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Last weekend was the national championships, one of the biggest and most prestigious races of the year for everyone involved. This year it was run by Epic MTB club, and held in Djouce woods in Wicklow it promised to be one of the best courses and events of the year – and didn’t disappoint. Although I’d comfortably beaten my competitors in several races this year, I was feeling the pressure on the start line with my heart pumping as if the race had already started. I had a jersey to defend and was well aware that anything can happen on the day, there’s always a risk of a mechanical, bad legs or a crash ruining things.

We set off up the hill of the start loop and I got squeezed into the inside line and forced out the back. It took a sprint out of the last corner to overtake 3 people and get ahead as we hit the singletrack clime. From there I put my head down and pedalled, not daring to look back and trying to catch and overtake the juniors who set off just ahead of us.

The course was brilliant, real mountain biking at its best. It was a long lap with lots of climbing, mostly on technical singletrack, and each time followed by the reward of a brilliant descent. There was plenty of variety, some fast flowy trails, others rooty and steep, all made slightly more difficult with overnight rain greasing things up a bit.

Into lap 2 and the others were out of sight. I was really enjoying myself, feeling good and cruising around. I struggled a bit after dropping my bottle on the first descent of the lap, it could have been disastrous but luckily I screamed for water at the 2nd feed zone and some kind person handed me a bottle – I was parched by that stage and the last climb would have been nasty without it.

Towards the end racing against the men in masters and vets kept me entertained, but it wasn’t easy since it was such a physical course with technical descents that required a lot of upper body strength (back to the gym in the winter!). It was also getting harder to control things on the steep, slippery trails – my summer tyre on the back was a ridiculous choice in hindsight! Lucky I had a big grippy thing up front so did have some kind of control.

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.

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Another trip to the UK last weekend, this time for the Bikeradar Live festival in Brands Hatch, where WXC had been invited to enter the pro-elite dirt crit. The format was 12 laps on a short 3-4 minute long course, a bit of an exhibition race with lots of action for spectators. Although the field was smaller than expected, I was up against some top riders, including the British Cycling team just back from the European Championships.

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!

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taste of the action from the British Mountain Bike Series race in Dalby last weekend:

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Saturday was the 4th round of the British NPS series taking place on the world cup course at Dalby. I was keen to prove that my podium spot at Margham was no fluke and make the most of lots of points available as it was a UCI C1 race. I was lucky to have a new replacement Moda bike for the race, but didn’t get it until the day of the race. Arriving a bit late and a lot of faffing meant I only got 20 minutes to warmup and check it out before the start.

We set off, charging across the grass to get in to the first singletrack – I was 6th or 7th at that stage and had to get around a big loop before a passing opportunity. As soon as possible I got up to 3rd , and chose the rocky line as the track split in two. Hammering down seemed awfully hard work and I realised something was wrong, I was riding rigid, forgetting to turn off the lockout on the forks after warming up! Quickly fixed, but as we hit a fireroad Lee Craigie came flying past and I spent the rest of the first lap following her wheel. The course was relentless, no chance for a break at all, you’re working hard all the way through be it climbing, descending or flat. Although following Lee, I was keeping an eye of Mel who wasn’t far ahead of us, and hoped that we’d be able to keep her in reach.

Looping around the grass field at the end of the lap, I was surprised when Lee went left, I was sure the course went right. I began to follow but realised just in time that she’d taken a wrong turn. I veered back on track and put my head down to get as much of a gap as possible. The next couple of laps I concentrated on making the gap bigger, and by lap three I was sure I was clear. Although it was really hard, especially in the sun, I was having a great time. The course is so much fun and really comes alive in a race. Lots of big berms, nice singletrack and rocky, steep descents that seemed to get faster each lap with the adrenaline pumping.

Next target – Mel. Familiar feeling! I knew she was about a minute ahead at the start of the lap, though the nature of the course meant she was out of sight a lot of the time. By the end of Medusas descent on each lap I had her within sight as we went up one of the nasty climbs, but she’d disappear again on the flatter, more draggy 2nd half of the course. By the last lap I was pretty knackered and had to force myself to keep pushing on, but into that climb for the last time I realised I’d gained some time, Mel was less than 30 seconds ahead. That spurred me on to ignore the pain and dig deep, but I couldn’t quite find enough to get up to her so finished 3rd, about 50 seconds behind.

Brilliant race and very happy with the result and the ride overall. Not getting ahead of myself though, New Zealander Rosara Joseph gave us all a proper schooling, finishing 6 minutes ahead. Results are here and British Cycling report here. Big thanks to all the WXC crew for their support, my mum for her chauffeuring and Eoin for making the descents faster. Also to team sponsors Moda, Magura and Sram for the new bike – rode really well, I was particularly impressed with the Magura forks, float over everything so easily.

