The Epic League
Races are held every Thursday come rain or shine and there will be 14 rounds in 2021. Everyone gets a time handicap with the first riders away at 18:40 and the faster riders going later.
If you have not raced the Epic League before, we will try place you with riders of similar abilities/fitness. After your first race we will have a much better idea of when you should be starting. Handicapped start times will be posted a day before the race. If you have never raced before we advise that you watch a race before entering to get a sense of what is involved. Whilst we try to accommodate everyone, the League is not for absolute beginners. Put a post below if you have any questions / queries and we’ll get back to you.
The Race
A race consists of the start climb and 4 laps. The course is the same as previous years with the exception of the new exit from Section 1. This was done to reduce interaction with other forest users. The forest is busier than ever with other users and there are plenty of people using the roads and trails. Give them plenty of notice, be polite, and let the timers know if there have been any issues.
Registration and Sign-on
Registration for the Epic MTB XC Club League in the Leadmines is open to all Cycling Ireland members holding a competitive license. There is no entry fee. The League is held under licence from Coillte and Cycling Ireland.
https://eventmaster.ie/event/QDjvfnKSOy
Sign-on will close automatically at 9AM on Wednesday. All registrations must be pre-booked. No entries on the day. Entries are non-transferable! You will be allocated a race number – this is your number for all rounds. Remember to bring it with you every week. This is an enormous help to the timers. Once you are booked for 1 round you don't need to book again for the following rounds.
Parking etc.
Parking is limited in the area so if you intend on driving up than you will need to get there early. All parking is at your own risk – do not block access to gates for emergency services or anyone’s driveway / farmer’s fields etc. Also, don't leave any valuables in your car as break-ins do happen. There is parking outside the school in Kilternan and the spin up makes for a pre-race nice warm up. There are no toilet or changing facilities.
Duration and Awards:
We will host the first round on June 10th and the last round will be in mid-September. The 'season' will be split in two, Season 1: Rounds 1 - 7 and Season 2: Rounds 8 - 14. The final round will be the Club Champs. There will be awards / bragging rights for both 'Seasons' and prizes for the overall series. Your best 5 times will count towards the results for each Season and the best 10 times (regardless of season) will count towards the overall.
Season 1 / 2: Awards / bragging rights
Top five men, women and U18.
Overall Prizes
- Epic Members: Top five men, women and U18 - men / women.
- Non-Epic: Top three men, women and U18 - men / women.
E-bikes are allowed. These will be in a separate category if there are enough of them.
Covid 19: It hasn't gone away...
- Avoid congregating in groups and keep your distance. There are too many stories / photos doing the rounds on social media of large groups gathering together - Epic does not want or need this sort of issue. There has been an up-tick in the walker vs MTB stuff recently.
- No spitting or snot rockets.
- If you have any symptoms or may have been exposed to the virus, stay away.
- See here for the full list of Covid 19 guidance. http://www.cyclingireland.ie/page/events/covid-19
So long as we can run the league safely we will continue. If the committee conclude that the league represents a risk, we will terminate it.