Supercross Cup # 4 – 20th Nov 2010 – Tymon Park

Ok, I wasn’t supposed to be doing this race. I started work at 7:45am. At 11am, I though ‘mmm, I can get out for a couple of hours here’….upstairs, into the gear, chucked the bike in the car, out to Tymon…..on the bike at 11:40, deadly. Same course as # 2, but with a couple of tweeks…..much wetter though.

Off we went, straight away, Robin, Evan, Conor and I got away. On lap 2 I led through the off camber and had a huge slide and the back end went away, funny, not too much time lost (see vide blow). Conor got a gap on lap 4, and Robin jumped over. I let it go a bit as I wanted to isolate Evan. I then jumped Evan and rode up to Conor and Bob….no, hold on, I never feckin got back on…..brutal. Evans bike snapped on the next lap, so that was him out. Conor was riding REAL well, but bob got away to take the win, Conor next, then me, then Peter Mc, savage ride. 3rd was good enough to take 2nd overall in the series. Thanks to Bob and Dave!

Straight into the car and home for more work…..tapping away on the laptop covered in mud….busy busy day.

Stevens Supercross Cup from David Gill on Vimeo.

Supercross Cup # 3 – 13th Nov 2010 – Corkagh Park

Corkagh park +dry conditions = super fast racing. I was there at 9am, giving a dig out with the course marking. I was in charge of the 1st loop, and I included a couple of nice features on the humps to add to the slideryness. The course was great, corner, corner, corner….Another capacity entry, on the 2nd row again, and off we go. Again, Robin, Conor, Evan and I got away early. We stayed together until the 3rd when Robin got a flat, losing about 1 min. for the next few laps, Evan, conor and I battled it out….I tried to get away a couple of times, but no joy. Conor toe tapped the tall boards and cramped. Being the good mate that I am, I attacked, dropping Conor and bringing along Evan. With 3 to go, Bob was not too far behind, so I gave it a dig, got 10secs, but Bob and Evan got together and pulled it back. With 2 laps to go, Bob went, no response. Evan was v strong, and got a gap on the last lap. I was sure I was going to get it back, but shunted on a slippy corner, dropping the chain…aghhhhhhhh. Conor and Ryan were not too far behind, so I put the head down and came home in 3rd.

Class race, class course, great racing and savage riders….I love it!

Evan, Robin, Conor and I do battle

Taking it wide

Not sure if this was intended drifting!

Monster boards!

Ryan never got on the group to contend

On Conors wheel

Cyclocross training!

Finally, the rains came. Total deluge. the aftermate of out Tuesday night session.......'because I'm worth it!'

Jet wash the bike, 5 mins, Jet wash me, 5 mins, jetwash the clothes, 15mins.......

Supercross Cup round # 1 - Tymon Park – Dublin – Oct 16th 2010

Cyclocross! Oh god, the pain. Just back from 2 tough races at the Roc, straight into cross racing. I had just got my new Focus Mares carbon crosser racing thing and I was eager to give it a race.

Tymon park was the venue, a classic. I was gridded on the 2nd row, only because I am national champ….also on the 2nd row was UK visitor Adrian ‘winner’ Lansley. At midday, the capacity 75 riders sprinted off from the start. The course was v good, bone dry, just a bit slippy from overnight dew, perfect cross weather. I got a good start, took the lead after the 1st few corners, and started lap 2 in the lead with Bob, Ade, Evan, Aidan and Conor en-tow…savage. Then Ade launched a savage attack, stringing it out a bit. Evan punctured on lap 2, pity. I hung on to Bob and Ade for 5 laps, then more attacks and I hung off the back. I almost got back on on lap 7, but the boys started attacking again, game over!

Ade won by a couple of seconds to Bob, I was 3rd, a good bit behind. Aidan was 4th, Conor 5th and Peter 6th….go on the ol’ lads! A great race, super slick event, nice sambos, and a good family day out.

Aidan stickin it in the ribs!

Lap 1, pretty much all together

Ade, Bob and I hangin it out

Head down

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!