Finally! Winter is here!!

Yep, a proper amount of snow has dropped overnight. This could mean only one thing: a savage winter MTB session in the snow! So we got on the bike got one of the best winter spin done in ages. There was a loooot of going sideways I'm tellin' ya! :) 

Good by single speed... // Hello gears!

Yep, the decision was made and there was no turning back. I could say: it was only matter of time my friends. But lets see how did I get here after riding single speed for more than 2 years.

Long story short: riding single speed was great fun and challenging in a way. Something that I really liked indeed...but the main issue was the speed. The bike wasn't fast enough. It was brutally fast uphill but the speed on flat and on descents was very slow. And that's not something I want right now. 

What I need is speed. Speed that keeps me with the group during XC Maraton events. Speed that doesn't allow me to get dropped on a fast training spin with my mates. 

The Niner got a 1x9 setup fitted last night. Massive thanks to my awesome training buddy József Király for sorting me out with his spare parts left over from previous bike builds. So, here I am, back on a geared bike again! Yeow, bring on the speed baby! :) 

Good bye 2017 // The last spin of the year

What a spot!

Lovin' it

The Cserhát looks great even in these poor conditions

The last spin of the year is always cool

Savage training buddy, thanks for all the hard work in 2017! 

"A miserable bike ride is better than no bike ride at all..."

Autumn mountain bike happiness is here

Yep, things are going alright lately! My favourite season of the year is closing on us, autumn is here folks. The trails are rolling great, leafs are falling and every minute on the bike is an absolute happiness.  

The single speed beast is always ready to bite, so I'm expecting a huge amount of action filled spins on the local trails and also on undiscovered lands. 

Here we go: going sideways on slimy leafs & hit the climbs hard with one eye on the possibility of getting some sweet KOMs. Come on fall, bring it on! :) 

Just a nice photo from the trails

Good bye dude, see you soon!

Yesterday we had another savage XC loop. It was a bit different this time as it was kind of a good bye spin. My good mate and training buddy is travelling back to Ireland and this was the last chance to ride some sweet local trails befor his flight. 

The spin was brilliant: 62 km under 3 hours and 18 minutes with elevation very close to the 1000 m mark. Good speed, good conditions but the most important thing good chat along the way. 

Thanks a lot boss, I'll see you in December. Au revoir, safe home! 

#it'sstillsummer

Another brilliant XC session

The sign you need to follow

Finding new trails

Another Ride For Richie...

Quick stop at the popular shelter house called Hidegkúti Turistaház

The Muzsla has finally been conquered!

I love the local trails, I sure do. I know them well and I'm 100% familiar with the hills around my place. Oh... this could actually be true... except that it's not. There is a mountain peak called Muzsla that I never climbed before due to the fact that it's kinda tricky to get to. Well, it was up until now!

As we had an early training spin planned for this morning I set my alarm, got up at 5 am and was all good to go soon after that. 

Left the house in the morning sunrise that amazes me every time I get to see it. Everything's nice and quiet, just the way I like it! 

The destination was set, we turned straight towards the climb that leads to the peak. It's a bit of a savage climb as it's 9,5 km long with over 650 meters of climbing. The final few hundred meters are incredibly steep! But it totally worth it, the place is brilliant! 

And then the descent, wow! It is rocky as hell and pretty fast too. It's a real fun filled XC descent that drops 600 meters in 5,3 km. Nice, isn't it? :) 

So, from now on I know the way to the biggest mountain peak near my village. The spin was deadly, we have done 55 km in 3 hours and 20 minutes and climbed a bit over the 1000 meters mark. The trails were brilliant and there is still plenty of chance to make this loop longer. Much longer! Roll on next time!!   

Lovely Saturday MTB Session

After I got the bike back from brake service and had a great spin on Thursday it was pretty obvious that I'm heading out today also. My training buddy Józsi was at work, so it was a loner spin. 

The weather was pretty mad in the afternoon and due to the massive storms during the week I've decided to stay local and ride the local trails in case I need to leg it and get back home asap. I've had some close calls alright, got soaked a few times but all in it was a great spin indeed. 

The trails were riding really fine, the ground was just perfect. Not too dusty, no too wet... just lovely! I was out on the bike for 2 hours and 20 minutes and done 46 km with 780 m of elevation. Nothing special but it was surely a great spin that cleared out my head after a busy week! And that's just what I was after! :)   

Wow, what a proper week it was!!

Brilliant week it was! Why do I say that? Because I managed to get out and ride my bike 3 times this week. And that is something that doesn't happen too often my friends! 

I was out for a nice evening spin during the week and pulled off two savage XC loops during the weekend. This means I've done 112 km with almost 6 hours riding time and with a tad bit over 1800 m elevation gain. 

The weather was awesome this week. Wasn't too hot but everything is still dry as hell. Just the perfect riding conditions on the local trails. Although we got chased home by a fast coming storm on Friday, but things got back to nice for the rest of the weekend. 

