So I rolled out my Focus Superbud and went off on a practice lap. First of all , I was sent off down the kids track by Eoin Fitz, he’s from Limerick so I’ll forgive him but I will get him back for that. So back on track , off I went up the fireroad . To  say it was mucky was an understatement. Myself and Dave Furlong and his sidekick from the Racing 795 stable took off together.

All O can say is that the track had some absolutely brilliant sections..like the best of Djouce, the leadmines and Bellurgan. It was crackin.

However, with all the muck in my eyes I went wrong and missed the best section on the trail TNT…But hey, I was too cool to go back up and do it and went back to the Eurocycles HQ to change into race gear.

And put on the old clear Oakleys ! I never wear glasses in a race but today was uber mucky and my eyes were in a heap .

So lining up in the Elite pack..I haven’t ridden Elite in 2o years..Richie Felle was there doing his usual Richie Felle stuff with his chum Sebastien Villalobos Ramirez Beverley Hills..you know the guy !

And we were off..so up the hill puff pant puff pant..squelch..( don’t go too hard Byrne, you always go too hard at the start )  but Cameron Cornforth was getting away from me and sure he’s about 12 and a Downhill monkey..I could just make him out..all 6 foot 13  of him in his flappy pants..didnt he used to be hobbit size last year..whats going on, am I getting sports related Alzheimer’s ?

Anyway ..down this bit along the other bit..it was becoming a blur of rain, mud, snot, drool and other fluids I can’t classify and I was gaining on somebody something and we got to the bit where I went wrong before and next thing I knew i was this way that way, sideways and I fell on my arse..back on pedal ,coast , pedal , coast !!  can’t see Oakleys fogging up ..arrgghhh…smack , off the trail..trees grey sky..

Then off I go again …and I was hoofing along nicely aching and disoriented when I came to the end of the trail and this massive slope down to the fireroad appeared..

I scared myself nicely riding it way too fast..should have definitely done that practice lap properly..up the fireroad again on lap 2..completely blind from the fog on my glasses..still I would rather be blind and slow than fast and splattered with the gravelly eyes of death..

the second lap was a slower more painful version of the first..Rory O Keefe put manners on me and I never even knew it was him till I was at home looking at facebook !

The 3rd lap was even more fun, with the mud drying out and the rain stopping it was becoming clay..then Dave Wilson from MBCC and insisted on chatting to me as I was trying to stay alive on the grease coated , slimy roots while trying to see through my misty Oakleys !

But the sense of achievement not being lapped by Richie Fell was deadly..not a very succesful race for me from a racing point of view but a resounding success for MBCC who put on a great show and for our Eurocycles Event team who got a lot of interest and we worked together as a deadly Team.

Next week we take on Corrin Wood , just outside Fermoy , a venue revered in the 90′s, looking forward to racing there again.

Personally I have nothing against other sports and I’m sure they have nothing against us, with their massive stadiums and the suburbs filled with lovely club houses and manicured fields.  I think its fair to say that i am inspired by these things and I dont see why we cant have similiar facilities for cycling..why not. But first we have to build on what we have.

Thats why with the help of Eurocycles and the legend Joe McCall I have decided to bring a Team of young guns to the field. If we can show other youngsters how cool it is to ride and race XC , others will want to do it too.

Today was a historic day, I was going to wait until we had all the gear and the bikes and the media but I wanted people to see how History is made, by a couple of committed people, some talented youngsters , supportive parents and a forward looking Company. So here they are on their first steps to glory..

With Joe McCall,  we have Marlena Drozidiok from Blanchardstown, Rob Deegan from Newbridge and Max Van Der Lee from Sandymount. Remember those names, you will be seeing them in lights very soon.

