A Mountain Biker , I was....

“IRISH MARATHON MTB CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Andy potts
Sep 26, 2006,

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The picturesque County Louth village of Carlingford suffered a mountain bike invasion on Saturday as the local Cuchulainn Club promoted the 2006 Irish MTB Marathon Championships. The event attracted an entry of 120 who faced a 50km challenge through the very wet Cooley Mountains on a day of rapidly changing weather conditions. Robin Seymour successfully defended his Irish title as he sprinted around the course in just under three and a half hours, while at the other end of the scale well done to those who undertook seven hours of torture to cross the finish line!

The event began with a massed start, a spectacular sight as the riders charged up the lane ways that led onto the open mountain, the occupants of a De Lorean car getting an ultra close look at the riders! At the first feed station four riders had broken clear, Robin Seymour joined by Nial Davis, Connor McConvey and the ageless Peter Buggle. James McCluskey held a close fifth with Roger Aiken in sixth, the Dromore based rider having almost missed the start.

The next feed station was at the mast on top of the Ravensdale Mountains, the riders greeted here by a gale force wind. By this stage Seymour had broken clear leaving Davis and McConvey on their own. For Buggle the race was over as he was forced to retire with a ripped tyre. In the Expert Class Vav Halik was in superb form, in fact he was in fifth overall amongst the Elite riders. Ryan Sherlock was an impressive second in the Experts Class as Richard Felle battled with Ronan McMahon for third. Joe McCall led the way in the Masters Class ahead of Eoin Keith and Dave Gill. By this stage ‘home’ favourite Gerry McCabe was forced to retire with a broken rear mech. Robbie Lamont was in control of the Vets though Peter McConville had moved into second after passing Johnny McCabe on the climb up to the mast. The battle in the Sports Class was a close affair as Dave Barry held a narrow lead over Donncha O’Brien and Brian Keogh.

By the third feed station (number one on the outward journey) Robin Seymour had a massive lead. Behind him however the battle for second was ultra close as Nial Davis began the final climb only seconds ahead of James McCluskey. In the Vets Class leader Robbie Lamont had been caught by Peter McConville, in fact the pair waited for each other at the final feed as Lamont took food and McConville mended a puncture, nice manners gents!

Back in Carlingford Robin Seymour crossed the finish line in a time of three hours and 23 minutes to add yet another title to his amazing collection of Irish Off Road honours. In the final run to the finish Davis broke clear of McCluskey,taking second in a time of three hours 39 minutes with McCluskey just 3 minutes behind. Sensation of the day had to be Expert winner Vav Halik who finished fourth overall in a time of three hours 43 minutes, with Ryan Sherlock an equally impressive second . Connor McConvey took the Junior award as Joe McCall lifted the Masters title. In the Vets class Robbie Lamont just did enough on the final climb to break clear of Peter McConville, though only one minute separated the pair at the finish. The Sports Class was equally close as Donncha O’Brien passed Dave Barry on the last climb to win the class by just one minute, O’Brien entering the final section and entertaining the spectators with his rendition of ‘Just a Perfect Day’! Tarja Owens won the Ladies Class as Paul O’Reilly took the U-16 prize after his nearest rivals Liam McGreevy and Sean Downey were both forced to retire.

Well done to Cuchulainn for a great event, for the après race food, and the general organisation of the event. A big thanks to those who manned the feed stations and to roving marshal Paul McCann and the motorcycle marshal.

Results:

MEDAL WINNERS:

Elite Men

1 Robin Seymour Worc 3h 23m
2 Naill Davis IMBRC 3h 39m
3 James McCluskey Worc 3h 42m

Elite Woman

1 Tarja Owens Worc/Lapierre 4h 21m
2 Ciara McManus XMTB 5h 15m
3 Melanie Spath MAD 5h 21m

Junior

1 Connor Mc Convey XMTB 3h 45m
2 Graham Boyd XMTB 4h 35m
3 Robert McCabe Cuchulainn CC 5h 07m

Paul O’Reilly (U16) IMBRC 4h 36m

Expert

1 Vav Halik Epic 3h 43m
2 Ryan Sherlock Mad 3h 54m
3 Richard Felle IMBRC 4h 18m
4 Ronan McMahon UA 4h 19m

Masters

1 Joe McCall WORC 3h 55m
2 Eoin Keith Epic 4h 06m
3 Dave Gill WORC 4h 13m

Vets

1 Robert Lamont XMTB 4h 03m
2 Peter McConville Newry Wheelers 4h 04m
3 William Mulligan Banbridge CC 4h 18m

Sport

1 Donncha O’Brien Laois CTC 4h 23m
2 Dave Barry IMBRC 4h 24m
3 Brian Keogh Epic 4h 32m

The times they are a changin...

O the times they are a changing…. The clocks too!

