Photo Epic: Enduro in the Emerald Isle
A world away from the high mountains where the sport was born, enduro racing has been growing strongly in Ireland. Their national series, the Irish Gravity Enduro series, regularly attracts 300 to 400 riders to their races. We headed over to check out the last race of the season, when the Bluegrass Enduro Tour joined the series in the quiet, country town of Ballyhoura, some two hours south of the capital, Dublin.
[PI=10127985 size=h align=c[The long stage five finished on classic trail centre trails, with groomed singletrack flowing from the top of the hill, down to the pine forests and deciduous woodlands around the centre itself. While Niall is well-known in Ireland for being more than a little handy on a bike himself, an ex-World Cup downhill and XC racer, in fact, he is keen to keep the races so that anyone can come and have fun. The race mixed technical singletrack with man-made tracks.[/PI]
Full results from the weekend are on the SPORTident website.
www.bluegrassendurotour.com
www.gravityenduro.ie
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 The church spire is about as high-rise as Kilfinnan gets. It really is a postcard village, tucked in amongst the green, rolling hills of the Limerick countryside. |
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| As the race was run by the same people as the national series, they're well-practised putting on these races. From the signage around the village, to the tea stand and moto riders patrolling the course, that experience shows. |
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| Starting young is one of the best routes to reach the top of any sport and there's nothing like getting a taste for the podium early on... What do you reckon the chances of these standing on top of this for real in a decade or so are? |
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| Niall Davis, the series organiser, gives the riders briefing and it's time to head to the two Saturday stages around Kilfinnan. |
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| There is no practise at these races, so the first time the riders will have seen the course is when they reach here, the top of the hill. Walking up the track there wasn't a single tyre track to be seen on the course. |
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| Greg Callaghan is one of Ireland's top enduro riders at the Enduro World Series and set the pace on Saturday, building a healthy lead over the rest of the field. |
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| Local lad Jonathan Maunsell played his home advantage card to get second on Saturday. |
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| After the clear-cut at the head of stage one, riders were into the fairytale pine forest. Rich, green lichen clings to every tree, wild clover carpet the floor and beneath them is rich, deep loam to spray behind you as you ride... |
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| The fresh, technical singletrack wasn't easy going, catching a good number of the riders out. Not least, Gav Carroll, who came round the first corner, charging head down. And smashed, head-first into an overhanging tree trunk so hard he couldn't see straight. |
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| It was the kind of forest where you could lose yourself for days with a camera. |
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| One of the great things about the Irish series seems to be a real air of "come along and take part", with riders of all ages on all types of bikes coming out to race this weekend. |
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| For stage two, riders passed through more clearcut at the top, before dropping back down to Kilfinnan on the plains below. |
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| Back in the village it was all smiles and time to compare lines, times and injuries. |
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| In the field were a couple of trials riders, who decided to have a crack at riding the fountain in the square. |
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| Come Sunday morning, it was bluebird skies, but with a savage gale blowing the clouds in from the south. |
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| Heading up to the highest point in the area to check out the start of stage five, Connor Lavelle was braving the wind off the backside of the hill (he wasn't riding the track before the race). On the way back down to the car after, he washed out at high speed on the rocky fireroad, which mean a trip to the hospital and spinal x-rays to start his Sunday. Hopefully the photos make it worthwhile! |
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| Pat and his trial bike are one of the regular fixtures on the Irish enduro circuit, here he was charging down the fireroad to assess Connors injury. With Graham, he is one of the big reasons why the races can run so smoothly. |
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| For day two, the race moved to the Ballyhoura trail centre, some 10km away, using their trail network for the race course. |
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| Sunday morning felt very relaxed, time to chat to a few friends, wake up and get some help getting your bike ready (whether you asked for it or not). |
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| Before riders were allowed on the course, their bikes had to be checked, to make sure they were still usning the same frame, fork and wheels they started the race with. |
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| There are no set transfer or start times at these races, so you can do everything at your own pace. |
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| For stage one, it was into more of the stunning pine forests. |
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| For stage four, riders broke free of the forest, to get a glimpse of the countryside surrounding the trail centre. |
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| Greg Callaghan built on his lead from Saturday to take the overall win. Jonathan Maunsell held second. Most impressive of all was Jonathan's sister, Leah Maunsell, the youngest rider in the race and head and shoulders faster than any of the other women. |
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| They build em tough in these parts. Back from the hospital, Gav Carroll dug out a new helmet and got on it again for Sunday. |
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| Tired and smiling faces. The sign of a good day racing. |
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| The womens podium: Leah Maunsell, Eidin Clery Michelle Muldoon. |
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| The mens podium: Greg Callaghan, Jonathon Maunsell, Damien Daly and Kevin Moran |
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| The man who made it all happen, Niall Davis. |
Full results from the weekend are on the SPORTident website.
www.bluegrassendurotour.com
www.gravityenduro.ie
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Member since Oct 29, 2006
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I live in Dublin and I don't have a car. How to get there (with my bike)?
This isnt aimed at you but I don't see why Dublin find it so hard to come down the country for races. Everyone makes an effort to get up there but they make a pathetic effort to make the only race down here.
Last time I tried to get there with public transport it took me about 2.5 hours to get to Ticknock and about 3 hours to get to Djouce Woods (for the Santa Cruz testing event). Not to mention that if you climb the Ticknock hill on a full suspension bike, you'll be tired before you even see the trails.