2014 BLUEGRASS ENDURO TOUR DUBLIN-Djouce Mountain

The 4th round of the Bluegrass Enduro Tour in Dublin-Djouce mountain this week end was run over two races: the men's race was on Sunday, and the other reserved for women, on the same track was held the day before. A world first, and a dream opportunity for novices to take part in their first Enduro; in a relaxed atmosphere against an idyllic background.

In Dublin, Bluegrass and the local organiser Biking.ie had put on a great sporting spread offering participants a course made up of magnificent trails around the Irish capital city, starting and finishing at the spectacular Powerscourt waterfall. The number of participants had intentionally been limited to 50 lucky riders due to logistical constraints involved when organising a race over three different locations around Dublin all on the same day.

Two 'fun' days of full on competition with all the ingredients which make the Bluegrass Enduro Tour such a great success. Impeccable organisation, a brilliant atmosphere, and, in keeping with tradition, no one is allowed to ride the course in advance of the race.

 
The day started with breakfast at the base of the waterfall, before setting off by bus towards Ticknock.

Once all the bikes had been unloaded from the trailers, the riders set off on a 2km liaison climb to the first start line of the day. The fabulous view over Dublin Bay was enough to have made the trip worthwhile.

Special 1
There was a highly technical section through the forest which required frequent short spurts, then further along a very fast section, and finally, just before the finish, a hard climb - with such a lot of energetic pedalling, the competitors were immediately in full swing.
 
Women's race
Michelle Muldoon clocked the best time in front of the German rider Hannah Roether who was less than 3 seconds behind.  It had been a really close fight.

Men's race
Daniel Wolfe straight away took the lead. The real surprise was New Zealander Reon Boe who clocked up the second fastest time on his DH bike!

This appetizer boosted the riders' moral. They took on the following 2km liaison climb with a smile!

Special 2
The rapid pace allowed the best to absorb the bumps on the ground almost without losing speed. For the rest, the day was going to be longer and tougher!

Women's race
Michelle Muldoon was once again the fastest just ahead of Hannah Roether.
Juliet Elliott, the English ambassador of fixed gear, came in 5th which is promising as it was her very first Enduro.
 
Men's race
Daniel Wolfe was the fastest, but hot on his heels came Pearse Griffin who was up for contesting his supremacy.

Another shuttle took the competitors up to Ballinastoe for a lunch break. Pasta salad and sandwiches were on hand to recharge the riders' batteries before taking the shuttle bus then pedalling 1km to the next start line.

Special 3
A new landscape, the backdrop of flower carpeted hills and lakes almost made you forget the difficulties of the track which was very technical right from the start, followed by a good minute or two of pedalling before taking on a long section where you could pick up speed right up to the finish line.

Women's race
With the fastest time in the first three specials of the day, Michelle Muldoon was well set for final victory.

Men's race
Daniel Wolfe was once again first and seemed to be untouchable. The fight for a place on the podium was going to be tough.

3km of climb later...

Special 4
The longest of the day. A mixture of highly technical sections and other faster sections scattered with jumps, then long sections of pedalling and a fast final section. Enough to make even the most resistant riders tap into their energy reserves.  

Women's race
After a disastrous start (18th in Special 1), Orla Mclean gave the other race favourites something to think about by coming in first in the 4th Special.

Men's race
All the Specials were closely fought races - amongst the junior riders, Conor Lavalle seemed to finally get the better of his rivals.

Refuelling with bananas and cold drinks was very welcome before the 5km liaison which took the riders from Ballinastoe to Djouce.

Special 5
The shortest of the day. The course started off fast, then there a short sharp climb once again but the riders' bodies to the test, the end of the race which was faster was nothing short of pure pleasure.

Women's race
The best time was once again made by Michelle Muldoon followed by German Hannah Roether less than 3 seconds later.

Men's race
Just as in the Special before, Jonathan Maunsell had the second best time behind Daniel Wolfe.

One last effort, a 2km liaison which consisted of a fast climb took the competitors to the start of the final race.

Special 6
Without a doubt, this was the most technical – lots of roots, tight bends where it was difficult to keep up speed, then a really fast downhill section through the forest before the final sprint for the finish.   

