Well needed TLC - Big Spring Repair '12

After all the savage and many times unforgiven winter months, there was no place for more excuses: today was the day when the well needed spring repair was due on my XC bike. Of course I tried to keep the bike in a good shape over the winter but a proper full service cannot be replaced indeed. So, I hopped into the ThinkBike workshop and started to get the job done:

                          - wash the bike                                                   

                          - true both wheels (thanks for the help Tomek!!!) 

                          - clean gear cables / cable casings

                          - clean front / rear mech

                          - degrease & clean the casette              
                          - degrease & clean the chain

                          - clean the discs & brake calipers

                          - regrease the bottom bracket

                          - regrease the head set

While the wheels are being trued, the rest of the bike needs to be put aside.

Cranks are off & cleaned already, now it's time to get the bottom bracket sorted.

Next task: the fork is off the bike 'cause the headset needed a serious cleaning.

After this full service (took about 2 hours) the bike runs like it's brand new again and it's sure ready for this Biking Blitz Sunday. Now, the only thing I need to wish for is a nice day for the race! :)

Kilmashogue Lane - Special goal for 2012

New year always means new things to achieve on the bike. I just simply like to set goals for myself and work hard to get them done. It always kept me motivated to know there is something to work for and when I can achieve these targets there is my reward: a fantastic feeling and perhaps a nice memory! :) 

I'm a cyclist who loves going uphill, the steeper the better! Based on this I've picked something very special indeed (perhaps many cyclist would use the word crazy instead of special...)  and since the weather is getting better it's time to get the ball rolling. So here it is: I want to climb the Kilmashogue Lane repeatedly as many times as I possibly can. I have done lots of interval sessions on that climb in the last years and the question was always there in the back of my mind: 

"How many times I can get the climb done before I get to the point when I don't go back up again?..."

After I was participating in the National Hillclimb Championship last year I just simply decided to come back in the spring and get this project done. This is not an official record attemp or anything like that, I'm doing this only 'cause I want to experience my own limits on the bike and that's all. 

The route is a 2,3 km long tarmac climb with 217 m elevation gain and some seriously steep sectors in the upper half.

...to get more detailed info in the Kilmashogue climb just click here.

...and here is the detailed data on Strava.

So, I'm very excited about this whole idea and I hope everything will go as I have planned in my head. I'm hoping for good weather and for strong & fresh legs on the day which would be on Saturday, the 7th of April. I hope I can report nothing but good news about my attempt! :)

Biking Blitz Round 4 // Threerock - upcoming event

I just signed up for the first and most likely the last XC race of this year that I'm planning to do. The Round 4 of the Biking Blitz Series is run by Biking.ie and the venue is nothing else but my all time favourite Threerock. This year is the second year in the history of the series. Niall Davis and the Biking.ie crew always puts a fantastic and well run event together, I'm sure it will not be different this time either. I have done the Wicklow Blitz last year and it was excellent I have to say.  I'm super excited about this race indeed since this is my only opportunity to line up at the start line and have a good race in the season.

The course is a pretty much 8 shaped course that has 2 main sectors called Metro 1 & Metro 2 (both part of the trail centre). As I entered the Super Pro category I have 4 laps to do with the total distance of 28 km.

...for more info visit: http://www.biking.ie/dublin-blitz

So, it's time to get the race gear prepared, clean & service the bike and have the race legs ready for this Sunday 'cause it'll be a cool race day for sure! Can't wait!!! :)

Ballinastoe // WW Spin - Spring is officially here!

Ah, spring...I was waiting for this for soooo long: get out on the bike wearing shorts and short sleeve jersey and not freeze into bits in the middle of nowhere. Now, the weather was getting better in the last few weeks all right, but for me who is coming from "The Continent" it still was a bit too nippy to wear the summer setup. :)

But let's go from the start: I got a long weekend this time, I'm off for 3 days in a row so it was pretty obvious to me I was gonna get out on the bike at some point. Since the weather was looking good for the whole weekend and also for next week as well I picked Saturday as my day to ride my XC bike.

Got up early and after a quick brekkie and a short preparation I was ready to go:

Drink & Food: check

Earphones: check

Summer clothing: check

My plan was to cycle out to Ballinastoe on the road and get home on the Wicklow Way. This plan worked out pretty much as it was planned with a little more tarmac on the way home instead of full off-road.

The map of today's spin

I left Milltown just a bit before 9 am and started to head out towards Ballinastoe through Stepaside and Enniskerry. After about 1 hour and 15 minutes I got to the trail centre of Ballinatsoe where the carpark was pretty much filled already. So I kept going quick before I run into the usual Saturday morning gridlock on the trails...

Nobody is around but not for long: tha place was packed within minutes

After a super quick ride on the trails of Ballinastoe I got to Lough Tay where I got on the board walks and started my climb up towards Djouce Mountain but of course I couldn't pass on the opportunity: I stopped for a minute 'cause I just didn't want to miss this view. Amazing!

Needless to say anything, it says it all!

