British MBS – Margam Park

Posted on Monday 27th June 2011 by Cait

Having defeated the killer Shingles virus and enjoyed a race free weekend since Wasing, it was back to the UK on Sunday for the 4th round of the British series at Margam Park in Wales. The week leading up to the race was very wet and Saturday’s pre-ride was pretty grey and miserable with rain, half of the course covered in clouds and extremely slidey, muddy trails (the fun part!).

Unbelievably by Sunday morning the sun had come out and with temperatures hitting 31˚C I had my dream race conditions of heat and mud. We set off straight into a long climb finishing on a tough, off-camber slippery singletrack before hitting a fast muddy descent. By the top cyclocross pro Nikki Harris (Scott Contessa) had already pulled a gap and I’d got up to 3rd following Mel Spath (Cycleways), with Lee Craigie (Torq performance) just behind me. The course was ‘proper’ mountain biking with several huge long climbs, some short technical climbs, and lots of great singletrack descents with spectacular views out to the coast. The combination of long climbs and technical muddy trails meant riders were very quickly strung out and big gaps developed as the race went on. I clung on to Mel for just over a lap but eventually had to let her go – still have to make up that killer 2 minute difference ;-) .

The final climb of the lap was a monster, 7-8 minutes with several false summits, a headwind and sweltering heat and on lap 2 Lee jumped in front of me towards the top. I had to dig deep to hold on but eventually into the next lap she pulled away. Although the hills were tough, mud meant there wasn’t much pedalling to be done on the singletrack so there was plenty of time to recover before the next batch of pain. The descents were awesome, mostly narrow rutted trails covered in a thick layer of mud making for lots of fast, fun sliding around. One steep chute through the rhododendron bushes was particularly fun – 20cm deep mud meant brake free ‘bike-surfing’ sideways at high speed was the only option to get down it!

Coming into the last lap I was starting to feel destroyed, I had given up on catching Lee again and could only hope I had enough left to get around without being caught from behind since I knew I didn’t have much energy left for a fight. Then at the bottom of the first decent I passed Lee who had punctured. I gritted my teeth and sprinted to get around the corner out of sight and then somehow found some extra reserves to ride hard for the rest of the lap, not daring to look back, convinced she was seconds behind me. It was only the thought of a medal that dragged me up the last climb and from there it was a long fun descent and a never ending flat grassy field to the finish where I crossed the line in 3rd, delighted with the result (full results here). With 47 minutes in my top heartrate zone I was certainly trying hard but it’s great to feel able to do that again, calves are almost sorted!

photo credit: James Milnes


Margam is fantastic course that really separates the ‘mountain bikers’ from the ‘xc racers’ and made for some great results for the all the Irish riders with Mel and Robin both finishing 2nd! Thanks to WXC World Racing for all the assistance over the weekend. Kenda Nevegal/small block was the ultimate tyre combination for speed and grip in the mud, and my Spanish hill training came in very handy for coping with the heat.

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Trek Madone review

Posted on Monday 20th June 2011 by Cait

At the beginning of the winter I acquired a Trek Madone 5.9 road bike from the good guys in Think Bike shop in Rathmines. The difference riding a nice bike makes is unbelievable, in fact it’s a bit too nice, I shouldn’t enjoy riding it as much as I do but at least it made me do road training when I was supposed to over the winter!

The carbon frame is incredibly stiff and it feels like every ounce of energy put into pedalling goes towards propelling you forward, but its also quite forgiving on bumpy Irish roads. The super light weight means it flies up the hills and after a proper bike fitting in ThinkBike workshop it feels like the bike wants to accelerate out of every corner or kicker climb.

