VISION STATEMENT
To represent your country is one of the greatest honours in sport, to do so at the Olympics is the ultimate. The Offroad2Rio project seeks to establish a high performance pathway for women’s cross country mountain bike racing in Ireland. It will inspire increased participation & competition in sport, raise the standard of mountain bike racing in Ireland to world level, stimulate ambition and offer a goal for young athletes to aspire to. Our ambition is to establish a team of world class athletes working towards the common goal of Irish Olympic qualification for Rio in 2016.

Offroad2Rio will stimulate an increased focus on elite mountain biking in Ireland. There are 5 years until the Olympics in Rio with qualification beginning in 2014. For the next 3 years the project will focus on rider progression and increasing experience from development through to elite international level, establishing a high performance strategy, and increasing campaign awareness and financial backing.
The project is an athlete driven initiative set up by current Irish riders racing at elite international level without any assistance from Cycling Ireland the national governing body. These riders have shown the commitment and drive to progress from national to international level over the last few years. They have done so without any of the funding or expertise that comes with a high performance programme, and without any opportunity to achieve the honour of representing their country. We believe that with assistance these riders have what it takes to perform alongside the best athletes in the world at the most important sporting event in the world, the Olympics.

Visit the project website for more information: www.offroad2rio.com
Contact: info@offroad2rio.com

Photos courtesy of Maciej Staroniewicz

Irish Mountain bikers Mel Spath and Cait Elliott recently competed in the final 2 rounds of the World Cup series. First up was Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic, set in a forested area of pretty rolling hills, the race was based around a biathlon stadium which created a great arena and starting area. The course was very similar to racing in Ireland, lots of natural forest singletrack with plenty of roots, twisty corners, kickers and a couple of rocky technical features to keep the cameras happy. However warm weather and lots of steep climbs on rooty trails made for tough racing. A new addition to the World Cup series, the event was extremely well run with an incredible atmosphere and over 20,000 spectators on race day. Mel battled hard to finish 54^th but Cait was unlucky to puncture leaving her unable to finish.

Mel: “The Czech World Cup was amazing! Probably the best ever spectator supported world cup – the cheering was deafening. The course was conditionally and technically very challenging, with lots of steep climbs and rooty descents. It was good fun to ride, but I didn’t have good legs on race day and suffered from the start. The laps were very short and I was pulled, but I can’t say I was too unhappy about that on the day.”

Cait: “I had a good start and was in the top 50s when I slashed my tyre on a rock miles from the tech area. It was my first ever dnf and not something I ever want to happen again. The course and atmosphere were amazing making it even more frustrating so I’ll be on a mission to do it justice next year!”

Next up was Val di Sole in Italy where it was even hotter and the climbs even steeper with a mixture of fireroad, grassy meadows and greasy, rocky  singletrack totalling 230m vertical metres over a 4.2km lap! Luckily the climbs were interspersed with flowing alpine singltrack, fast rocky trails and rooty switchback descents so there was still a lot of fun to be had but temperatures of over 35 degrees on race day made things hard work. Mel rode well to finish 54^th again with Cait in 63^rd.

Mel: “After the Czech World Cup we went straight to Val di Sole in Italy for the last world cup round. I absolutely loved the course – a lot of the descents were very “Irish”. It was also a very hard course – probably the most steep and climby world cup of them all and it was very hot (35 degrees). I had a much better race here, really enjoying the course and the racing, and was gutted that I missed the 80% cut-off with only one lap to go. I learned a lot in both world cups, which will really help for getting the preparation right for next year.”

Cait: “I was a bit disappointed to get pulled, I had a good position early on but was really suffering in the heat and began to drop back. The course was a lot of fun and it was a good learning experience, I’ll know what to expect next year”

Irish National Mountain Bike Champions Cait Elliott and Robin Seymour and soon to be Irish citizen Mel Spath raced on the London Olympic Course last weekend.

Three Irish mountain bikers, the male and female Irish National
champions (Robin Seymour and Cait Elliott) and Mel Spath (although
still riding under a German license), had the honour to be invited to
the Olympic Test last weekend in Hadleigh Farm, Essex, an hour east of
London.

The test event was run as a Class 1 mountain biking race on the
Olympic mountain biking course, as a dry run for the London 2012
Olympics. Many countries took the opportunity to send in their Olympic
hopefuls, including both the male and female Beijing Olympic Gold
medalists and many continental and national champions, to inspect the
course, often equipped with GPS devices and head cameras. The course
was open both Friday and Saturday for training, with the race being
run on the Sunday, under Olympic conditions.

