XC Developmental league

Round 1 of the Wheelworx XC Developmental Race series begins in Ballinastoe on Sunday the 21^st of Feb. It’s a great way for people totally new to the sport to give it a try in a fun and relaxed setting. There will be prizes for each race, donated by Wheelworx bike and tri shop in Clondalkin, and series prizes from the Off Road Commission. Round 2 will be held in Ballyhoura on the 7^th of March, with the final round being held in Derroura, Galway on the 21^st of March. Big thanks to Richie and Epic, the Off road-commission and Rob from Wheelworx for organising.

An intro to Pronghorn

Quick background on the ALP's system...

Review of Pronghorn Racing PR-06 LT

This ain't the bike I have - wish it was...the lad's speaking Danish, but you'll get the gist...

Test: Pronghorn Racing PR-06 LT from Fallline Productions on Vimeo.

New spin to work works out...

Right, as mentioned earlier I've severely restricted time-wise these days, so its got to the stage where the spin to work is a training run and I'm getting up at 6.30am to do it. This better pay off...

So, I'm basically just cycling up and over Slade and back into Saggart and into work. No biggie? Yes biggie - Slade hill is a steep enough bugger. Its pretty much tripling the climbing I do. But thats not saying much really since I cycle through Kildare....

It adds about 3 km's onto the journey and about 10 minutes, so its worth the early rise I think.

Pronghorn special offer

The folks at Pronghorn are have a special deal on their alloy PRS-XC bike.

Here's the kit:

Frame: PR6 XC Race inc. FOX RP 2 available in Black or White

Front Fork: Magura Menja

Drive train: X7

Rear Derailleur: X.7 Long Cage Black

Front Derailleur: X.7 High Clamp Dual Pull 28.6/31.8/34.9 Black

Shifter: X.7 Twister 9sp Rear

Shifter: X.7 Twister Micro Front

Cassette: PG-970 11-32 9 speed

Chain: PC 971 114 links PowerLink Gold 9-speed

Crank Set: Firex 3.3Team incl GXP BB set 175 Blast Black 44-32-22

Disc Brake: Elixir 5 160 Front w Left Leve

Disc Brake: Elixir 5 160 Rear w Right Leve

Handelbar: KORE Alloy Flat or Riser

Stem: KORE Alloy 100-110-120 mm

Seat Post: Kore Alloy

Saddle: KORE

Wheels: Pronghorn 1490

Tyres: Rocket ron 2.1

All this for €2,420. If interested, drop me a mail!

Bike build update

Almost there - just the brakes to fit. But will be getting James @ OC tuning to finish the job off as I'm running short on time in the evenings and weekends (baby and trying to get out on the bike is pretty much taking all my time up these days). So, fingers crossed, I'll be out on it next weekend for a trail run.

Will stick up a post on my initial thoughts next week!

Training log

The snow finally cleared at the end of last week, and for the first time this year I managed to cycle into work. For the most part the roads were grand - just the odd track of ice here and there. Myself and @oisinboydell had planned a long mountain bike spin in and around Kippure, but the snow was still pretty deep up there, so another cancelled spin. While its all nice having snow, it plays serious havoc with any routine / training plans. Still made use of Saturday building up the Pronghorn (more on that in another post). And on Sunday myself and Gene did a 3.5 hour road spin in the flatlands of Kildare and Laois, heading from Naas down to Portlaoise, across to Athy and back up to Naas. The weather was perfect and it was great to get a long, non-stop spin in.

Monday I managed another spin into work. I had hoped to get the commute in 3 or 4 times a week, but I've been scuppered so far. With seriously limited time, the work commute will become a big part of my training, so I need to get the most out of that time, especially in the morning. So by getting up a little earlier (arrgh), I want to extend it a little by heading up and around Slade. It won't add a lot in distance wise, but I do get a nice hill to climb.

Wednesday myself and Gene hit Glending for a nightspin. This was the first of the training spins. We started off easy with a spin around the trails, then ran a handicapped race. Its a great way to really push yourself - knowing you've someone in front of you or behind. After that we did a few intervals on a short section of fireroad. All in all it was probably only 40 mins of effort (minus warm ups) and the plan is to keep building on this over the next few weeks - longer 'races' and more intervals.

Yesterday evening was an hour on the turbo trainer watching Flashforward on the tv. Nothing to write home about - just a long TT run.

And today myself and @Oisinboydell hit Djouce for a hard n' fast 4 hours. It was good fun, lots of techie trails and hard climbing. Just whats needed this time of year.

Oisin mentioned that the Chris Carmichael book 'The Time-crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week' might be worth a look. I doubt I've even got 6 hours a week, but will probably get it. Now if someone could come out with 'The Time-crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast and Powerful in 3 Hours a Week' - then I'd be interested... coincidently, Dave also has reviewed this book.

Mad 20th Anniversary spin

On Sunday the 3rd of January MAD held their 20th Anniversary spin. The initial plan was to Start at the Yellow house and make our way to Powerscourt, however the weather put paid to that (ice and snow everywhere). Instead we made to with a big blast around 3 Rock.

There was a big turn out from all the major clubs and good fun was had by all. Hard to believe MAD started 20 years ago - back in 1989 I had just dumped (road) cycling for beer and smokes!

Here's some pictures from the spin on Sunday and some from back in the day.