Richie Byrne

January 2012

Thats the modern term, I prefer to use the term rite of passage..either way both desciptions are very dramatic and probably should have Roman music blaring out of the laptop as you read it. You get the idea, Biking brings people together, there is a weird communty of people out there when you think about it. Nobody footballs or golfs to the shop or to work ! Its fun, its scary, its fast and they are machines..ooooh machines. We have to measure them, weigh them,oil them, change bits on them,rack our brains over which bits would go with what …its like God made the bicycle as the ultimate distraction. To distract us from a dull job, a nagging wife or partner and to insulate us from a world full of crap TV and most importantly of all to remind us of the very first time we experienced speed.. Because at the heart of the bicycle is speed.. Faster than walking, easier than running and it introduces us all to Power..as Humans its obvious that at the bottom of our brains somewhere, there is an undiscovered gland that craves power and speed and the very first experience of speed and power comes from a bicycle.

You may not remember it but i see it every day in my job.., Boy or girl, it doesnt matter..there they go bent over the handlebars of a 12 or 14 inch Raleigh pedalling like mini Contadors in and out of the other bikes, intent on nothing else except increasing their speed and getting safely around a corner without capsizing and without realising it. So there you are linked by speed and power… I see it in kids but I see it every day I commute to work ..when I am overtaken frantically while stopped at traffic lights by flapping commuters out of control and eyes on the prize of overtaking the lean man in lycra. The desire to stay ahead of me driven not just by some sort of Jungle atavism that demands that every man out there has to beat his chest and show other men whos boss..but while they are at it they experience that sudden rush of power and speed and all of a sudden they are suspended somewhere between reality and fantasy, the reality is I am going to overtake them again when the lights go green and the fantasy is that as long as I am behind them they are winning ! Yeah i have been challenged even by people on electric bikes and by mopeds..foolish mortals. However I was once schooled severely by some lad on a single speed wearing cut off combats..I imagine ( hope)that once I turned off the N11 and out of sight that he collapsed in a heap and had to be collected by his mum ! I hope … But thats what cycling is all about, speed, power,competition and tribalism.

Some of us are Cross Country racers, Commuters, road racers, BMXers, Downhillers, cycling to the shops people, cycling home from the pub people and a dozen more.

So in the world of cycling its easy to make friends..you can talk a load of coddology about bikes, spins and places to cycle. Everybody has a cycling story or two.

Everybody has had a bike. In a roundabout way I have come back to my original thought which is our friends through biking. So , I strayed there a bit but the underlying theme of this Blog is people we have made friends with through Biking.. The Bike its a distraction, a glue, a white flag and a line in the sand. However you will definitely meet some interesting characters along the way.

Teenagers, bored, fed up, causing divilment, staring into space, Xboxes and their own navels. Why, they are teenagers, they have no focus..they dont need any , they are still kids. We still tell them when to get up, when to go to bed, when to eat, when they can go out and when they should be in.

Yet we expect them to amuse themselves and find things to do. Thats a load of me Boll*& , most adults need the same thing but can find it easier. A lot of stuff thats not cool for a teenager is very acceptable for adults. But still we complain that they are turning into zombies but do nothing about it.  Well us adults always have one thing we can give them, even if we are broke !

We can give them some of our time , how hard is that ! I would never have embarked on any of the crazy adventures I have enjoyed without the help of an adult who gave a shӣ.

So I learned a valuable lesson as a teenager. Always give some time to people who want to see your world, welcome them, make them last and teach them something useful even if it is how to skid spectacularly.

So I rounded up some teenagers , with the help of some teenagers and a couple of dedicated adults and off we went.

We brought them to the best forest in the world to ride your bike and let them loose.

I took the under 12s consisting of Drew Armstrong (XMTB),Craig McCarthy (XMTB), Nathan Carr ( Me DadCC) and Ross Ennis (EPICmtb) , and Alfie Wallace and Joe McCall took an Army of older ones for an EPIC spin ,

We took in all the best singletrack in the place and put several of the hardest climbs in the place to bed !  I’ve said it before , Mountainbiking is hard ; hard, dirty and dangerous . It hurts when you hit the ground, it hurts when you have to pedal uphill, its scary on the way back down .

But when you get it right its so sweet, so satisfying.

It doesnt matter how old you are, it always hurts. But when you are a young teenager, getting hurt and wore out will easily put you off. Thats the problem we have, theirs a whole heap of things to distract them. So the job we have is to make mountainbiking so deadly to do, they will keep doing it.