Women's race
A victory (of honour) for Orla McClean in the last special as the overall victory was Michelle Muldoon's in 33'11".  German rider, Hannah Roether a regular on the Bluegrass Enduro Tour, took 2nd place with a time of 35'34".  Consistent throughout the day, Kate Fluker, New Zealand's XC national champion, took the third place on the podium with a time of 36'31".   

Men's race
A flawless race for Daniel Wolfe who led throughout with a time of 25'43" ahead of New Zealander Reon Boe, who recently came 3rd in the Megavalanche, with 27'02".  Pearse Griffin, with a time of 27'15" completed the podium.

FULL RESULTS

2014 Ews Round 5 Winterpark Justin Leov's Diary

Next stop on the EWS Calendar was Winter Park Colorado. This round presented a few differences to previous races, such as the bike park environment, which saw the racing moving away from the European alpine terrain, also the racing at high altitude. Coming into this event I was nursing a couple of small injuries, which I had been working to recover since La Thuile and Valliore. A strain in my knee is awaiting diagnosis and treatment until I return to New Zealand in September, while ongoing tendonitis in my wrist was triggered by the long runs in Valliore. The weekend saw me relying on ice and kinesio tape to see me through the racing.

Once again we had a different format of racing for Colorado. Three days instead of the usual two. The format also saw us practice two stages, race them the following day, then the afternoon was spent practicing the following days stages. This meant that through the weekend you were either racing, practicing or sleeping!

There seemed to be a typical weather pattern, which was hot and dry in the mornings and around mid afternoon each day a storm rolled in. As a result of this the lift would shut down due to lighting. We were lucky for the first day of racing that our stages were to be raced in the morning.

Day 1:
Stage 1: This was a stage which was one of the longer bike park trails. Lots of berms, jumps, up hills and some physical pedalling straights. First stage of the weekend is always the one I find I’m nervous for. Generally after the first stage you settle into a rhythm or look at the areas you need to improve on. Before this stage I did a short warm up, my knee was sore so I wanted to save it as much as I could for the stages. Dropping in for my run and I was feeling tight. When I hit the first uphill section my usual power just wasn’t there. The jumps were fun on this stage but I finished off the pace in 11th.

Stage 2: This time less on the pedals and more of a Downhill Bike park stage. A couple of rock gardens and a section at the bottom where you needed to carry speed through rocks and flatter corners. A short but fun stage, a lot of guys knew this one, as it was the main trail of the bike park. With a stage already in the legs my body felt a lot better than the first stage. My knee felt good and I was ready to give it a charge! This stage seemed to flow a lot better, you could breath both of which contributed to a better feeling crossing the finish line in 5th place.

The rest of the day was spent practicing stage 3 which was over the backside of the mountain, it was a big day in the saddle. An important piece of equipment for reducing the amount of runs we need to make is a helmet camera. Being able to study the footage of a stage is so beneficial and with limited practice time its a valuable tool. On top of being the world's lightest full face helmet my MET Parachute comes with a very handy removable support for the helmet camera. Cool stuff!

Day 2:
Starting day 2 we had another surprise to the format. We would be meeting at 8am to practice stage 4 and 5 after a pedal liaison from the paddock area. A good warm up for the day with a decent climb before we would then race Stage 3, 4 and 5.

With only the one run on stage 4 and 5 I knew they were going to be hard. The terrain on these two stages was natural with tight corners in the trees and small stop start corners in some places, which made it hard to keep the flow. You needed to watch your handlebars on the trees and keeping traction while racing would be a challenge.

Stage 3: The name of this stage was Mountain Goat. A rocky natural stage, technical up top and then sections where you needed to carry speed over rocks in the middle then finishing on wide open fast fire road. I liked this stage and felt good in my run crossing the line in 4th. The finish of this stage saw us have a small climb to get to the start of stage 4.

Stage 4: The shortest stage of the weekend, just over 1 min 25 of racing with awkward trees to catch your handle bars on and the loose tight corners which were hard to hold speed. I never got into the flow this stage and fighting my bike and the terrain I was happy to see the end of it. 18th position, was a kick in the teeth!

