New team cyclocross bike – Mares CX1

There is nothing better than a good cross bike. I got the new team cross bike yesterday, Focus Mares CX1. Wow, what a bike. The tube shapes are really extreme, they would be extreme if they were on a mountain bike! BB30, 1 ½ lower headtube bearing, deep section carbons, Sram Force….all real nice. Very light and very stiff! I went straight out and put it to test on the Tuesday night cross training spin in Knocklyon.

Cross really is a great sport. 1 hour of flat out sliding and sprinting. I am not riding great at the moment, but I hope to improve a lot in time to defend my nationals title in January…..loads of time!! Cants wait to put it to test on Sunday at round 2 of the SuperCross Cup.

Thank, again, to Aidan and Ross in Eurocycles for the bike.

Yum!

Yum!

Yum!

Yum!

Yum!

Roc D’Azur – Cote D’Azur, France – 7th – 11th Oct 2010

My annual pilgrimage to the Roc, the worlds largest MTB event. 140,000 MTB nuts descend on Frejus to enjoy everything French, Sunny, Sandy and everything with wheels. This was more of a holiday then a racing trip….Ava was at home, so it was a time for Hazel and I to take it easy…….of course that was not going to happen! I did the masters race on Friday. 42kms, flat out! 1500 riders. I finished 21^st, 14^th in category. Pretty short, pretty easy going, a bit of form and a top 5 would be very easy……maybe in a couple of years.

On Saturday we spent the day cheering on the other riders. Coyner and Judy in the Tandem and Michelle in the 20km race….her first race! Both did very well.

Sunday came, and I was on the 3^rd row of the grid for the Roc. I was in incredible company, world champs, Olympic champs, national champs, they were all around me! Very exciting. Then to the start…..helicopter bussing, crouds cheering……10 seconds. I watched the starters finger, I saw the twitch before I heard the sound…..off we go, a good start, top 20 but by the road, on Burry Standers wheel (gulp). The next 5km was flat out, 42*11, on the back of the lead group….savage. Once we hit the first hill though, I backed off, right off…a long race, and I wanted to enjoy it.

The course was amazing, the best yet. Lots of nice climbs and descents, not too rough….great fun. With 20km to go, I was in a group of solid guys….we hit the fireroad kicker after the road, abut 3000 people on the hill, the noise was unreal, goosebumps all over. Amazing, I kicked and caught a few more guys, loving the singletrack into the finish.

110^th, not too bad, I enjoyed it, that was the main thing.Next irish home was Vinzer, followed closely by Sutty, very competitive. Well done to all the Irish, a great crew and some great performance. Ray stuck his head in a tree and pulled half his face off, lucky to keep his right ear, get better soon. Sign language from now on with him!Hazel and I then took off to check out Monaco for the afternoon, a coffee in Casino square, the back to the Badabing bar for mega pints and dancing until later……..Roc on!

All the Irish ready to go before the masters race

I rode the beach this year, both ways (durty)

The front boys booting it near the finish!

Paul and Judy enjoying the tandem!

Kev had a great ride.....

Eurocycles demo demo day – Ballinstoe – 12 September 2010

Today, Aidan and Ross from Eurocycles, gathered a number of Eurocycles clients for the first of (hopefully) many demo days, hence the demo demo day. Garmin were there to provide the latest sat nav units for riders who were interested. 20 riders of all abilities left Ballinastoe to do 1 lap of the circuit. It was great to chat to everyone, we talked about position, setup, gear choice, tyres, riding climbs and decents.

All in all, a great experience. We plan to do a number of these in 2011, opening them up to all riders. We also hope to have a suite of Focus bikes for riders to try out. Exciting stuff!

Cooley Thriller – Carlingford - 28th August 2010

I love the McCabes…….Gerry, Jonny and Deco. 3 brothers, crazy about all things extreme. Only someone special would take on organizing an event like this.

I was really looking forward to this race. 55km of singletracking in the Cooley mountains, deadly. Robin picked me up early on sat morning, and 1:15 later we were in Carlingford. A little later 250 riders rolled out of the village, and up the main fireroad. Robin and I were chatting in about 20^th place, while everyone in front was real serious, attacking, killing themselves….jez lads, relax, 3 hours to go!

After the first descent, Aido, Ray, Robin, Glenn, Richi and I were together, tackling the long climb to the aerials to Ravensdale. Down the tellytubbies descent, it was just Robin, Ray, and I. Great fun, although, I was suffering on the next climb! Ray was buzzing, bootin it on the descents, and attackin on the climb. I dropped off a bit towards the end of the race, sufferin with tiredness and fatness.

I finished up 3^rd, not too far behind. A great event, open top singletrack hills and proper mountains. A credit to the McCabes and their team of helpers.

3 hours later, 4 leffes and 4 hoegdardens, we hit Carlingford for a few drinks a bit of dancing , great crack.

Next day we only managed 2 hours in Bellurgen. Aidan showed us the 12 hours course. 10km of singletrack, deadly. A fun weekend away, looking forward to next year!