EPIC XC Champs Samhain 2010

Well, weatherwise the day was cack ! But with the pre season about to begin and the title of being the Countrys best Mountainbiker up for grabs, we got a huge turnout.

Its a testament to the power of Cross Country racing that a man like Don O Connor can throw on a lycra suit and strap on a weapon like a Hardtail Stevens..i've no idea what its name is,  my head is full of Ravens and Sixes !!
To be a hardcore XC racer, you have to be a Giant among Mountainbikers. All you have is 100mm and and a stiff rear triangle !! And my idea of XC does not include flat grass or tarmac.
Its always savage and always sideways..

Well done to Sophie for the photos..its her frst time using the new Camera and the multiple setings confused her!!

Look at the tension at the start line !!!

 By Jeebus and they are off , like mad bad and dangerous to know bastards of death metal !!!

Superfast speedy guy Bob Seymour !!!

 

 SUPERMAX the Cabbage eating Goatee sporting wonder Balkanian or Baltican..wherever the feck Polovakia is !! i know its near the Danube or the Niger or one of those mad places without a McDonalds !!

Definitely a Legend in the making !!!

Carol finishes 2nd Lady 2 years in a row..this time with a mechanical !!

The Admin team ...muchio grassy arse kiddies !!!

And here they are the greatest living Mountainbikers of our time..

In the middle of course is the one and only Bob Seymour, living legend and the great exponent of our art..

left of him is new gun Max Power, our favourite import..we've had a couple over the years but hes the best we've had from the European Theatre !!

right of Robin is my best buddy and adopted son..one of a few I've adopted over the years but none other than the Club Chairman Alfie Wallace !

and of course last but not least in the far left..

Mr John Doris..Club Champion 2010..

Me and the Big D go wayyyyy back..all the way to the White Knuckle CLub when he was a Superhuman Road Rider !!

Well done John...being Club Champion of Irelands biggest and sexiest MTB Club trancends other awards !!

thats it for 2010..

XC racing is the Heart and Soul of Mountainbike racing..everything else,including the reboot of Cylcocross came after it.

To be a real Mountainbiker you have got to be a cross country racer. Sure DH and the others that came after look good on Video and its a quick fix..but thundering down Gran Canaria in the pissing rain and going sideways on Toro and battling for 2 hours in what can only be described as a warzone..well you do the human math..

one man on a 22lb Carbon bike with only frail brakes and 3" of travel..thats a true heroe..you have to fight for every metre gained without crashing, every corner survived..then for every few metres of excruciating minute spent trying to hang on to your bike..you get handed half a KM of fierce, eye watering climbing..

then you do it again but faster..