Back on the mountain bike!

7:15 am on a Sunday morning: dark and raining...

Today I've had my first mountain bike spin since the beginning of September. It's been a long break indeed, but I've been busy with all the cyclocross & road lately. But enough is enough I say! It was really time to get back in the game and do what I always really preferred: ride mountain bike! :)

I pulled out my faithful MTB from storage and after a small TLC repair it was ready to rock again. Happy days! 

Normally I ride my bike on my own, but this time I had my ThinkBike.ie CC team mate Ben on the spin with me. This was our first mountain bike spin together since he joined our club. We have decided to leave nice & early and get a proper spin in before the place goes mad and gets flooded by people. So we met at the Dundrum Luas Bridge at 7:15 am and took off towards Threerock. It was a very wet and dark morning and it didn't improve too much later on either. Grey sky, coulds were sitting on the hills, water and mud everywhere - typical February morning in the mountains. But hey! This is what we can expect so get on with it and have fun! :)

Basicly we did most of the trails up there including some WW and also visited the Fairycastle. Got loads of natural trail riding also (they are the BEST) and a little bit of the Metros as well. The truth is that I had very questionable confidence on the way up to the hills. Well that was a bit more of a wandering how rusty my off-road skill are after all the "easy-mode" months on the cyclocross bike. But to be fair I had no trouble really on the rough trails. Need to speed up a little and also need to get my body to get used to ride on those bumpy trails again...after 3 hours spin today I felt like I got beaten up. But after a few more spins like this I'll get back into rhythm properly! 

I have to say that I really missed mountain biking and had so much fun on the bike that is hard to describe! Really missed everything about riding XC and it's just felt right to be up in the mountains again this morning! Happy time!! :)

Giant TCX 2 - New sponsor bike for the CX season

Here it is: my new team bike for CX racing! After a few modifications and changes I finally finished my bike for the upcoming CX season. Thankfully I managed to get everything done a week before the Fixx Supercross Cup starts so this way I can get to know the bike a little bit before the first race. 

It is the 2012 model of the well known and famous Giant TCX range. The TCX 2 was the entry level cyclocross bike from Giant in 2012 but it will change in the new 2013 range. It has aluminim frame and fork, Shimano Sora / Tiagra gear system, FSA crankset, Giant wheels, Tektro brakes and Giant finishing kit. I also got my faithful CrankBrothers EggBeater pedals fitted 'cause I know they will save me few times during the races.  

I have the bike in factory setup in about 95% but of course I had to swap few things around to shape things to my liking! :)

The first thing I've done was to convert the bike from the standard double ring setup to a single ring one. Now, it might be a kamikaze move but I'd like to try it and also I wanted to simplify things. So I got a 38T single ring fitted on the front and use the standard 11-28 casette (9 speed) on the back. Instead of using any sort of chain guide to keep the chain on the front I left the front mech on the bike to do the same job. I hope it'll work...

1 x 9 setup on the bike with the mud specialist EggBeaters

No front shifting means that there's no need for anything that is related. I removed all the inner & outer cables, so this way there's a bit less cable mess going on. Also got rid of the crosstop levers, I felt they don't need to be fitted.

The view from the saddle

So, now the CX bike is ready there's only one thing to be done: ride it a lot! I can't wait to give it a proper go and get a good feel of it. :)

Ready to roll!!!

And here is the current setup for the upcoming racing season

I would like to say a big thank you to John Clarke and ThinkBike for the bike and for the opportunity to represent my club on a bike like this. I'm sure it will serve me very well in the upcoming months.

Djouce is still the KING // ThinkBike.ie Club Spin

I'm still buzzing! We had possibly the best summer club spin up around Djouce this morning with the lads from the club. Normally I ride on my own, and since I have the joy of the fatherhood, this rule applies even more. But this time I decided to team up with some of my good friends and team mates and joined our regular Saturday XC spin, needless to say that I did not regret the decision! :)

I don't like to drive to the place when I'm out mountain biking, I rather prefer to cycle out so I went out nice and early to meet up with the guys at 8 am in the Djouce carpark. The morning was fresh at 7 am when I left the house. 

