Da Cooley Thriller 2012 - race report

If anyone ask about Da Cooley Thriller XC marathon right now, I have so many words in my head I don't even know what to say: mud, endless climbing, fun descents, more mud, roasting hot day, more mud, great crowd, more mud again...

But let's just go from the start! I was super excited to be back on the bike and compete again, so I knew I will have fun out on the trails no matter what! I didn't want to stay over night so I decided to drive up to Carlingford in the morning. Got up at 5 am and started my usual prep for the race. After everything was in order, had my brekkie and a lovely coffee I was ready to hit the road. 

Lovely country side

After a short enough drive I've arrived to the village where the registration was just about to open. Since I signed up online (Experts category) few weeks ago I had nothing else to do but pick up my number and I was all set. 

Number 19 & a sweet looking Buff made for the race! Nice!

By the time I got changed and got my gear ready the everybody got there, the crowd was actually pretty big. About 300 riders were ready to hit the trails of the Cooley mountains. I met with my ThinkBike.ie team mates (Ian, Kevin, John, Marcin, Ru, Dave, Lawdie) and had a short chat about plans and tactics for the day.

Chatting away in the morning :) - (photo by Pixels Pro)

Rolling up to the start - (photo by Pixels Pro)

10 am sharp - START!!! 

The whole peloton took off and started the race that we were all waiting for. We had a controlled lead out start behind a car that guided us around Carlingford village the first few kilometers. The people were cheering us on which was definitelly a nice way to start. :)

Once we got out of the village we have stopped for a minute or two and after that the real race has started. Luckily the first sector was a wide enough fire road where everyone could settle into their own pace. Now, I had no high expectations for the day but I knew I could sneak up ahead a little bit on this climb, so I did try to make up few places along the way. We were climbing up on this fire road on this roasting hot day with stone splitting sunshine and I was thinking..."Oh, this is nice! This is actually very nice indeed!" 

But shortly after there was a slap in the face: the first descent was surprisingly muddy and super slippery that definitely caused me some trouble. After I got adjusted to the terrain I kept going on this mix of tarmac and singletrack course. 

Nothing extraordinary happened until I got to the mast and started the downhill from there. At this point the mud was just something else. Most of it rideable though but it was surely challenging even just to stay upright while trying to manage a good pace as well. 

"Oh..." - (photo by Pixels Pro)

"Eject! Eject!" - (photo by Pixels Pro)

"All right! What can I do?!" - (photo by Pixels Pro)

"Time to go now!" - (photo by Pixels Pro)

"Uhm...it's not that simple!" - (photo by Pixels Pro)

This was just one of my little stunts! I learned quickly there's lot more where this came from! :)

So, there was I on the side of the mountain, enjoying the deep mud and the sunshine, just the kind of fun that any mountain biker could ask for on a Saturday morning...until...I hit the wall for the first time during the race. After all the endless climbing and battling with the elements I got to the point when I felt like my body and my mind is just about to shut down. I was prepared but somehow I managed to run out of drink and food so that last few kilometers before the second feeding station felt like it was gonna last forever... But I got there eventually and I couldn't believe what I've seen: banana, Haribo bears, water, Coca Cola! Just the way I pictured it before! :)

At this point I was in the group with the Epic MTB lads: Richard Lynch (who left us a good bit before the feeding point), Richie Byrne and Oscar Mac Ananey. We managed similar enough pace during the race so we stayed together pretty much until the finish. The funny moments in this lovely little group definitely helped me to get through the day, fair play to you guys! :)  

Just after I finished

Time to get cleaned up

My faithful partner: no mechanical issues whatsoever! Happy days!

After I finished I stayed at the village for a short while and met with few friends and team mates. We shared the good & not so good stories of the day. Was pretty cool to see all the wrecked but mostly happy boys & girls after the race! :)

Managed a bit of an upgrade on my classic cyclist tan :)

My race in numbers:

     50 kilometers

     4 hours and 30 minutes

     1620 m elevation gain

     1825 calories burned

     2 litres of drink

     3 gels

     2 bananas

     0 mechanical problem 

     loads of fun / suffering
      
     4th place in Expert catergory
     75th place overall

So, what about Da Cooley Thriller XC Marathon?! All in I've had great time in the mountains around Carlingford. Savage and difficult race course, loads of mountain bikers and lovely weather. I'm very happy with the result considering how little training I've been able to do this summer! I just wanted to enjoy myself and I have to say I got that done, so it's all good!  :)

The organizers did a great job, thanks for all the work that has been put into the event. And a big congrats to everyone who finished the race, it was a tough one!