The course design made good use of the little height difference in
this naturally flat area, with many tough and steep climbs and very
technical, rocky descents. All Irish riders negotiated the technical
sections comfortably.

5000 spectators and 180 international media lined the spectator
friendly, compact course on a hot and sunny, blue-skied Sunday. The
women were off at 11am with 33 starters and was won by Canadian
Catherine Pendrel in 1:32:04, followed by the US National Champion
Georgia Gould in 2nd and current World Cup Series leader Julie Bresset
(France) in 3rd. First Irish was Mel Spath in 19th place, followed by
Cait in 25th place.

Rider comments:

Mel Spath: "I am happy with my placing under the conditions. A problem
with my rear derailleur meant that I had to cut my training short and
thus didn't have enough time to familiarize myself with the technical
sections on the course before the race. So in the first 3 laps of the
race I made a few mistakes on those sections, losing quite a bit of
time, but I got into a good rhythm for the last 3 laps and by the end
I felt I was riding the course comfortably and strong. It was great to
be able to race in such a high-profile race against world-class
competition and I am confident with how my form is coming along for
the upcoming world cups."

Cait Elliott comments on her race: "The pace was ferocious from the
start and coming off the back of the grid meant much of the first lap
was spent losing time fighting for position. The course was very
tough, especially in the heat, with a lot of steep technical climbs
and little chance to recover but I enjoyed the technical rocky
descents. I rode hard but was a bit disappointed my lap times dropped
off a bit towards the end. The atmosphere and experience were
amazing."

The men's race followed at 2pm and was dominated by Beijing Olympic
gold medalist, Julien Absalon (France), who finished with a gap of
1:20min ahead of Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) in 2nd and a further
26secs ahead of Karl Markt (Austria) in 3rd.

3-times Olympian Robin Seymour had to abandon the race due to a
mechanical problem.

All of the Irish riders participated as self-funded privateers,
without external or official funding. There will be no Irish mountain
bikers at the London Olympics, since there has been no Irish mountain
bike team in recent years that would have qualified a place for
Ireland. However, the race gave a good insight for what is to be
expected in Rio 2016 which the riders are targeting for Irish
qualification.

Mel and Cait are also attending the final two rounds of the World Cup
Series in the Czech Republic and Italy in August.

----------------

Pictures attached:
- DSC_0813.JPG: Cait (in green Ireland kit) descending (picture credit
Alan Donnelly - permission granted to use)
- DSC_0952.JPG: Mel (in red skinsuit) descending (picture credit Annie
Bedford - permission granted to use)

This year’s XC National Championships were run by Team Worc and Robin Seymour, 18 times Irish MTB champion, in Killrudery Estate in Wicklow – a private estate normally inaccessible for cyclists. The place is a legend amongst mountainbikers so everybody looked forward to the opportunity to ride it.

The course lived up to expectations – twisty singletracks, tight corners, berms and bombholes, roots and stones, drops and short steep climbs (“kickers”) and a Tombstone (a breathtaking drop, closed for the later race) – kept racers at their toes. It was very compact and crossed the start/finish field twice, and as such was great for spectating. Despite the cold and rainy weather, the track remained perfectly dry.

There was some great racing going on between the ladies in all categories (check reports on the elite ladies blogs: http://melaniespath.blogspot.com/ & http://www.caitelliott.co.uk/blog/ )

After a long battle, Cait Elliot became a National Champion.

Ciara McManus was 2^nd, and a 3^rd spot went to Orla McClean in her first Elite race.

Claire Oackley came 4^th and Fiona Meade 5^th.

Mela Spath was the fastest to finish the Elite race, however having had no Irish citizenship at the beginning of this year, she was not eligible for the National Champion title.

S3 category was won by Caroline Murphy (Epic) who was flying on the course.

Aine McKenna (IMBRC) was 2^nd and Carol Fanelly (Epic) 3^rd.

Just behind them finished Claire Breslin (MAD) and rika Grant.

Agata Tamulewicz (MAD) was the only woman competing in S2 category.

IMBRC hosted round 6 of the Cross Country Cycling NPS Round 6 last weekend.

3 women teams raced the relay, with Victorious Secret team of Aine Mckenna (IMBRC), Claire Breslin (MAD) and Agata Tamulewicz (MAD) coming first.