I’ve only had one chance to test it in a race so far but it performed very well, it gave me so much more control than my old bike so that I felt really confident riding at speed in the bunch. More racing to come if I ever get a free weekend. Overall a highly recommended bike.
so light its hard to keep the wheels on the ground ;-)

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British MBS – Wasing Estate

Posted on Tuesday 14th June 2011 by Cait

photo credit: Tor Olav Kjøren

British MBS at Wasing Estate in Reading, a course I hadn’t raced before and having heard it was fairly flat and uninteresting I wasn’t expecting to like it. However after a practice lap I was pleasantly surprised, not much climbing but some great singletrack through pretty woodland (similar to Castlewellan in places though without as much wow factor). Until Thursday I wasn’t looking forward to racing, still having problems with super sore calves I knew I would be there making up numbers again which is no fun at all. Then I had 1.5 hours of deep tissue massage on my legs and the effects were miraculous, I still wasn’t 100% but only felt slight tightness rather than pain so went into the race with a bit of confidence for the first time in weeks.

photo credit: britishcycling.org

On race day my prayers for rain were answered and although it wasn’t quite muddy enough to slow the race down as I’d hoped, the singletrack had become nice and slidey making for some fun racing. I got an unusually great start and was soon into 3rd place sitting on Maddie Horton’s wheel. WOW, this is racing! I hadn’t had that feeling for so long, pain free legs and feeling strong, brilliant! For a couple of laps I was back and forth between 2nd and 3rd place with some great battling on a close course and several other riders hot on our heels. The twisty trails flowed really well with rain making wet roots and corners all the more interesting.

By the end of lap 2 Mel Alexander and Mel Spath had caught me and we rode together for a while. By this stage my calves were beginning to tighten again and I felt like they were reeling me in from then onwards. The two Mels got a gap on me when a junior crashed in front of me and I got stuck behind another one – one your were into a singletrack section it was very difficult to pass and then hard to close a gap. I could see them ahead for the rest of the race but couldn’t do enough to get back up there, instead enjoying the increasingly slippery trails and keeping an eye out for other riders close behind.

photo credit: BritishCycling.org


Under normal circumstances I’d be annoyed for throwing away a couple of positions but 5th (results here) is a big step in the right direction and most importantly I got the race buzz back and feel like I can go at some proper training now and get back on track. What a relief. More killer massages this week will hopefully get me fully sorted, bring on the hills of Margam! Thanks to WXC once again and great to see the team dominating the podiums.
Check out the race video here.

Racing aside it was a very English weekend with tennis on the lawn, stonehenge, winsor castle, a tour of Cambridge, pots of proper tea and real ale. I like England. Identity crisis, haha.

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Rás Dhun na nGall

Posted on Monday 6th June 2011 by Cait

Another weekend another adventure, this time 3 days of road racing in Ardara at the Ras Donegal. Mel and I loaded up the car and drove through a day of rare scorching heat in Ireland on Friday afternoon to find the 1% of the country that was covered in cloud. After seeing a physio during the week my lack of recent form was put down to knots in my calf muscles to be solved by massage and ice baths. The problem was still there but I was told racing shouldn’t do more harm so thought I might as well do it for training.

Stage 1

photo credit: Darragh Maloney


We began on Friday evening with a 60km hilly loop, and with a separate women’s category we had a slightly ridiculous situation of 8 of us setting off 5 minutes in front of the men’s bunch of 140 riders. We coasted along for a while, and with nobody willing to assert themselves on the race it was a case of waiting for the tsunami of the men’s race to catch us. Eventually they did and as soon as one of the girls said ‘I’m going’, we all jumped in. Thank god, I was getting bored and it was suddenly into high pace, close wheeled, rubber smelling bunch racing. With attack after attack going at the front it was tough going at times, and having survived for a while I suddenly found myself badly positioned towards the back on one of the descents, not having done a road race this season I’d forgotten that descents are way harder than climbs and as the bunch slowly pulled away from me my legs couldn’t respond so I was left in no man’s land.

photo credit: Darragh Maloney


I chased for a while but had to give in, riding for 20km alone where I spent a lot of the time questioning what I was doing and making myself suffer through painfully sore calf muscles so that by the end of the day I’d almost decided to quit the race that evening. I always see road races as a chance to prove myself against roadies but my legs felt terrible so there was no hope of that and to be riding way below my abilities was no fun at all.

I was caught from behind by another bunch as we approached the finish making life a lots easier, and since there were a few women in it I resolved to using the race as a bit of tactical practice for bunch finishes. As the pace picked up in the final km’s I got into a good position towards the front and started to sprint towards the finish. Unfortunately there was chaos around the finish line in the village with cars everywhere and I had to jam on the brakes and start again as a car blocked my line. In the end one of the other girls got half a wheel on me and I ended up 4th. It would have been a good race but with legs the way they were and confidence low I didn’t enjoy it much.