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

Thanks to Micheal Grainger for permission to use his photos.

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Another weekend, another race – this time up to the North of Ireland for round 6 of the NPS run on last year’s National Championships course. I didn’t have great memories of the course, last year was hard and energy sapping with lots of short climbs and little chance to recover. Still, the weather was good and I was looking forward to giving it another shot.

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!

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On Saturday the Halfords ProTour Series came to Dublin, with crit racing on closed streets in the city centre for the first time in 20 years. Despite it being a road race, I’m always up for trying something new, and chance to race in the city centre was too good an opportunity to miss. The course was a very short loop, up Dame street, down towards the river, along the cobbled streets of Temple Bar, and back up the hill. For the ladies it was 30 minutes long and then 5 laps at the end. The night before I had a quick look on the internet for tips and tactics on how best to race a crit – it seemed staying near the front was the best option to avoid bunch crashes and wasting energy on the corners.

50 of us lined up and somehow the supposed neutralised first two laps were ignored and we went straight into fast racing. I got up towards the front of the bunch as a front group split off. It was fast, exciting stuff – pedalling hard, getting around the corner as fast as possible and then sprinting out of it. The cobbles were a killer on skinny road tyres, battering the bike all over the place, but faster was easier. A few times I found myself leading at the front, and at one stage had a bit of a gap without really trying, so put in a bit of effort to test things and see if it was possible to get away – in the end I dropped back in, not confident I could maintain a lead.

Hammering up the hill on Dame Street, turning a tight corner and zooming down the hill towards the river was great fun – crits seem like the way to go for road racing, all the excitement without the boredom in between! The atmosphere was good too, crowds cheering, music playing and a commentator on loudspeakers.

I had no watch, so no idea how long was left, but suddenly they announced 5 laps to go. Ok, legs feeling fine, time for some action. I was watching out for attacks and when Mel Spath came flying past I got up and chased, we got a bit of a lead but holding it didn’t seem possible on the tight course, lapped riders made it hard to attack on the corners and the group got back. 1 lap to go, riding on the front feeling fine, telling myself this is no way as hard as the Epic club races, attack early or wait for the sprint at the end? I waited. Last corner, take it handy and hold position, its make or break time. Final stretch on Dame Street, I started to go, shit, is it the last lap? Nobody sprinting. Split seconds hesitation and not fully committing myself to the final sprint and suddenly 3 riders flew past me and I ended up 4th. Prizes for the top 3, doh! Report and photos here.

I’ll put it down to lack of experience but I definitely could have finished better, the race went perfectly other than that! Really enjoyable though, you could almost call it technical since cornering and descending skills were so important, and when it’s so short it’s all fast and furious stuff.

Afterwards it was nice to enjoy the scorching sun and watch the hour long men’s race, with a load of pro team over from the UK. It was amazing, the speed insane. Garmin-slipstream rider Dan Martin absolutely annihilated everyone – he made it look so easy, leading with a huge gap for more than half the race. There’s a nice video here. More of that in Dublin please!

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I was back doing some Euro-racing at the weekend, returning to the Hors Class race I did last year in Albstadt, which forms part of the German national series. Irregular flights meant travelling to Munich West 3 days before the race so plenty of time to practice the course and have a mini holiday too. I went from Dublin with Mel Spath and initially enjoyed 35 degree heat, dusty trails, swimming in outdoor pools and sitting out on pavement cafes – if that’s pro-life I could get used to it!

By the time race day arrived the weather had changed completely, we woke up to cloud covered mountains, constant rain and cold temperatures– like being back home! Almost 40 riders lined up in the elite female race, including several world cup winners, Olympic and world champions, 10 different nationalities and loads of pros. The start was nerve racking, loads of noise from hundreds of spectators and lots of pressure being boxed in with such a big group of riders. I got a good gridding on the second row right behind eventual winner Sabine Spitz, and managed to fight through initial chaos, avoiding an early crash as people battled to get into a good position.

Things spread out pretty quickly as we hit a super steep 3-4 minute fireroad climb, and feeling good I started making up places. I’d forgotten how steep and nasty some of these European mountains are, it was a killer, but spectators lined all the way along, cheering and spinning noisy rattles making a great atmosphere and distracting from the pain.

Riding the course in previous days we thought it fairly easy – some steep switchback descents but nothing really technical. However in the rain it was totally different and became really hard. The rocky tight, steep singletrack was covered in a layer of wet, slippery mud making it really hard to get down in control. The first lap I dealt with it ok, a few dabs but making good time, and got round in 12th place at the end of the lap, up with several top riders – way better than expected!

