It all never really happened as the edge sports shop proved very hard to work with and ended up backing out of promises they made and we wont even talk about the despicable way they treated Rory. I did get alot of free gear from them for which i am very thankful, just a pity they did not follow through on there 'we are committed to yee' talk, they gave us. I also see that the road team they sponsored (the road team won an amazing amount of serious races in their jersys) have left and have a different bike shop sponsor this year) i dont know the story but i am sure they were just as fed up at being used as we were. Anyway i took all the stuff down that i put up from their website and have recorded it here for posterity. I really like the promo film and think this stuff will be nice to look back on in years to come. To quote Alannis, 'you live, you learn' :)
Mike winning the Bally houra Blitz Adventure race and being part of history when he was on the record setting Mizen to Malin team. Mike rode as part of this elite group which set a new team record of just over 18 hours non stop, for this famous route, not bad for just under 600kms!! day ‘n’ nite riding. Mike confessed to having one or two mid summers dreams whilst setting this record in the middle of June last year. A remarkable feat from a Mountain Biker no less
Below is a picture of James winning the Sheeps Head Raid MTB Marathon, which attracted a big field and was designed and run by Donncha.
Rory had wins and podiums at every National points series race he went to and won the national Champs race in his category so will move up to Expert level in 2010 following a great first year racing. Mike had an excellent top ten in the fiercely competitive classic MTB race that is the Cooley thriller as well as becoming National singlespeed champion taking the title from 2008 winner Donncha.
2010 seen Donncha step back from competition as his family size increased (again) but he still managed 3 top 8 finishes in the Manic masters category at national points series races, as well as winning a Munster league race organizing one and making the podium in Dundalk in a very difficult Leinster league race. Donncha also was in the top 10 at the national marathon champs along side Mike Flanagan when he washed on a corner and had to be ambulanced to hospital, receiving 7 stitches on his knee and breaking his ankle! He recovered from this and recently was back competing near the head of affairs in the sea2summit adventure race. He also is guiding MTBers through beautiful, lesser known trails in West Cork (for a modest fee), and actually building MTB trails.
Michael Flanagan had an excellent end of season finishing 3rd in the Elite National Marathon Champs, having stepped up from a very good 5th in the short course Nationals at Expert Level. A 3rd (with a mechanical, he had only one big gear for 75% of the race!) in the Sheepshead Raid Marathon 2010. He also had a top 10 in the cooley thriller this year and a close 2nd in the Connacht champs behind french ex pro Anthony Testa. Mike heads to another team for 2011 and we wish him all the best as he continues to rise to the top of the Irish Mountain Bike scene.
James and Rory were back competing and had a good start to the season in 2010. The first race of the season was in Kilarney on the 7th of March. Here’s a short note from James (who is snowed under with Uni work currently so excuse the short one) on the first race of the season:
“Race was really good, unreal new track. excellent climbs and tecnical decents, rory rode expert and came in 5th. I rode elite and came in second, was 1st for 3 laps but got caught on last climb. Good turn out and well organised.”
James and Rory both raced another couple of Munster races again finishing in the top 3. After this they rode 2 National Points races in late spring and recorded solid top 5 results in these races in Dublin and Killarney in the Expert category including an excellent 3rd for James in that Dublin race. They then headed to the USA for the summer where they also did some raciing. They are currently back in Ireland and training hard in preparation for the upcoming spring 2011 Munster MTB race series due to start in late January and like all the team are really looking forward to 2011.
Promo film we made, link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmZu-N_uRdI
Edge Mountain Bike Team 2011
November 23rd, 2010The sponsored riders on the Edge Sports Shop Mountain Bike team for 2011 has just been announced it will be,
Donncha O Brien
Rory Mcliam Oir
James Pittam
These athletes will be riding a variety of Mountain Bike and some Adventure Race events in 2011, locally, nationally and one or two abroad.
They will give regular updates on the blog on their training, events and happenings in the Mountain Bike world in Ireland.
The team are also always open to any questions or queries anyone may have on all things Mountain biking and Adventure racing.
With the the dawning of a new era of Locally based Mountain bike races, on courses that cater for all abilities, there has never been a time better to try the exciting sport of Mountain Biking in the south of Ireland.
In 2009 the edge sports sponsored 3 superb Mountain Bikers from Cork and 1 from Galway - Donnacha O’Brien, James Pittam, Rory Macliam and Mike Flanagan. They had a great season overall, notching up wins and high finishes all over the country included in this were,Donncha O Brien
Rory Mcliam Oir
James Pittam
These athletes will be riding a variety of Mountain Bike and some Adventure Race events in 2011, locally, nationally and one or two abroad.
They will give regular updates on the blog on their training, events and happenings in the Mountain Bike world in Ireland.
The team are also always open to any questions or queries anyone may have on all things Mountain biking and Adventure racing.
With the the dawning of a new era of Locally based Mountain bike races, on courses that cater for all abilities, there has never been a time better to try the exciting sport of Mountain Biking in the south of Ireland.
Edge MTB team 2010
Mike winning the Bally houra Blitz Adventure race and being part of history when he was on the record setting Mizen to Malin team. Mike rode as part of this elite group which set a new team record of just over 18 hours non stop, for this famous route, not bad for just under 600kms!! day ‘n’ nite riding. Mike confessed to having one or two mid summers dreams whilst setting this record in the middle of June last year. A remarkable feat from a Mountain Biker no less
Below is a picture of James winning the Sheeps Head Raid MTB Marathon, which attracted a big field and was designed and run by Donncha.
Michael Flanagan had an excellent end of season finishing 3rd in the Elite National Marathon Champs, having stepped up from a very good 5th in the short course Nationals at Expert Level. A 3rd (with a mechanical, he had only one big gear for 75% of the race!) in the Sheepshead Raid Marathon 2010. He also had a top 10 in the cooley thriller this year and a close 2nd in the Connacht champs behind french ex pro Anthony Testa. Mike heads to another team for 2011 and we wish him all the best as he continues to rise to the top of the Irish Mountain Bike scene.
“Race was really good, unreal new track. excellent climbs and tecnical decents, rory rode expert and came in 5th. I rode elite and came in second, was 1st for 3 laps but got caught on last climb. Good turn out and well organised.”
James and Rory both raced another couple of Munster races again finishing in the top 3. After this they rode 2 National Points races in late spring and recorded solid top 5 results in these races in Dublin and Killarney in the Expert category including an excellent 3rd for James in that Dublin race. They then headed to the USA for the summer where they also did some raciing. They are currently back in Ireland and training hard in preparation for the upcoming spring 2011 Munster MTB race series due to start in late January and like all the team are really looking forward to 2011.
Promo film we made, link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmZu-N_uRdI
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