Stage 2

photo credit: Marrion Lamb


photo credit: Marrion Lamb


Stage 2 was a 4km uphill time trial early on Saturday morning. My calves were still sore but no worse than the day before so I decided to do the TT and then decide whether to continue the race. As it turned out it went ok and I only lost 7 seconds to Mel and 20 to winner Heather Wilson so I had to keep going – might have won with a skinsuit, overshoes & carbon wheels ;-) . 8 minutes 20 seconds of pain up a steep but spectacular mountain road was pretty horrible at the time but within minutes of finishing I was already thinking I quite enjoyed it.

photo credit: Marrion Lamb


Stage 3

photo credit: Marrion Lamb


After breakfast and a lie down it was back for more on Saturday afternoon with an 80km race, and boosted by the TT I went into it feeling a bit more confident. The women set off in front again, sharing the work until the guys came from behind and we jumped into the bunch. Once again attack after attack came in but I seemed to have cracked bunch riding, feeling confident moving up and getting into a good position. We hit a big climb and I started passing riders and felt good, but once again on the decent got dragged towards the back and straight into another fast paced climb I couldn’t hold on and was shelled out the back. Mel was just behind me and we rode hard with a few other riders for a while until my legs suddenly gave in as they sprinted out of a corner so once again I was out alone. The difference in effort required to ride alone rather than in a group is unbelievable, as they coasted along I was suffering yet going far slower. I spent the last 30km catching guys along the road hoping to find someone I could ride with and share the work until the finish but each time I made it to someone ahead they dropped off and I was out alone again. At least it was sunny and I had time to look at the spectacular scenery. Tough day but much better than yesterday and I was now up to 3rd in the GC.

photo credit: Marrion Lamb


Stage 4

photo: Marian Lamb


Woke up to thick black clouds and pissing rain sliding down the window panes as Donegal lived up to childhood memories of wet family holidays. With a slight sense of dread we dragged ourselves out for the final tough 100km. The women set off in front again but we picked up the pace slightly and after the first hill were reduced to a group of 5 riders, managing to hold off the guys for well over an hour. I think there is a screw loose in my head because as the rain and wind drove into our faces and water sprayed up off the road soaking everything, I was in my element having a great time. My legs were finally feeling pretty good and I was enjoying the hilly course.

photo by Marian Lamb


Eventually a breakaway group of 3 guys caught us and Heather, Mel and I jumped on. I put in flat out effort but there pace was nuts and after a while Mel and I lost it. For the next while loads of small groups caught us and we put in effort after effort to cling on to one of them. Its very difficult to judge the point at which you should give in and sit back rather than wasting energy chasing in the hope that you might just have enough energy to cling on and I don’t think I got it right. On the road you simply have to go at the pace of those around you, meaning you often have to go beyond your own limits and the point where you have nothing left to give can catch you out very suddenly.

photo by Marian Lamb


Mel managed to get onto a group giving a slightly easier route to the finish whereas I couldn’t find enough to hold on and once again was out alone. Until then there had been loads of riders on the road but they turned out to be the last so I had another 35km solo with strong headwinds until 2 guys caught me 8km from the end. The finish was a gruelling 4km climb up the Glengesh pass road, which looked like a wall in front of us. By that stage I was running out of energy and with some of the corners feeling near vertical I was regretting my pre-race decision that a small cassette would make me strong, having to heave pedals around to stick with the guys until the end.

photo credit: Marian Lamb


I made eventually made it, finishing 3rd on the stage and in the GC with Mel 2nd and Heather Wilson 1st. Once we finished the cold and wet quickly got to me and it was suddenly freezing. Huge thanks to Darragh for a lifesaving appearance with hot coffee and a lift back for Mel and I, riding down would definitely have resulted in hypothermia! (why is it that every stage race I’ve done has finished this way?!).

photo credit: Marian Lamb


The scenery and spectacular roads made for a great race, hilly stage races are the only way to go for road racing and if it was a few days longer I might have got my legs up to full speed. Hopefully next year more girls will enter. Thank you to Think Bike for the amazingly light and fast Trek Madone, racing on a nice bike is so much more enjoyable!

