Awesome Trophy haul for MAD at NPS round 1!

[Richie]

Correct me if I miss someone/get a position wrong....

Ryan - 1st

Mel - 1st

Oisin B - 1st

Oisin Fitz - 2nd (wha!??!)

Jackie - 3rd

Shane G - 3rd


The course was pretty enjoyable too - fireroad climbs were not that bad, and the single track was great craic when taken at speed.


I was happy enough with my spin, apart from Arek getting me on the last lap - grrrr...


What did the rest of ye think?

[NigelS]

that's amazing guys and girls!


well done :D

[shane]

after my crap start and powering up the climbs just to get past everyone i didn't think i done that well


the course was great i like ballinastoe now


i seems to be a good omen for me as thats 2 years on the trot now where i came 3rd


well done to ryan for holding off peter and liam


and the oisin v oisin race was great oisin fitz almost had the win as he was ahead for the 1st 3 laps was a great day out and great weather to

[Howie]

yeah congrats to all the MAD podium finisher's and racers today especially to Mr.Fitzsavage's out of the blue podium finish (Still think if ya used the 6" Reign ya would have had Mr Boydell... but that for history to debate) and to Bob who tore up the singletrack in his first experts race.


Irelands premier mtb club sure cleaned up


The course was good fun, first lap was a bit daunting with the entire masters and veteran fields chasing you down in the singletrack but i got through it okay. apart from that it was a great days racing, my legs and back are telling me that now... Oh and the weather wasn't half bad either!

[Conor]

Congrats to all! I'm raging I missed it, but its because my training last night would have put Paddy to shame! Still, its great to see everyone do so well. Roll on next week and Rd2!

[ryan]

I enjoyed the race a lot. Peter and Liam were close to me on the second lap so I eased a little and rode with them as a group for 4 of the 6 laps. I would put a little into them on the climbs to keep em working and they would catch me on the ST. Was cruising (and loving riding a full suspension - the Epic is such an amazing bike). My plan was to attack on the last climb (didn't want a sprint finish) but on the third last climb they dropped off me so I put the head down then.


Great weather and the course was a lot more fun then I was expecting. Almost 19kph average speed!


Well done to everyone else - a great day out for MAD... Guess I'll have to go to the next NPS next week then...

[ciaranc]

Damn it . everyone had a good race but me :( my chain snapped and my bottom bracket is loose , wayu too loose :(

i guess when i have bad luck you all have good luck :P

[Richie]

And well done to Liam and Barry for making the jump to experts too - certainly was interesting in the single track with grumpy old vets and masters trying to get by :-)

Thanks to Shane for bottling duties too!

[Oisin]

That was my most enjoyable race so far this year! Great weather, great course to race on and thanks to Fitzsavage for some really fast and close racing - you had me working hard the whole time either trying to catch you or staying in front at the end. Thats unbelievable power you can put out on the climbs!


The overall speed was really fast and the variation of terrain made it really interesting riding. Usually I have a stiff lower back at the end if there is a lot of in-the-saddle head down riding but the second half of the course was all out of the saddle and pumping the corners type stuff.


Looking forward to next weekend.

[Liam]

Well done lads and lassies

[diamondG]

that was great!!


I really enjoyed it.

The course was really enjoyable and getting speed on the man made trails was great!!

I put myself under a lot of pressure and kept Richie and Arek in site until the start of the third lap. I saw Barry and Liam 50 metres ahead too. Barry I think I gave you a warning.. I was commin to get ye

Disaster struck then and a new race experience for me, as I had to empty my stomach, 3 bottles of high5!! it was like the scene from the exorcist.

I had definitely drank too much. And the nuetral high5 with blackcurrant squash tastes bad.


normally that would have been the excuse I was looking for to call it a day..

Not today, I did lap 3 and wasn't lapped so lap 4 aswell. I'm chuffed!

and I hope I haven't put you off your dinner :P


well done to everyone! Great results!!!

And fair play to Baz and Liam for doing experts!

[Cormac]

Congratulations everyone, some really great results there.


Glad to see MAD riders continuing their dominance of the podium.

[paddyobrien]

jaysus lads well done .. and conor .. i applaud your efforts!


I did wake up early today and briefly considered goign to the race, but then turned over and slept another 3 or 4 hours instead. Overtraining i think!


bloody hell though .. both elites, nearly the whole experts podium and the podiums in the two sports races too! G'wan ya MAD things

[jackieo]

yeah defintely fun race and great weather!!

I was doing some training similar to Conor last night too but didn't seem to affect me too much! heh perhaps Paddy's onto something!


Well done to all who raced - some solid performances all round...Esp Ryan, I was getting nervous seeing them boys on your tail but should've known you'd have everything under control!

[oisinfitz]

brilliant day, i finally had a race this year without a mechanical!


the battle with oisin b was really enjoyable, it had me finishing the race with a huge smile on my face.


won't make round 2 but i'm looking forward to round 3...

[Fergal]

holy feck, I go away and MAD goes crazy dominating MTB!! maybe I should go away more often - Fitzsavage - you're some animal, really, that was some performance-glad you have banished your mechanical curse, did you have to consult some old gypsey woman to lift the curse?

and continued dominanace at the top end too for the fastest couple in Irish MTB!

wow - keep up the amazing work everyone

Barry & Liams sneakky training also paying-off, the list just keeps going....

You should see the amount of poser/plastic MTB'ers cycling over the Golden Gate bridge here in SF, MAD would eat them for breakfast!!!

[rob1891]

A few photos taken after my race, starting with MAD Barry styling it up on a 6" stepdown to flat:


http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/dr.robh/NPS2008Round1/photo#5194313415559537938


hardcore!

[Barrydanzig]

cool pictures there rob, if i do say so myself! just need to get the guns pumped so i'm a little less scrawney!

[Arek]

That was my greatest race in this year, fast course and blue sky-this is what I needed after wet K-cup. Thanks for cheering me up on this tough climb to the first singletrack, I felt twice stronger passing the feed zone;) Congratulations to everyone for great results. Cant wait for Carlingford, whole 6 days...

Pictures taken by Marta: http://picasaweb.google.com/Arek.Gogojewicz/NPS1Ballinastoe