NPS 5- Park Racing At Its Best

I had not been looking forward to this one having raced the course a couple of years ago. It is a very fast, close racing course with not much climbing and nothing in the way of scary descents. This makes for very close, relentless racing and yesterday was no exception. The weather man was predicting lots of rain all week which had me scrambling for spikes on Friday night but we were greeted with perfect sunshine and a tacky track on Sunday morning.

I woke up feeling terrible but after a kip in the back of Fergal’s car (the Venga Bus), I felt a lot better. For the first time this season I was gridded so being held up for the first couple of laps could not be an excuse this time..! I got a brilliant start off the front and got into the singletrack 2nd and motored the first lap and a half in a train of Simon Curry, Johnny Mc Cabe and Brendan Doherty. Unfortunately I couldn’t quite hold the pace and had to drop back a little on the third and final lap.



I could see the green plates of the colm-oscar-fergal-gene train catching me as I went through the feed zone for the last time and had really resigned myself to being caught on that final lap. I pushed as hard as I could in the singletrack with a real ‘all or nothing’ sentiment going through my head. I didn’t want to leave anything left in the tank. On the final grassy climb into the finish, Colm from Epic caught me but I managed a little sprint to get a couple of bike lengths between us and the finish line. Third place was only 30 seconds ahead but there’s no use in dwelling on that could’ve been stuff.

So… another fourth place! I am very happy with that result considering the competition and course. I’m going to stick with my tactics of Tuesday, Thursday club race this week and Thursday race next week with a solo spin on the Friday. This seems to put me in a good physical place for racing on Sundays. The next one is in Limerick and is supposed to be a savage technical track. There is a lot to be said for wheel to wheel racing in a park but nothing can beat a skin of your teeth tech descent in a race!

Huge thanks to the MAD’s resident podiumers Claire and Conor for doing a deadly job in the feed zone

Reviews and such
The bike is still superb. I didn’t really get a lot of benefit from the full suss on that course but the terralogic fork worked so well and everything from the XX groupset to the carbon wheels just wants to tear the trails up. The terralogic really lets you to accelerate out of every corner which is especially useful as I found myself overshooting a lot of them as I started to fade! The Formula R1 brakes have really grown on me too. Their stopping power is unbelievable. Their modulation is fairly questionable but I find it doesn’t really matter in all-out XC as you’re locking up at the last second while pushing it most of the time anyway. I had a deep tissue massage with reflexology treatment from a guy called Michael McElroy on the Clonsilla road today. Jeeesus, I’ve never felt pain like that in my life! He targeted muscle knots in my feet that released the tension in my legs and back. It was utter torture at the time but I feel like I’m walking on air now so well worth it. I’d highly recommend him but bring lump of wood to bite down on!

NPS 4- 'The worst good result"

Before I get to talking about the NPS, last Sunday I entered the student championships that were being held in conjunction with the Dublin Blitz by Biking.ie on 3 Rock. We decided early on to only have one lap to encourage beginner students out. After digging real deep to put a UCD go behind me on the climb, I rode down to become student champ. I got this deadly glass trophy and a cool Columbia bag too..!





The preparation for NPS4 was not good. I’ve had a lengthly exam/study period this year with college ending in early April and exams not finished for another couple of weeks yet! It wasn’t just not getting out on the bike, it’s the whole lifestyle that comes with studying, convenience (shit) food, lots of coffee and generally getting fat in an effort to cram.

I rocked up to Tollymore, Co. Down with C-mac and Graham on Sunday morning and went straight into a pre lap. It was a pretty cool course, pretty much all singletrack with a few shortish climbs throughout the course. The wet weather all week had laid down a lot of mud which made the course pretty slow, control was going to be the key to doing any ways well. I didn’t get a gridding so got into the forest in around 15/20th. For the first lap we just cruised around and I took places where I could. I was feeling fresh for the climbs as I was riding the descents well.

On the second lap I started passing guys that have been beating me all season and started to realize that maybe I was feeling really good! For the third and last lap I was sitting in fourth and gaining quickly on Micky in third. On the final climb of the final lap I made my move and sprinted to pass him. I put a lot of effort into getting by him in the hope he would give up a bit and drop off. Unfortunately, he didn’t and managed to get me before the finish, which lead to a good sprint finish. He won this time.