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WXC World Racing video – episode 1

Posted on Wednesday 1st June 2011 by Cait

WXC World Racing episode 1 – behind the scenes at the Dalby World Cup from Cait Elliott on Vimeo.

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World Cup – Offenburg

Posted on Tuesday 31st May 2011 by Cait

After Dalby, team-mate Carla and I spent a few days sightseeing and training on beautiful flat, cold, windy roads around York before a major overnight roadtrip down to sunny Strasbourg (France) where the team would be based for the next round of the World Cup in Offenburg (Germany!).


Offenburg is a well known name for anyone involved in xc racing and has a reputation for great crowds and a technical course so to actually be there was pretty exciting. The course didn’t disappoint, it is an awesome combination of flowy fast trails, singletrack climbs and some super steep potentially head wrecking drops, all based around a small area of forest surrounded by pretty hills and vineyards. There were a few parts of the course that you role up to initially and peer gingerly over the edge thinking ‘oh god! how am I going to get down there?!’ but once I’d picked a line and got my head in gear they weren’t so bad. Then it started to rain torrentially turning the dust to greasy mud and making the roots wet and sketchy but a fast pace wet lap was a good confidence booster to know it could be done whatever the weather.


The next day we hooked up with Mel Spath and Maxine Filby for another couple of laps to get the lines dialled in, and since practice was limited to a 2 hour time window, everyone was riding at the same time and there was chance to ride behind some of the top riders in the world to see how they did it (fast!). After soaking up the atmosphere and hot sun watching the u23 men’s race it was back to the hotel to get the legs up and make some final race preparations.

Race Day
A good warm up, herded into the pens, hanging around trying to stay calm and focused, finally called to the start line as hundreds of people stand watching. 15 seconds to go, ready to snap into action. Bang, pedal hard, oh theres a crash beside me, get past them quick. Argh shit, suddenly I was sucked into the crash and on the floor, ending up watching the pack disappear in front of me as I was last out of the start field. I got back onto the last riders but stopped myself getting sucked into blowing my lights trying to get back up there, instead trying to settle straight into my own pace and pick people off gradually.

Supporters lined the course the whole way around and with beer tents, loud speakers and pumping cheesy euro music at each of the major technical sections the party atmosphere was incredible. Germans certainly know how to put on a mountain bike race. I took a while to get into the race, the bad start messed with my head, but as it went on my legs came around a bit and I had some good battles with a few girls around me. The highlight of the course is around the feedzone zone where two parts of the lap pass by each other, the ‘wolfsdrop’ a massive rooty drop on one side, and the ‘snake pit’ a technical maze of bit roots on the other. It forms a big arena area for spectators and the roars of the crowd as you come into it gave me goosepimples. It required concentration though as its a spot for lots of crashes, the first aiders had a busy weekend and hearing ambulance sirens midway through a race was a little worrying!

I felt a bit better than last week, at least I was actually racing, but still felt my legs weren’t performing up to standard. A very short lap meant the chances of getting pulled before the end were even higher so on lap 4 I put in an extra effort in an attempt to stay in. Coming towards the last steep climb I saw the evil 80% people blocking the way at the top so realising it was over got ready for one last sprint to get past a girl I’d be racing since the start. My tired brain somehow made me shift into the big ring rather than dropping a gear and I came to a standstill, loosing a place and finishing 69th about 40 seconds off staying in for the final lap – doh! (results here). I think there is still something wrong with my calf muscles and its time to get them sorted, I’m sick of not riding at full speed.

Watching the men’s race in the afternoon was impressive, the speed they hit the technical sections is incredible, Absalon especially seems to float around the course on a cushion of air making everything look so easy. That evening Mel and I joined pro American rider Krista Park and her husband for a German bbq feast up in a crazy old house in the hills surrounded by forests and vineyards. The next day after a lazy breakfast on a hot sunny terrace, a tour of the Black Forest and yummy icecream, it was time to head back to Dublin where the pro-racing bubble was quickly burst with a return to reality and a 20°C temperature drop. Its been an amazing couple of weeks not just for the racing experiences but seeing new places, catching up with friends from uk races and meeting loads of friendly like minded riders from all over the world.