Thats what Dylan wrote in the sixties long before the sport of mountain biking was conceived in the foothills of Marin county, Charlie, gary et al were all still flogging it out on the roads of northern California on their steel road rigs. Things have ebbed and flowed a lot since those days in the bike world, arguably road bikes are pretty much the same, all be it lighter, more gears and even electronic now, but it would be hard to argue that its bike technology that would separate a Merckx from a Contador or maybe more accurately a Bobet from a Ullrich. WIth mountain bikes too, despite all the ‘break through’s’ and money spent on R&D, u would be hard pressed to beat your time up your favourite climb on a steel hardtail from 20 years ago.

Descending i grant you is different ,here the tech or at least some of the technologies do make a big difference. A full susser goes down easy. Soaking up all your mistakes on the way. Multiple runs are the norm with fatigue minimised. Disc brakes too, have revolutionised the sport, wet muddy weather now is of no difference to dry and dusty.

All these advances and still people are riding bikes less than they were in the eighties. Sure there are more people riding but the amount of time individuals ride has decreased. Too busy i suppose, all we hear is i squeeezed in 45 mins after work or half an hour at lunch. People even ‘active’ people are lazy these days. To many distractions, look what i am doing right now writing this, 20 years ago i might have at least be watching a VHS of some mad bunny hops in switzerland, shouting excitedly at the screen ‘ no way, hans rey’.

Of course in truth we all know this, when asked are u into mountain biking you say yeah ‘i really am’ spent 2 grand on a bike and everything, even drove 18 hours to scotland last year for 4, 3 hour rides on amazing trails man, didn’t see one root the whole trip” live to ride, ride to live’ thats me man.

Load a Bolox.

It wasn’t better when we were kids cause we knew no different, it was better cause it was better. We rode way more, were way fitter, rode every thing, every where on shit worthless bikes that broke alot, but some how we always fixed them or ‘found’ a new one the next day and got on with it.

Nyhans pit.

God we loved that place, of course u go there now and its all gone, unrecognisable anyway. Shit bikes, shit brakes, shit tires = great craic. You take the high nelly and i’ll take the womens folding bike with the basket up front, If (when) yours fucks up i”ll give u a spin home in the basket and we can leave nelly in the ditch till next week. I heard Raymond Daly got a new raleigh activator with suspension, someone said he goes so fast on it. Right, we”ll see, i bet i could still take him on my nelly with the worn cotter pin. Q the 400 yard race around the football field, no contest, suspension is pointless.

Hand built in my back yard with a vice grips.

We did cycle a lot but despite all the Drinagh co-op shopping bags on earth keeping your saddle dry we definetly rode more in the summer. There was always a frenzy when the clocks changed. I can clearly remember a crowd of 8-12 year olds cycling their hand-me-down rattlings rust buckets, on the local football field (grass track racing? whats that?!!) on the monday evening after the clocks were reset when i was in 6th class. The feelings i had were ‘wow , this is so cool, everyone just cycling around, messing on their bikes’. I have not seen that happen since in my friends, but hope springs eternal and this year despite recession or in fact because of it maybe they will come out lots. We do need a more social setting, somewhere we can just hang and cycle, be 12 again, somewhere we can just ride round and round and round…..

Originally written on the 29th March 2009.

A bit o run'in buzz

So during the year of 2013 it has been 'all about the bike' and in that time i have logged these fine stats, Distance, 10,320 kms, elevation gain, 83,756 metres, total time actually moving, 365 hours! ha an hour a day, total rides 232, 4 tyres, 2 chains, cables, outers, bar tape , most of a pair a shorts :) etc,

	so in 2014 i do aim to reduce the cycling and a bit more of other stuff. with this in mind i have done a couple of great runs in the last while, a super morning in a gale up corrauntauthail with alex, see his deep post on alex-bike-row (his blog) and yesterday a fine excursion in the Mourne mountains with Ken (now skinny and fit!! ), The mournes are awesome. As a westcork trailman, usually one ends up trapzing over heather and bog with no discernable path , however in the 'United Kingdom' with its longer history of outdoor recreation and just more people using nature, there are trails all over the gaf. When i was 20 years young i completed the 2 day http://www.mourne2day.com/  and i am sure i wandered all over these fine hills, however september 1998 is a long time ago and my harddrive has been wipped clean, great, time to rediscover the massive expanse of igneous that is the mournes. On the way up the motorway i managed to flaag down Clive Roberts in his old very recognisable 1966 type 2a \land rover andhave a good chat in Newry, tales of sherpa ex wives and months in Antartica filled the void of 12 years  (since we had seen each other, we got to know each other whilst hanging on ropes rigging a building site for 5 weeks) i wished him well and left our little meeting filled with some curious energy that i sometimes get from meeting special individuals like Clive. We headed up from annalong and hit binnian, lamagan and down and around, just over 10 miles, 1000 metres plus ascent, beautiful cold day, streams on some tracks, amazing granite tors, shaped by those icy winds over milennia, a mushed mince pie to die (for), a wall that defy's technology, and so many more mountains and options, driving the brain mad with planning and hope for the future. It dont get better than this, and all on the door step (sorta) of a 'home' that really is now. Donncha And one of those notions is , free beer anyone?!!