After a week of rain and despite a thick layer of mud covering the entire course on Saturday, the place miraculously dried out for the Sunday’s race, giving the racers a hope of easier conditions to ride in. In fact, Slade Valley was one of the toughest of this year’s NPS courses, with only short sections of fireroad for riders to quickly catch a breath between long and tricky singletracks of roots, tight corners and numerous bombholes. Hardly any section was straight or flat, most of the course continuously going up and down through the rough terrain, requiring from the bikers physical and mental strength, endurance and determination to push forward.

The undoubted highlight of the day was a double bombhole – a speedy roller-coaster attracting most of the spectators and being a feature of fun for some racers and an unconquerable challenge for others.

Marlena Drozdziok from Epic decided to race against her older colleagues in Women’s S3 category. She was flying on the course and eventually got awarded with the 1^st spot in Under 16 category.

3^rd in the S3 cat. was Aine Mckenna (IMBRC), winning her first medal. Claire Breslin (MAD) was 2^nd and Caroline Murphy (Epic) came 1^st.

S2 category saw some fierce battles for around 1.5 hour of the race. Gill Smith (Unattached) was constantly swapping positions with Orla Mcclean (Epic), eventually winning by 31 seconds.

Another close racing took place between Agata Tamulewicz (MAD), Julie Rea (Chain Reaction Cycles) and Rose Griffin (IMBRC). After Rose withdrew from the race on the second lap, the other two stayed together for almost entire race, splitting up only on the last lap.

For results and photos see: http://www.irishxcmtb.com/2011/06/28/irish-xc-nps-round-7-and-team-relay-results-and-photos/ Video http://www.pinkbike.com/video/204307/

Big thanks to IMBRC for high-class preparation of the course and for running another successful event. High standard is a norm when it comes to these lads.

The next, and the last, NPS race will take place in Castlewellan Forest, Co. Down, on Sunday 14 August. Further info: http://www.irishxcmtb.com/2011/06/22/replacement-nps-datevenue-added/

Before that however, 17^th July, the XC MTB National Championships will take place in Killruddery. Everyone is welcome to participate in this greatest event of the year, this time taking place in usually inaccessible Killruddery demesne, Co. Wicklow. For details as well as registration see: http://www.irishxcmtb.com/2011/06/27/2011-xc-mtb-national-championships/

Irish Mountain Bike Success in the UK

Round 4 of the British Mountain Bike Series took place at Margam Park in Wales last weekend. Heavy rain in the lead up to the race left the course extremely muddy despite hot weather on race day. The big climbs and technical conditions were well suited to the Irish riders who travelled over and enjoyed considerable success in the UCI C2 classified race.

In the Elite women’s race Mel Spath (Cycleways) had a great ride, moving into 2^nd place early on behind cyclocross pro Nikki Harris and gradually building a gap on the chasers as the race went on. Cait Elliott (WXC World Racing) switched between 3^rd and 4^th throughout the race, eventually taking 3^rd with a strong final lap after competitor Lee Cragie punctured. With one race remaining, Mel is now leading the series and Cait is in third.

Mel reports  “I had a fantastic race, I went into it feeling good and gave it everything. I had a good start and got into 2nd place up the first climb and decided I wasn’t going to give that up again. I had to put in an extra effort in the last lap, when I lost my lower gears as the bike got clogged up with all the mud but it was enough to keep my place.”

Cait reports “Really tough race but loved it, the big climbs and muddy conditions suited me well. Started well but by lap three I was struggling a bit and resigned to finishing 4^th but when Lee punctured I somehow found some reserves to pull out a good last lap.”

In the Elite men’s race Robin Seymour (Team Worc) had his best result of the season, enjoying the hot conditions to take 2^nd behind race winner Oli Beckinsale.

Robin reports “I had a great race, personally, climbing well on the shorter climbs though still struggling on the long climb to the monument at the top of the hill. But everyone does!!

Rode steady at the start and was about 15th to the first off road bit but picked people off in the first singletrack. I was catching riders on the descents and then passing them on the climbs on lap 1 to end up 4th but the end of the lap. Oli was gone for the day so rode as conservatively as i could to stay with Seb and Monty. They looked to be tiring on lap 3 but moved ahead into 2nd place on Lap 4 and they weren’t able to follow. Rode on my own for the last two laps. Great result for me. First proper podium since crow in 2009 where i was 2nd also. Very, very hard to win one of these with Oli and Liam at the races. Such a hard race.”