Then it all started to go wrong. Mud was clogging up the bikes, tyres turning to slicks, and worst of all my pedals completely clogged up with mud. I had loads of trouble clipping in, meaning descending off balance and struggling to stay upright. I lost confidence and started to ride like a muppet, loosing time on the steep slippy singletracks (I wasn’t the only one, lots people were sliding, falling or running down hills whatever way they could, but still felt I should have been better since I get lots of practice in these conditions!).

The steep climbs got progressively harder too, legs burning and cramps setting in. I rode by one girl puking on the edge of the track – nice! By the last lap I just hoped to survive until the end and managed to finish 21st so at least got a few UCI points, overall not a bad result (results on cyclingnews.com here). Infact despite all that I did enjoy it, racing over there is so different – having your name called out on the loudspeaker and hundreds of people cheer you on up painful trails is an amazing feeling, and to be able to compete with the best in the world is great motivation to get faster.

We also had the luxury of technical support from WXC team mechanic Mike, who was also working for the USA national team. It makes a huge difference, taking so much stress out of things both before and during the race – thanks Mike! I had to fly with my bike from Dublin since my new Moda wasn’t ready after the robberies – another thing that really makes me appreciate having the support of the team. Signing away your bike to ryanair baggage handlers in the airport is not a nice feeling, nor is it fun carrying a 20kg box around Dublin at 1am to get home after a race!

Mel has a great report of the whole trip here.

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After the BNPS race at Margham I somehow got roped into putting my wet, muddy gear back on and racing a team relay event later that day. Teams of 4 races around a 1-2 minute circuit with each person doing 3 laps. It wasn’t too serious but of course got pretty competitive and was a lot of fun. Unfortunately we didn’t win due to extreme chaos with changeovers at the end of each lap! Here’s a video:

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I want my bike back! Here are the details of the two Moda bikes belonging to WXC stolen from Margham the other week, keep your eyes peeled.

“One was a Moda Encore Medium (17.5 inch) carbon hardtail. Had a Garmin fitted, full XT group, Magura Marta in Black, Magura Durin 100R in white, American Classic White wheelset with tubeless Kenda tyres, Blue Bike Pure headset spacer on top of the Barelli stem, and the name ’Cait Elliot’ with the Irish National flag on stickers on both side of the frame.

“The other was a Moda Canon Small (17 inch) carbon full suspension
Full XT group, Magura Marta in Red, Magura Durin 100R in White, American Classic White wheelset with Kenda tyres, Blue Bike Pure heasdset spacer and the name ’Carla Haines’ with the English National flag on stickers on both sides of the frame.”

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MBUL hosted the 5th round of the NPS in Killaloe on Sunday. I was looking forward to this race, remembering the killer climbs and technical trails from the NPS a few years ago, and wasn’t disappointed. A lot of work had gone into making the singletrack more weatherproof and the course was great – one huge long fireroad climb that was very exposed and hot, followed by lots of damp woody singletrack, mostly downhill with a few steep kickers.

There was a bit of confusion at the start, they suddenly announced that the elite men and women would go off at the same time, and the race was already underway by the time I realised what was happening, so I was way off the back. We set off up a very long fireroad climb at a blistering pace, almost sticking to the men. As ever I was attempting to keep up with Mel Spath who was pushing the pace at the front. I managed to keep her in sight until the top and when we hit a long section of off-camber, rooty singletrack through the forest I was able to gain some time. I almost got in front as she dabbed on a steep kicker but resigned to following as closely as possible.

Each lap I lost sight of Mel as we descended a narrow switchback trail towards the finish, thinking I’d lost her, but once we hit the climb I could see her again 20 seconds or so ahead. This gave me all the motivation I needed to cling on, pushing hard to stop her getting away with the hope of making up time on the descent. The climb was a killer though, long, hot and painful!

On the last lap I managed to close the gap slightly, Oisin and Sean passed me on the climb and I jumped in behind them, hoping their pace would get me up to Mel so that I might have chance to get ahead on the singletrack. I almost succeeded but just lost them as I dropped my chain coming to the top of the climb. I quickly sorted it and set about catching up, but the hill effort left me pretty wrecked. It was hard to get enough composure to ride the decent smoothly and I was making stupid mistakes on the greasy roots. Any chance to catch up was lost when my chain got tangled somehow as I tried to climb the last kicker and I couldn’t turn the pedals. I stopped to sort it but lost about 30 seconds, so finished over a minute down in 2nd.

My last half lap could have been better, but overall I was happy with the race, to be close enough to put Mel under pressure is a big improvement! Thanks to MBUL for putting on a great race and UCD for their support. Expecially thanks to Conor and Aine of MAD for the lift down and Aine’s flawless bottle support!

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