Carlingford bay

photo by Manuel, Epic

Setting off in a big bunch up a fireroad drag my legs felt half asleep and I struggled to stick to Mel Spath my main female competitor. I hoped they might improve as we went on but it didn’t really happen. The course had some really long, hard climbs but good legs or not they were worthwhile for the reward of the descent each time. There was a great variety of technical, rocky trails and fast, moorland singletrack (something like the North York Moors on drugs – similar terrain but on much bigger hills!). We were lucky with the weather with nearly everything being dry and even some hot sunshine – a rare thing up there, and views out over Carlingford Lough and the sea were spectacular. There were a lot of roadies in the race not used to off-road riding so I enjoyed making a point of riding everything, at least it felt good to ride up steep rocky climbs and pass all the guys pushing their bikes!

Although I didn’t feel I was riding very quickly, my pace seemed fairly steady and I slowly began to pass people as tiredness kicked in. The final long descent was the best part of the day, beginning with rocky switchbacks and ending in fast, narrow singletrack through the bracken, it ensured an adrenaline filled ending and gave my whole body a good battering as I bombed down it. I finished in just over 3.5 hours, 2nd female and 23rd overall (results here)

final descent

Thanks to Chuchulainn CC and all the organisers. Great event, great trails, perfect course marking and organisation, even hot showers afterwards. Not at all happy with my performance but can’t have it all I suppose.

photo by Brendan Culleton

photo by Brendan Culleton

photo by Peter Purfield

and the next day’s recovery:

Sandymount swimming spot

and some more recovery, yum!

homemade carrot cake

soda bread

A mass start with several hundred people meant I got stuck queuing in the first bit of singletrack, so had to put in a few little sprints to make the most of any passing opportunities that came up after that. Eventually I got into a good rhythm in a group of riders going at a similar pace. I did have to stop myself from going on all out attacks on the climbs as I knew I’d be better saving my energy for later, it was a long race! The course was similar to last year with loads of tight, twisting singletrack through the woods, but damp ground and wet roots made it a bit more technical.

After about an hour it started to rain, just drizzle at first, but the trails began to get muddy, slowing the pace down and requiring more and more energy to ride. A first it actually made it more fun with lots of sliding around at high speed. By the third lap I knew I had a good lead and was able to relax and enjoy myself, using the race as a bit of technical practice. Hours 2-4 are a bit of a blur, I was just chugging along getting gradually wetter and more caked in mud, as the rain got heavier and the effect of 200+ people riding began to destroy the course. Especially in the first half the mud was really thick and heavy, sticking to the bike and making it really tough to pedal around, and the steep climbs really hard to ride up. Luckily at that stage the second half, which was mostly descending, was still easily ridable and good fun.

3.5 hours in, lap 5 and things got nasty. The rain changed to a heavy downpour and the already muddy trails were completely destroyed. A long, steep climb at the start of the lap was barely walkable never mind ridable. It was all off camber so a fight not to slide down the hill with a heavy bike crashing on top of you, and the mud was so thick that I had to stop ever minute or two to pull huge fistfuls of mud out from the frame or else the wheels wouldn’t turn. Even the descents were tough on the legs since the thick mud meant lots of pedalling and no recovery. It takes a lot to make me want to quit but I was pretty close, I kept myself going by thinking of the experience as a test of mental strength where I needed to prove myself. Not fun though!

Heading into the last lap my energy was running low and the thought of getting up that climb again was horrible. I tried to focus on the trails and forget about what was coming up. Then miraculously the rain stopped and the sun came out for a while, drying things just enough so that you could at least walk up the hill and pedalling vaguely got you somewhere. That gave me a second wind and I started to enjoy it a bit more. I psyched myself for the last climb, got to the top ok but then I was gone, completely drained of energy. There was only 10 minutes or so left on the best part of the course but that didn’t help. I should have put an emergency gel in my pocket to get me home but instead I had to struggle along for what seemed like an eternity. Needless to say I was pretty happy to finish! Results are here with changes in lap times reflecting the weather! and loads of photos

The sun came out for the podiums where I got a cool new jersey and some more champagne spraying practice before heading into Brighton for pizza, recovery beers and an after party by the beach. Bed at 3am, up 7am for the plane home – a hungover zombie in the airport! Shame about the weather but it was still a great race despite a few miserable moments. Thanks to Morvélo and all the organisers for putting on such a good course and event, the 2010 Big Dog Ian Leitch for the use of his sofa and Keith of WXC for the support.

