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I had the option of doing a marathon on Sunday, treating it as training rather than an important race. I wasn’t sure putting on muddy wet shoes and braving the trails for a second time with heavy legs from Saturday, but the sun came out making it much more appealing.

I went to the team tent where Trevor asked if I’d taken my bike – ‘no’. Uh oh, I’d already heard of several bikes being stolen over night, and two of our Modas were missing from the rack. We ran around thinking of all the options of who might have them but they were gone. Altogether 15 bikes were taken from the campsite, locks cut, tents slashed, all whilst people slept right beside them. It took a while to sink it, we were so p****d off. The bikes are only a few rides old, my forks and brakes were literally brand new, and my garmin was on it which is really, really annoying since I use it for training every day. Also I’m racing in Germany in 2 weeks and I’ll be lucky to get a new bike sorted before that. So keep your eyes peeled for a hardtail or full-sus Moda for sale, or infact any of the parts from them.

I’d almost forgotten about the race in all the panic, but at the last minute we were kindly offered the loan of a bike from the Merida demo fleet. So with some running around and without time to warm-up or test the bike, I made it to the start line for the 50km race. It was a mass start, straight into a big long climb that was quite loose and rocky at times. I put in a bit of effort to get up towards the front, keeping my eye on Sue Clarke who was ahead of me, and then settled into a steady rhythm. My legs were definitely lacking some power after yesterday but felt ok considering.

With all the rain the day before the course had been changed to that there was more fireroad than had been planned. I don’t know how they did it but it felt as if the course was about 80% climbing and only a few short descents! Luckily it had dried out quite a lot and there were only a couple of really muddy parts and some greasy rocks. For most of the first lap I was riding just behind Sue, I don’t think she knew I was there so just kept quiet and ploughed along.

It was an enjoyable course despite being hard work, the sun came out and there were great views across the mountains and out to the sea – something you never get to appreciate in an all out xc race. As time went on Saturdays efforts started to take their toll and I struggled to keep the pace up and started to drop back. I could probably have forced myself to go faster but my head wasn’t really in race mode and I settled for a steady training session and enjoying the trails.

I finished 2nd behind Sue, with teammate Carla also on a borrowed bike having a good ride to take the final podium spot. Although my second lap was quite a slower I felt I could have kept that pace going for a lot longer, maybe I should have done the full 75km! A big thank you to Merida for the loan of the bike, it was good to salvage something from an otherwise frustrating day.

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Due to my last architecture commitments I didn’t arrive at Margam until late Friday night, missing the practice day, so I intended to get up early and do a lap before the race at 10am. However, I woke up to heavy rain at 5am which continued all day, so I decided it was better to stay dry, warming up on the turbo-trainer and racing the course blind. It probably didn’t matter too much since the trails changed so much from their dry, dusty condition the day before.

There was a strong field of international riders braving the cold and wet to line up at the start. I had a terrible start, firstly couldn’t get clipped in, and then my handlebars got tangled with Lee Craigie’s and I had to fight to stop myself being wrestled to the ground. Luckily I stayed upright and there was a fairly long open section before we hit a singletrack climb, so I was able to make up lost time. By the top of the climb I’d managed to move up to 5th place, and since I had no idea what was coming up on the course, there was an extra incentive to stick to the wheel of the person in front.

Conditions were treacherous, it was raining, and the trails had turned to thick, slippery mud making it very difficult to have any kind of control over the bike. In between were several long fireroad climbs, which suited me well. By the end of the first lap I was in 4th, following Lee Craigie and Lilly Mathews, and feeling strong. The conditions made the descents very slow and awkward, I had a few moments of sliding down steep banks on my bum, but at least there was time to recover before the next hard climb. On lap two, Lilly stopped with mechanical trouble so I got ahead into 3rd, gritting my teeth to try and take advantage and put some time into her.

It didn’t last too long though, by lap four she was on my tail, and got ahead as I got stuck behind a junior dabbing on a narrow kicker. I caught her again on a climb and it was a bit of a cat and mouse game for a lap. Someone shouted that I had a 12 second gap, but soon after the track looped back on itself and I saw her several minutes behind, having had a puncture. I’d been preparing myself to try and kill it on the last nasty climb so it was a bit of a relief got get such a lead. I couldn’t believe my luck, all I had to do was hold my position and I’d be on the podium. The mud was getting harder to deal with, there were a couple of steep banks where I decided sliding down off the bike in a damage limitation effort was the best approach, but other than that I quite enjoyed the trails.

At the bottom of the final descent I glanced back and saw British national champion Sue Clarke not far behind so had to put my head down and power across and windswept muddy field to get to the finish. I finished 3rd (results here), first podium in a UCI race, so really delighted with that. Report on British Cycling here. Big thanks to WXC for all their support, thankfully didn’t need to use the tech zone! I enjoyed riding my newly pimped bike – brand new forks and brakes from Magura were really nice.

