Racing 795

Gary’s race report…

Well that was some weekend, i feel like i’ve been run over, full of aches and pains today, well where do i start, the trip up on friday was good with the weather gods playing ball, we arrived at the field and wondered around for 20mins trying to find a flat spot to put up the tent and pits area, a good few people had already arrived and the smell of BBQ’s and loud music being pumped out started the butterflies in the stomach, we just new it was going to be a deadly weekend.

Once everything was up and sorted it was time for a track walk, Rudolf hadn’t seen the track before so it was going to be a bit of an eye opener, the bottom section is fairly smooth, nothing nasty at all but the futher you head up the harder and steeper it gets. After long looks at certain spots and good chats about the best way around we headed back down to get in a practice run. With sign on sorted and our free T-Shirt and goodie bag we where ready to do battle.

Saturday morning arrived and the buzz in the camp was unreal, with seeding runs only a few hours away we needed to get sorted fast and get some practice in, Rudolf was looking good, for a man who has never done DH before and to tackle that track on a 100mm XC bike takes some balls, he was flying.

Practice went without incident, with the bikes checked we headed up for our seeding run, even though this wasn’t a race run the heart was still pounding, all these top riders in front of me that i’d heard of, my chances were looking slim, a top 10 start time would be good i thought, the timing beeps went and off i set, heart racing i made my way down the track just hoping to stay on the bike, at the bottom section i came up behind one of the slower guy, i screamed at him to get out of the way but he failed to hear me so i decided to try and pass him on jump but that failed, he chickened out of the jump and turned directly into my path knocking me off the track as you can guess i was wild, i screamed loads of abuse at him and got going again, i finally got through the finish line to place 6th, i was pleased enough concidering i’d lost 6 or 7 seconds with the crash. Rudolf placed 14th i think with some riders behind him who had been doing this for years, a great result.

Race day arrived and the tension was unreal, practice was a blur, a small crash had broken one of my break pippes to add to the pressure, that was fixed asap but put me even more on edge. We headed to the start gate, everyone seemed somehow distant, with there minds set on one thing, becoming Irish Champion.

Waiting for your run is one of the most intense things ever, Rudolf was nearly shaking with nerves, the beeps went and away i went, i had the worst run of all the runs i did that weekend, i was all over the place, my feet were falling off the pedals, i was landing jumps hard and all i could think was “i’ve blown it”, i could hardly breath, i flew over the last jump in the field and raced across the finish line to hear the MC guy call out my time as the fastest so far, i was in the hot seat, i couldn’t belive it, but with 5 top riders still to come i knew i wouldn’t be there for long and sure enough i wasn’t, i place 5th in the end but with one guy being a guest rider from the UK i actually place 4th in Ireland, beaten to the podium 3rd spot by 300ths of a second, ah well thats racing for you.

Rudolf also probably had the worst run of the weekend as his race run, with a crash he managed 27th, still a very good time on that little bike, i think we have a DH convert

I can’t wait for next season to start now, maybe a 1st? who knows.

Results

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The last Downhill NPS race of the year. The DH track was located on Carrick mountain close to Glenealy co Wicklow. The smell of tall eucalyptus trees created a Mediterranean atmosphere. The top of the track was rocky and technical with 2 big stone switchback drops. After that followed a corner(y) section ending with a fire road jump.  From there a fast flowing section with berms and small jumps and different lines where possible. After the next fire road crossing it was time for “The Steep Bit ” this section was both fast and technical with a big jump in the middle leading into the narrowest exit I have ever seen. The trees were packed with stawbales to form some line of comfort for the riders. After that the small jump over the finish.

Gary was racing for 795 and did well in both his first and second run. In both runs he managed to get 2nd place and as the fastest run counts he got 2nd place on the podium.

Well done Gary!

[Race report by Rudolf]

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