After everyone got there and everyone got ready we took off and started our spin that was led by the man himself: Ian Kingston. He practically lives on Djouce mountain, so he knows all the trails very well. We all knew he was going to take the group to some of the scariest and most deadly trails that we can possibly find! :)

Oh..and I still didn't mention the best thing yet: the trails were bone dry!!! Honestly I don't remember when I've seen the place soooo dry! There was a single puddle (needless to say that we managed to find it) but that's about it. The rest was just amazing: super fast techical trails with tons of roots! Perfect! 

Our group today (L --> R: Dan, Kevin, Dave, myself and Ian) + Fintan to took this photo

Sun & dry trails, that's what you want!

What a lovely part of the World! :)

After we got most of the coolest trails done and had so much fun on the bike it was kinda time to head home. Got back to the carpark where the group split up and I started to make my way home on the very same route that I did cycled out on. 

Now, Djouce is an amazing place. I knew that before. But...this time was just simply my best time up there. Every single square meter of that mountain is brilliant and in my opinion it's still 100% the best place to have a proper XC spin done! I'm lovin' it! :)

...check out the details on Strava

Today I rode 55 km with 1219 m total elevation gain just slightly over 3 hours and 20 minutes. It was my only spin this week so I think I took the most of it. Was great to join the lads, I had great time with today's group. It was fantastic spin all together, cheers lads. See you next time! :)

Brand new ThinkBike.ie CC gear for 2012

It felt like Christmas time returned to the Lower Rathmines Road for a short time this afternoon when this box has been delivered. Opened it up quickly and there it was: brand new & refreshed ThinkBike.ie CC club gear for 2012. 

The main design of the kit remains the same but few changes are there: new logos instead of some of the old ones, but the biggest difference is the Dublin crest and the text that marks Rathmines.  

My new set of XS kit for this year :)

I'm glad I could get my hands on this hot, new gear and can't wait to wear it proudly for the first time when I will be out on the bike! Exciting times! 

Fundraising on turbo trainers in front of ThinkBike

New day means possiblity for a new adventure! This time there is something that I never done before: doing fundraising on turbo trainer! 

But there is a whole story behind this, so let's go from the start: 3 of my team mates will taking part of the Malin Head to Mizen Head Charity Cycle (in aid of Irish Cancer Society) next week. The distance is 620 km over 4 days. 

Now, as a fundraiser John Clarke from ThinkBike is doing the whole route on turbo trainer in front of the shop in Rathmines. Today I hopped on the turbo as well to take my share for a couple of hours.

John & myself in front of the shop: great day for it indeed!

We got the turbo trainers and the bikes set up, drink in the bottle and start! We were lucky 'cause today was nice and sunny day and everything was absolutely fantastic. The atmosphere was brilliant: we got huge support and even more cheering from the people walking by. It seems like they found it interesting to find out what's happening and they did like the whole idea behind what we were doing out there. I spent 3 hours on the turbo this afternoon and I did like every minute of it I have to say. The good craic, good music through my earphones, all the nice words from the people on the busy Lower Rathmines road just made my time superb on the normally pretty boring turbo trainer. 

Fresh & happy after the 3 hours "ride"

I was out there only for 3 hours today but it was great to see how many people decided to donate! To be honest I was a little bit surprised in a very good way. I'm very happy I could be part of this today and a little bit sad I can't give it a go next week on the real cycle with the lads. It has been a great experience indeed and I hope I can get involved in stuff like this in the future! :)

...to visit the fundraiser page just click here.

Spring spin up on Threerock // 3 hours XC spin

I think the spring is definitely on the way and the perfect proof for that was the fantastic sunny morning on Saturday. I got all my stuff ready and I was on my way up to Threerock at 8 am sharp to meet up with the guys from ThinkBike.ie CC. I did catch up with the lads in the lower carpark and we started to climb up towards the top. The day way bright & warm enough but the trails were pretty muddy at places 'caused by the rain on the night before. We did the ususal route a couple of times and after about 1 hour and 30 minutes into the spin they went back home (there was a running event in the Marlay Park on the same morning) so I got left alone to do my own stuff. 

