End of the season, time to rest

My 2011 season is over, my last challenge was the Wicklow Way attempt last weekend. No more races or big challenges for this year so it is time to have a well deserved break for couple of weeks. I will take it easy and ride the bike as I feel like it. No training plans and no hard training for the next while. I will ride to work and back every day and have a nice off-road spin on the weekend but that's about it. 

I normally need to have a short time to get re-charged and get the motivation back before I start my winter training for the next season. 

So here is it: comfy mode is on!  :)

Wicklow Way - My first attempt has failed...

Where to start the story of the long day? Where to find the reason why I wasn't able to finish the whole Wicklow Way in 1 day as I planned? Wasn't I prepared enough? Wasn't I strong enough mentally? These are good questions indeed...

But lets go from the start! Yesterday I had my first attempt to ride the Wicklow Way and after all the preparation and intense racing season I was pretty sure I can do it, the question was only how long will it take? I had everything ready: the bike, the gear and all the nutrition. 

Outside the Marly Park at 6:45 am

Ready to go at 7 am

I started from the back gate of the Marlay Park 'cause it was still quiet early in the morning and the park wasn't open yet at that time. Got changed and I was ready to go and left the park at 7 am sharp. The weather was absolutelly great: nice and warm day with no rain or wind. After the start I settled into a nice and manageable pace. This was one of my main plan: don't kill myself too early with too high pace, just take it easy and get the kilometers in with steady pace. 

After I crossed Two Rock and descented to Glencullen river the sun came out and the day started to be quiet hot. I loved every minute of the ride so far! The trails were a bit muddy from the previous rain but the whole thing was still ok. After the long climb towards the Powerscourt Waterfall and Djouce I hit the boardwalks and started my descent towards Lough Tay. This was my first checkpoint, I got there after 2 hours and 40 minutes. My good friend Jani was already there waiting for me.

Lough Tay

Just got the the first meeting point

Straching my legs a little bit...

...and searching for food!!! :)

After the short break I was on my way again

Once I left the meeting point I was on my own again. I countinued my journey and I still felt nice and fresh. Climbed fire roads, enjoyed some technical descents, crossed fields and climbed over fences, I passed the first official shelter house and kept going towards Oldbridge and Glendalough. 

In this sector of the Wicklow Way the mud started to get serious and sometimes it has caused some trouble. Especially where I crossed some fields 'cause the the bike picked up all the grass and mud. It was still ok though. At least I was able to ride the bike still...

After some sweet descent I have arrived to the second meeting point in the carpark of the Glendalugh Visitor Centre to have a short break and have some food. I have arrived here after 3 hours and 45 minutes after I left Marlay Park. 

Havin' lunch

Leaving Glendalough

But after I left Glendalough and started to climb up towards Glenmalure and Slieve Maan the first low point has really hit me. I started to feel tired and even I've had food and drink during the ride and at the meeting points, I felt I have no power to push along the way I wanted. The climb was steep enough and it seemed like it never ends...at that point I did not enjoy what I was doing. 

After the savage climb and some super fast fire road downhill I got to the point that marks the half distance along the way. Now, maybe the fact I got to the half point or perhaps the fast descent helped a bit, but I certenly got some boost! 

Seeing The HalfWay point helped me a little

After I passed the halfway point I hit a very long fire road climb again but I started to feel better and I was able to manage the climb pretty well, even was able to restore some energy for later on. Turned out it was well needed 'cause the real challenge was still ahead of me. 

I left the higher mountains behind I got to the part where I had to cross lot of fields and farm lands. The mud just started to be deeper and thicker in every meter and it has reached the point when I was no longer able to ride the bike. I pushed the bike or lifted it up to cross some of the crazy sectors and everytime I got back on the bike and started to feel reliefed there was a new crazy muddy sector just around the bend...

This was only one part of the issue. The second thing that has caused me some trouble was finding the signposts along the way. I think in the second half of the Wicklow Way the signposting isn't as good as it is in the first half. I took wrong turns and got lost about 3 or 4 times in the second half. This was mentally very challenging...

I was literally fighting my way towards our next meeting point which was in Tinahely but by the time I got to Moyne I wasn't in a good shape anymore.

Town centre of Tinahely

I got to Tinahely 7 hours and 38 minutes after I started and I was glad I did: I was very-very tired and wrecked. Had pain in nearly every part of my body, had no energy left at all and the motivation has gone long ago during the fight against the mud and getting lost... With a bad taste in my mouth I decided to give up and get home... It was one of the worst feeling for long time 'cause I really wanted to finish what I started but I felt it just wasn't going to happen.

I am not happy to admit, but this time the Wickow Way broke me...