Stage 1 – 85km ‘hilly’ race
We started on Saturday afternoon with a scenic race around the lakes and mountains of Mayo, which included 5 ‘King of the Mountain’ climbs. The race was handicapped so I was off with the A3s in the 2nd group, with one other girl, Sarah Piner of Mullingar. Overall there were a load of top Irish riders as well as several teams over from the UK. The pace was fine but I spent the first while concentrating hard and trying to get used to riding in a big fast group again. Sarah was up towards the front so I had my eye on her, and as we hit the first couple of climbs (using the word in a loose sense, I’d barely call them hills, they were over before you notice them!) I was able to move up a bit.

Riding in a peloton is quite an experience, the sound of purring carbon wheels (not from my bike!), the screeching of brakes, the smell of sweat, the stink of burning rubber, all happening at high speeds with only centimetres between the wheels of each rider as you hurtle along narrow, windy country roads. It takes a lot of concentration and although we were surrounded by spectacular views, I didn’t get much chance to appreciate them!

Around halfway through we hit the one real climb of the day, not massive but around 100m vertical gain and several minutes. I put my head down with Sarah on my wheel, but my legs weren’t feeling the freshest – a bit like someone pouring concrete into them as we went up! Comparatively I was doing ok but on a better day I could have made up more time. Somewhere along the climb and a fast, windy, slightly scary descent off the other side, we lost touch with the group. I don’t know how they managed to descend so fast! Hitting over 65 km/h was quite enough for me and I couldn’t pedal to go any faster anyway.

After that there were 5 or 6 of us working together along undulating roads to the finish. With a smaller group it was a lot less stressful, with more time to look up at the scenery and relax a bit. We were with a couple of A2 riders who ensured we kept a decent pace didn’t lose too much time on the main group. Approaching the end I got myself ready for a sprint with Sarah since we were competing for the ladies prize. 500m to go, ok, tucked in behind the front guy. 300m, get ready. 200m, GO! Out of the saddle, legs burning, pulling all kinds of funny faces. Haven’t quite got the timing right for these things though, Sarah set off first and I couldn’t get back so she finished a bike length ahead. I was 65th in the GC, 7 minutes off the winners.

After the race I couldn’t totally abandon plans for the weekend so rather than getting off my feet and resting I spent the evening trying to be sociable and traipsing around Galway city – not exactly ideal for recovery!

Stage 2 – 8km Time Trial
Sunday morning I arrived bright and early to see almost everyone else preparing their turbo-trainers, TT bikes and aero helmets. Uh oh, what am I doing here?! I’d never done a proper time trial and had no idea how long it would take. Someone told me 10-11 minutes so I guessed the pace would have to be pretty much flat out. A bit of super effective Sportique warmup cream and spin around the road left my legs feeling better than expected after the effort the day before and I was ready for off.
3, 2, 1, Go! I put my head down and pedalled. The course was more or less flat but with quite a nasty wind. I was a bit conservative at the start, still half asleep and unsure about pacing, so was surprised how quickly I got to a sign saying 3km to go. From there I upped it, putting in all the effort I could, and focusing on the finish line. I finished in 11:22, losing about 40 seconds to Sarah, dropping a couple of spots in the GC, and leaving me a bit of work to do in the afternoon. Could have been better but not too bad for a first time and without the proper bike for it.

Stage 3 – 86km road race
After a couple of hours for some food and coffee it was back on the bikes for the final stage, two laps of a fairly flat 44km loop on wider, faster roads than the previous day. It was a windy day so staying within the shelter of the group was important. I knew if I could get up towards the front it would make life much easier, but although getting there was manageable, staying there was another thing. Each time I made the effort to move up, I was quickly sucked to the back, finding myself having to work hard and struggle to cling on. Need to practice holding a wheel in the bunch! When the pace was steady my legs were fine but as I kept having to put in efforts to hold on I was beginning to tire.

Just before the end of the first lap we rounded a corner and the pace shot up. I was more or less and the back at the time and no matter how hard I pedalled it was as if I was being pulled backwards and the bunch shot on ahead. I tried a couple of sprint to get back but my legs were gone and it wasn’t happening. One last chance as the A1s came whirring by at a savage pace and I buried myself to try and follow but after a few minutes I was gone again.