I had lot more planned for the day so I kept going and luckily met wit Joe McCall and another mountain biker called Mark so I joined and stayed with them for about an hour or so. The trails we took were amazing: technical steep climbs & descents. I loved it! :)

The map of the spin

Just before we reached the Metro trail again we split up and I hit the Boneshaker and the route back home afterwards. I've had a great time on the bike and I loved the way the second half of the spin was pretty techical and to be fair intense enough thanks to Joe. :) 

I spent 3 hours on the bike and ended up doing 42 km with 1100 m of total elevation gain along the way. After the tough interval session on Thursday I'm pretty tired and feel like I need a good rest after these two spins.

Tough interval session with the ThinkBike lads // Ticknock x 6

Another Thursday evening means nothing else but savage ThinkBike Interval Sufferfest on the local climbs. So as it happens every week lately, I got prepared for today's tough going straing after work. I got home and prepared my second lunch 'cause I knew I have to fill the energy levels for later on. 

Semolina porridge with kiwi, peach & some cocoa powder. A plate of this treat keeps me going for a whole day! :)

After a quick prep I was on my way to the Taylor's carpark where the start point was for tonight. I met the lads from the club there and after few minutes of chatting we started the fun. 

Today we climbed from the M50 bridge up to the Ticknock lower carpark 6 times in a row. This climb is 2.1 km long and has 145 m elevation gain. I like this road 'cause the surface is excellent and the view is nice as well on the way back down. 

The elevation graph of the climb that we've done 6 times tonight

Since this was the 4th week for me doing interval trainings I felt great on the bike. I kept the pace nice and steady for the first 3 and increased the rythm a bit during the last 3 times. I managed to get 8 minutes and 20 seconds as a best time during the 4th climb which I'm defo happy with 'cause my first race is coming up in 4 weeks time and I started to feel in good shape for it. Great! :)

It's all over: face is happy, legs are wrecked. Exactly the way it was planned! ;)

It was just so nice to be out: little bit wet but warm evening, in fact I couldn't believe that I was able to go for a spin wearing 3/4 lenght in February. I love you Ireland, I couldn't do the same thing in Hungary that's for sure! 

I cycled out as a warmup and cycled back home after all the climbing was done so I ended up doing 41 km and spent 2 hours on the bike. Was good and effective, I feel pretty tired now. My legs are wrecked and I'm super sleepy indeed...so I guess...it's bed time for me! :)  

ThinkBike.ie interval session - Kilmashogue Lane x 2

Wow, what an evening on the bike! I went out with the ThinkBike.ie CC lads this evening to get some hard interval training done on the road bike. The location was the Kilmashogue Lane , so we all expected some steep climbing as today's task. And we were right: it was steep but it was brilliant! 

All set, ready to go! :)

We started our training session at 6pm sharp just as we do on Thursday evenings. Obviously the place was pitch black so I had all the proper night lights fitted. Today's "dose" was to get the climb done twice in a row from the M50 bridge all the way up to the very top where the tarmac road ends. I haven't been on this climb for a couple months at this stage, so I was super curious to see how it'll go.

Luckily it went the kind of way I hoped for: felt good 'cause I have been doing lots of climbing lately but of the roughly 13 minutes time that took me to get up to the top is way behind my PB. But of course that is 100% OK at this time of the year though! :)

The double Kilmashogue Lane climb at night is done & dusted, it's time to head home

I started to really enjoy all these interval training sessions lately and even if they turn into a night ride road spin every time the whole thing is cool! I just simply like to get on the bike, get out there and get some sweet climbing done. Yep, sometimes it's wet and damp, some other times we are freezing to bits but that's all part of the game, isn't it? But in the end of the day I'm on the bike and that keeps me happy! :)

"The Pilgrimage" (ThinkBike.ie WW Spin) - story of the cold day

The tale of possibly the coldest mountain bike spin for a long time...where to start? The plan for today was to get on the Wicklow Way and go as far as we can. The lesson has been learned: plan is one thing, to make it happen is another one. 