Valerie O Neill (Phoenix) takes the S2 win, with Caroline Murphy (Epic) the fastest S3.

Cross Country National Point Series – Rnd. 5

Round 5 of the XC NPS took place 29^th of May in Lady Dixon Park, Co. Down.

Racing on the grassy track was severely intense, with plenty of space for overtaking and without technical sections to get one’s breath back, it kept the rider on their toes. The fast and flowy character of the course together with the new, ability-based, categories resulted in close battles throughout the field and provided the numerous spectators with great entertainment.

Valerie O’Neill (Phoenix C) won S2 category, Gill Smith came 2^nd, and Rose Griffin (IMBRC) was 3^rd.

S3 category was won by Caroline Murphy (Epic), with Kerryann Hughes (Harps CC) in 2^nd and Claire Breslin (MAD) in 3^rd.

Last weekend Elite Irish MTBers Cait Elliott and Melanie Spath were dominant in the British Mountain Bike Series in Reading.

Irish podiums at the British MBS in Wasing

The 3^rd round of the British Mountain Bike Series took place in Wasing estate near Reading last weekend and saw some strong performances from Irish riders who travelled over for the UCI C2 ranked event.  Wet conditions made the woodland singletrack slippery and muddy on a relatively flat and flowy course which suited the Irish riders well.

In a close fought junior women’s race Claire Oakley (WXC Mountain Bike Team UK) began slowly but gradually moved up to 3^rd place where a close battle with teammate Hannah Ferguson followed. Claire was unlucky to lose time crashing on a slippery corner but quickly caught British National Champion Katy Winton who had dropped back from 1st. The two riders duelled closely until the end with Claire eventually finishing 3^rd, 31 seconds off the winner.

Claire Oakley – ‘Happy enough but would probably have been a different result if I hadn’t have fallen.’

In the Elite Women’s race Melanie Spath (Cycleways) and Cait Elliott (WXC World Racing) rode well in a competitive race. Early in the race there was a close battle for podium positions between 6 or 7 riders, with Cait starting strongly and riding in 2^nd for much of the first 2 laps. By lap 3 Mel had moved up with Cait and British rider Mel Alexander following her wheel. Towards the end the riders began to string out a bit as continuous rain made the course increasingly slippery. Mel finished 3^rd with Cait in 5^th.

Mel Spath – “I had a good race considering the recent inconsistent training due to sickness and as I am still recovering from a shoulder injury. I had a slow start and it took me a few laps to get into the race, but I didn’t panic and worked my way up steadily. By the penultimate lap I managed to get into 3rd place, building up a lead over 4th in the last lap, but not being able to close down on Maddie Horton in 2nd place.”

Cait Elliott – “I started a bit too well and couldn’t keep it up. I’ve been fighting injury recently and results haven’t been great but today I was starting to feel back to normal for the first time in ages so under the circumstances I’m happy enough”

Elliot wins round 4 of the XC NPS in Tollymore Forest Park, Co. Down on the 15th May.

The Round 4 of the XC NPS took place on 15^th of May in Tollymore Forest Park, Co. Down.

Rainy weather for a week before the race brought a lot of mud onto the course – some cursed it but others had great fun sliding sideways down the hills that might have stayed unnoticed in dry conditions. Bike handling skills came handy where even little mistake could result in drifting out of the line and losing precious seconds. On the other hand, general fitness and endurance proved useful to those who decided to run the tricky bits being quite often faster than those who stayed on their bikes.

But it was not only the mud that kept riders focused! There were singletracks winding between the trees, a stream crossing (some immersions here), a short but tricky rocky climb to a fire road, a path along a river, some kickers here and there, a grassy field at the start/finish line where spectators cheered up the racers and a big double drop to lift your heart rate.

A class event ran by the Banbridge CC.

Four races down, three to go and names changing places in a classification table every two weeks – surely there will be more battles going on before the end of the Series.

S1 was won by Cait Elliott (WXC) with Ciara MacManus (Ulster) in 2^nd.

Orla McClean (Epic) was 1^st in S2 category, Gill Smith took 2^nd and Agata Tamulewicz (MAD) 3^rd.

Dianne Keys won S3 category with Kerryann Hughes (Harps CC) 2^nd and Caroline Murphy (Epic) 3^rd.