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It’s been a while since I last raced with exams and college work taking over life even more than normal. I’ve had to spend 12-14hrs a day 6 days a week in the architecture studio the last month or so, but was happy to manage to keep training all the way through (though hours were reduced quite a bit). It was a massive relief to hand in my thesis at 5pm on Saturday, just the viva on Thursday and then done with college forever!!

There wasn’t much chance for recovery before the long trip up to Maheramorne quarry on Sunday for the 4th NPS race with an amazing day and roasting sun. I’d done this course a few times before so knew what to expect – flat, a few fun kickers and drops, fast hard racing. I’ll withhold my opinion but I wouldn’t exactly call it mountain biking. I have to say as we drove past the Mourne mountains I wouldn’t have taken much persuasion to turn off for a long sunny mtb ride! Anyway a race is a race.

It was good to see a few girls in the Elite race. We set off chasing the juniors, with Mel Spath quickly moving in front. I got behind, fighting my way through clouds of billowing dust that kicked up from the stony quarry, but struggled to hold here wheel and it didn’t take long for a gap to open up. I felt as if I was going like crazy (true according to my garmin!) but didn’t seem to be going as fast as I’d have liked. Its weird, this has happened at exam time last year – legs rested and although not feeling completely rubbish, things just don’t click and the race seems like a lot of hard work. But I suppose its to be expected and I’ve a few days to sleep now before the British NPS in Wales on Saturday.

I got a bit bored on the second lap, stuck riding on my own, but it improved after that when some of the guys caught up from behind and I had some good battles with them. It was all fast and furious stuff, pushing as hard as possible without much chance for recovery since there were no real descents. I finished second but would have liked to be closer to Mel. Ah well, plenty of time to get fast now…!
Many thanks to the Epic pit crew for their help with bottles.

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I lined up against over 100 of the top riders in the world, excited and prepared for a seriously hard race. I was number 82 on the grid and right behind former world and Olympic champion Gunn-Rita Dahle, so my plan was to try and follow her since she has way more experience than me with these things. It didn’t last long however, someone clipped a wheel right in front of me in the first few manic seconds and in avoiding crashing I was dragged right to the back. After a few lung busting seconds to try and move up we hit the singletrack and since squeezing 100 people into a tiny space doesn’t work, there was a big queue – time to recover a bit. I eventually got through and from there things strung out a bit. The pace was quick but not unmanageable, there was a lot of singletrack at the start making it hard to pass people so all I could do was hold the wheel in front of me.

After a start loop I’d managed to make up a few places and got into a good position with a group of 5 or 6 others, a few of whom I recognised from racing in Switzerland last year, and I knew if I could stick to them I’d do ok. With seconds between the person in front and behind all the time, you had to be really careful, relying on the person ahead not to crash or mess up a technical bit – I had a dodgy moment when a rider stopped at the top of the ‘bus stop’ (a kicker with a step halfway up that turned sharply round a tree into a steep, rooty drop), to get down it you really had to carry your speed but I just managed to squeeze past.

Next was a nastily steep climb to the top of Medusa’s drop, followed by chance to calm down as we descended several bermy switchbacks before approaching the drop. I have to admit I was feeling a bit wary of racing this – a sharp corner turning into technical rocky drop followed by a steep, rooted section. I creamed myself on it in the ice at Christmas and came off again pre-riding the day before when my tyre burped all its air, but the chicken run was a huge detour and as far as I was concerned I didn’t deserve to be racing a world cup if I couldn’t ride the course. Anyhow not to worry, got down it cleanly and from then on it got easier, faster and more enjoyable each lap.

Things were going well, my legs felt good and I was able to push hard to stick to the girls in front. Then disaster struck. There was a technical rocky climb, which was more or less unridable (I even only saw a handful of the guys get up it cleanly), so I hopped off and carried my bike up. Jumping back on I couldn’t get clipped in and lost valuable time kicking at the pedal trying to get my foot in. Eventually I realised it wasn’t happening and had to stop. I couldn’t believe it looking down, the cleat had fallen off my shoe! There was nothing for it but to pedal the rest of the lap balancing my foot on the pedal, losing lots of power and making and downhills very dodgy. I made it to the tech zone having completely lost the group I was with, screaming ‘cleat, cleat!!’ to Mike the team mechanic, knowing he’d have no idea what I was on about since its not something you’d expect to go wrong.