Mid May Madness (version 2.013)

I always have some kinda peak or need for pain at this time of year, as you know. Last year i was in a shell, huddled away form the world, preparing and panicked about An Rás Tailteann, as you also know i got that one done, just. 2 years ago it was Coast to Coast, runnning, cycling and kayaking my way from Sligo to County Down and feeling amazing and alive the whole time.

Is it in the air? the smell of fresh cut grass, those damp but bright May evenings that call me out on my bike and into the hills, is there some primal clock that sets my psychical being on high alert at this time, a forgotten survival instinct? or do i simply need to go mad after months of cold and dark, because the lust for activity is not just confined to sporting events, i also have a serious thirst for porter and craic at this time of year too :)

So anyway i did a 10 km race at the last minute yesterday, it was on in Bandon and run by the athletic club guys, and what with the recent connection and new found respect for the place!  i sorta felt i should support it,  but, as you know i had basically no running training done, although i have 4 thousand kilometres cycled since the dawning of 2013 and why the hell should something as irrelevant as  poor prep stop you from giving it a go! (one of my many motto's)  .  i did a hard mtb race (1 hour) on the sunday and got a notion that i would kick start my running the following morning (i last ran on the wednesday after st. patricks day!! so i did a 5k easy monday morning, did a 5k race that evening in 19.47 and suffered in the last k!, i decided to do the race , 45 mins before hand, hence the run in the morning! i did an hour of spinning on the bike after, did nothing tue (i was in bits) did a 45 minute really boggy and hilly hill run on wed, slow and enjoyable pace, after this i cut and carried a full van load of timber from a forestry felling area (near where i was running) for 2 hours, actually running with the big logs  (5 feet long by 6-8 inch diameter, one in each arm for 30-50 metres) so i could minimize the 'visual time' ! as i was on the side of the road, basically stealing stuff :)

i did a 50 k ride on thursday incl a 10 mile hilly tt, i was in a state for 20 mins after it, did nothing on friday but was on my feet the whole day pushing wheel chairs around foto house and gardens, i drank 3 pints of smithwicks that night in de barras in clon on the way home, (cause i felt i needed them) then did a 39.58 for the bandon 10 k on the sat morning,

i was cruising @ 3.55 km pace for the first 3 or so but then the long drags started and i lost time despite , upping the heart rate 5 or 6 beats, i was 24 secs off  sub 40 pace at the 7 km mark, so you know what happened, i buried myself for the last 3 km, its the longest , highest heart rate that i have sustained since a 10k race in claregalway in 2003!!!!!! i thought i was having a heart attack with a km to go, my sister was at the finish and she looked visibly shocked at the state of me when i came over the line. I dont know why but i fucking wanted that sub 40 (why do we set these meaningless lines in the sand?) today i was in bits and sure after the last 7 days, with 4 hard races! why wouldn't i be, i broke a few blocks with the axe but mostly sat on me hole.

I plan on riding my bike for a couple hours tomo. Roll on the May Madness.

Donncha

The last half of 2012

Well after the Ras, i ran and ran and ran and also i drank and drank and drank, i was totally fried form competing (25 days racing since late feb!) also i had sort of abandoned my wife and family in this period to pursue one of my life's dreams so i had to reassess. I should have sat on my ass for 2 weeks and chilled but i did not realise how burnt out i was. I did have the good sense to take the bike apart and it did not see the light of day for 9 weeks ! i through myself into running, i think i was hoping it would 'fix' me?! in this time i organised a trail race on the sheeps head , 20 miles and 15 took part, free entry, wet day, excellent course, pints and hangover after!
I also ran a 18.04 for a hilly 5km in Clones Co, Monaghan but foolishly did not try to improve my 10km or Half Marathon times with this good speed i had in my legs, to be fair to me, there was a lot of partying to be done !
I was 2nd in a Timoleague 5km and 3rd in their duathlon both enjoyable days out (ok i am lying about the duathlon they are murdererous).
I was 2nd again in the south coast adventure race, although i thought the whole thing was a bit shit from an organistion point of view. And yet again i got fuck all for my efforts, which is piss poor and i would encourage anyone reading this to NOT bother with the event, i can think of several hundred ways of better spending 60 euro and ones Saturday morning :)