Stage 5 was the final stage for day 2, a longer version of stage 4 but more physical. The terrain was in a forest which had been cut down so logs and stumps were everywhere. Care needed to be taken not to clip the pedals, it was easy to make time costing mistakes. As I sprinted off the start line I caught something with my back wheel and nearly had a big crash. Somehow I managed to stay on my bike but it was one of those moments when your heart nearly jumps out of your chest. The rest of my run was a mixture of small mistakes and fighting my bike again. I was frustrated to close the finish line but happy at least the stages were over. 13th place.

I couldn’t help but feel frustrated as I sat on the lift to go and practice stage 6 and 7 for the afternoon. I needed to make up some time on the final day and to do that required a big effort in both stages. I worked hard learning the final stages and when I got back to the Condo I could feel the efforts of the day. An ice bath and stretch to recover.

Day 3:
We started stage 6 and this would be the most physical stage of the weekend. This stage had some really long flat sections in the trees, while it also had the challenge of catching your handles bars, especially when you were tired. It then had a big flat pedallly section in the middle of the course which basically finished you off before a fast fire road to the finish where your really were just hanging on your bike. The unfortunate surprise of this stage was that once we got through all the pedalling and to the fast finish we came across an accident. It was awful to come across one of the women riders who had injured themselves. People were on the course trying to stop us but in such a fast section and without any sort of warning flags myself and 3 riders were past the accident and finished the run before all the other riders were stopped. Back in paddock there was discussion as to what should happen, re run all or just the riders who were stopped. It was one of those moments when you didn’t want to go up for a rerun but the sporting thing to do was to go back and do one to be fair to all the other riders. I made the decision to go up and so did the other 3 so I was happy to see everyone pushing for a fair race.

The effort in the second run was equivalent as I dropped in for the rerun. My legs didn’t have the same power any more and I was having to ride a gear lower. Without any warning I lost the front wheel in a turn and down I went. I was a bit gutted because it was not the stage you could afford to crash on and I was trying to make time not lose it! I finished out my run with everything I had left in the tank and crossed the line in 10th.

Final stage: This was the downhill stage of the weekend and all I wanted to do was to leave nothing on the hill and really go for it. With a tire change and a few adjustments to my Remedy I had little time for a warm up, I was straight off the lift and into the start gate. My run seemed to fall into place this time, I was able to carry good speed and hit all my lines. The final stage went great and I had held it together to finish 3rd. A good way to close the weekend.

It has been a mixed race for me this weekend, some up and downs for sure but keeping the consistency going with a 5th overall finish has kept me in 3rd in the points series.

A big thanks to my Sponsors/team/coach/ and wife for all the help to get here this weekend. Without all this support I just couldn't do it!

Trek Factory Racing, Fox Racing Shox, Shimano, Bontrager, MET, Bluegrass, Adidas eyewear, Stages power meters, CNP.

I now have two days testing with Trek and Fox Racing shocks so come Whistler in 2 weeks we should have some more time out of the bike and suspension.

- Justin -

Ladies Biking in Saalfelden Leogang

Saalfelden Leogang in Salzburger Land, Austria, July 24th 2014 – An active holiday is a great way to spend time with your better half. For couples or a gang of lady bikers, nothing beats a mountain bike adventure in the region of Saalfelden Leogang in Austria. It is the perfect spot regardless of age and skill level. Of course, the additional side activities like wellness facilities and shopping, make Saalfelden Leogang an attractive place to be for the modern lady biker!
 
Biking with your partner can be a difficult adventure: most of the time, unequal bike skills cause frustration. However, ladies need not rely on their male partner to rip up some dirt. The solution: gather up the ladies and head to Bikepark Leogang!
 
The Austrian region of Saalfelden Leogang is the ideal refuge to escape the daily grind and to enjoy a couple of days living up the high-life. It’s no surprise the highlight will be one if not more of the many biking opportunities such as the “ladies-shred-too”-camp from local bike school, Elements. Alternatively some ladies may prefer an easy-going tour across the region to take in the breathtaking scenery. Maybe you are looking for some action to let off some steam? Then why not push yourself to the limit on an uphill-ride with a fun e-bike! With a trail network of over 720 km/450 miles and a well-developed e-bike track infrastructure, the options are endless! You are bound to find the perfect activity in one of Europe’s best bike parks in Saalfelden Leogang.
 