My plan is to build a community of youth and junior Mountainbikers and create an environment thats safe, enjoyable and builds self confidence. After all thats as important as being a winner. give a teenager a sense of his worth and you keep in on the right path and make the world a better place. Simple !

As we got near the end of our spin I produced yet another fierce climb.

As we were grinding our way up it I heard one of them say to another,

” don’t be afraid to pass me out, i’m wrecked”

to which the other guy replied

” no way, I can barely keep on your wheel!

I’m pretty sure a teenage Joe McCall said the same thing to Bob Seymour about 22 years ago !

Now obviously the point of exercise is not just to feel good it’s to look good.  We all know that when you buy those new shoes or sweep in to the office with that new hairdo, everybody notices you and you feel mighty fine. Well by the power of the Bicycle we can get that for you, get a new bike, get some new gear to use with it and join the thousands turning to Cycling for exercise and commuting.

Commuting, yeah that conjures up images of distressed Japanese workers jammed into a tube, hurtling through a grey landscape with rain lashing against the tiny windows..

Yuk…

That not what Commuting by bike is.

Commuting by bike is not just getting from A to B and back again, it’s an adventure, it’s giving the fingers to a society that says you have to go to work on the train, Bus or The Car. It’s an adventure. But every adventure needs the right equipment.  Otherwise you are doomed to misery, because like anything, poor preparation can cost you that hole shot, that winning goal, that successful spin into work.

So let’s get it right first time, every time.

Regardless of whether you are commuting for 20 mines or 45 mins…the right bike for you is essential.

The Right Bike.

For Commuting it has to be a Hybrid..Or a road bike. Sometime a Road bike though can be a little bit daunting, the dropped bars make it appear just that little bit on the side of serious, throwing out images of Lycra and shaved legs and enormous mountain road climbs.

So it’s the Hybrid for our first time Commuter. They go from €199 up to €2000 plus, however something between €500 and €1000 is normal. Consider for a minute that by buying a Hybrid to commute on you are investing in a self sufficient mode of transport, a lifestyle and adding years to your life. Now while a BMX might be a time machine and return you to your youth and make your hair grow back, a commuter will add years to your life and remove inches from your waist.

Sounds easy ? Well like all great ventures, its not going to be easy at the beginning but you know the saying, “ how do you eat a baby Elephant..one bite at a time !” Cycling is way more fun than walking, sexier than Golf, you don’t need a ticket or a timetable, all you need is the will to get off your backsides and start.

Right…heres a couple of bikes to whet the appetite.

The Xcity 3, it even sounds exciting, fast, reliable, and fun!

http://www.eurocycles.ie/Commuter/Gents_Hybrid_Bikes/Felt_XCity_3/3147_p.aspx

Now here’s the good bit..

Go down the Bike to Work route and we will give you 15% of the value of the bike in free accessories. In this case you’re talking €75, that will get you a good lock, a set of lights and a couple of spare tubes.

Here’s the accountancy bit, have a read and don’t hesitate to ask us any questions about it. You will get your bike Tax free and so you can get another idea of what might be good for you, have a look at this

http://www.eurocycles.ie/CYCLE2WORK_.aspx

The Focus Black Falls , superb German engineering!

http://www.eurocycles.ie/Commuter/Gents_Hybrid_Bikes/Focus_Black_Falls_Disc/3316_p.aspx

As extras you can get a good lock, a great pump and a set containing super lights and Computer.

So have a look at our website, do your homework, drop in and see any of the Eurocycles staff in any of the shops , we are owned and operated by Bike riders. Staffed by Bike riders some at a very high level and some who ride for fun but we all love our bikes and want you to love them too.

I sat back with the ladies in the hope that all the superheroes or Ho’s as some people call them would bin themselves on that lethal first left hander..in fact I was counting on it ! I’m no longer a Vet, I am a supervet..I’m in the 50 Plus age group..50, thats like half a bleedin century, somehow that can’t be right. How the hell did I get here..too stupid to realise I’m middle aged..isn’t forty middle aged, don’t we only get 80 years as men !! So 50 makes me, Declan McCabe, Willie Mulligan, Johnny McCabe  and Justin May really really old..like we only have 1s years to go before we get the Bus Pass !

