My bike free summer - Part 1

This summer has been great so far for me: did have 2 weeks holiday back in Hungary and did some travelling on the weekends as well. I spend lot of time on the bike lately but I do enjoy the bike free weekends also and like to travel and see nice places. Just a little taste of my summer when I am not on the bike :)

Where all the mountain biking started for me (Hungary)

Wicklow Mountains (Lough Tay)

My wife Anett & me on the boardwalk

Wicklow Mountains (Lough Tay)

In the castle garden - Kilkenny

The Tall Ships Races - Waterford

Glendalough - Seems like I can't get away from the Wicklow Way even when I'm not on the bike :)

My wife Anett - orange juice, can't get wrong  :)   (Laragh)

A beast Merangue dessert on our first wedding anniversary :)    (Laragh)

New personal best - Ballinastoe (long loop)

Yesterday I went up to Ballinastoe to have a super fast training spin as a preparation for the National Champs. The weather was really bad, the rain was quiet heavy at the time I left from home. Because of that I decided to drive to the mountain bike trail centre rather than ride all the way there. Normally I cycle out and back but this time I voted for the bit more comfy option. :)

Ready for the record attempt.

My plan was to set up a new personal best riding the long loop. I haven't ride those trails for a good while so I was very curious what I can do on the day. I got ready and off I went.

The weather hasn't improved at all for the rest of the afternoon, so I was riding in very heavy rain and lots of mud. Luckily it was a warm day anyway so at least I didn't feel cold. I completed one of the long loop and one of the short one. I checked the time on the long loop and I was happy to see: task was completed, I finished with a new personal record. 

Ballinastoe Trails (long loop)

distance: 14 km

elevation gain: 319 m

avarage speed: 14,9 km/h

max. speed: 38,1 km/h

calories burned: 479 kcal

personal best: 57 minutes 48 seconds

After the wet and muddy spin

The gear might needs a good and effective detergent :)

I wanted to record a nice XC video footage also, so the GoPro camera was fitted on the bike during the long loop. Check out the recorded footage! :)

                   

2011 XC Irish National Championships - Upcoming XC race

The upcoming race is the most important race of the year for me and for many of us indeed. The XC Irish National Championships will be hosted by Team WORC in the excellent setting of Killruddery demesne on Sunday 17th July.  

The course is a perfect mix of flowy and fast singletracks, rocky sections and tough climbs. I am familiar with the location from previous years racing so I know what to expect on the day. Back in 2006 I had a fantastic race there so next Sunday will bring back some sweet memories. :) I have signed up this morning to compete in S3 category, so all the admin is done for the race. From now on all I need to do is keep up the good work on the bike and get ready and prepared physically & mentally. I've been waiting for this race for long time and I am really looking forward to it. :)

click here to see the promo on Vimeo 

Wet conditions are back on Ticknock

After the super hot weekend the weather forecast didn't look too good for today.. They said the rain will be back and the temperature will drop as well. It wasn't fully true actually, we did get these conditions only in the morning, so my regular pre-work training spin was wet and muddy up on Ticknock.

My friend Csaba and myself left at 7:30am this morning to get our 2 hours and 30 minutes spin done before we both go to work today. We have visited our regular trails and did explore some of the unknown ones as well. The place was nice and slippery so we did have plenty of fun! :) 

Riding some tricky and wet roots

Floating through the forest

Got a funny shot for the laugh! :)

I know possibly everyone in Ireland loves the lovely and hot days we got lately, so do I. But for some reason I really did enjoy the cool, wet and muddy morning today. Am I the only one?! :)

Wicklow Way preparation - Stage 3.1

After couple of weeks time the Wicklow Way "project" is back. Last time I did get as far as Lough Tay so yesterday I hopped on the bike and cycled the next stage of the epic ride. 

Just as I allways do, I did ride from the Marlay Park and covered the stage 1.1 - 1.2 and 2.1 - 2.2 as well but since there is a detailed post up about them I will write only about the stage 3.1 in this post.

The only "company" along my way... :)

I have started the stage 3.1 from the R795 tarmac road from Lough Tay and cycled all the way to Glendalough and Laragh.

Before I got to the start point of the planned stage I did get to see some of the nicest places along the way. It was great to pass by the same places, but on a hot summer day the difference was incredible! 

Everything was vibrant green and I felt the summer in every details: hot temperature, smells, dusty dry trails everywhere. Great stuff! 

After I turned off the main road I got on to this fire road that led me accross opened areas and because it was quiet smooth the pace was very high. After I have passed some lumber site I was still in pace and nearly missed the WW sign beside the road. Luckily I've seen it in the last second so I did turn back and continued my way towards the first accomodation place along the way.

After a short kicker climb the trail got lovely: fast and technical descent with a stunning view of the valley on the other side. But in fairness some drops were tricky enough so I didn't have too much time to look around. :)

Crossing couple of fields and do a short tarmac road climb and there was I : got to the Wicklow Way Lodge. If I know right this place is the first official accomodation point for walkers who walk the whole wicklow way. Got some fresh water (just in time before I got in trouble...) and I was on my way again.

In front of the Wicklow Way Lodge

Maybe about 2 km on tarmac road which was a little relief but after that I got on some farm roads and after that nice singletrack again. This section was great because the trail was nice and quick and the forest was lovely looking on both sides of the trail. I really enjoyed this bit. 

Crossing fields, cycling on fire roads for a while but after all this I got to possibly the nicest place along the Wicklow Way so far. The forest and the trails are absolutely amazing there! Just right before I got to Glendalough but I still did get to enjoy the some of the most stunning looking places that I seen in Ireland since I am here. ;)

It was so much fun to ride those trails indeed. The end of them got a bit more technical and before I hot the main road I had to lift the bike and cross fences about 3-4 times.

Bridge close to Glendalough

Nearly straigh after this point I got to my destination that was planned fro the day, I did arriveto the Glendalough Visitor Centre. Of course I did get close enough to the famous tower to take a photo but I didn't spend too much time there because I still had long way ahead of me before I got home.

In Glendalough

Yesterday must have been one of the hottest day of this year's summer so far. I don't remember a day like this for a long time, so this has made my day even better!

After the spin... I prefer to have sunburn from time to time rather than mud all over me :)

After the 6 hours long spin I was tired & hungry, so the BBQ was necessery :)

General information on the terrain:

• tarmac road
• singletrack with grass
• technical singletrack with rocks / loose rocks

Difficulties:

• crossing the bridge could be slipper when it's wet
• the waterdrains could be tricky at some places
• there are many drops on the trails close to Glendalough

My journey yesterday

Elevation graph

Yesterday's spin was brilliant, it was hard but I loved it! I did cycle 6 hours and covered the distance of 100km with 2100m elevation gain along the way. From Laragh I got home on the tarmac road via Enniskerry. Weather was fantastic I wish to have days like this more often. Next time I will cycle to the 65 km mark along the way which is the official Half Wickow Way. I can't wait! :)