Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Bull Raid 2011

Forgot I started this post :)


So, I'll keep this short.  Myself and Oisin decided to have another crack at the Bull Raid.  Last year we were meant to do it but Oisin got sick so I went out and did the 12 hour solo instead.  This year the course was a little different, the field a bit bigger and a lot more organised so it was building up to be a fun day.



Oisin camped out the night before but I decided to travel up on the morning of the race... which was fun.  When I arrived there was enough time to get unpacked and prepared for the race.  We decided I would go first and then we would alternate for a couple of hours before doubling up around lunch time - same plan as in Bontrager.  The weather was great - overcast but dry which made it ideal for the racing.


The biggest competition was going to be Ray O'Shaughnessy and Aidan McDonald and it was always going to be a big ask to keep up with these guys for 1 lap, never mind 12 hours!  But you never know what can happen in racing so we had to push it all the way just in case.





Once the whistle blew we had to run to the bikes and then sprint off from there.  By the time we got to the first section of single track I was in 2nd position desperately trying to hold onto Ray's wheel.  Which I managed to do for about 3/4's of a lap.  I made it back about a minute behind Ray who continued on for another 3 laps which I pitted and let Oisin off.  And that was pretty much how the race played out.  We gradually lost time throughout the day on the lads finishing in 2nd place.  It was pretty uneventful in a good way - no accidents, knocks etc, so we were happy with the results.