A huge thank you to WXC World Racing for all the support and assistance over the weekend.

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World Cup – Dalby Forest

Posted on Monday 23rd May 2011 by Cait

Lungs, legs and head – 3 key elements to a good mountain bike race, if one of them is slightly below its par then the whole experience can change from being one of the best feelings ever to feeling like a lot of hard work and suffering.

We arrived at Dalby a few days before the race with plenty of time for training on the already familiar course and chance for some pro-style race preparation with the WXC team staying in some super comfy cottages alongside the Merida Multivan and Trek Subaru teams. The run up to the race went according to plan and I was all set for a showdown with the big guns of xc racing.

photo by Toby Rose


Race day. Good warmup, nerves starting to build up. With 15 minutes to go we get herded like cattle into the starting pens and I sat pedalling on the turbo to stay warm. Finally called up to the starting grid, surrounded by crowds and heart is pumping like mad. Loudspeaker calls 15 seconds to go, oh god its really happening now! Bang, we’re off, pedal like crazy. I got off ok until suddenly someone crashed in front of me, I saw Mel get caught in it and swerved to avoid the worst but lost a few seconds. After a bit of elbows out aggression queueing to get into the first singletrack it was just a case of following the wheel in front until the start loop was over, a flat first part of the course means there is little chance to split the field up.

photo by Danny Elliott


The first lap was really frustrating, a mixture of going really hard and stopping in queues when the course narrowed, so no chance to get into a rhythm at all. Eventually things began to string out a bit and I was able to ride. The atmosphere and crowds were pretty cool, people lining the course and huge roars at some of the more technical parts as riders went by, it really helps to motivate you as you struggle up some of the horribly steep climbs along the course.

photo by Danny Elliott


By lap 2 I was into a racing rhythm but it wasn’t the speed I wanted to be going, things just didn’t seem to click and the race felt like a real struggle. The descents at Dalby are always great fun but I didn’t feel the sort of buzz you get from a good race. I spent a lot of the race gradually closing a gap to downhill world champ Tracey Mosely and towards the end of the 4th lap I almost had her. I was psyching myself up for a real all out effort on the last lap but as I approached the start/finish area I was pulled in due to the 80% rule. Not impressed, a real anti-climax I wasn’t expecting and I felt like slamming my bike on the ground. I finished 72nd (results here).

photo by Danny Elliott


I’m not sure what was the problem but I felt like I just couldn’t reach top gear all day. Even worse is that I did a race pace lap on Thursday that was over a minute quicker than any of my laps on race day. The number of competitors and the significance of the event meant that the race felt more about learning to deal with the pressure of competing and fighting for position as I scrapped around at the back of the starting field than about going out and racing hard as you normally would. Next week will be better!

A huge thanks to WXC World Racing for all the support over the weekend, the racing didn’t go according to plan but it was a fantastic experience and it’ll make me work hard so to get more of it. Also thanks to the Elliott/Wilkinson family and Yorkshire supporters for cheering me on, always a big help!

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Irish NPS – Tollymore

Posted on Monday 16th May 2011 by Cait

The fun began with a Thinkbike team pre-ride laughing and sliding our way around a brilliant course in Tollymore forest park. Tons of singletrack, lots of mud and roots, this was going to be good!

photo by Richie Byrne


I led into the first singletrack and set about chasing the back of the s1 guys who set off a minute ahead of us. I was worried that after all the dry dust in Spain I might have forgotten how to ride Irish mud but luckily it didn’t seem to be a problem. It was that perfect kind of mud, not too sticky and super slippery but if you hit the right line it was easy to go fast along the twisty trails.

photo by Graham Boyd


Out of the first singletrack and I had a decent gap. Into a good rhythm on the fireroad climb, nice slippy technical climb and more high speed drifting descents. Then chainsuck. Ok, don’t panic, plenty of time – sorted quickly, got back on, pedal pedal. Wow this is good, love racing in Ireland, if only we had more girls racing!

