European MTB Marathon Champs // Race report

Wow! What a brilliant race it was, I'm still buzzing. I have raced the 2014 European MTB Marathon Champs in Ballyhoura (Ireland) last Saturday. This was my first race of the year, mainly because my whole preparation was focused on this particular event. And after the long-long winter months, after all the hard work the race weekend has finally arrived. But let's go from the start! 

I have signed up for the Masters Category on Saturday and decided to travel to the race venue on Friday and stay over night. So, I had the family Skoda all packed up and hit the road shortly after lunch. After the nearly 2 and a half hours drive I arrived to Kilfinnane. Quick registration and then straight back to the camping site to get my HQ up and running. 

All set for the night

Next morning, race day, all excited and ready to hit the trails. Packed up and started to get ready for our start that was at 11 am sharp. Got the final touches done and I was all good to go, ready to face all those savage trails and mighty climbs in the Ballyhoura Country.  

Food & drink are sorted for the feed zones

At the race centre just before the race. Ready to roll

Gridding was done, had a few last words and jokes with the lads just before the race. As I was watching the timer I had one thought crossing my mind: "Here we are, this is it now. Give absolutely everything today." And then there was no more waiting, off we went. The first long fire road started to make the selection pretty quickly. By the time we finished our start loop I managed to settle and do my own thing.

Out on the start loop shortly after the start.

After the start loop the real race has started

Bend after bend, climb after climb we started to eat up the kilometers of the course. Felt a bit all over the place at the beginning of the race, I needed about 25 km to find myself. Had some difficulty to pick the groups that I can or can't deal with in relation of the pace. But just shortly before I reached the second tech / feed zone I really started to feel what I was doing and started to really race my race. 

In my own little bubble.

At this point the weather started to kick in properly. The roasting hot Irish sun turned the heat on, turning the race even more fun. The conditions on the course were ideal for me: mix of dusty dry fire roads and muddy and wet single tracks spiced up with some proper river crossing along the way. Simply brilliant spot on the Earth to race XC Marathon! 

Hour after hour, climb after climb, feed zone after feed zone. Battles on climbs, holding onto wheels on the fast descents. Before I knew it I was back to the start / finish area to head out for the last short section of the course. It gave me such a huge boost to cross the busy race centre. All the noise, the music, the familiar faces and all the cheering. It was priceless! I felt lifted...

Heading out for the last bit of the course

... but not for very long time. Once I hit the fie road climb again I hit the wall as well. Felt absolutelly horrible for a little while. Started to suffer and things got even worst as I was kicking the pedals. Felt like I'm getting nowhere and there was still about 10 km to go. Then the course got nicer again with a bit of a flow to it, so I managed to pull things together and started to push harder again. Also knew I was getting closer and closer to the finish, so that helped me a good bit also. 

Then there I was. Let, right, left, the final muddy and slippery descent and left again. The finish line was only a few metres away. Brilliant! I did it! Crossed the finish line!!

Catching my breath just minutes after the race

The faithful Cannondale, what a bike for the job! No mechanical issues whatsoever and the 29er wheels are the business for a race like this!

I finished the 75 km race with 1950 elevation gain under 4 hours and 33 minutes. This was enough for me to get the 25th place out on the 84 riders in the Masters field. 

...full results are here.

I am very happy with this result. I had a great race where everything fell in place. There was no drama along the way: no mechanical issues, managed to get the food and drink right, gave absolutely 100% and even the weather was brilliant. What more could I ask for?

 

Check out this amazing footage, it's really shows what it's all about!

Thanks to Niall Davis and for everyone from the Biking.ie crew for putting another spectacular show on. Very well run event, easily the best I ever raced! It was fantastic experience to be there and race in Ballyhoura!

Also huge thanks to Judit Török from the Beauty Boudoir for all her support during the preparation, for the Cycle SuperStore for getting me sorted with the superb Cannondale race bike and for helping out with the pre-race bike prep.

I love every race I do, but this one is going to truly special to me. Tons of priceless memories that I never going to forget. Many thanks again!