I got the boardwalk sector done but while I was riding along on them I had my eyes on the peak of Djouce. It was nice and clear, no wind, no clouds. Just a perfect chance to get up to the top of it! :) 

The top of Djouce Mountain: 730 m above sea level, I think it's the highest off-road climb around.

After a quick look around I hit the fast and rocky descent and started to head back home. I passed by the Powerscourt Waterfall still riding on the Wicklow Way but once I got to the carpark I picked to ride home on the tarmac road instead of my original plan.

So I got home through Enniskerry and finished my spin with 3 hours and 30 minutes time and 65 km of distance with nearly 1300 m of elevation gain in the Garmin. The tarmac sectors on the way out and back were easy and fast but the offroad bits were pretty savage I have to say. It was pretty cool and completely different experience to ride the Wicklow Way from a different direction and to get up to the top of Djouce on that super steep (25-30% gradient) off-road climb was just a great achievement for me! I loved it and I can't wait to get it done again! :)

...check it out on Strava! 

This is the elevatin graph of today's adventure

Besides all this the other thing that was cool is the nice & warm day. Finally there is sunshine out there and I can say that the Operation Cyclist Tan has started today: the typical tanlines are one their way, nothing can stop them now! :)

A nice photo says it all

Dusty dry trails, warm morning. Would be cool to have view like this all day long though!

My St. Patrick's weekend spins

Another year, another Paddy's Day! I don't really like the St. Patrick's Day Parade mainly becuase of the huge crowd. I much more prefer to watch the whole thing later on in the TV.

So, instead of going into town to see the parade, I get out on the bike in every year and have a lovely spin out in the nature far away from all the madness that is in the city. It did work well in the recent years so why to change? I kept my own little tradition and celebrated St. Patrick's Day on the bike! :)

Friday // Very civilized XC spin up on Threerock

Finally I managed to get rid of the flu I picked up more than a week ago, so it was time to get back on the bike and get some lovely off-road session done on the dry trails of Threerock. I went up there before work on Friday to see how is the form.

Happy to be back on the bike after illness :)

Most of the trails were nice and dusty and the weather was pretty nice as well. The whole spin was very easy and calm, nothing extraordinary along the way. I was out for a little more than 2 hours and it was absolutelly fantastic to ride the bike since in the last one week the most I have done was the cycle to work and back. Happy days! :)

Saturday // Savage road spin over the Sally Gap & Shay Elliott climb

After Friday's XC spin I wanted to have some variety, so I picked up the road bike. I've checked the weather forecast straight after I got up and it did not look good for the day: sunny and warm weather for all week but lashing rain for Saturday. "This is gonna be fantastic..." I though and turned out that the forecast was pretty much right about the conditions for the day.  


Today I went out with a fellow Hungarian good friend Daniel from Cycle SuperStore to have a savage road spin. We haven't cycle together since the Wicklow 200 last year, so I was happy to go for a spin with him mainly 'cause we always have a good laugh and he always sets savage pace! The only thing to know about him is that he is "never in good form" (as he says) but he always goes like a freakin' train! :)

Quick shot near the Lough Tay

We hit the road nice & early and started to climb towards Sally Gap just as we always do. The weather was pretty ok so everything went very well. Got up to the top quickly and after a super fast descent we got to Laragh where we decided to get into the well known coffee shop. Now, I'm not that "let's stop for a coffee and a slice of cake" kind of guy but in the end of the day it was Paddy's Day today so it was a good reason to have a little treat indeed! :)

Hot chocolate & cake with whipped cream, yummy! :)

Happy as a little scout with my Paddy's Day treat! Thanks for the invitation Dani! :)

After our short break we were ready to get back on the bike. Just after we left Laragh and started the Shay Elliott climb the sky opened up and we got some proper heavy rain. I was under a little bit of a time pressure to get back home so once we reached the top we turned around and started to head back towards Dublin. We were doing pretty good speed already but 'cause the rain didn't stop and I needed to get home, we started to pull along harder to make up some time. It was brilliant until my fingers got completely numb just as they normally do in wet and cold weather. I started to suffer a bit by the time we got to Enniskerry but from there isn't too long to get back to Dublin. I was tired and very cold but a proper hot shower got me sorted in no time! :)

We have done 113 km of a distance under 4 hours and 38 minutes with 1650m elevation gain along the way. This was my longest road spin this year and with a strong training partner it was pretty hard going I think. 

The route was the following:

Dublin - Enniskerry - Military Road - Sally Gap - Roundwood - Laragh - Shay Elliott climb - Roundwood -Enniskerry - Dublin

I did like both of the climbs indeed, however the Shay Elliott was pretty grim thanks to the lashing rain. But we still loved it though! :)

Elevation graph

With these two lovely spins I defo had a great St. Patrick's weekend. I've done nearly 7 hours on the bike over the last two days. One day is still ahead of me to get some rest and do some stuff at home. But for now it's time to get some sleep! See you around! :)

"Perfectly timed" illness...

