folks. Paul, Ellen (plus one more soon!) and Eva where there so it was nice to catch up with them. In fact, most of my family (Mum, Dad, Paul, Ellen, Eva, Gary, Pauline, Cara and Chloe!) decided to come along to the race the next day to support me! I really appreciated them all coming along, it was really cool to have them cheering as I went around each lap. It definitely helped ease my burning legs and lungs each time around! They stayed around the start finish which was probably a little unfortunate as I think they would have enjoyed watching us fly down the technical terrain! Maybe next time :)
The course for the race was amazing, if a little short. The first kilometre of the course climbed one hundred meters with parts that hit an eighteen percent gradient! An amazing fast downhill section followed that with a bit of flat single track in the middle. Then it was another climb, around fifty meters vertical this time, then a very fast descent with a huge berm and more rolling single track back to the start. As it was such a short lap we were going to be doing it 8 times to total a little over two hours of riding.
Saturday evening was nice and relaxing. I ended up watching United 93 before I went to bed. It freaked me out a little – I was in Manhattan on 9/11 and was actually supposed to be up the towers when the planes hit except that, lucky me, I went out partying the night before until 5am and then slept in a bit. I woke up the next morning to the sound of fire trucks...
Shorly after arriving at the course on Sunday, Sean and I headed around the course for a practice/warm-up lap. The course was still really nice, slightly looser in the corners (the sports race had just gone over the course) but still rode really well. It didn't look like the course would get cut up much with all our racing. (Although, by my last lap there was a lot more roots about to pull a wheel in the wrong direction)
Our race started shortly after 2pm and I was glad to see that the pace was not too hectic up the first climb – it would have been evil if someone really tried to push the pace up that thing. All of us entered the first stretch of singletrack roughly at the same time (I was about 8th wheel, which made a great difference from two weeks ago - this in itself I was happy with). A few spills in front of me seen our group get separated a bit but it mostly bunched together again for the second climb. From there on there was a bit of position changing. A funny moment when I flew off the trail when a root caught my wheel with Peter Buggle telling me that happened to him on the last lap... I hopped back on and continued to descend and seen Peter do exactly the same thing in front of me! It was funny at the time...
Descending on the first lap
The whole race was pretty hard with those big (steep) climbs every lap but the amazing single track really kept me positive about them each time. I really started to ride the single track well from the fourth lap on and was happy with how I raced overall. I felt a lot better then I did two weeks ago, I don't feel fast yet but I feel stronger and better equipped to race now.
Fourth lap following along some amazing singletrack
The other thing about the race was that my bike really blew me away with how well it handles that type of course. The brain (rear suspension lockout) and weight of the bike was great for climbing but the bike really paid off when I turned onto single track. There were sections of the course that were riddled with roots but I really didn't notice them much (apart form one time when I had a bit of a spill...) - it simply floated over them. I really can't give the Epic a good enough review.
Some photos can be found here and here as well as a report here. Photos from the race on the blog came from here. Full results can be found here.
Next week it will be the third round of the K-Capital Cup so I'll be taking it easy enough training wise to get ready for it...
The course for the race was amazing, if a little short. The first kilometre of the course climbed one hundred meters with parts that hit an eighteen percent gradient! An amazing fast downhill section followed that with a bit of flat single track in the middle. Then it was another climb, around fifty meters vertical this time, then a very fast descent with a huge berm and more rolling single track back to the start. As it was such a short lap we were going to be doing it 8 times to total a little over two hours of riding.
Saturday evening was nice and relaxing. I ended up watching United 93 before I went to bed. It freaked me out a little – I was in Manhattan on 9/11 and was actually supposed to be up the towers when the planes hit except that, lucky me, I went out partying the night before until 5am and then slept in a bit. I woke up the next morning to the sound of fire trucks...
Shorly after arriving at the course on Sunday, Sean and I headed around the course for a practice/warm-up lap. The course was still really nice, slightly looser in the corners (the sports race had just gone over the course) but still rode really well. It didn't look like the course would get cut up much with all our racing. (Although, by my last lap there was a lot more roots about to pull a wheel in the wrong direction)
Our race started shortly after 2pm and I was glad to see that the pace was not too hectic up the first climb – it would have been evil if someone really tried to push the pace up that thing. All of us entered the first stretch of singletrack roughly at the same time (I was about 8th wheel, which made a great difference from two weeks ago - this in itself I was happy with). A few spills in front of me seen our group get separated a bit but it mostly bunched together again for the second climb. From there on there was a bit of position changing. A funny moment when I flew off the trail when a root caught my wheel with Peter Buggle telling me that happened to him on the last lap... I hopped back on and continued to descend and seen Peter do exactly the same thing in front of me! It was funny at the time...
Descending on the first lapThe whole race was pretty hard with those big (steep) climbs every lap but the amazing single track really kept me positive about them each time. I really started to ride the single track well from the fourth lap on and was happy with how I raced overall. I felt a lot better then I did two weeks ago, I don't feel fast yet but I feel stronger and better equipped to race now.
Fourth lap following along some amazing singletrackThe other thing about the race was that my bike really blew me away with how well it handles that type of course. The brain (rear suspension lockout) and weight of the bike was great for climbing but the bike really paid off when I turned onto single track. There were sections of the course that were riddled with roots but I really didn't notice them much (apart form one time when I had a bit of a spill...) - it simply floated over them. I really can't give the Epic a good enough review.
Some photos can be found here and here as well as a report here. Photos from the race on the blog came from here. Full results can be found here.
Next week it will be the third round of the K-Capital Cup so I'll be taking it easy enough training wise to get ready for it...
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