So, I have planned large this time and it has turned out I wasn't prepared for it. I did everything I could but next time I need a little bit more to get to Clonegal. I am dissapointed 'cause I didn't finish but on the other hand if I look back I can say I had one of the most exciting and fantastic endurance mountain bike spin in my life! I will give it a go again and I recommend to everyone to give it shot too 'cause it is an excellent bike ride.

Some interesting datas of the ride:

Distance: 93,5 km

Riding time: 7:38:53

Total elevation gain: 3300 m

Calories burned: 3560 cal

Nutrition : 3 bottles of High5, 3 banana, 

                3 PowerGels, 1 sandwich,

                1 PowerBar Performance bar,

Elevation graph

Check out the full ride on Strava.

Even if I did not finish but still set some sweet records for myself: longest mountain bike spin, longest time spent on the mountain bike in one day, most elevation gain in one day   

I'd like to say a huge thank you for my friend Jani for all the help on the day, without him I couldn't do it! Thanks man! :)   

The ...

... best race of the season: Lough Derg 4 Stage XC Race

... most technical race course of the season: Bunclody (Leinster League Round 1)

... best race course of the season: Killruddery (National Champs)

... most difficult event of the season: Wickow 200 

... most unique event of the season: Single Speed World Championship

... most intense race of the season: National Hillclimb Championship

... most challenging race of the season: Bull Raid 12 Hours XC Race

... highest point of the season: finishing the W200 for the 3rd time

... lowest point of the season: NPS Rd. 5 in Belfast

... most exciting memory of the season: the off-road TT stage on the Lough Derg

... best is to look back to all of these events and races I've done during the 2011 racing season which is over for me now. I've had a great season and a fantastic time on the bike. I have couple of weeks rest and proper winter training ahead of me and then: bring it on 2012!!!  :)

Wicklow Way - My first attempt is coming up!

Well, finally after all the planning and preparation the Wicklow Way bike ride is just around the corner. The racing season is over for me but I don't want to let the season finish without comlete my biggest personal challenge for this year. 

 I need to follow the little, yellow man all day long

The plan is to ride the whole Wicklow Way  (130 km) in one day. It would be a great achievement indeed, especially 'cause as far as I know only 7 mountain bikers have completed the full distance in one day. It would be good to be the 8th on the list of the very few who completes this epic bike ride.

So I will give it a go on this Saturday and will do my best to get the distance done. I hope the weather will be ok, otherwise it is going to be a hell of a long day on the bike! :)

Crossing the mountains in heavy storm

Yesterday I went  out for a 2 hours and 30 minutes spin and got one of the worst storm for a long time. But let's go from the start: I wanted to have a proper spin and the plan was to visit some of the places that I like and have a lovely, long spin for the day.

The first destination on my list was Leadmines. I got there pretty quickly and started to cycle on the Epic Club Course and some of the local trails there. The trails very super sweet and dry, I loved the whole thing!  It was excellent but at that time the colour of the sky started to look pretty weird all right...and not too long after the sky opened up!

Leadmines: still dry

So the rain has arrived and started to get very heavy in no time. Put the rain jacket and kept going towards my next destination on the list. But by the time I got to Enniskerry the weather turned into something else! Even the lights on the street turned on, there was so dark at 10 am in the morning! At that time I was completely soaked and started to feel cold as well, so I changed the plan and started to head towards the Johnnie Fox's Pub.

The route of the day

By the time I got the pub the storm has reached it's peak and started to calm down a little and it has stopped by the time when I got to the Wickow Way. I started to climb on the trail up towards the top while I was fighting with the river that was coming down the side of the mountain. It was brilliant! :)

From the Wicklow Way I crossed the mountain and got to Threerock. I did ride some of my favourite trails before I headed home, of course I never would miss them! :) 

The storm was quiet strong but was still manageable while I was on the bike. But when I got home the cold started to get me and I started to feel: it is not really summer anymore. We can hope for couple of nice days still but the autumn is on the way indeed!

I have covered 44 km of distance and climbed 1020 m during the 2 hours and 30 minutes long spin. The plan was cut shorter a bit then it was planned 'cause of the weather but I still ended up with a lovely spin.  

It started just like any other day...

I went out for a nice morning off-road spin yesterday. The weather was great, I was feeling good on the bike and I thought it'll be just like any other day out in the mountains... I had to realize it wasn't th case.

Lovely view during puncture repair, isn't it? :)

First I got a rear puncture on the Wicklow Way just before I reached the bottom of Two Rock. Well, it is part of the game so put in a new tube quickly and I was on my way again.

Pumping away in the autumn sunshine :)

I decided to no to any further on the Wicklow Way 'cause I used my spare tube and if I get puncture once again I can't get back to work on time. So I climbed up to the top of Two Rock and started to fly down on the technical rocky trail towards Threerock.