Round 5: 29^th May, Lady Dixon Park, Co. Down (details on www.irishxcmtb.com )

Round 2 of the Off Road Cross Country National Points Series took place in the Nagle Mountains in Cork on the 17th April.

It was a 6km course, mostly double track, with some singletrack in heather and a fire road at the start, with a puddle here and there and tones of rocks of any size and shape you want (or you don’t).

The event raised a fiery discussion among mountain bikers across the country regarding the standards an NPS race should meet, thereby showing riders’ expectation of high quality races and strong will of continuous improvement of the sport in Ireland.

Rose Griffin (IMBRC) won S2 category with Orla McClean (Epic) in 2^nd.

S3 category was won by Paula Keohan (MAD), a newcomer to mountanbiking and a successful runner and adventure racer. 2^nd spot was taken by her club mate Claire Breslin, while Caroline Murphy (Epic) took 3^rd.

The XC NPS Round 3 will be hosted on 1 May 2011 by Carn Wheelers in Davagh Forest, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone.

XC NPS  started on April 3rd with a race in Bellurgan Park, Dundalk, Co. Louth.

Cuchulainn CC presented a tough, technical course consisting mainly of singletracks where overtaking required either good skill or good luck. Or at least unconditional determination.

Flowy singletracks and wearing singletrack climbs were interlaced with rocky sections, boardwalk bridges and steep rooty drops with helpful Cuchulainn marshals pointing out the safest lines.

Including challenging features like a steep drop and a gap jump spiced the racing up giving a great opportunity to save a few seconds and speed up the heartbeat, if it was still not fast enough after a tough winding singletrack climb.

The newly introduced ability-based categories seem to work well resulting in significantly increased number of female riders and closer races in each category.

Female S1 was won by Mel Spath (Cycleways), with Ciara Macmanus in 2^nd .

The first one in Female S2 was Orla Mcclean (Epic), followed by Rose Griffin (IMBRC) and Agata Tamulewicz (MAD).

Caroline Murphy (Epic) won Female S3, with Dianne Keys in 2^nd and Claire Breslin (MAD) in 3^rd.

The XC NPS Round 2 will be hosted on 17 April 2011 by MBCC in the Nagles mountains.

Check out our latest link, to a blog by Jenny Fay, one of Ireland’s top road racers. Fay is now based in Australia, and has switched her focus to off-road which is proving equally successful. The marathon season is just kicking off, and Fay is starting in good form, having just finished with a fine 4th place in the XC in the Australian National Championships, and 2nd in the short course National Championships. HERE

SUNDAY 6th February…. Suitable for all levels, ages etc and promises to be great fun!! Around 200 people have already signed up…… but still room for more…….. more info can be found  HERE

After an interesting discussion last night at the AGM an intermediate category for women has been introduced.
2011 season will see:
- Sport (2 laps) – for those who hasn’t been racing/cycling before, to give people the general idea what it is about, a “fun” category
- Expert (3 laps) – for women with some mtb experience, theoretically for everybody who has been racing by now
- Elite (4 laps) – for savage riders
It will be also recommended to race organisers that women will start together with men from corresponding categories.

It would be great if some exchange between Northern Ireland and the Republic would take place. In some cases we need just 2-3 hours driving, and I think longer races (Expert race will be around 1.5-2h) will be worth it. There are some great tracks in both NI and RoI, each of them putting emphasise on different aspects of mountain biking and testing different skills. Riding on a variety of trails is a worthwhile experience leading to improvement, you know yourself that the atmosphere during bigger events may be very inspiring and as a result you push harder than you would do on regular spins.
And apart from everything else it just keeps racing interesting.

Any women riding mountain bikes recreationally they might want to give it a go now when the Sport cat. has got a bit “lighter”.
Also, some women who have stepped away from the racing scene might be willing to come back and give it a go again, this time in Experts.

Seems that 2011 season might get very exciting!

Full details: HERE and below

2010 Cycling Ireland Offroad AGM details

Women’s easy mountain biking spins – great opportunity to give mountain biking a try. See post on the forum HERE

Richie Byrne, from Epic, is organising a skills day for any kids interested in giving cycling a go.. its basically a skills loop in and around the start/finish Area , in and out of Cones, a see saw..a couple of Ramps..they all get a Cert for completing it and any age from 0 to 16 . A lot of kids turn up at races, afraid to have a go..this might encourage them
HERE – EPIC MTB