So who's raring to go for this. We have a lot of new members who are kind of sprackily ( Copyright mr J McCall).
Theres dates up on www.irishxcmtb.com .
Every year I hope its going to be a deadly XC NPS like in the olden times. But the last 3 have been a dissapointment.
But hey, with a shiny new Xc Co Ordinator and a fresh perspective, I think they'll help promote the NPS and hopefully build on their experience this year to make 2010 the best NPS ever.
Give the boys a chance to get things organised, go to the races. get the old XC buzz going again.
Theres some issue over the Nationals being on the same day as a World Cup . That will have to be fixed, but that was the date given out by the previous Commission, and while I'm sure they meant well. Its a problem that will be solved.
So newbies, oldies and comeback kids ..are we going to support this one big time or go on saying ,
" i wish it was better"
We need to bring some epic craic to the events... travel together, park together, cheer each other on... like a road trip. Kerry is a long way away, so lets organise something to look forward to.
Heres the 6 race NPS, Sorrento are also running an open XC race in April.
The Club XC league also starts in April, so technically you only have about 8 weeks before the start of the season. Not as long as you might think.
XC NPS Round 1 Killarney CC
Sunday, Mar 22, 2009
Rossacrue Woods, Kilgarvan, Co. Kerry
NPS Round 2 CuChulainn
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Carlingford
XC NPS Round 3 Team Madigan
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Magheramorne
XC NPS Round 4 Banbridge CC
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Castlewellan, Co. Down
XC NPS Round 5 MADMTB
Sunday, Jun 14, 2009
Co Dublin
right, so its me,you and Carol ,Stewart..everybody else is obviously going to the DH NPS, or taking up knitting,fair play to them, they'll be deadly !! for those of you of a nervous disposition and unsure of the whole sports debate thing.
Fcuk, just race, even if it kills you..the 2 lap sports race will make you stronger, once it is part of a calorie controlled diet and exercise regime.
XC racing can be huge craic with the right people and the right attitude and will make you stronger for both Sunday spins and DH racing.
I know sports is hard for beginners and if you are reading this and want to race but fear the sports. Then lobby the Commission for an introductory category.
Every year we run our club league in an attempt to get people in to racing. Both Tim and Sylvia benefitted greatly from racing the club league and it prepared them for the NPS.
You have to look at the big picture.
I really think that at the start of the season there should be some sort of introductory series to get peoples juices flowing.
For years the XC Scene has been ran from the top down.It was always about the Olympics.
Nobody was interested in bringing in new riders, well some of the clubs were, but from the governing Commissions point of view, the Elite racers were the most important.
But now its time to look at the whole thing from underage up.
The top lads will race regardless. Some will race any course anywhere !
But the XC NPS needs to be sexied up, made attractive .
EPIC are running an XC NPS again this year and I for one would like to hear what people want. Its unlikely I'll listen if it doesn't fit in with the EPIC Mythos, but hey you just never know.
So fill us in on :
A. what will make you go to an XC race.
B. Why wouldn't you go.
I always go because I love the craic. I only went to one in 2008 because i was too busy and I didn't even realise it, till it was all over. Thats pretty bad in my opinion.
But this year I'm going to make a special effort to go to them all.
Richie
Well I am looking forward to it. Two clash with DH events which is a pity, but I will definitely try and get to the rest. The race in Kerry should be good, they run DH events in the same venue and they are really good.
Well the marshy bits donât, but the rock faces do, the wooden bits are generally dry, except when they are wet. For full info of rain fall and drainage patterns see:
I'll know a bit more next week about Killarney as the lads down there are checking a few things out for me, I may also be taking a trip down there to take some footage/pics and write-up a preview XC NPS kick-off report to get the interest going
Staying south, I've also been talking with some of the Cork lads re; a planned full weekend MTB extravganza which is targetted for early Sept, possibly an XC relay-type event on the Sat and a Marathon on the Sunday, which sounds really promising - get down there for the weekend with a gang and ride your bike and have the craic.
It's great to see the southern clubs breaking back onto the XC scene, hopefully 2009 will be the year that they'll demonstrate events as good as,
or better than the Leinster/Ulster clubs, and I hope as many of us as possible will support them.
I'll be doing an offiicial XC press-release as soon as a few more aspects are confirmed to get people wound up and raring to go.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to racing in 2009 - it looks already to be a very promising year for MTB with the calendars stuffed with events all the way through to the end of September.
Regardless of what the Offroad Commission decides on the Sports debate, I can't recommend enough that bikers head along to events like the EPIC Interclub league that Richie has scheduled to get a feel for racing, and also the Djouce Trail Challenge in March, and any other club-league type events.
You'd be surprised by how much you can enjoy racing, and the big benefits it brings to your skills and fitness, and you'll get to meet a sound bunch of people in the process - winner all the way if you ask me.
There always used to be NPSâs down there, back in the day. They run good events and know what they are about. The guy running the race in has been around for a long time and knows the score, it should be a good event. Itâs a really nice scenic place, I donât know where the track is going, but the area has loads of potential. The DH tack is savage, it has everything, rock faces, wooden bermy things, even has concrete poured onto some of it. The DH track is probably a bit too mad to bring the xc race down, but I am sure it will be good.