Saalfelden Leogang is far more than just biking though. Men as well as women enjoy the down time off the bike, which is why the region offers a range of physical and mental recreation: wellness facilities, shopping, culture and various sports. The shopping capital Saalfelden has more than 140 shops to visit, perfect for ladies looking for an easy stroll in the sunshine.
 
Last but far from least, a good holiday needs good food! Quality regional products are highly valued in Saalfelden Leogang. The original “Pinzgauer” food like “Kasnockn” (special cheese pasta), “Kaspressknödel” (cheese dumplings) and “Erdäpfelnidei” (potato dumblings) are just some of the many tastebud tingling delicacies you will find here. To build up an appetite you can visit local enterprises like cheese dairies, distilleries and apiaries. You can even buy the products directly from the producers.
 
Saalfelden Leogang is strongly engaging in one project called “sustainable regeneration”. It’s quite simple. After an active holiday, you can return to your routine even more tired than before you left. In Saalfelden Leogang, it is all about offering the guests a holiday that ensures relaxation so that you leave feeling refreshed and fulfilled, with many exciting memories as well. More information about sustainable regeneration can to be found on: http://www.saalfelden-leogang.com/en/region/wellness-health/       
 
 
So ladies: pack your bike and come to Saalfelden Leogang for a sustainable, exciting bike trip!
 
 
News and information about the Saalfelden Leogang region can be found on:
http://www.saalfelden-leogang.com/en/ or on: http://www.facebook.com/SaalfeldenLeogang

2014 Enduro Mediterraneo Race Schedule Announced

Enduro Mediterraneo is entering the race schedule really dynamically. In less than two months, the first race of the series will be held will participants already growing in numbers, not only for the race in Xanthi, but even for the third race of the season which is in Volos in mid October. Xanthi will be taking all the pressure of the opening event for this years' Enduro Mediterraneo with participants from Germany, Italy, and all over Greece.

The race will consist of 4 Special Stages with total participation length of 25 km, 5 km more than the race in Steni of past September, and will all be done by pedal, as the elevation gain/loss suits this condition. Total elevation gain/loss is 1400m, and the timed stages are 7,1 km long, making the race quit demanding. Registration will occur nearly all day on Saturday at Flowride Bike Shop, and the organizers along with local riders will give you an official track run of the race course at 13:00 on Saturday noon.

The Enduro Mediterraneo organizing committee has decided to give everyone a chance to come to the race even if they are far away, giving an option of transportation for you and your bike. A special bus with a bike treiler will depart from Athens on Friday noon with Xanthi as the final destination and return on Sunday night. Intermediate stops will be made in Larisa & Thessaloniki or anywhere else will be needed. You will find the participation form on the link below.

Sunday is the race day where athletes are invited to give their best. The race start will be given in 11:00 in the morning, with seeding runs at 9:00.

The option of registration with a 20% discount is extrended till the 10th of March, giving you the chance to participate with a lower cost.

Detailed schedule, rules and special details can be found at the following link

http://enduromediterraneo.com/xanthi-race-2014/

Bluegrass Helmets And Protetcive Gear Announce 2014 Team Roster

We have now finalized our 2014 Factory Development Team and are proud and excited to be working with some of the world's best:

Enduro
Hannah Barnes / UK
Fergus Lamb / UK
Justin Leov / NZ
Liam Moynihan / UK

DH
Joel Andrey / CH
George Brannigan / NZ
Carina Cappellari / CH
Drew Carters / UK
Joe Connell / UK
Bernard Kerr / UK
Steffi Marth / Germany
Lars Peyer / CH
Jack Reading / UK   

BMX Race
Shanaze Reade / UK
Miki Iibata / Japan

 
Wishing you all an exciting and safe gravity season!

Bluegrass. Combat Ready / Race Proven.