The perfect road-side snack: mulberries in a massive portion #yumm-yumm

So, this week was good I gotta tell 'ya! I could get used to this riding-my-bike-many-times-a-week type thing! 

Crosskovácsi National Marathon Championship 2017 // Race report

Wow! Without getting into deep thoughts I can simply say that I'm after racing one of the best XC Marathon events since I started racing! Today I raced at the 2017 Crosskovácsi Marathon that was also this year's National Marathon Championship also. I was really looking forward to the event as I never raced here before and I've heard a lot ot romurs about how well organized the race is. The romurs were true but lets get into that later! 

Leaving the HQ at 5:45 am

After an early start we were on the way to Nagykovácsi where the race was held. I was travelling with my friend and training buddy Józsi and after a quick enough drive we got there nice & early. Got signed up and started to get ready for our first race of the season. Everything went well until...

... boom! I got a puncture... 

  

... even before I left the carpark. Nice, what a perfect start of the day. Luckily I still got time and with the help of Józsi I got some spare tubes and got the problem out of the way. Thanks man! Once I was back on track we wasted no time and turned to the start line.

At the start, all set for the race

Start! (photo credit: MilanPhoto)

3..2..1..GO!!! It was fast, I mean faaaast! It was like shooting out like a freakin' bullet! As the weather was hot and mega dry the field created a huge dust cloud as it rolled out. Pushing on the maximum and breathing in dust until it burns your lungs. Just what you want on a savage XCM race, isn't it? Once things started to settle a bit I got into my own thing on the single speed bike. As I'm quite limited on the way down (as my gear spins out and when that happens I can't gain more speed) the plan was to put the hammer down on the climbs and gain places on the uphills. 

Had to keep a close eye on the chaser group (photo credit: Ferenc Bak)

The course was super fast, it was one of the fastest courses that I've seen for a long time. The climbs were hard and the descents were über fast! The over 60 km/h speed on the gravel fire roads is no joke! And to top that the dust was unbeliveable! Many times it was so dusty I could hardly see the trails. 

From about half way I managed to get into a nice group of 5-6 riders, and we stayed together pretty much until the finish. 

Climb after climb and descent after descent until I heard the speaker at the finish area. Had a little sprint at the end as my last effort to stay ahead of the rider I was riding with for the last km. And that was it, I crossed the finish line!

Yep, it's done & dusted

I finished the 28 km race with 850 m of elevation gain under 1 hour and 28 minutes. This got me the 16th place out of the 72 riders in the Masters 1 field. As my expectation was to finish in the top 25 I was quite happy with the result! :) 

The numbers

Dust, dust, dust

So, what can I say about today? Well, after reflecting on everything lets say: Crosskovácsi is the best marathon race in Hungary! Hats off to the organizers: helpful and lots of staff, superb track marking, lots of information pre and during race, brilliant race center! There was only a little thing that suprised me the bad way. We didn't receive a starter pack. Fair enough, I signed up on the day...but still...a little something would have been nice like a gel, the usual sticker with the elevation graph. But expect this everything was flawless, just like a well run MTB race should be! 

After we packed up we turned back home where the well earned reward was waiting!

Chicken skewers

Ice cold wheat beer

 Savage mountain bike race and stuff like this? Was it a brilliant day, or what?! :) 

Crosskovácsi Marathon 2017 // 1 week to go

There is only a week to go until the race, so there is no time to waste! I've been putting in some extra training. It was quite difficult to manage to get out during the week also but I was lucky enough to get away with it! I'm feeling great on the bike and my motivation is there too. I've been doing some nice spins lately on the local trails to get the shape as good as it can be. 

My biggest problem at this point is the weather. It's not critical just yet but it's getting very hot...I used to love hot weather but not anymore. So, I can only hope the weather will be ok on the race day and we won't get 30+ degrees.

Perfect recovery meal: ice cold watermelon, yumm-yumm

The plan is to get one more spin in during next week and then bring on the race! Can't wait already!! 

Marathon Training Mode: ON

Resurrection of my old training loop

Today I had a nice little training going on the local trails. The plan was to get a few laps done on the old XC loop that we used to ride ages and ages ago, when I started racing back in 2001. 

It's a good 'aul fashion XC course with pretty much one longish climb and a very fast rolling descent. The course is 2,7 km long and the elevation gain is 93 m in one lap. Once you're done with the classic power climb that's out in the open you'll enter the forest and soon will start your mega fast downhill through the woods. There's a short climb still at the end just before the start/finish point of the loop. It's a great course, especially because it brings back about a ton of nice memories from the past! 

I've done 4 laps on the XC course and after I got a bit of a mileage also. I finished todays ride with 48,7 km and 830 m of climbing in the Garmin. Good enough for today. But of course there was time...

... for a moment of silence at the lake...

... and a quick bubbly resfreshment at the pastry shop.