Then I hit the bottom section of the new trails from the top and started a quiet intense downhill towards the lower carpark. Turn after turn and jump after jump...I loved it until... all of a sudden there was a massive group of people right in the middle of the trail in front of me! I guess they were students (about 30 of them) with one teacher on some sort of school trip up in the mountains. So I was going on the dedicated MTB trail and nearly got involved in a proper accident because of them... They got pretty scared so did I but I passed them carefully and kept going.

But the adventures are not over yet, the best part was still ahead of me. I was climbing on the fire road (not walking trail) when I seen a walker coming in front of me with three dogs. I was nicely on one side of the road while he was on the other as he walked towards me. As we got closer to each other he immediately crossed the road and walked directly against me with his dogs. I pulled the bike out of his way and passed him but then:

- Don't you have your own f...cking trail?

- Yes we do. 

- Then next time f...cking stick to it!!!

There was absolutelly no need for this at all I think but I don't even want to get started on this now 'cause I might write something that I will regret in the future. Especially in the light of my previous experience with the student group. But for some reason I did not asked them the same question like your man did, especially not in that tone like he was using. I guess we are not the same. Luckily! :)

Back to SRAM - PG990 casette & PC991 HollowPin chain

The previous chain and casette has a quiet serious mileage so it was just simply time to get some nice, new gear for the XC bike. I have been using Shimano XT 11-32 casette with Shimano chain but this time I decided to get back to my old favourite: the competitor Sram. I just got my hands on the new casette which is Sram PG-990 (11-34) and the new chain that is the Sram PC-991 HollowPin model.

One of the main reason why I got Sram instead of Shimano is the design of the casette. The Sram works with a 5 star aliminium body while the Shimao has the 4 star design. I have used Sram casettes for about 5 years since I am racing and I always though the performance is better while the rear mech shifts the gears on the back. It seems more crispy and faster I think. This could be the actual stiffness of the casette, there is less flex indeed.

Sram PG-990 11-34 casette on the scale (lock-ring included)

The other reason was the pretty competitive weight of course. The 11-34 9spd casette is 303g with the lock-ring which is certently a good weight in this price category. I run the bike with double chainset on the front so I decided to give it a go with the 11-34T on the back to be able to achieve different gear ratio. 

Of course the shifting performance is always the best when the casette is being used with the recommended chain. My choice of chain is the PC-991 HollowPin chain which is going to be absolutely perfect. The hollow pins are stronger and more durable then the normal pins. I've used this chain before and I can tell: it is strong and will last long for sure!

The full lenght PC-991 HollowPin chain on the scale. The weight if gonna be even better once I'll remove the un-necessary links

So, the new stuff is here! All I need to do now just to put them on the bike and finally the setup wil be back to normal after I have used the bike with my single speed conversion for more than 5 weeks. Can't wait! :)

After season chill out spins

The 2011 XC racing season is over for me, there are no more races that I will enter this year. So from now on I will take it easy for a while. In the spirit of that last week I've had couple of excellent fun type spins up on Threerock. They were all about having fun on the bike and not worry about anything else! The weather wasn't too good lately so the massive amount of mud on my favourite trails just made things even more enjoyable! :)

One of the many splash along the way! :)

Up in the air

I enjoy the time on the bike, I really do! Try to get the last bit of the summer as long it lasts and make my final preparation for the Wicklow Way bike ride. Since the season is over there is more time and less presure on me indeed.

Last spin on the single speed XC bike

After the SSWC I took one week off, just to take it easy for a little while. After all this was my last race of the season so I let myself to be a bit more comfy! :) But of course I miss cycling so much I can't stay off the bike for too long.

This afternoon I went up to Threerock for the last time to ride the single speed bike. I just wanted to have one more proper spin like this before I put all the gears and the rest back on the bike. It has been lovely to ride a bike like this for the last month but I also need to admit it: I wont leave it like this for good. I enjoy mountain biking much more with the 2 x 9 gear system and to have the choice of the optimal gear at any time. 

Normally I don't go up there on Saturday afternoon, so I was a little bit impressed how busy the place was. But I guess this is the way on most of the weekends anyway. It was great to see cyclists everywhere on the mountain! :)

Today I said good bye to the single speed conversion

The weather was warm and didn't get rain at all but the trails were super muddy at some places so I did have a lot of fun riding the bike. The deep mud and hundreds of puddles were absolutely brilliant to have today, I was really in the mood to get the most out of it. It was the perfect Saturday off-road spin for me! :)

My new pair of legwarmers :)

I also feel pretty good on the bike, it seems like the week recovery did work well after all. I could manage to put in a good enough time on the main tarmac climb from the M50 bridge to the top of the hill (check it on Strava). This is defenitely a good sign for me 'cause my Wicklow Way attempt is just around the corner. I probably wil give it a go in the next 2-3 weeks and get it done as the last challenge of my 2011 season.