First downhill race at Gravity Bike Clubs winter league

This weekend was my first downhill race, it was held in Cloon wood outside Eniskerry.  It was organised by Gravity B.C.  I had no idea what to expect and was not on a full downhill bike but my Genius Enduro bike.  I arrived on Saturday to sign on and practice and after collecting a helmet from Aine McKenna I headed up the hill.  While pushing up I got to see some of the track including some nice berms and big gap jumps and a couple of booters for big air.  I got one full practice run in to see what the track was like and at the bottom met up with Alex Nowotynski and Jonathan Maunsell who were up from Cork, we headed up together and got in some more practice runs and track walks and sessioned some tricky bits to save those few precious points of a second.

I arrived around 11 on Sunday and I headed out to see what the track was like after a night of heavy rain, while there was some big puddles of shlomp to power through, the track was mainly dry and was still as fast and loose as Saturday.  My start time was 12.03 and so had time for one full run and watch some practice runs.  Then back to the top for 12 where one of the marshals checked my body amour and I lined up ready to start.  The clock started counting down from 30... a beep at 10, a couple of deep breaths and another beep at 5... 4 and I went (in downhill you go anytime after 5), I sprinted from the off and launched off a rock into the first berm and up into the wood and so began two minutes of  adrenaline fueled lunacy, two minutes of rocks, roots, berms, gap jumps and booters, the track was brilliant with a great mixture of everything.

My first run went well, I got most of the lines I had been practicing on Saturday and was delighted with a time of 1:46:009 which placed me 16th overall.

 My second run went well it was similar to run one except I took a slightly faster line around the first booter and had a complete clean run top to bottom, I felt happy but was actually 0.2 of a second slower.  I won the U16 class and really enjoyed my first downhill race.  The Scott Genius was a brilliant bike to ride and after racing both XC and DH very well on it I can't wait to race it in the Gravity Enduros.  It really is one bike for all mountains.

   Thanks to Adrian Van der Lee and Bartosz Murzicz for the photos and to Aine McKenna and Silvia Gallagher for lending me gear to race in.

Thanks again to Donnybrook Landscape Co/Scott for their continuing support.
           

2014 The Beginning

Well 2014 is looking like its going to be some year with two major changes to last year.

1. I am now a sponsored rider and will be riding for Donnybrook Landscape Co/Scott Cycling for 2014 with my team mate Sean Feeney. I will be riding a Scott Genius 720 and Sean a Scott Scale 720.

Thanks also to our co-sponsors to Expert Cycles, Honey stinger and Ethos Engineering.
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2. I am now writing a blog and will be updating this after every race.

Last weekend was the first round of the Biking Blitz run by Biking.ie.  It was held in Ballinastoe Wood which is a local track for me and I was really looking forward to getting back into the racing season especially since I have now also moved to the inbetweener wheels on the Scott Genius.  While a 150mm travel full suspension bike might not seem the best choice for a XC race, at just under 13kg and with the Scott twinloc remote lockout this bike was a lot more suited than most for the course.  

I was racing the U16 race and then afterwards I raced the Junior category,    There was a good turnout for the U16 race which was two short laps, each of which I completed in just under 10 minutes.  I won the U16 race and felt nicely warmed up and in good shape for the Junior race.  

I had a short break before the start of the Super-pro/Junior race.  I got a good start but would have preferred to have been closer to the front to prevent that slow congested run through the first bit of single track.  When I got onto the second fire road section I pushed hard to catch up to my team mate Sean.  We worked together for the rest of the climbs until 100 meters after the end of the long swoopey decent I had to stop as my rear wheel was flat and would not seal, I think I got a slow puncture on the descent so it was off with the wheel and fit a tube to get me home, race effectively over. When Sean missed my presence at his heels he came back in a pure act of good sportsmanship to assist.  

I still finished the race in just under an hour and even with the puncture the race gave me a good indication of where I am at in terms of fitness, the Cyclocross has kept me fit and I felt good.  A big thanks to Sean Feeney for stopping to help me.  It was disappointing to puncture but its only the beginning of the season and I hope its my first and last one during a race.  Before the puncture we estimated we were circulating in the top 10 and were loving it.  I made it back to the finish happy with my performance and loving the bike. Onwards and upwards, 'till next time.

Thanks to Action pictures Ireland, Keith Wallace and Adrian Van der Lee for the great shots and already looking forward to the next round in Ballyhoura.