3 of us rode the final 50km together, but with only 2 of us doing the work. Without the shelter of a big peloton it was really hard work, there seemed to be a strong headwind no matter which way we turned and I’m sure there were more hills the second time around! The route was a bit boring and there was definitely more suffering than enjoyment. With 25km to go one of the guys dropped off and I was out by myself on the windiest part of the course until the finish. Then with a few hundred metres to go, the guy who had refused to take his turn at the front all day decided to attack me, the cheek of him! I had to dig deep to find some extra energy and hold him off.

So messing up the last stage meant I lost ten minutes to Sarah and loads of positions overall. Report and photos on irishcycling.com Ah well, it was good experience and some good milage to train for more important races later in the year. I’d be interested to try again with fresher legs and proper preparation. Stage racing seems more fun than the one day road races, and although it’s no mountain biking, it did leave me with a strange desire to go back and do more. Oh dear.

I lined up with Ciara McManus and Val O’Neil, and setting off up a fireroad climb at the start I had to be careful not to get too sucked in to the pace of the fast juniors in front – there was a lot of tough climbing in the first half of the lap. At the top of a new technical singletrack climb Ciara was still pretty close to me and I was having to work a bit to stay ahead. I tried to figure out if I was faster on descents or climbs so that I could plan an attack, but each time I stepped it up she’d appear not far behind so I decided to opt for a consistent pace and hope to burn her off over time.

Into the 2nd lap I’d opened a bit of a gap and she seemed to be dropping back so I took the chance to put in some effort and get out of sight in the long singletrack. Once you’d got up the pretty horrible big climb, the course was soooo much fun to ride. Tight switch-backing trails, with damp ground that was surprisingly grippy so you could really fling the bike around the fast corners. There were a couple of rocky sections that required some concentration, and a few rocky, rooty kicker climbs that filled the legs with lactic.

Into lap 3 and I couldn’t see Ciara behind me anymore so stepped off the gas a bit (mistake no1), my legs were a bit tired from 2 weeks of hardcore fun mountain biking following the nationals! I was busy chasing some of the guys until disaster struck – tried to change gear and my chain snapped. I managed to calm myself a bit after an initial feeling of panic and got the links sorted to fit a powerlink. I was fiddling for ages but couldn’t get the thing to close, my spare link was bent. Ciara came flying past and there was nothing I could do. There was no way I was dnf-ing so eventually I set off to run back to the tech zone (a long way!) until Oscar kindly gave me a link and I finally managed to fix it. According to my garmin I was stopped for over 9 minutes – ridiculous!!

Straight into a climb I put my head down and pedalled like hell to try and get back to Ciara, chances were slim, she was minutes ahead by that stage and there was only one lap left, but I had to try. It was so hard to get going again, out on my own with legs like lead and burning with lactic. On lap 4, reaching the top of the big climb for the last time I’d caught a few junior and expert riders but still no sight of Ciara and I realised it was probably game over. I tried to use the descents to make up lost time, hitting them like a maniac and pushing my limits technically. I might have lost the race, but it made the racing much more fun to be on such a mission. The last part of the course was brilliant, a very fast descent with a few rocks and drops, with wet mud making it pretty scary when you hit it flat out, followed by a worldcup style trail that swooped down through the woods over a couple of rocky walls into the finish.

So lessons learnt, prepare properly, check equipment works and maintain my bike – I knew the chain was worn but didn’t have a new cassette to put on so thought I’d get away with it. Also good to practice fixing things under pressure and having to work hard after a mechanical. I’m just glad it didn’t happen in an important race! Full results are here. Thanks to Xmtb for a great race, in the end the result didn’t matter, it was all about the trails and I could ride them all day – did another lap afterwards for the fun of it!

The cheering crowds and clanging cowbells up the last climb and round the singletrack to the finish made a great atmosphere and took away any feelings of pain that were setting in. I finished first with a decent gap and pleased with my performance. It was a funny race, more about being composed and riding cleanly than close fighting and pushing my limits as is usually the case. The only downside was getting whisked off to the drugs test caravan the second I finished, a bit of an anticlimax since I missed the finish line buzz and watching the end of the men’s race.