Looking at the lap times, I’m delighted with them. My last lap was my quickest and the second quickest last lap of the day. I felt I could have done another lap even which means I’m definitely in better shape than I thought. I was beginning to think my legs had forgotten all of those hours in the ice and snow last January!

Huge thanks has to go to Aine, as always. I’d be lost without her at the races. From ALWAYS having bottles ready at the feed zone to giving me some water as I ‘purged’ myself of Redbull all over the finish line, she’s the club’s greatest asset. Oh, and the bike was UNREAL…… I’m never going to ride a hardtail XC race bike again if I can help it.

The next race is in Lady Dixon Park, one of my least favorite courses of the circuit but I intend on being fit for it and giving the lads who’ve been training on the road a bit of a race if I can.

Big shout out to Jimmy Dizzle.

New Bike...!!

After the disappointment of the Pro Race 900 hardtail order being canceled, I wasn't sure if my life long dreams of getting a new bike would ever come through. And then... this baby arrived!




In hindsight, it was a huge blessing in disguise as this bike is a complete and utter rocket. It seems it was exactly what I needed with my first ride on 'er resulting in zero back pain (I've been having vicious back pain for the last good while). This combined with it's lightning acceleration and flattening out of even 3 rocks most savage rock gardens- I fell for her...

The wheels are a work of art with Easton Haven Carbon rims on their hubs. Bling tastic, 1450 grammes, freeride rated AND a 2 year insurance policy. Easton say that I can drive over the wheels in my car and they'll give me a new set. Complete no questions asked insurance for 2 years!



I was a little apprehensive about the teralogic fork as I've never really bought into the whole 'lock out' thing, putting it down to more of a gimick than anything. It really does work I have to say. It takes a little getting used to as cornering and lifting the wheel on flat trails feels weird as the fork is still locked out but the acceleration once you put the power down is truly instantaneous.

The X Control Team frame is a slightly modified X Control with high modular (pffft! like I'd ride that low modular shit) carbon fiber and 100mm of rear travel controlled by an rp23 shock. I haven't done much playing with is as it felt perfect straight away. There's absolutely ZERO bob and it's very active over fast bumps. I was worried it would feel like other full sus's I've ridden in that, yeah- they don't bob, but they suck up a bit of your power when you get out of the saddle. This isn't the case here. It only reacts when it takes a hit and is pretty close to a HT when pushing hard up hill.

So after 2 rides, what can I say that all of these BIG technological developments have done for me. It's the little victories- on Tuesday I got up Tunes etc without any dabs for the first time. On Thursday I took 30 seconds out of my personal best lap time around the Leadmines course to bring me under the 12min mark.

Unfortunately I missed yesterdays race due to exams and will be stuck doing them for the next few weeks. Once I get this week out of the way, hopefully I can get some decent training in and let her loose up north for NPS4. Again, a sincere thanks to CycleSuperstore! for helping me out. This definitely wouldn't have been possible without them and I'm extremely grateful.

Full Spec:
* FRAME: X-CONTROL Race TEAM Full Carbon FPS2 100mm
* FORK: FOX 32 Terralogic Fit 100mm Tapered
* WHEELS: Haven Carbon
* TRANSMISSION: SRAM XX 2x10S
* WEIGHT: 10.1 kg

* Shock: FOX Float RP23 High volume Boost valve
* Rear Mech: SRAM XX Carbon Medium Cage 10S
* Front mech: SRAM XX High Clamp Bottom pull 34.9
* Chainset: SRAM XX Carbon 28x42 175mm
* Wheels: EASTON Haven Carbon
* Tyres: HUTCHINSON Python RLight UST 26x2.00
* Brakes: FORMULA R1 with 160mm rotors Black/Blue XO clamp Ti Bolts
* Shifters: SRAM XX 2x10S
* Saddle: SELLE ITALIA SLR XC Kit Carbonio White
* Seatpost: EASTON EC90 31.6x350
* Bars: EASTON EC90 SL Low riser 635mm
* Stem: EASTON EA90 0° 31.8x90mm