I stood getting frustrated for what seemed like forever while Mike and Trevor fixed things, watching rider after rider passing me by (actually they were super fast but still a few minutes). At least I had chance to catch my breath and gulp a gel, so that once it was fixed I was ready for action. I went off like a maniac, knowing that I was more or less in last position and if you get lapped or fall more than 80% down on the leader’s time, you get pulled from the race, so I had no time to lose. I caught a couple of girls within a minute or so, and from there I spent the race of the race picking people off the back.

Unfortunately it meant I was out riding on my own most of the time, not what I expected in a world cup, but usually once I caught someone it wasn’t long until the next rider came into my sights as a new target to hunt down. It was fun overtaking people since most of the course was quite tight – especially when the track split into a dual descent at one stage and I took the long but fast line at full pelt to blast ahead of someone – good buzz!

Towards the end of the fourth lap (of 5) I thought I could hear the dreaded sound of the lead motorbike behind me (the sound of doom, once this passes you its game over, pulled next time you pass the start), so started to go all out to try and stay in the race. I avoided getting lapped but was pulled anyway due to the 80% rule, gutted! But happy enough all things considered, every time I passed the start I half expected them to pull me over so at least I got a good race in. Freecaster has a video of the race here.

I finished 76th, a bit annoyed, but the course and atmosphere were so great that I really can’t complain too much, it definitely made me hungry for more. It was brilliant to ride such a big race on home turf, ‘Mrs French’ screaming encouragement at me was like being back in school! MASSIVE thanks to WXC team for all the support, especially in the pits, I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish without them. Also to my parents as ever for their chauffeur duties and support – good to have an Irish flag in the crowd!

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My first UCI mountain bike world cup is finally here, and more importantly I’m here too, luckily contingency plans for travelling to the UK by ferry weren’t needed and I was able to fly last night. I was up at the course this morning in the sun for some training – its great fun but will also be very hard. Theres something of everything, super steep killer climbs, big technical drops, fast dusty singletrack, steep technical climbs. It was all a bit surreal for me going home to the world cup, riding around Dalby (one of the places I first mountain biked) behind all the famous world and Olympic champions. Awesome! The speed of some one the guys coming down the technical sections is insane, they’re pro for good reason.

Check out the race live on freecaster internet TV here.

And theres a good description of the course on cyclingnews.com

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Sunday was the first round of the Irish NPS series, hosted by IMBRC in Slade Valley. The recent schizophrenic weather worked in our favour, making for an incredible days racing on dry, fast trails.

There was a good turnout for the elite female race, and we set off up a fireroad climb, and coming to the top I put in a burst of energy to get into the singletrack ahead of Ciara who was at the front, thinking this would give me a bit of control. Conditions made it very quick, but there were a few sly slippery roots to catch you out if you weren’t careful. Out of nowhere Mel came from behind and somehow managed to get past me and two junior riders in front in one manoeuvre. Before I knew it I was chasing but got stuck in behind the two lads. Eventually I managed to get by but she’d pulled quite a gap and I couldn’t quite get back. A bit annoying, I knew she was very strong and it’s much more difficult to keep up once you lose the wheel. I kept her in sights most of the first lap and people kept shouting that she was only round the corner so that spurred me on.

The heat was unbelievable, it felt like the Alps again, with sun beating down on dry dusty trails making it really hard work. I’m not complaining but I did start to feel a bit sick because of it at one stage! The course was great, a couple of longish steady climbs, a few steep kickers, and loads of fun singletrack (finally a race with descents!!). My legs felt ok, a bit tired warming up after a hard enough weeks training, but they seemed to respond once I got going. Although I couldn’t see Mel for the last few laps, I was able to have some good battles with some of the guys, there was always someone just in front or behind to making me keep pushing.

By the last lap there were loads of people blowing up, suffering in the heat and I managed to gain a few places. It actually felt quite short to me, could have done another lap (or maybe didn’t go hard enough?!). The finish was fun too, some guy from Cork riding behind me screaming at me to go faster (in an encouraging way I think), but I was determined not to let him by so pinned it through a tight, twisty up and down trail into the finish. I finished second, 2.5 minutes behind Mel so happy enough with that. Results here.

Thanks to IMBRC for all the hard work and a lot of people who gave up their own racing to help organise things, it really paid off! I’ve never ridden in Slade Valley before but have to go back, the trails are amazing. Brilliant riding followed by enjoying the sociable side to Irish races and catching up with friends in the sun left me buzzing all day! very hard to go home and concentrate on my dissertation

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A trip to York for Easter last weekend coincided with the first Nutcracker race, a new mountain bike series in the North of England, so I made the most of a good opportunity for some hard training. I turned up expecting a bit of a local event, so was surprised to be lining up alongside Australian international rider Kate Potter as well British university champion and WXC teammate Jessie Roberts at the start of the elite race.