photo by Mike Armstrong


Another singletrack climb, oh no, what’s that, can’t pedal. Jumped off and tried to get the pedals going only to find my rear wheel had fallen off! Calm down still lots of time in hand. I’d lost the end off the quick release squewer but managed to find it in the dirt. Tried to screw it tight but wasn’t happening, faff faff, panic panic. I finally got the wheel in and tight but lost over 3 minutes and Ciara was now way ahead of me. Ok its racing time, nothing like having a carrot to chase!

photo by Graham Boyd


Unfortunately my little break meant most of the men’s field had overtaken me too and the amount of tight singletrack made it super hard to get past people. I gradually started picking people off but wasted a lot of time stuck behind slower riders. Maybe playing around in Spain wasn’t such a bad idea for training, I was feeling super confident on the technical sections and seemed to be dropping people on the climbs too. Into lap 3 I finally caught Ciara again and jumped ahead.

photo by Graham Boyd


Once I’d got a bit of a gap again I’m not sure I was racing flat out all of the time, I had some eyeballs out moments when I had chance to catch one of the guys in front, but other than that I was chilling out a bit and enjoying the riding, challenging myself not to brake and seeing how much I could pedal through the tight corners. Deadly! Then the last trail I was suddenly all over the place, riding like an idiot but managed to hold off a couple of guys behind me with an uphill sprint to the finish. Results are here.

photo by Martin Grimley


Thanks to Banbridge CC for putting on a great race and to all the spectators for the encouraging cheers. Also to Mel and Stew for the loan of a super fast racing machine.

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More FreerideSpain photos

Posted on Friday 13th May 2011 by Cait

I finally got around to sorting out the rest of my photos from Spain. Epic rides make for epic views. I’ll stop going on about it now for my own sanity as much as everyone else’s. Ireland is cool too!

More photos in the gallery section here and here

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Biking Blitz Dublin

Posted on Monday 9th May 2011 by Cait

This weekend’s Biking Blitz race on Three Rock marked the opening of a new trail centre 20 minutes ride from my house in Dublin. It was a perfect, pressure free way to get back into racing after Spain and build some confidence before the big races start in a few weeks. I’m generally not a huge fan of manmade trails, but the new trails are set to be hugely beneficial for increasing awareness and participation in mountain biking, especially as they’re so close to Dublin. Providing you don’t ride them all the time, they can be a lot of fun, and their all-weather construction will be very useful in winter.

photo by Morgan O'Connell


I signed up for the 3 lap ‘racerhead’ category meaning I was racing all the elite s1 guys. After an official opening of the trails by government ministers and other VIPs, we set off with bang up a long hard climb, firstly tarmac and then singletrack. I was using the race as training and wanted to concentrate on having a fast start, this worked a bit too well as I launched myself into competing against the fast lads and got sucked into going bananas for the first lap, which of course wasn’t sustainable! I got into a good hard rhythm and already tired legs were soon burning with a blustery headwind making it more of a struggle (I hoped small hills would be easy compared to Spanish mountains – not so!). Once we made the top it was into an extremely fast long singletrack descent with plenty of rocky drops and swooping corners. The adrenaline was quickly flowing and I was pleased to remember how brilliant racing can be.

photo by Mike Wyley


Another climb, catching a few guys, and into another long descent, a really physically demanding trail that takes a lot of pedalling and upper body strength to ride fast. Luckily the faster you go the better it gets and I my legs felt like they had some good snap in them despite a lack of racing recently.

photo by Aine Conneff


Despite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with a few of different guys, after the first lap the race very strung out and without a close battle to make me dig deep I couldn’t keep the pace going as we hit the climb a second time so had to slow down a bit. It seemed several people around me had also gone out too hard though so I wasn’t losing places. On the final descent I could see Mark of MAD closing in on me, I held him off until the bottom but he nipped passed as I struggled with slow gear changing before we turned uphill into a kicker before the finish. As he faltered on the kicker I tried to squeeze past but couldn’t get enough power in the short distance to the line so lost a place, grrrr!

photo by Aine Conneff


I finished 1st female and 15th overall (results here), winning a really cool trophy made out of a huge rock! Far too heavy for my jersey pocket so I had to find a lift home for it.

Thanks to Niall and Tarja from biking.ie for a brilliant, very well organised event. Fantastic to see racing so close to Dublin and getting so much recognition. Also thanks to Bart Felle for the feed zone support, Think Bike and WXC World Racing.

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