I don't even know what to say...things just don't look good at all at this point. It seems like I've been picking up some sort of cold or flu just a couple of days ago and it doesn't want to go away unfortunatelly. 

I can't believe it! I have only 2 races planned that I can actually race in the upcoming months but it doesn't look like it'll happen 'cause of this "well timed" illness. It's very frustrating indeed because I feel good in general and I spent good enough time on the bike to get ready for some S2 category XC races. 

But with this sore throat and the stuffy nose I'm happy just to get in and out to work but that's about it...I don't even think about going out for a decent spin cause I don't feel well. How long will this last I don't know but I can only hope I'll get better before next weekend but the chances are getting slim for me to be able to race next Sunday...

So, I feel like Murphy's Law must be true as always: when did I get sick? At the worst time of the year indeed...grrrr...I'm quiet pissed off about the whole thing! :S

Eggbeater 1 pedals // Works great, so I stick to it!

The main reason why I haven't been on the XC bike for a little while was the fact I needed to change the pedals on it.  Of course for me there's no other choice than the Eggbeaters from CrankBrothers. I've used different models from their range over the last 7-8 years and they are really good pedals, so I stick to them ' cause I know what to expect. :)

The old ones got some very serious abuse over the last 2 years and they just got to the point where they had enough...Pedal body got loose on the axle, stiff bearings, cracked bushings, seized up dust caps, etc... It's a quiet long list and there was no point ot get the re-build kit anymore, just decided to get a new set of pedals.

This time I got the Eggbeater 1 model which is the entry level from their range. It comes with a stamped steel body with stamped wings and cartridge outer bearings. 

Cool new design: silver body with black spring

The main feature is the unique design: there is a 4-way dock-in system that allows the cleats to connect faster and the minimalist body design let the mud "fall" through the cage very-very easly. I honestly say there is very little chance to clog these pedals up!

They can be fitted only with allen key, there's no regular pedal spanner connection on the axle to save some weight and also to create a nice & clean design. Another smart thing is the release angle of the cleats: this can be 15° or 20° as well, it depends on personal preferences. The whole idea behind this design is the left and right hand side cleats are slightly different so if you fit them on the other way around it will have an effect on the release angle. Cool! :)

Here is the weight of the two pedals...

...and with the bolts & cleats as well as a complete system.

Now, since they are the entry level models of course the weight isn't the best but considering the price of them and the huge benefit that I find extremely useful over other pedals I think this is something I can easly sacrifice indeed. I think these bad boys are fantastic and they have a huge benefit in muddy conditions. And that in fact can be found in Ireland quiet often! :) 

There's nothing else left but put them on and hit the trails as soon as possible to get some sweet off-road spin done! Bring it on!!! :D

Fundraising on turbo trainers in front of ThinkBike

New day means possiblity for a new adventure! This time there is something that I never done before: doing fundraising on turbo trainer! 

But there is a whole story behind this, so let's go from the start: 3 of my team mates will taking part of the Malin Head to Mizen Head Charity Cycle (in aid of Irish Cancer Society) next week. The distance is 620 km over 4 days. 

Now, as a fundraiser John Clarke from ThinkBike is doing the whole route on turbo trainer in front of the shop in Rathmines. Today I hopped on the turbo as well to take my share for a couple of hours.

John & myself in front of the shop: great day for it indeed!

We got the turbo trainers and the bikes set up, drink in the bottle and start! We were lucky 'cause today was nice and sunny day and everything was absolutely fantastic. The atmosphere was brilliant: we got huge support and even more cheering from the people walking by. It seems like they found it interesting to find out what's happening and they did like the whole idea behind what we were doing out there. I spent 3 hours on the turbo this afternoon and I did like every minute of it I have to say. The good craic, good music through my earphones, all the nice words from the people on the busy Lower Rathmines road just made my time superb on the normally pretty boring turbo trainer. 

Fresh & happy after the 3 hours "ride"

I was out there only for 3 hours today but it was great to see how many people decided to donate! To be honest I was a little bit surprised in a very good way. I'm very happy I could be part of this today and a little bit sad I can't give it a go next week on the real cycle with the lads. It has been a great experience indeed and I hope I can get involved in stuff like this in the future! :)

...to visit the fundraiser page just click here.

Hard interval session // Kilmashogue x 4

Just a quick blog post on Thursday evening's interval session up on the Kilmashogue Lane. The main thing that makes me happy is the fact the days are getting longer and longer day by day. Brilliant to be able to switch the night lights on later and later every week! :)

Heading out to my favourite tarmac climb

So, yesterday I did my interval training between the regular start and finish point. After my usual half an hour warmup for these interval sessions I got the climb done 4 times in a row and instead of being jumpy I kept focus on maintaining steady pace during the four climbs. 

Kilmashogue x 4 (sorry for the little manual error, my mistake...)

The training went well, I felt good on the bike. I've had good time on this amazing climb on a great day! I hope all this hard work will pay off soon! :)

I started to try out the USN products: good impression on them but I'll tell you more when I test them all out properly.