MAD MAX: well... do you like our trails? [Archive]

diamondG

10-05-2009, 04:56 PM

It was lonely marshalling over at Aggro, didn't have a clue how things were going

but one of team rocky mountain reconned it was like a world cup track (probably more technical if you ask me, but that's how we like it ;) and after Aidan McDonald, vet/elite savage extraudinaire said how much he liked the trails (on his second lap!), I nearly got emotional.

that's what you want to hear from these lads!

savage work from a savage club!

Liam

10-05-2009, 05:03 PM

Her here! Pat on the back to all the trail builders, tapers, marshals, caterers, etc, and of course the trail making machine himself, Fergal.

The little bits of conversation I over heard from the riders seemed positive anyway.

paddyobrien

10-05-2009, 05:06 PM

yep it was a great day ... and a big shout out to the sun for making a rare public appearance!

I was up at the ariels directing people on the figure of 8 crossover bit .. was gas seeing the look on their faces as i pointed them towards fairy castle ... some people nearly cried until i pointed out that they didn't ahve to go up that climb!

Cormac

10-05-2009, 05:11 PM

I was up at the ariels directing people on the figure of 8 crossover bit .. was gas seeing the look on their faces as i pointed them towards fairy castle ... some people nearly cried until i pointed out that they didn't ahve to go up that climb!

Phil got to send them up that fireroad of hell:)

Richie

10-05-2009, 05:14 PM

Richie Byrne

10-05-2009, 05:15 PM

i wasn't impressed with the amount of rocks moved out of the way and the bag of hardcore I saw on the track..just because somebody carried it up from the fireroad doesn't mean it will enjoy beig in there on its own.
I particularly liked the little climb and descent as you entered Ticknock..
but my favourite section had to be the section after you turned down through the gorse the second time..
Rck n roll or something i think its called..
really liked that..
The marshalls were great and the taping excellent..I thought the format was excellent and everything went flawlessly..fair play to all the members of MAD who gave up their race to Marshall and cheer us on !!
Richie

diamondG

10-05-2009, 05:15 PM

Her here! Pat on the back to all the trail builders, tapers, marshals, caterers, etc, and of course the trail making machine himself, Fergal.

Fergal 'the machine' Kilkenny, take a bow!
he's the motivator alright, seeing how much he puts into the sport is the reason I trail build.

I recon The Morgan's been fairly flat out the last few weeks too!

yis should be proud lads

Martin

10-05-2009, 05:17 PM

Lots of curious walkers who were all very interested in the event too. Not a negative word said all day :), in fact on fella hung around for about 5 minutes cheering and clapping the riders climbing up to Forgotten!

Thats deadly! I was taking numbers as the riders came to the finish and a few of the front lads compared it to world cup standard, and wanted to do another lap! I think 99% thought its was deadly!

Phil

10-05-2009, 05:20 PM

I got called all sorts of nasty things after pointing people up 'that' fire road, can't understand why....it thought I was being very helpful!
Fantastic day, reckon we broke some hearts and stole some souls today.
No hassle at all at my marshall spot, public were all happy and curious like.

Yet more photos
http://picasaweb.google.com/philip.mcdonagh/MADMAXXC#

paddyobrien

10-05-2009, 05:21 PM

Lots of curious walkers who were all very interested in the event too. Not a negative word said all day :), in fact on fella hung around for about 5 minutes cheering and clapping the riders climbing up to Forgotten!

Yep, i have to say i've never seen so many non grumpy walkers in the one day! Lots of people were asking where was the best spot to go and watch, a couple of non racers who were out for a spin wanted to join the club, even some mountain runners were changing their planned training route so they could watch bits of the race

diamondG

10-05-2009, 05:25 PM

nice one Richie!!!

I particularly liked the little climb and descent as you entered Ticknock..

yeah that's Romper appetizer, Phil, Dr Rob, PaddyB and meself did that one in 2 evens last week, its a good one alright

but my favourite section had to be the section after you turned down through the gorse the second time..
Rck n roll or something i think its called..
really liked that..

Rip Ride, its a classic!

Morgan

10-05-2009, 06:07 PM

Wow.

Wow wow wow!

