Hey, I'm back!! // Just a quick update

Well, it has been a while since my last post...shame on me I need to admit! After the racing season I just did what I always do: doing my thing without much of a commitment and enjoy life as much as I can! :) Here I have a few shots of what I've been up to lately. 

Done some nice autumn riding...

... and also a savage night spin!

Visited nice places up in the mountains...

...and at the Danube also! Stunning! 

And most importantly spent some quality time with my kids...:)

So, life is going great and I can say that I'm recharged and ready to do some work! In fairness I'm already doing as I started my winter training about 2 weeks ago. I'm back on the bike and I'm back running also. 

The motivation is there, I have a few goals for next year, so roll on 2019!!! Bring it on!!!

Duna Maraton 2018 // Race report

Another race - another round of the series is done & dusted. After more than 15 years I was able to line up at the start line of one of the oldest MTB XC Marathon race in Hungary called Duna Maraton. The last time I was taking part of this race was back in 2001...man, it was a loooong time ago, wasn't it?! But lets see how my race day went on Sunday!

The race venue was in Esztergom, the stunning looking city just right next to the Danube. The place is about 90 km away from my town, so after a not too long drive we got there. 

On the way...

After the quick registration I got the first shock of the day as the "start pack" was pretty much an empty plastic bag with few leaflets and a gel...well a T-shirt would of been nice but it didn't happen... maybe next year though... 

Anyway! I got myself ready to roll. I was super hyped as the brand new team kit just dropped a few days before the race. The fresh design, the new kit and the fact that I was representing my team with the new kit was giving me an extra lift indeed. 

Ready to race! 

Got to the start/finish area and luckily I managed to get pretty close up front at the start. 3...2...1... GO!!! Off we went into the narrow streets of Esztergom with police escort for the fist few kilometers.

After we left the city we got the first dose of nice off-road trails of the local mountains. The course was a lovely mix of long and steady climbs, proper steep stingers with some technical and mega-fast descents. The conditions were brilliant also, the course was pretty much completely dry. 

Bend after bend, climb after climb and descent after descent. Oh! And some stairs also!

Bitta fun at the end of the race just before we got to the finish

After the action packed racing I crossed the finish line and finished this years Duna Maraton. I was still buzzing when I got back to the car to get changed! :) 

Massive smile on the face - it is the sign of a great race :) 

Time to wash all the dust off the throat

I've had a great day on the bike today. I finished the 30 km race with 700 m elevation gain under 1 hour and 30 minutes. This put me into 17th place in Masters 1 category. I'm happy with this result but I'll be aimning for better at the next race!


So, did I have a good race? Did I have a good time? I sure did my freinds. We have seen a brilliandt XCM course and a very well run event. The atmosphere was great and the competition was savage. What else can we ask for?

Thanks for everything, see you next year! 

...stay tuned, more photos still to come

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?! :) 

Thursday evening staff spin // HHH, Budapest

It's nice to finish work, get up to the mountains and go for a mountain bike ride with you colleagues. This is exactly what happened this evening: we had a nice MTB spin with the lads from the office. 

The destination was the well known and famous HHH in Budapest. It is a lovely spot indeed and on the top of that riding there was a blast from the past for me. Have been racing so many times on these trails and it was absolutely brilliant to ride them again!!

Luckily the weather was good also which was a gift considering the crazy weather that we've seen lately. Nice to be lucky, isn't it? :) 

Sunset in the Pilis mountains

So, I'm only back home and still buzzing after this short but fun spin. Great mountains, savage trails, cood company...what more you could wish for? Oh, I know! A dinner would be nice, so I'm off to grab something nice to eat! Happy out!! :)