I think the prize giving and podiums were my favourite part of the day – new jersey, a huge trophy, a bouquet of flowers and best of all champagne to spray all over everyone. Great fun! Results are here

, and lots more photos here.

A massive thanks to Richie Byrne and everyone from Epic involved in organising the race, the work people put in voluntarily is definitely the thing that makes biking over here what it is. The atmosphere, the trails, the onsite entertainment, the cheering spectators made the biggest and best xc race I’ve been to in Ireland. Also thanks to Think Bike for the loan of spare wheels and fixing up my bike, and UCD for their support all year.

Somehow I was gridded behind everyone else so ended up last into the singletrack after a fast, flat startloop. It was fast and furious with only split seconds between each rider and few passing opportunities on the tight trails. I kept trying to pass Maddie Horton in front but it was impossible, each attempt ended up costing time and wasted energy. Eventually she had a gear issue so I could squeeze past and jump up to Mel Spath who was hot on the heels of the two GB team riders. Soon after I took an inside line on the short climb to sneak past Mel, who was unfortunate to puncture later on putting her out of contention.

It was important to stick on the wheels of the front two at least until the 4th lap – there was a prize of £100 for first over the line at that point. Although it was hard work, the course was fun – singletrack that weaved around through the woods with a few kicker banks, some tight corners, a bomb hole, a few skinny planks and some northshore type wooden sections. Not hugely technical but concentration was required and a lot of sharp rocks meant that punctures were a big threat.

Lap 3 and things were going well until the rider leading the race got a puncture. She let her team-mate ahead, but continued riding in front of me at a much slower pace and the tight trails meant I couldn’t get by for ages. By the time I did I was 20 seconds back and it effectively decided the race.

From there I just kept plugging away, hoping I might be able to close the gap, but also wary that one of the others might get back from behind. It was super hot and the short nature of the race meant a high pace throughout. Somehow I got confused with the lap count, and as I psyched up to try and get a fast final lap, I crossed the line to find out we’d finished and I’d got the 2nd place. Very happy to be on the podium, especially as prize money for the top 3 made the trip over worthwhile. If only every weekend was like that and I could stop looking for non-existent jobs!

Report on Bikeradar.com and the next issue of What Mountain Bike magazine.

The rest of the weekend was spent watching 4x, dirt jumping and bmx in the sun, looking out for world famous stars like Steve Peat, Brian Lopes and the Athertons who were all hanging out there, and chatting to WXC’s team sponsors at some of the many exhibition stands. Thanks to WXC for the support, some great results for the team over the weekend, dominating the female podiums in all categories!

Now looking forward to racing dirt crits at Bike Radar Live next weekend!

We flew off at the start, with Mel Spath quickly taking the lead and setting a blistering pace. The ground was super dry and the course almost all grassy or dusty singletrack, with a few sharp rocks to catch you out. I had to work hard to stick to Mel, and with one short hard climb after another there was little chance for a break. The first half of the lap was mostly climbing and I was able to cling on, but after that it flattened out and I began to drop back.

On lap two I still felt I was going like a lunatic but struggling to keep the pace up, it was such hard work! By the end of the lap I’d lost sight of Mel and had to slow down a bit, my legs didn’t feel like they were firing on all cylinders, and I was stuck out racing by myself for the next lap or so. Between all the nasty little climbs, there were a few nice descents, particularly some super tight dusty switchbacks off the top off the hill that you could take really fast, and a couple of steepish rocky sections.

Ploughing on towards the end I was able to battle with some of the guys who were catching from behind. By the fifth lap I’d had enough and couldn’t wait to finish, there definitely seemed to be more pain than enjoyment going on. I told myself that if I wanted to get something from the race I should try to step up the pace on the last lap, so dug deep to get round as fast as I could.

I finished 2nd, 3 minutes behind Mel – results are here. Not my greatest race, but it came at the end of a hard block of training so not a total disaster. I’m looking forward to a recovery week now before heading over to Yorkshire for the BNPS in Dalby next weekend.

Thanks for all the cheers from the Epic and Mad pit crews, it really helped motivation each time I passed them by. Thanks to Drommara CC, the race was very well run and it was actually a really good course, just didn’t suit me at all. Liked the way all the climbs were given a name and number, a bit of pain distraction!