As I am attempting to become a serious journalist I have written my very first serious race report, it wasnt easy and its not as serious as Lynchy or Cycling Ireland or the Dept of the Moronic might like but its about as serious as I can get..I apologise in advance to the Youth Categories, I feel your pain and I promise I will do everything in my power to get you the recognition you deserve, it pains me greatly that you dont get the attention you deserve, I will fix that in 2013, the same goes for the ladies..yes Ladies..I dont like the term women, I think thats very generic , there are S3 men who have bigger fannies than some of the women..oh dear , I have strayed again..anyway, heres the Blog, I hope you like it, I am about to go International..........hopefully. http://byrner-richiebyrne.blogspot.i...-title-in.html
and it begins...so the next time you hear some loser blathering on about XC being gay or not real Mountainbiking, point them my way, they are obviously brain dead and Zombies like that dont deserve to occupy any space..XC is the source man, it will change your life..if you want examples..look around you. http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-n...tional-champs/
and it begins...so the next time you hear some loser blathering on about XC being gay or not real Mountainbiking, point them my way, they are obviously brain dead and Zombies like that dont deserve to occupy any space..XC is the source man, it will change your life..if you want examples..look around you. http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-n...tional-champs/
only 7 juniors Richie! 2 more than they needed to get a class of their own!
12 U-16's at the XC
There was 33 U-16's at the DH and 17juniors.
XC has a ways to go to get the young lads into it.
well Rich, while I appreciate your comments , I would prefer your help in getting more kids in to XC, theres a lot of good people promoting DH for Youth riders, it doesn't happen as much in XC. However ourselves, MBCC, Killarney,IMBRC, Banbridge and XMTB are making great efforts, unfortunately XC is a very middle aged mans sport and the roots have been neglected,DH is always going to be more appealing to a teenager, the look, the bikes, the whole package is far more attractive.
That doesn't mean XC can't be the same provided the right people get behind it for next year. I am working on changing it right now.
Now heres a warning , there is no division in my head between any of the Offroad disciplines..don't subscribe to one, we are all Mountainbikers and we should help each other. If you as a DH guy can see what XC is doing wrong then by all means let me know. I can't stand anybody giving out about either DH or XC..
7 juniors is actually a big improvement.
You can actually help me Rich by spreading the word that XC is not bent and even if it was, its still worth doing.
ah just rising ya Richie but ya XC needs more work to get young riders into it, the munster series down here was great for that but there still needs to be more youth spins, most of the young lads Im dealing with down here are looking straight to DH but using XC as a stepping stone to it.
the more experienced riders use XC as "training" to get the fitness up and just purly to get more bike time in.
I did more XC races than ever this year including my 1st NPS (been racing DH 10years) and getting more riders to race XCO is a toughie, DH riders want more technical tracks like Tracton, the race in Corrin this year was class as the downhill bits were tough to ride when fresh not to mention a few laps in but on the verge of too tech for a lot of riders, the track in Fossa is the total opposite, the XCO heads (sorry to put ye in the one group) on a whole loved its fast non tech nature but only 1 or 2 DH riders entered the NPS race as its got no "fun" bits in it, being scared that its a NPS and you wont be competitive is a factor as well.
how do you fix this, its a toughie but Im a firm believer of strong regional series and a small well ran, WELL promoted NPS, one race per province and have the nationals floating around. use the best venues and get the hype going about it to get more local non bikers (looking at triathlete heads here but that means easier tracks) interested.
oh ya one more thing, why was the XC put on the same weekend as the DH nationals we usually stagger them to get maximum turnouts for both, xc first then the DH
oh ya one more thing, why was the XC put on the same weekend as the DH nationals we usually stagger them to get maximum turnouts for both, xc first then the DH
It's a UCI rule:
National road championships shall be run during the last week of the month of June. If this is not the
case, no UCI points may be awarded. All results must be received by UCI by email or fax no later than
two days after the last day of the event. No result received after that time shall be taken into consideration
for the UCI classification.
The national cyclo-cross championships shall be run on the date approved by the Management
Committee.
National mountain bike championships shall be run on the 29th weekend of the year.
The UCI may grant dispensations for the southern hemisphere or in cases of force majeure.
yes Max but Ireland has often gotten exemptions to this due to us having a small population..now I may be incorrect here but it was to be on seperate weekends but as Robin was good enough to step in to run the XC nationals when the original venue was lost due to a Force Majeure ( an infection in Tollymores trees) last weekend was the only one that suited him. I doubt though that it would have affected the numbers either way, the two disiplines are so different now theres very little crossover. Plus the cost.
Imagine travelling and paying for two weekends in a row in these days of belt tightening.
What we need is a common purpose between us all to actually do something with youth riders, DH,XC and BMX.
what we really need is an Academy of young riders, get them in with whatever bike they have and find their strengths. If I was a wealthy man, its what I would be doing.
It amazes me that we have a brilliant strain of rider here in Ireland and we allow people who have no clue about what it is to be a Mountainbiker to tell us what to do and " advise " us on whats the best way to develop our sport.
Actually we get no advice and no support.
But in 2013 with the help of one understanding philantropist I am going to blow the whole thing apart..what people need to do is see whats needed doing and do it.