The first thing I had to realize this morning was the very cold temperature. I looked out the window and I seen nothing but ice everywhere. After I got up at 6 am and had my lovely breakfast then I was scraping ice off the car as a warmup session. Job done, let's go to the Palmer's Pub carpark where our meeting point was.

Shortly after I got there the car got nice and warm so I knew it'll be a real challenge to get out to the sub-zero conditions.

Yeah! Feeling comfy in the warm car! :)

All the lads started to arrive too shortly after, so it was time to get ready. Got changed quickly and after about 10 minutes all of us were ready to go in the freezing and still dark winter morning. 

All good to go

The first and far the most important thing for me was to get warm (as much as it can be achieved in -2, -3 °C) and stay warm. I think I put on all the winter clothing that I found at home. The main issue on the bike for me is getting the feet and hands extremely cold, it must be some sort of blood-circulation problem but it is killing me every winter. So I put on my pair of SealSkinz socks and a SealSkinz + windproof double gloves combo. Turned out later it was essential though! :)

So, 8 of us left the carpark shortly before 8 am and started our long journey accross the mountains towards Glendalough. We got warmed up quickly enough on the steep Kilmashogue climb and by the time we got up to the end of it the sun came up as well. It was absolutely amazing! 

The conditions were tough but it got even more tough when we hit some of the real rocky sections of the trail. All the puddles were solid ice and needless to say about the surface of the rocks. Was lovely but quiet challenging at some places.  But after all the extrem icy stuff we could relax a bit on the fire road climbs.

Waiting for the guys to re-group before we kept going

That smile was frozen on my face...very cold but happy time on the bike. Just keeping up the good faith! :)

Quick group photo and off we went

We started to settle into some lovely and quick pace and got closer and closer to the spectacular Powerscourt Waterfall. It is a tough enough climb to get up there but it worth it every time indeed. 

Still stunning view!

After we passed by the waterfall the consistency of the group started to drop a bit and we just started to spend more and more time with re-grouping. That's fine, but not the best to stand around too often and for too long in freezing cold weather. At that point all of us started to feel the cold and we made the decision to turn back home instead of keep going. So we did get as far as Djouce and there we cut off the trail and hit the tarmac road that leads back through Enniskerry. From there we got back home in no time. To be honest I got back home on my own 'cause the lads stopped to have a coffe in Enniskerry but I was pretty cold so I rather kept going to stay as warm as I can. 

Back at the carpark after nearly 3,5 hours 

We cut the spin short but I think it was a good decision considering the temperature. We have done 46,9 km under 3 hours and 25 minutes. The total elevation gain was 1312 m and the temperature stayed below 0°C for most of the time. 

check the details of the full spin on Strava.

The map of today's spin

Elevation / speed graph

Let's describe this mountain bike spin with couple of words here: great, cold, fantastic, tough, special. I had great time on the bike once again, I loved every bit of the spin altough I lost faith couple of times when I hit some of the nasty icy patches along the rocky sectors. Fun, fun, fun! :)

"The Pilgrimage" - ThinkBike.ie 1/2 Wicklow Way Spin

Here is possibly the last thing this year that I need to prepare for in terms of going for some nice & long spin on the mountain bike. The idea was there for a while but John at ThinkBike came up with the suggestion couple of days ago "Why not get it done?!" so we decided to give this mad spin a go before Christmas, especially because the weather is still good.

It is always cool to get involved in stuff that my club organizes so here is it again: I'm taking part of this club spin as one of group leader since I did ride this part of the mighty Wicklow Way many-many times before. The plan is to ride to the half way point and then cycle back home on the tarmac road. It is difficult to estimate but it will be a savage long mountain bike spin indeed! Can't wait! :) 

ThinkBike.ie Club Spin - up on Threerock one more time

This morning I went up up to Threerock to have my regular Saturday morning training spin. I joined the lads from the club once again to have a good laugh & fun like we always have. We met at the Taylor's Pub at the M50 bridge and climbed up to mountain to start our muddy mountain bike spin.