Oh no..

I was at Robin Seymours 21st ..OMG..thats teenage for Fucks Sake !

Still , in my head I am 15 ..yeah, thats when I first realised looking over the edge was worth doing !! hahahahahaha..so I’m stuck at that.

So ..my first ever Cyclocross National Championships..I was too cool for Cyclocross for years.  I’m the God Father of Irish Mountainbiking but the Father of Irish Freeriding , actually I ran Ireland first Downhill race, so doesn’t that make me the Father of that too !! Oh i know  few people who would hate to have to hear that..fuck ‘em I am what I am and I have done what I did !

But Cyclocross..ah…I saw it on Blue Peter back in the ’70′s and I thought..thats insane. I have to have a go at that !!

And here  I am..

its not like any other Cycling Discipline but it has the best of both DH and XC..I can say that because I have done both and won both..

It has that full on technical battle that XC has and it has that mind boggling teeth grinding fear of falling off that real DH gives you..so if you are holding your holding your breath for 1 min  30 in a Dh race..try holding it for 45 minutes in a cx race. Hahahahah..add in that daft brakes, the skinny tyres and the saddle all the way up your pipe…relatively speaking Cyclocross is the ultimate offroad discipline..think about it for half a minute.

And Robin Seymour is the Master.

18 national titles in 20 years..in a sport only done for 3 months. What a legend. The first time I saw him in action on a Cyclocross bike was in Kilcullen , circa 1992 ..yeah thats 20 motherfeckin years ago ! He had flat bars on the yoke and they put a wooden ramp in a field coated in cow shit.

But the piece de resistance !! was the pool of slurry in one corner of a field , however we have come along way since then !

Due entirely to the efforts of 2 people , David Hieronomous Gill and Robin Tiberius  Seymour.

Make no mistake ,without these two eejits there would be no Cyclocross racing in Ireland and bear in mind that Cyclocross is the National sport of Belgium.

Wouldn’t you just love if Mountainbiking was the National Sport of Ireland..Christ. In the fantasy world of Richie Byrne that could happen..i would have the horn of El Dorado..

Imagine people flocking to Ireland to enjoy Mountainbiking here in the birthplace of it..yeah you might think it started in Marin County in San Francisco..lies all Lies..

Me , Peter Purfield, Eddie Beechnor Collins and Rory Walsh invented it on 3 Rock in 1988..before that it was just hippies messing on bikes.

Now back to the 2o12 National CX champs..Robin won with Roger second and Matt 3rd..I have to say my favourite podium..though 2nd place Darragh Mortimer and 3rd place zippy Doyle would have made me very happy !

But hey..theres always next year !

A big thanks to Team Worc and all the people who backed the Cyclocross season this year.

The EPICmtb rentacrowd

All the photographers

especially Nick Keegan from www.kingdombike.com

Ticknock opened up to the hordes waiting to ride legally for the first time in 25 years on 3 Rock. It works quite well except the bottom half is a way better climb than it is a descent.

The top section is pretty good near the end of it but completely pointless until you get to the turn off to 2 Rock. Still its a milestone or is it a millstone, time will tell, shredders.

It was also the year that me and my friends brought a World champion over to have a go against our best. Plus a helicopter. Of course controversy has grovelled after us since then but I have no regrets. The Blast is the Blast, an Arena that allowed newbies, goobers and pros all compete on a level playing field.

Robin won the XC Nationals again, Gerard Wolfe won the DH Nationals and was then left out of the ” permission list ” for the World Champs.

The European Masters failed to come to Ireland.

Despite a huge increase in the popularity and standard of Cyclocross, nobody got to represent the country in it.

Young Ben Kennedy was the overall winner in his class at the BDS in the UK  in 2o11. A mighty achievment.

However a bigger fuss was made about Niall Davis beating off assorted transvestites and vegetarians to become singlespeed world champion..

Thats Iorlan for you. Isn’t it deadly to win the odd, the peculiar but sure we could never win a serious race…could we?

