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!