The group was big enough this week

After the serious rain on Monday all the trails were pretty rough due to the massive erosion caused by the huge amount of water. It was excellent to ride them though but I can say they weren't easy and certenly weren't the same like they were before. About the 3/4 of the place has changed so we had to adopt to the new conditions up there. It was cool though! :)

At the top, waiting to get re-grouped with the lads

Now, since I have started my winter training on Monday I preferred to have a bit more intense pace compare to what we normally have. This plan has worked out just perfectly because my good friend and team mate Richie Felle, who is in training and active racing in this seasons cyclo cross league was setting up some nice and intense speed for the whole spin. Richie, Ian and myself got ahead of the group most of the time and after we have done our more intense segments we re-grouped with the guys and kept going together. We had a constant spin today with little stopping and we have also covered some of the most technical trails up on the mountain. It was brilliant! :)

Elevation graph

Today we have been out for 2 hours and 30 minutes and covered the distance of 38 km with 1070 m of total elevation gain. It was a good old intense mountain bike spin and I have to say I loved every minute of it! It was excellent alltogether! :)

But now it is time to get the night-lights fitted and get the bike ready for my second spin of the day: tonight I'm going up to the mountains once again to have the first night-ride mountain bike spin of this winter. Gonna be cool for sure, I can't wait!  

What a spin! - ThinkBike.ie club spin up on Djouce

It seems like all these club spins are great and they are getting more popular each time. I decided to get out with the group this morning mainly 'cause I had so much fun in the last two weeks and also because this week's destination was the good old favourite: Djouce.

Big group with lots of familiar faces & good few new comers. We also had a special guest today: Conor's dog :)

When we left the carpark at about 8:45 am the weather wasn't looking too good indeed. We started our spin in cold and damp conditions and I got ready for the worst by looking at the sky earlier on. But once we got into the forest the weather has changed too: mostly dry singletracks we seen and the rain has stopped also. It was a true gift! :)

The Powerscourt Waterfall from the other side of the valley

Djouce is an truly amazing place for mountain biking. Mainly because the trails are savage, steep and pretty technical. The view is also great from the side of the mountain! I love the place and all those trails brought back some sweet racing memories when I competed on one of the best NPS course in the country couple of years ago. 

We have covered some of the best trails and singletracks on the mountain with crazy hair-pin bends and some super steep downhill sections. I had so much fun riding them but I am sure I wasn't the only one on the group. :)

Back at the carpark: after a quick change I got nice & comfy in the heated ThinkBike.ie Team Skoda Fabia :)

Today's spin was a bit shorter 'cause most of us were a bit under pressure to get back home. But hey! We have covered so many fantastic trails and had an excellent autumn of-road spin I can't complain at all.

This club spin was the best one yet! :)

What a spin! - ThinkBike.ie club spin up on Threerock

Today I've had a brilliant club spin again with the lads from the ThinkBike.ie CC. This time we went up to Threerock and discovered some new trails thanks to my team mate Richie Felle.

In front of the Yellow House in Rathfarnham

From home I cycled up to the well known Yellow House Pub and met with the young Dan from South Africa. We cycled up to the meeting point to the Taylor's Pub just at the bottom of Threerock at 8:30 am.

This week we had a nice and big group, 11 of us started the climb up to the top of the mountain. I really enjoyed the chat along the way, it was a funny type spin. :)

At the lower carpark

The strange thing is: I have been up on Threerock so many times I can't even imagine and I still can discover new trails and places! It is crazy! :) Richie was the leader if the group and he guided us to some super sweet trails where I never been before. I loved the way most of these trails were very muddy, we had lots of fun on the donwhills. 

We are havin' fun somewhere in the forest! :)

We found this crazy steep bomb hole on the back of the hill and we spent good bit of time to ride the thing from every possible direction. It was excellent! I loved every bit of it! :)

Short brake to re-group

After we have covered so many trails we turned back towards the lower carpark and enjoyed the last bit of downhill on the man-built trails. At the lower carpark we split up and I cycled back home through Dundrum.

We have been out for 2 hours and 15 minutes and we've covered 33 km of distance with 757 m of total elevation gain. Today's spin was a real off-season type autumn mountain bike ride with lots of chatting and laughing. :)

I had great time on the bike today, I really need cycles like this to get re-charged before all the cold and savage winter training starts.