I think we could. The problem is in our leaders. Way too conservative, too timid and unfaithless.

Anyway, it was a mixed bag , we gained a Mountainbike Ghetto  but lost a wild,  out of control day out on the Mountains.

Decide for yourselves which is the better .

So back to January..it was cold, we still rode our bikes but by the end of it the snow was all gone and we were back to living under a blanket of clag and battling puddles and slimy roots and pointy rocks. It was deadly though, well worth it drinking coffee afterwards and taking the piss out of your mates.

Its this time of year that you get driven mental cleaning your bike, its a whole bloody new routine when what you really want to do is sit on your arse drinking Coffee and looking at Murder She Wrote on the Sky box. Theres loads of pink stuff and wee coloured stuff and brushes and stuff that removes filth and grime but you cannot beat some good old fashioned child labour, here Ryan , it didn’t take long to convince him that there was no Oso if he didnt clean the bike. Start them young I say.

Then March came along and as usual a promise of  Spring, longer days and a well earned break from early seaason training with a trip up a big Mountain. Big mountains are the crucibles of Mountainbikers, you will know if they will survive the years of hiding bikes from their wives and chatting around the espresso machine about the Gnar and the hucks of the weekend . Up a big mountain, one that makes your balls swell and your hair grow back, well theres no hiding, its be slick or be dead.

This year I had yet another go at enticing the fairer sex into the sport. Always a tough one,there are plenty of great women out there keen on shredding the gnar and wearing the lycra. Some of the ladies I know are the most improved riders ever. They listen and they they think about how to get better and they are way better at helping other than males. They dont fall around the place laughing if someone splits themselves on a Ticknock trail anchor, they whip out their home surgery kit and calm everybody down.  I like women, i like looking at them and I like seeing them improve, nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing them master trails some of my fellow knuckle draggers can’t cope with !

This was a good year for the EPIC ladies and 2o12 will be even better !

Ok I cannot find any April photos..talk among yourselves there !

So June and the height of the racing season, with the Nationals just over the horizon and the NPS winding up, everybody was doing their best to get those extra muscle fibres grown and trim the old race face ! Loads of riders stood out this year  for me but none more so than Ronan Hopkins, a supernaturally talented bike show off, he can do no handed wheelies, reverse half nelsons and manual for 3 days in a row. His enthusiasm for just being in the chaingang whether it was XC or DH impressed me, always a gentleman and inspiring, even if he is a Yoga Blackbelt…

July…hmmm the height of Summer or the Irish Monsoon season..loads of spins, an NPs and two National Championships. 1 in Carrick  for the DHers by all accounts a fantastic success , Ger Wolfe won in style but I was more concerned with the XC Nationals as we had way more riders taking part in that. Robin Tiberius Seymour  won that once again showing that even though he has been at the top for 2o years that he is in no hurry to retire. But none of these events would even get off the ground if it wasn’t for the self sacrifice of volunteers. The true champions of competitive Mountainbiking is the volunteers, people like Aine Conneffe from MAD who does bottles for everybody and wipes the noses of the defeated. Lucky for us theres always somebody to mind us when we go outside the lines and really want our mammies.

August and bright evenings and kids on bikes. It seems to be that I spend most of my time kicking adults up the arse and shout at them to get moving, stop crying and moaning and if you’re not first you’re last. I spent 4 months in 2011 coaching kids from 3 to 13 every friday evening, with the help of their parents, their aunts and uncles and Carol. My god some of them were unbelievable. I mean they opened my eyes to peoples abilities. Unfortunately we had to stop in September due to weather and lack of daylight. I wish there was two of me who could do the shouting at the adults on Sundays and another me who could do the same with the small ones at the same time. I feel bad ( unusual I know) that I am not involved in this every weekend but I just love riding my own bike way too much !

September…

The Blast..I’ve already said too much about it so heres a photo instead….not the one everybody expects but one of a Superstar and Gee Atherton!

October night riding season gets going, we are blessed that we have the mountains so near where we live. Twice a week we get to charge around the woods in sight of Dublin. The first few weeks involves as much crashing and falling off as actually riding but evetually everybody gets in to the swing of things and it becomes second nature.

