Leinster League Round 1 (2) Glendalough

I was a bit apprehensive about this one. I had visions of being left behind on the first lap, had I done enough hard training, miles, did I turn on Strava enough?

The course down there is truly spectacular. Maybe the best race course I've ever ridden? It was made up of pretty much all technical singletrack with a savage switchback climb, loads of well made boardwalk.

After a pre ride, I went about trying to sell my Squeezy stock. I learnt a lot about what people expect and are looking for. I'm definitely going to change my tactics for next time. What got me thinking was, I don't go into Spar and say, "I might buy that new Cadburys bar, but I'll need a sample one before considering it" But I guess that's the nature of a new brand.

Anyway, I got a great start and was sitting comfortably in the top 3 up the first climb. I was feeling really good on the singletrack and was actually really enjoying it! I had decided on the pre ride that I was going to take a sketchy ladder drop that would save me a few seconds. On my second time down it, I think my front tyre burped a bit of air. Not the end of the world I thought, it's just a bit soft but rides okayish. As the lap progressed, I lost a place due to nursing the bike down the descent. I pulled over to find the tyre totally deflated and my co2/foam shit did absolutely nothing. That put an end to my first big race of the season, damn.

I've been fairly lucky/ well prepared for mechanicals over the years so I can't complain too much. I really should have had a proper Co2 which would have saved my race. Lesson learned! I did a savage spin out to the mountains from home today- I'm feeling good and dying to rip the face off Bunclody!

Blitz 2, Ballyhoura- Squeezy Introduced

I was keen to get down to this one as I’ve never ridden the trails and had heard they are really good. I made it down in a little over two hours and after a nice sleep, headed out for a warm up with series contender, MarkG. He told me the course was very up and down so I was going to find it difficult to know where to go hard as I would be riding blind. As we stood on the start line, hale started hammering down! It looked a lot worse than it was though as once we got going it was grand.

I took it easy off the line and got into the singletrack in around 15th. Over the 35km I made up a few positions and lost two. The trails are really brilliant down there with the entire loop almost entirely singletrack! One of the sections in particular is like a roller coaster with small table tops and humps that launch you a fair height. My only gripe about the place is the boardwalks. They're long, slow and just dangerous. The slick wood is incredibly slippy when wet so riding them is just a matter of getting across unscathed rather then any fun. A bit of chicken wire wouldn't go amiss!

After an hour 45mins, I finished in 10th place. The race was pretty uneventful. I felt good and pushed pretty hard but I wasn’t that tired afterwards. I guess the lack of racers around me and the fact I didn’t know when the end was coming probably sucked some of the eagerness out of me. I’m feeling alright on the bike and these Blitzs have been a brilliant way to get the race fitness up before the Leinster League/ NPS starts.



I’ve recently become Leinster sales rep for a company called Squeezy.ie. Their full catalogue is online but I’m particular impressed with their gels (caffeine and non caffeine), recovery bars (dead ringer for Nestle Milkyway) and energy drink concentrate. For me, energy food must have three attributes:

1. Good value- I’m not going to shell out €2+ for a little sachet of sugar
2. The numbers add up- Squeezy’s nutritional values stand up (and in many cases exceed) other players out there
3. It’s gotta taste good and more importantly be easy on the stomach! I have some diagnosed stomach problems and whereas the gels I was using had me cramping after races last year, these go down easy.


I’ve got a good lot of samples that I can give out, just mail me at stescrivo@gmail.com