Megavalanche

[paddyobrien]

Just noticed results are up for the Megavalanche qualifiers today.


Dutch Robb got 32nd in heat 5 with a time of 35:12

Oisin got 39th with 36:13 in the same heat

Steven didn't do so well, coming 135th in heat 6 with 50:14 so i guess he had some issue or other, punctures or something, which is a pity.


Having said that, I'm very hungover today so i've no actual idea what any of that means, or if steve has qualified for the full megavalanche now or not. He doesn't appear to have been given a starting line place for it


But i'm probably wrong!

[rob1891]

my god paddy, I've just been leafing through them as well. You must be idle as f.


:-P

[rob1891]

I think there is a second race for those that did not qualify. I guess you don't get gridded or officially 'placed'. Hopefully he'll still get a time though. Oisin explained it to me that way anyway, everyone gets equal value for their money so to speak.


Hangover? Why are we not surprised :-P :-P

[paddyobrien]

in that case rob i'll counter that you're not too busy yourself!


And yep .. work summer party last night .. free booze all night (and played a tag rugby game just before and didn;t have any food .. bad mistake)

[ollietrex]

Paddy your training regime is incredible, was thinking of doing some training along the lines of Ryan maybe I need to start looking at yours.

[paddyobrien]

well i did overtake you in the tymon race!


(mind you, i also finished last!)

[ollietrex]

Ah sure, I was enjoying my bog wallowing to much to concentrate on going fast.

[Scrivo]

Hi guys. Unfortunately had a bad qualifying run. Was riding the tech stuff really well (code for my elbows were out the whole way) and was hammering up some singletrack for the chain to snap. Quickly sorted this before pinging my front wheel off a rock while trying to catch up. Managed to puncture which put me into last place. Managed to make up some places but it was impossible to qualify at that stage.


The Mega was supposed to be on today but following a night long storm, the cloud cover was too great at tghe top of Pic Blanc (the usual start of the mega) this caused the start of the Mega to be put off by a couple of hours and brought down by a few hundred meters. Oisin rode a blinder to finish top of the crew over here and 196 out of the quick lad heat out of 400!! Beat Rob and the quick Epic lads by a decent margin. I didnt bother riding the course as it was washed out and very similar to the qualifer so am going to try to head up to the glacier (3500m) tomorrow and ride the whole thing down. Will fill people in when I see them but needless to say, the best biking experience ever. Will be posting up helmet cam footage to give a taster of what its like. Picture 20min long Kathy Gallagher descents followed by rock and roll times 35min and topped off with the a mixture of the boneshaker and the entire sugarloaf descents all rolled into a half hour of arm pumping madness. And best of all, a gondala waiting at the bottom to bring you back to do it all again!!!


And now starts the Mega after party! See you all during the week!!

[paddyobrien]

ah hard luck steve, still, as long as you're still in one piece its all good!


looking forward to the footage

[Fergal]

holy feck that sounds like heaven - wow, WOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

[Fergal]

check it out:

http://www.dirtmag.co.uk/news/category/videos/megavalanche-video/sp_1231669.html

[Scrivo]

thats a cool vid Fergal. Unfortunately didnt get any more footage today as the mega after party was fairly mega messy. Funny, the very start of that vid is Ger Wolf on his yellow Turner. That lad is scary quick. Think he did something like 80Km/h on the snow covered glacier!!! Scary stuff...

[Gogs]

OHMYGOD!!


That just looks like the best fun in the world!!


Is this on every year? I'm going next year if so!!! I imagine I'll need to start saving for a full susser now!! ;o)

[Liam]

Jayzuz!!


That just looks like the most fun you could ever possibly have with your clothes on!


Cool sound track to the video too.

[Oisin]

Well that was the best fun I've ever had on a bike. Its an amazing variation of riding - 90% downhill and varied from rock slabs and loose scree to snow to massive bermed switchbacks and mud. Managed to come 39th in the qualifier so I got into the final for the top 400 riders. Rode a good race then to get 192nd place overall in 1 hour 11 mins. Over 2000 metres total decent. Its mostly downhill but there are some short climbs so the XC riding helped on that but its about all around skills and fitness really and how fast and smooth you can ride very technical downhill.


Unfortunately the weather was bad on the main race day so the final started lower down so we didn't get to race across the glacier - I'm definitely going back next year to experience that. There was also a standard format DH race earlier in the week called the Sprint but I did terrible in that. Crashed badly on the seeding run which knocked my confidence for the second run. Racing with other people around instead of against the clock is definitely more fun I think though.

[Scrivo]

http://www.avalanchecup.com/photos/pdf/197.pdf oooo check it out- came 90th :P:P:P

[Oisin]

Yeah Steve you were flying in the sprint race ;-) Why don't you organise a DH training session for us and you can show us how its done?

[Scrivo]

Yeah I probably should. Fair few sponsored riders in there I beat. If any of you nice sponsoring folk are watching, take note...


Hey Oisin, which bushing do I need for my Reign? The play is where the shock is attached to the cage linkage http://www.betd.co.uk/items.asp?CategoryID=92&Name=Strong+Bushes

[Oisin]

I noticed mine has worn too. The Alps are really harsh on bikes! I've used the plastic bushes (http://www.betd.co.uk/item.asp?ProductID=72&Name=Hula+hoop+bushes&RefID=92&RefName=Strong+Bushes) before with the original aluminium reducers and they work fine. You just need to specify the Fox (1/2") size.

[Scrivo]

Yeah they really are tough on 'em. Jim doesnt know whats hit him! Will I get you one of those bushes too Oisin?

[Oisin]

I think I have a few spares so I'll be alright but I'll confirm tonight and let you know. Thanks.