I'd been meaning to give mountain bike racing a go for the last 10+ years, but the lethargy of life just seemed to get in the way. A couple of months ago I finally got round to entering my first race - The Da Cooley Thriller. I opted for the short 21K race given the savage climbs up through the mountain I'd heard about on the grape-vine. The race was started just outside the quaint village of Carlingford and climbed the Cooley mountains, with a nice single track descent finish. The scenery was amazing and the thrill of the race made me wish I had started doing this in my 20s! Finished in 13th place which I was happy enough with.
I have decided to make up for lost time and enter as many races as possible over the next while. So far, as well as the Da'Cooley race, have also entered the 60K Fermanagh Lakeland Warrior and the Lurgan MTB cyclo-cross support race. All great fun. Lesson learned is don't keep putting off things in life! Nike are right.
Fermanagh Lakeland Warrior - 28 Aug 2011 (4th)
Lurgan Cyclo-Cross Support - 2 Oct 2011 (DNF!)