I had a routine operation in early November and Drank and ate like a foolish king for 2 weeks, when i did get off the couch i burst into activity on the cycling front, started building up the mileage and also started the ball rolling with a few guys in Dunmanway in creating the West Cork Cycling Crew, which has gone form strength to strength and now we have a membership nearing 50!, mad.
Basketball got my full attention too, on the Monday night games i organise and we had some furious battles down in the hall, all in good spirit i may add. I really enjoyed those games all the ways up to March 2013 as i was not worried about getting injured this year, so i just flung myself around the court. These Monday nigts really shortened the Winter and give the wek a nice focal point, i mean i am a die hard cyclist but in this country, come on, its hard and there is only so much indoor training your brain can handle.
I trained hard in Jan,Feb and March, trying t get a hill run in once a week on Lugh hyne with my buddy John and we did get a good few done,
Over the easter week end i raced Ras connemara, a 3 day race in Ougtherard, about a 100km of racing each day, it went great and i finished 14th overall, if i had one or 2 races in the legs beforehand it could have been amazing! I got first unplaced a2 the following week in Fermoy and managed to finish the Aquablue classic 2 weeks later, which on the day was more than most did! very hilly and very windy not a great combo :0
 Then there was a bit of a lull but the weekly timetrial series i have been organising with the Westcork CC gang kept it going and then in Mid May well , the usual Madness! 

Run lola run!

So with the mighty strain of 'that' cycle race subsiding, i said i would get back out running, i had been craving it, as it had been exactly 3 months since i had ran even one step. The first few runs were on the road only 4 to 6 mile runs and the system was in shock. One morning my legs woke me up and i had to go down stairs and take 2 neurophen! Anyway i finally felt up to some hill running and was delighted to be out on my local trails in Clashnacrona Woods, doing my favourite, hidden link run a couple times.
After 10 runs in total, i said to my buddy Simon , lets race. So we hit the courtmacsherry 10km and it was flat and fast, i felt good and pushed it to the line, the clock read, 38.38, very happy with that. Loads of sandwiches and táe after. Simon ran a smart race and went nearly a minute inside his target, happy out.
In the days that followed i was a bit sore and very tired for some reason , so i rested up and did nothing for 4 days, something i rarely do, it was needed though.
Then i seen a sign for a 5 km race and thought, 'there is a bit of torture for me'. I had chatted to to an old school friend at the courtmac race and we travelled together to the EMC 5km in Ovens, near the city, this was a BHAA event and we got a great evening's entertainment for 8 euro.
In short i started way to fast and kinda died a death the second half of the race. I pride myself on running smart and passing runners near the end of races, so when i was passed by loads of runners in the last 2 k of this race you can imagine how i felt. Pissed.
My legs felt like lead and if i was doing mile intervals or something on my own training i would have done 1 and gone home, however in a race setting stopping is just not an option! I could not even consider increasing ht effort for the last 400 metres as i had already written off this race as a disaster, however with 100 to go i saw the clock and was very surprised, i pushed it (kinda, i was close to pucking) and came in at 18.38! How i could run that , feeling like shit for most of the race and with 2 dirty drags on the course, i have no idea. I suppose it suggests if i was smart and not sore from 3 hours of white water kayaking last night i could have run sub 18.20, but really who gives a fuck :) Mike had one of his best ever runs i think and we were happy out eating our salmon sandwich and sipping tea in the hall after. A grand evening out.

Back to training now, need to start getting the one speed session, one tempo, one long run a week thing going. I am hanging for some long trail time too. Roll on summer.

The Rás

Overall, very memorable experience, the first few days were mental, crashes like you would not believe and the speed, think a bunch of honda 50's and thats no exxageration, the day to westport i felt amazing but everyday was ridden with serious consideration of the next, i was very conservative, i wanted to finish more than anything else.

The heat in Donegal was kinda hard to understand for Ireland, tar running down the hills and o the hills, in hindsight it knocked the shit out of me, i basically fried, and even though i was o so careful with hydration, salts, electrolytes etc i faded on the last 2 days, for the last 3 days my diaphragm was very sore from the excessive and repeated  deep breathing, i have never had that before.

Mentally maybe more than  anything else i was shattered, the ever present thought of  'is today the day i slam into the ground'? i do not know how the pro,s do it , week in week out, it really would not be the life for me.

I did however hang on, with everything i had and maybe something i did not know i had. I cried on Pinch mountain in Donegal, i was alone, it was a great release, i recommend crying to anyone when it neccessary, it purifies the soul.

I cried on the last lap, on the last day into Skerries, when as a surprise my wife cheered from the side of the road, she did not tell me she was coming up. I will not be doing the Rás again, it takes to much of everything, money, time, family, me, what it has done is open my eyes to what i am capable of and there now is a desire to see how much more i could push myself, that will be the enduring legacy of the Rás for me and of course the title 'man of the Rás' will be with me now forever.