November and its deep in Cyclocross Territory. If you havent raced Cyclocross then you haven’t learned all thereis to know about riding a bike. Leave behind all the skills you might have picked up riding road, BMX , XC or DH. Its nothing like any of them and its nothing like what I used to think, that it was the worst of all cycling sports combined. Its the opposite. You need the strategy of a roadie, the power of a DHer, the skill of a BMXer and the speed of an XC racer. So don’t knock it till you try it. Once again its a juggernaut driven by one man, this man …how he manages to throw his leg over his bike after doing all in the background before the race and still win amazes me.

So there you are…a very loose retrosprective from a biased viewpoint. The last photo of 2011 is of my club and one or 2 guests. I know a lot of the time its all about racing, but its really all about the people. I dont do it because of the exercise or the trouble I get in to ,to amuse myself  with, I do it because of the craic. You have not experienced the fun of getting outdoors and narrowly missing killing yourself, bankrupting yourself to buy and maintain an expensive machine as you do in EPIC.

I dont see the point in being an Irish Mountainbiker if you are not at least going to attempt to ride through Winter. Its rough though and you really need to be dressed properly for it and learn to keep going even though you want to go home and ring your mammy and ask her to mind you ! You can get used to anything though and we were lucky this year. I got to ride my bike nearly everyday. No snow and only hurricane winds to fight meant you could ride everyday if you wanted to.

Now I am completley lost as to where the hell I went in the second part of my Training camp. hold in it was Djouce again !

the 28th

So off we skipped to a very wet and feckin freezing Djouce woods..but before we left I noticed something that could only be called a travesty of an injustice !!

This poor unfortunate passed me going in the opposite direction and I nearly fell off my bike. His forks were the wrong way round. I have to say what a legend cycling around an extrememly slippy and grim set of trails in Djouce at what i can only describe as a deathtrap of a doom machine. Most people have the saddle too high or too low, too much air in their tyres or too little.

So off we went..me leading the squad up, across, down, along , slurp, slurp , scuttery , slimery and stop !

Steve had picked up an old tubeless tyre malfunction..and his tyre kept slowly deflating but we kept on..riding a bit of this, a bit of that and hucking some of the other.

That was that and the next day was

the 29th  and it was magical mystery tour day !

A fair gang of us lit out up by Johnny Foxes and over to Glencullen , up the big mother of a fireroad and up past the Minibog which was now a full blown bog ! over Ravens Rcck and down the gully to Annacrivey and the newly surfaced fireroad and back to Glencullen and up by Freds, down Rock and Rolla , bumping in to Alan Ayling and the seven dwarves.

Then we scooted down the Ewok trail and on back to Palmers. Wet but happy.

30th

and we were in Roundwood, up and up and up till we got to the WW woods bordering Lough Dan and up by the pier gates at Luggala and in to the back of Ballinastoe, on to the Rollercoaster of Love, across the Ganges where a couple of real heroes have built an outlaw trail second to none. Then back down in to Roundwood and the finest all day Breakfast in the Coach House in Roundwood..

The last spin of the year then was Saturday 31st on 3 Rock with 3o of EPICs finest singletrack jockeys. Damp enough to start and a very mixed bag of riders from Elite XC racers, internationally reknowned Adventure pilots who would make Bear Grylls look like a spice girl and recovering Obesity Pirates..some craic all day, lots of stupid crashes, some whammying, romance, tears and everybody doing their damndest to show how spectacular they are.

That was a fantastic end to a brilliant year for EPIC. A big show of bodies of all shapes and abilities riding together and having the craic.

Looking forward to 2012 and World Domination !

Richie

Where do I start..Christmas eve , no..no it was the day before Christmas eve..Me, Smithers and Donough  went for a handy one up  3 Rock..I am sick of 3 Rock but it was Smithers’ spin so w e had to go. lately 3 Rock is being ridden to death, unfortunately by MXers. Now I don’t have a problem with them and it shows the lack of foresight by the suits that nowhere is provided for them but they are ruining the outlaw mtb trails on  3Rock, riding them when they are wet is completely destroying them which is a pity but where else can they go. If they were given a section of the forest to play in they’d probably be just like us and ride wherever they feel like ! I can’t say i blame them, God forbid I never get an MX bike !

