Winter was back for a halfen hour

What a savage spin it was! Tough going indeed but sweet XC spin that's for sure. The funny thing is that the Irish summer still can surprise me after 7 years, but I guess I'm not the only one out there! :)

My friend Csaba and me left for our 2 hours and 30 minutes spin this morning nice and early and it did look like we are going to have a cracking day for it. We soon learned it wasn't the case... 

Our destination was Threerock this time with Fairy Castle and some WW along the way. After we got up to top of the hill the weather started to turn into something else and it all happened within about 5 minutes. By the time we reached the Fairy Castle it got pretty savage with wind, low temperature and super damp conditions. We didn't spend too much time there hanging around. At the top it felt like we are out on a winter spin. I got to realize very quickly I did not have all the right clothing for this jazz. Wasted no time, started to strom back towards the warmer and more wind sheltered part of the mountain to warm up again.  But on the way something happened that I never thought it was going to happen in July: my hands and fingers got numb and super cold. It is a familiar feeling in January but not in July...

  

After we got out of this wintery patch I started to feel much better and got the impression back it is a summer day we havin' today. Hands got back to normal and I started to get warmed up again. After this we could pay more attention for riding our bikes instead of the weather. The trails were fun to ride and the form is coming back slowly I'd say. Felt good on the climbs and confident on the downhills. Good spin it was, I loved it indeed!

Today's lesson: true as they say.  

There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing...

Will be racing again very soon // Da Cooley Thriller Marathon

It has been only very short time since I'm back on the bike. But I can't help it: I'm egager to compete as soon as I can! I need the buzz & the adrenalin that I get from XC racing and I don't want to wait too long before I get another shot of this sweet feeling! :)

So, the target is there and I'm getting ready: Da Cooley Thriller XC Marathon (click here for more info on the race) on the 18th of August. It is truly just around the corner so I better to do some preparation if I want to have good time on the bike. 

I will try to split some time inbetween family time and work to get some useful training hours in before I travel to the race. Well, honestly I have no high expectations about this one mainly because the lack of training I've been doing in the last 2-3 months, however I wont be myself if I wouldn't approach the race like the way I always do: it's a race, I'm not there to hang around!!

Testing the XC National's course // Savage 1st spin

So, there I was: all geared up and ready to start my first spin after havin' a bit more than 6 weeks break from cycling. The morning was nice and bright and the excitement was over the roof about getting back on the bike! :)

The plan was the next: get out to Djouce on the road, test out the upcoming Irish National XC Championship race course to see what I am actually missing this year and ride back home on the road. I wasted no time, rolled out of the carpark just about 7:30 am.

The route was the usual:

Milltown - Dundrum - Stepaside - Enniskerry - Djouce - XC course - Djouce - Enniskerry - Stepaside - Dundrum - Milltown

To be honest I had some concerns in relation of my fitness but I felt absolutely great and managed to get out to Djouce with pretty good time considering I was on the XC bike. Once I got to the carpark I hopped on the singletrack and started to enjoy my time on the trails. 

Nice view!

Now, since I got the a little bit too early the race course wasn't fully marked yet so I have to say that I must have skipped few sectors unfortunatelly but I have covered most of it anyway. And there is only one thing I can tell: I'm surely missing a savage XC race that would be amazing to ride tomorrow!!! Great course design by Robin Seymour with lots of real sweet technical bits! Amazing! :)

After I finished my off-road spin it was time to head back home but before I left I met with few friends from ThinkBike.ie CC and Epic MTB as well. It was great to chat to the lads and wish them all the best for tomorrow's race. 

The way back home is always faster on this particular route so I got home nice & quick just before lunch. I was very happy to be on the bike and absolutely satisfied with the way I felt today. I have covered the distance of 50 km just under 2 hours and 30 minutes with the total elevation gain of 800 m along the way. 

I really enjoyed myself and loved the way I was out on the bike. Felt great to push myself and let the adrenalin kick in on the technical & slippery trails! Riding my bike again is just simply fantastic but what's even more great is to know that my son Rhys is waiting for me when I get back home! :) 

Happy time with Rhys after the spin :)

 

Look what I found! // It's time to get back on the bike!

Look what I found in the back of the shop the other day: my XC bike! We did not have any contact whatsoever in the last 6 weeks, so it was time to dig it out from the storage and get it back to life! After a quick wash and some TLC it runs like a dream again and it will be tested tomorrow big time!

All packed, ready for tomorrow!

The bike is in good shape but I'm afraid I don't think I can tell the same about myself though...I feel good but I guess the last month and a half non-cycling time will have it's own effect on my fitness. 

But hey! Worry no more, just get out and ride! :) I gain back everything in no time and will get ready for Da Cooley Thriller in August indeed! From tomorrow I'm back on the bike, bring it on!!!

SRAM XX1 // I LIKE :)

I need to write about this some other time when I actually have time to do so, but until then I just have to say: I can't wait to get my hands on this new SRAM XX1 groupset! Excellent idea, would be super cool to test it out! It'll be on my bike upgrade wish list indeed! :)

It's time to...

          ... get the bike dusted down
          ... dig out all my cycling gear
          ... get the legs shaved again
          ... get out and ride my bike
          ... get myself back into racing!

After the massive 6 weeks of bike-less time things started to settle a little bit with my son Rhys, which is definitely a good thing. It means I can start thinking about riding my bike again very soon and that leads straight into one thing: find an XC event for myself. :)

I've never done the famous & popular event called Da Cooley Thriller, so I've decided to team up with the ThinkBike.ie lads and give this XC Marathon a shot! 

And the best thing is that I have absolutely no expectations. I will take the most of the day and do my best to have good time on the bike. Can't wait to race again and be there with all the guys and the rest of the Irish XC racing field! Will be class but until then I have some cycling to do to get some sort of shape and fittness going for the race!