There's no question - that was a spectacular event. A great bunch of people building, organising and running the first ever official (I think) mtb event on Three Rock. Aside from being really enjoyable and sucessful for the mtbers it was a great PR victory for access on Three Rock. There was plenty of support from all the other forest users and it's encouraging to see we can run a bit event up there without conflict.

Here are some photos I took, and a couple of videos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/morgan.oconnell/MADMAXXC2009?pli=1#

Thanks again to everyone who made this happen - great to see that you're all willing to give up your time early on a Sunday morning to contribute to something great. Without you this wouldn't have been possible. Well done to Fergal to for coming up with the whole idea and working through the various problems we encountered along the way - there were several occasions when it looked like it wasn't going to happen. Particular thanks to all the trailbuilders and trail markers, for the sweat and long days of wok. You're the reason they all call us "IRELAND'S PREMIER MOUNTAINBIKING CLUB"!!!

Fergal

10-05-2009, 06:10 PM

This was the biggest club-based effort ever - and the results really showed all the work - thanks to everyone for doing their best to make this a great event - myself and Oisin HAD to go for a full lap - wow - such a beautiful evening - I got 3 hours sleep last night and was wrecked but just had to do the loop - very nearly came off the bridge in Blue Oyster - knew that was a sign but it was great to bomb down the final fireroad with an amazing view out over the golf course to the Sugarloaf
right - I think I'll have a beer
cheers everyone!

Fergal 'the machine' Kilkenny, take a bow!
he's the motivator alright, seeing how much he puts into the sport is the reason I trail build.

I recon The Morgan's been fairly flat out the last few weeks too!

yis should be proud lads

Gavin

10-05-2009, 06:14 PM

This was the biggest club-based effort ever - and the results really showed all the work - thanks to everyone for doing their best to make this a great event - myself and Oisin HAD to go for a full lap - wow - such a beautiful evening - I got 3 hours sleep last night and was wrecked but just had to do the loop - very nearly came off the bridge in Blue Oyster - knew that was a sign but it was great to bomb down the final fireroad with an amazing view out over the golf course to the Sugarloaf
right - I think I'll have a beer
cheers everyone!

Really impressive trojan work from Morgan & Fergal and the rest of the committee of course. It's great to be in such an active club

RichardL

10-05-2009, 06:16 PM

MarkG

10-05-2009, 06:23 PM

theres a real sense of achievement ,well proud of today,nice feedback all through the day and why not! it was deadly,Id love to have raced it
super MAD!

Fergal

10-05-2009, 06:30 PM

Absolutely bloody brilliant....! Both physically and technically very challenging but nothing that I couldn't aspire to (eventually!). Many thanks to Fergal and all the Mad Lads (and Lassies) - amazing amounts of work! Great trails, marking and organisation. You've set the bar very high for everybody else!!

Hah - Richard - I thought I had you broken at one stage - I was thinking "feck - I think we've given them too much!" but then the big grin on you at the end - I knew you were made of hardier stuff - fair play - that was a very challenging course and you and the EPIC babys rightly conquered it!

Richie Byrne

10-05-2009, 06:43 PM

wheres the results..its Sunday !

Scrivo

10-05-2009, 06:57 PM

Absolutely brilliant event I think. Went off without a hitch as far as I could see! Would have done anything to ride the course with the racers. Imagine racing down Romper- insane! :D Congrats to the main men- Fergal, Morgan, Rob, Graham, Conor, Shane, Phil and the others I have over sighted. Yiz are legend workhorses!

Fergal

10-05-2009, 07:04 PM

it was tough to see the numbers with the jive-ass funky font we used on the plates so there's a few corrections to be made, meantime....see if this link (https://share.acrobat.com/adc/document.do?docid=9fe8a6e9-0b14-43c8-b392-05293afc87c0)works

Conor

10-05-2009, 07:06 PM

A few pics... The first and last are the best.

http://picasaweb.google.com/conor.conneff/MADMX#

paddyobrien

10-05-2009, 07:12 PM

Did joe stop to wash his bike before the finish? That looks far too clean for a spin on 3 rock!

Richie Byrne

10-05-2009, 07:15 PM

well done..
4 seconds between me and Killian..where am I going to pull those from..?

Conor

10-05-2009, 07:17 PM

Joe obliged me by crossing the line again just for the photo oppertunity!