As long as they are not ripping up the fireroads scaring the walkers and other users then they have every right to be there. Still there are plenty of spots they cant get in to and maybe outlaw trailbuilders should bear that in mind when they swing their shovels up there.

I tell you though it was mild breezy and relatively dry considering !

So, Saturdays spin was a bit different,  Djouce was in great shape and off we went with some less than savage individuals and some more than savage individuals. Mild again and everybody was in good form with Christmas looming on the horizon who wouldnt be.

No photos this time because I was in a hurry so use your imagination !

St Stephens Day Social spin is the ideal opportunity for people to come along and join in, maybe even join the club. As usual a big turnout with several first timers intent on showing just how deadly they are. So with the usual mixture of enthusiasm and balls off we went at a sedate pace in Irelands greatest ever place to ride a mountainbike.

Sometimes you just need a handy one to make you appreciate just how deadly it all is !

Then it was Tuesday and off I went up Ticknock again with Niall Quinlan , Oscar and Smithers..now sometimes you can forget about how hard Mountainbiking can be when you are busy poisoning yourself with drink . We lost one of our party early on as his blood alchohol level was more than his blood blood level..shocking ! So me and the remaining brutes kept it going and found every tough climb in 3 rock to keep us amused !!  I forgot to take  a spin photo so heres one from the archives !

so that was part 1 , Part 2 is funnier..in the meantime I hope you are all enjoying Christmas and not overdoing it, then again anything worth doing is worth overdoing !!

Until tomorrow !

So its the last Nightride of 2011 and the weather is practically balmy up there in Ballyoforest*, Co Wicklow, it being one of the finest forests around the place for offroad Cycling.

Nightriding is not one of my favourite Mountainbike things. I can’t bloody see a thing even with fancy lights and I have had more than one completely stupid crash while night riding.

But it has to be done, especially on Thursdays when I run the EPIC ladies section, which strangely enough attracts more men than women.

In Epic we are blessed with several ladies, all of which are highly skilled and competent riders. Its only fair to give them their own spin each week and get some of our best riders out with them as fodder.

I have to say each week they are getting better and better. Real better.

The way I view improvements is very simple.

When the injury/ mechanical quotient factor on the hypotenuse is equal to the square in Tallaght then people have improved.

Thats science right there..

No, when I see the incidence of mistakes decreasing and the flow of the spin increase, then I know we are getting somewhere.

When you go on a spin with a group and the walking stops, the crashes stop and the mechanicals cease then I know that the group is getting slick and at the end of the day thats what its all about.

Not how fit you are or how great you are at going fast up or down.

Its about riding from one end of the spin to the other without stopping, having a heart attack or ripping parts of your bike off.

However none of that means anything if you let yourself slide into the granny ring when you get tired. Come on, the granny ring is there for when you have crippled yourself 5 hours in to a spin and you cannot feel your legs. Well you can feel them but they belong to somebody slower and weaker.

So yeah, get through the spin, without crying like a little girl, in your middle ring,  without dabbing, crashing or ripping off your derailleur or puncturing your tubeless tyres then you will be starting along the path to Savagedom.

But thats another set of rules and parameters ( thats a science word ) involving knowing never to ask for a “ bar break” , eating a packet of Rowntrees Fruit pastilles when I’m not looking.  Engaging me in conversation about the crap state of Irish Mountainbiking politics to slow down the pace. Still , its all deadly, if you can make it through a Winter of night rides in the company of Byrners Bastards, you are nearly guarenteed  glory, the love of women and the admiration of your peers. Not to mention  you will have some really classic spins.

Ah but now with Winter half over and Spring just over the Horizon, the Night ride becomes a different beast entirely…

We will be heading deep into Wicklow and taking on the mighty Murderhorne, the Classic Lumpy Mountain and the fierce but deadly Tissuepaperhorne.

*the identities of the locations have been changed to protect the innocent.