Saturday XC spin in the spirit of London 2012

After a super busy week the Saturday has finally came so it was time to get out on the XC bike again! We've seen pretty good weather all week so I had high hopes for today too. Early start just as always with one difference: my gear :)

Wearing my fancy Hungarian jersey to honor the two excellent Hungarian mounatin bikers: Barbara Benkó & András Parti, who are taking part in the Olympic XC races this weekend.

I figured it would be cool idea to take the Hungarian jersey out on the trails as a little gesture on this important weekend! They are writing sports history so this is the least I can do to show support & cheer them on!

So, after I got everything ready I was all good to go. The main target was the same as last week: get good mixture of road & off-road riding done as a preparation for next weekend. 

Wanted to cover good bit of a distance without getting bored on the same trails over and over again. To do that there was only one option: the Wicklow Way. 

The plan was to ride off-road as far as Djouce and them come back home on the road via Enniskerry. This way there's enough mountain biking and enough distance too. Happy days! :)

First destination was of course the Marlay Park and straight after that the Kilmashogue Lane climb. Once I hit the fire road bit the sun came out and the day started to look like a real summer day. That first sector of the Wicklow Way is always so quick, possibly because I've done it sooo many times. But when I got to the Glencullen river and started the second big climb things started to be more "interesting". 

Crossing on the bridge

On the twisty fire road

After all the fast climbs and exciting descents I got to the nicest spot of today's journey. The trail that goes above the Powerscourt Waterfall is one of my favourite in the Wicklow Mountains. Can't try to describe but let this photo say it all! 

I always stop here for a moment to enjoy the spectacular view! After ths short twisty singletrack riding I got to one of the sweetest bit of the ride: the massive "V" shaped valley near Djouce. The downhill bit isn't too technical but the -36° (at the steepest bit) gradient makes it definitely fun to ride!! But I had to pay the price of this kind of fun because the climb up on the other side is a torturer... 

Once I finished with all the off-road bits I got onto the road that took me back to Enniskerry. Luckily I managed to stay in a good enough shape so I really started to push to get back home nice and fast. Arrived just in time to have lunch and watch the women's XC race in the TV. Well timed! :)

I got everything done today that was planned: covered the distance of 60 km just under 3 hours and 30 minutes with the total elevation gain of 1400 m on this roasting Saturday morning. Loved every minute of it and I think I feel ready for next week's marathon race! Bring it on!!  

 

Savage Saturday MTB Spin

Wow, this morning's MTB spin was absolutely brilliant! I was very happy to be able to get out on the bike mainly because I've been fighting with some technical issues on the XC bike in the last few days. The rear XTR shifter decided to give up on me just 2 days ago and since we couldn't get it back to life I was there: sad & bikeless. Thankfully I got an old LX shifter as loan (big thanks to my colleague & friend Marcin) and after a super fast emergency repair the bike was ready to roll again! Happy days! :)

Since I have only 2 more weeks to go before I race again I've decided to have a spin that contains good off-road bits and also have a bit of road as well just to get some useful miles in. 

I left nice and early, I was on my way at 7:30 am, right after a huge rain storm just hit Milltown. Massive puddles everywhere and the rain came and gone about hundred times as I was making my way up to my first destination of the day, the good old Threerock. After the climb I took the fire road and hopped on the old time favourite Wicklow Way. The weather was absolutely something else! The clouds were sitting right on the mountain and everything was super wet! 

The Wicklow Way was absolutely amazing, real remote location with weather like this!

After all the fun riding on the Wicklow Way I hit the tarmac road and started to head towards Enniskerry village. Passed through the village in no time and turned towards my second destination of the day: the legendery Epic Club Course. At this point I had to take my rain jacket on and off so many times I can't even remember!

Tarmac climb, cross the gate, little more climb and there I was. Hit the club course nice and quick and with no expectations whatsoever about havin' a lap time that is worth to mention...but still! I gave it a good lash! I loved the way it was extremely wet and muddy!!

Wet,wet,wet! The Epic Club Course was simply...epic! :)

   

After all this I got back on the road and started to head back home but before I finished my spin I got up to Threerock once again to get a little more off-road action. Funny enough to see the place empty in the morning and packed about 2 hours later! Quick climb and quick descent afterwards, pure fun! :)

By the time I got home the Garmin had the following data recorded for me: 50 km long spin under 3 hours and 7 minutes with the total elevation gain of 1222m along the way. Happy with that! Today's spin got me re-charged until I get out and ride my bike again, it was an absolutely loveable spin around some of the finest places around my home!