Fergal

10-05-2009, 07:20 PM

well done..
4 seconds between me and Killian..where am I going to pull those from..?

try your Gowl baby

Richie Byrne

10-05-2009, 07:40 PM

will do !!! thanks ..

10-05-2009, 07:44 PM

Well done lads, huge amount of work put in to build all them trails. Great day out......

Gavin

10-05-2009, 08:20 PM

Got a photo of just about everybody that went on the full loop and then some of the end gathering

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinogorman/sets/72157617871490941/detail/?page=1

shane

10-05-2009, 08:34 PM

fergal i think we should get you a face lift

and soon

I
WILL
KILL
YOU

Sean

10-05-2009, 09:48 PM

Really good write up with quotes from our winner on mtbireland (http://www.mtbireland.com/news.php)

paddyobrien

10-05-2009, 10:24 PM

thats a great write up! When Joe was heading into T Connector for the first time (on the way to Rock'n'Roll and the lower club course) he turned to Aidan McDonald and shouted something like "You're gonna bloody love this next bit!"

The fact that Aidan then went around for a second lap speaks volumes!

Don

10-05-2009, 11:04 PM

Well done MAD, sounds like a brilliant day, everyone is buzzing their heads off except us poor fools who couldn't make it. I had visions of what you would do to me if I forgot to pick up the key for the place, but I like to think I played a small but crucial part! If the bar keeps being raised in this way you'll have to get a club stepladder or stick to reach it.

Fergal

11-05-2009, 08:52 AM

I dare say you played a pivotal role Don - thanks a bunch for helping out,
we must show you the route before half the population of Dublin wears out the trails!

Phil

11-05-2009, 09:09 AM

I think Shane deserves a big thank you...a man of seemingly endless resources and contacts.

Fergal

11-05-2009, 09:43 AM

oh for sure - he was giving it all his effort all day and it really paid off,
big thanks to ya Shane alright!
but I'm still going to kill you for that photo........

shane

11-05-2009, 09:47 AM

eh have to get me first

and no need to edit other peoples posts

any wants to know said photo i will pm it to ya

paddyobrien

11-05-2009, 09:49 AM

go on then!

shane

11-05-2009, 09:54 AM

feck it

its a face that would scare byrner

TOTALLY DEAD NOW!

Martin

11-05-2009, 09:55 AM

yup, shane really brought on the power!

two very large Jennys kept the boilers running and the tunes pumping!

fair play Shane!

Fergal

11-05-2009, 10:02 AM

Shane, I found another lead that may be your too!
it's like a double-ended headphone jack on either end of a cable....

shane

11-05-2009, 10:04 AM

thats richies

next give it oisin so he can put it with the others

diamondG

11-05-2009, 03:17 PM

I hope you've all read the reports and thanks on mtbireland and epic sites

MAD are now firmly on the map!

http://www.mtbireland.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=817

http://www.epicmtb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7061&page=4

alfie

11-05-2009, 05:29 PM

well done lads,super event cant wait for your nps

crown of storms

11-05-2009, 07:51 PM

amazing event! it was my first time racing and i had a blast- hope your nps is held there so i can race some of those trails again!
well done to all involved- savage trailbuilding!

DaveS

11-05-2009, 08:46 PM

Aboslutely savage. Second time doing proper mountain biking, first was a few weeks ago in Ballinastoe and it made that look like a joke... just a totally different level than I could have imagined!

I've got a lot of work before I'd do that course justice but I haven't been scared off, it just makes me more impressed.

Hats of to all the effort that must have gone into it. You've done yourself proud and Irish mountain biking in general a service I'd imagine.

Phil

11-05-2009, 09:08 PM

Dave, that is fantastic to hear, it really makes all the work put in worth while when we hear people like yourself new to the sport so inspired by the event and challanged but not put off by the toughness of the course.
Hope to see you on the trails soon.

Richie Byrne

11-05-2009, 09:37 PM

I've done a lot of races and that was one of the best courses out there..i did it yesterday for the craic on my Orange..but by jaysis I'm heading up to it tomorrow on my Carbone laPierre for a savage gallop around it..plopping can't wait you big ugly bunch of motherplopping ploppity ploppers..
Plop off plopheads !!!