So who's raring to go for this. We have a lot of new members who are kind of sprackily ( Copyright mr J McCall).
Theres dates up on www.irishxcmtb.com .
Every year I hope its going to be a deadly XC NPS like in the olden times. But the last 3 have been a dissapointment.
But hey, with a shiny new Xc Co Ordinator and a fresh perspective, I think they'll help promote the NPS and hopefully build on their experience this year to make 2010 the best NPS ever.
Give the boys a chance to get things organised, go to the races. get the old XC buzz going again.
Theres some issue over the Nationals being on the same day as a World Cup . That will have to be fixed, but that was the date given out by the previous Commission, and while I'm sure they meant well. Its a problem that will be solved.
So newbies, oldies and comeback kids ..are we going to support this one big time or go on saying ,
" i wish it was better"
We need to bring some epic craic to the events... travel together, park together, cheer each other on... like a road trip. Kerry is a long way away, so lets organise something to look forward to.
Heres the 6 race NPS, Sorrento are also running an open XC race in April.
The Club XC league also starts in April, so technically you only have about 8 weeks before the start of the season. Not as long as you might think.
XC NPS Round 1 Killarney CC
Sunday, Mar 22, 2009
Rossacrue Woods, Kilgarvan, Co. Kerry
NPS Round 2 CuChulainn
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Carlingford
XC NPS Round 3 Team Madigan
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Magheramorne
XC NPS Round 4 Banbridge CC
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Castlewellan, Co. Down
XC NPS Round 5 MADMTB
Sunday, Jun 14, 2009
Co Dublin
right, so its me,you and Carol ,Stewart..everybody else is obviously going to the DH NPS, or taking up knitting,fair play to them, they'll be deadly !! for those of you of a nervous disposition and unsure of the whole sports debate thing.
Fcuk, just race, even if it kills you..the 2 lap sports race will make you stronger, once it is part of a calorie controlled diet and exercise regime.
XC racing can be huge craic with the right people and the right attitude and will make you stronger for both Sunday spins and DH racing.
I know sports is hard for beginners and if you are reading this and want to race but fear the sports. Then lobby the Commission for an introductory category.
Every year we run our club league in an attempt to get people in to racing. Both Tim and Sylvia benefitted greatly from racing the club league and it prepared them for the NPS.
You have to look at the big picture.
I really think that at the start of the season there should be some sort of introductory series to get peoples juices flowing.
For years the XC Scene has been ran from the top down.It was always about the Olympics.
Nobody was interested in bringing in new riders, well some of the clubs were, but from the governing Commissions point of view, the Elite racers were the most important.
But now its time to look at the whole thing from underage up.
The top lads will race regardless. Some will race any course anywhere !
But the XC NPS needs to be sexied up, made attractive .
EPIC are running an XC NPS again this year and I for one would like to hear what people want. Its unlikely I'll listen if it doesn't fit in with the EPIC Mythos, but hey you just never know.
So fill us in on :
A. what will make you go to an XC race.
B. Why wouldn't you go.
I always go because I love the craic. I only went to one in 2008 because i was too busy and I didn't even realise it, till it was all over. Thats pretty bad in my opinion.
But this year I'm going to make a special effort to go to them all.
Richie
Well I am looking forward to it. Two clash with DH events which is a pity, but I will definitely try and get to the rest. The race in Kerry should be good, they run DH events in the same venue and they are really good.
Well the marshy bits donât, but the rock faces do, the wooden bits are generally dry, except when they are wet. For full info of rain fall and drainage patterns see:
I'll know a bit more next week about Killarney as the lads down there are checking a few things out for me, I may also be taking a trip down there to take some footage/pics and write-up a preview XC NPS kick-off report to get the interest going
Staying south, I've also been talking with some of the Cork lads re; a planned full weekend MTB extravganza which is targetted for early Sept, possibly an XC relay-type event on the Sat and a Marathon on the Sunday, which sounds really promising - get down there for the weekend with a gang and ride your bike and have the craic.
It's great to see the southern clubs breaking back onto the XC scene, hopefully 2009 will be the year that they'll demonstrate events as good as,
or better than the Leinster/Ulster clubs, and I hope as many of us as possible will support them.
I'll be doing an offiicial XC press-release as soon as a few more aspects are confirmed to get people wound up and raring to go.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to racing in 2009 - it looks already to be a very promising year for MTB with the calendars stuffed with events all the way through to the end of September.
Regardless of what the Offroad Commission decides on the Sports debate, I can't recommend enough that bikers head along to events like the EPIC Interclub league that Richie has scheduled to get a feel for racing, and also the Djouce Trail Challenge in March, and any other club-league type events.
You'd be surprised by how much you can enjoy racing, and the big benefits it brings to your skills and fitness, and you'll get to meet a sound bunch of people in the process - winner all the way if you ask me.
There always used to be NPSâs down there, back in the day. They run good events and know what they are about. The guy running the race in has been around for a long time and knows the score, it should be a good event. Itâs a really nice scenic place, I donât know where the track is going, but the area has loads of potential. The DH tack is savage, it has everything, rock faces, wooden bermy things, even has concrete poured onto some of it. The DH track is probably a bit too mad to bring the xc race down, but I am sure it will be good.