It was another flat course, not exactly what I wanted after last week, but maybe at least a chance to redeem myself slightly. We set off with the elite and expert men so the pace was fast enough. Kate took off in front of me and I set about following. Heavy rain the few days beforehand had made the course super muddy, there was a lot of nice singletrack twisting through woodland, but it had all turned into a big gloopy sticky mess. I wasn’t complaining too much though, all those winters of wet, muddy riding in Wicklow and the North York Moors stood me in good stead and I was able to gain time on the messy bits. I felt good and managed to keep within a few seconds of Kate for the first lap, she was quick on flat fireroads, but I was able to catch up on the singletrack.

I wanted to use the race as a bit of tactical practice too, go hard on the first lap, and then get some consistent laps leaving enough energy for a hard last lap. Kate upped the pace a bit on the second lap and I had to let her go, I knew I couldn’t maintain it for two hours and I was more interested in having a consistent run. My legs were feeling good though, full of energy compared to last week, and despite the lack of hills I was really enjoying myself. I concentrated on pushing hard and riding smoothly to escape one of the expert guys who was following close behind. My Moda rode really well despite tripling in weight by the end due to all the mud I’d gathered along the way. Into the last lap I had to dig deep to go as fast as I could, but I was having fun which made things much easier.

I finished in second, four minutes or so down, but it was the performance I was interested in rather than the result. After Sherwood I was beginning to seriously doubt myself and wondered what I’d been playing at all winter so it was a massive relief to feel strong and get my race buzz back, especially after a pretty hard week of training.

It was great to be able to race in Yorkshire, unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be around for the rest of the series, but I’d highly recommend it. Thanks very much to my parents chauffer service (lack of driving lessons at 17 was never my choice and is coming back to haunt you!), Eóin my technical coach and chief feed-zone supporter, and WXC. Tomorrow I’ll be ignoring the fact that my dissertation is due next week and racing the first round of the Irish NPS series, looking forward to it!

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A couple of pics of my new bike, it even has my name on it. At home for Easter so took it up to Dalby Forest on Saturday to ride the world cup course – PDG! Lovely and light, handles really well and got me down some big rocky drops in one piece too. I was spying on the GB squad who were also training up there!

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Over the winter I joined WXC race team in the UK, and outside of Ireland (where I’ll still represent UCD), I’ll be racing for them for this season. I’ve been meaning to write a post about it for ages but until I’d actually been over and seen it, it all seemed too good to be true! I’ve been given a lovely new carbon Moda bike, which I can leave in the UK between races. This is amazing, takes so much time, hassle and money out of getting to a race –no fixing parts and cleaning the week before, no flying with a bike, lugging heavy boxes around multiple modes of transport etc. All I have to do it jump on a plane and race.

At Sherwood I was collected from the airport and taken to the race venue. Given my new bike and a load of kit and equipment. After riding the course with my teammates I could hand my bike to a mechanic for checking and adjusting. In the mean time we went and did a photoshoot with Joolze for the website. On race day there was a tent to shelter under and people to help in the feed zone. All the things that can cause a lot of hassle and wasted energy normally were taken out of the equation. Absolutely awesome, felt like a real pro. Now better start riding like one…!

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The mountain bike season finally got underway last weekend when I went over the Sherwood Forest for the first round of the British National Points Series (BNPS), a UCI C2 race. I knew a lot of people didn’t like the course, and it wouldn’t be best suited to me, being flat and technical but I was still really looking forward to it and dying to get back racing.

Pre-riding the day before confirmed it was as expected, a few small climbs, a lot of flattish stuff, and a couple of small descents, with very little in the way of technical stuff. There was a really strong field in the elite female race, the GB squad and several international riders, so I was keen to test myself.

I had a minor gear issue at the start and lost a few seconds, but as we got to the top of the first climb and into the singletrack I’d got up to the back of the lead group. Unfortunately the girl in front was pretty slow technically and there was no chance to pass for a while so we began to drop back. At the end of the first lap I was at the front of the second group, not too far away from the leaders.

From then onwards I don’t know exactly what was wrong but it just seemed incredibly hard and I was getting nowhere. My lap times got slower each time (I’m normally pretty consistent) and I got passed twice before the end but couldn’t do much to keep up. The course didn’t exactly inspire me, there were two enjoyable bits of singletrack on the whole thing – nice swoopy fast stuff, the rest all blurs together in my memory into a big painful, hardout slog. On the last lap my saddle started slipping down, and I kept having to stop and try to tighten in. The last straw I think, my head went a bit at that stage and I lost motivation to really push until the end.

Rubbish. So not exactly the start I’d been hoping for, hopefully just a bad day, a course with more hills and technical trails might help improve things. Failing that 7 weeks and counting until I can claim back my life from architecture college and train properly! I finished 10th so at least I got one valuable UCI point. Next stop, Yorkshire…

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