2019 goals

Much like yours jvan, just get out and ride more, increase the fitness & skill levels with an eye on not coming last in what will be my first 'full' enduro race in Scotland in September (PMBA Enduro round #5). Tempted to enter a few other races, but that's the only one committed to for now. Also keep threatening to bring the missus to Fort William which never happened in 2018.

Same as the rest of ye, get fitter and bring up the skill level, improving my jumping being the main skill focus so plan on making a few trips to bike park to dial things in. Blitz Ballyhoura is definitely on the cards and might squeeze in one or two extra

Get at least 4 enduro races in this year.

Complete 3500km on the bike in total.

Run the distance equivalent of 3 marathons over the course of the year.

In short, get out more.

Gerry wrote: »

3500 on mountain bike?! Fair play.
@peter t - yep jumping was one of my focuses for this year. I can recommend bike park.

I've been there before last year. Rented a bike off them and was doing alright but when pushing hard my jumps and landing were sketchy at best. The full suspension bike was doing its work covering my flaws which then ended up with a "I'm going to clear it this time :cool: " confidence level , big spill and a cat 3 shoulder acl separation confirmed my jumping technique needed more work.

There's a section in the middle of the red where you take a few bends through gorse bushes then you've a small table top that cuts into a left hand berm. Got my line wrong over the table top and clipped the tree on the right spun the handlebar out my hand and landed with my front wheel sideways and catapulted myself into the ground. All a result of being over confident for my experience and having a jump technique that has me going off to the right all the time. Still was a great day out

I had a miserable 2018 on the bike, so my 2019 goal is to get out more..
Every year I put myself under great pressure to get fitter etc and then it all turns into a bit of a chore...
This year I am not bothered about my fitness as that will follow when I get out more.
Not interested in races or upping skills (even though there are no skills to speak of:pac:)
2019 is about the fun factor for me and keeping it all about fun

Bought a new bike with an emphasis on trail rather than xco, want to have a bit more fun to get me out more. Saying that, it's a steamroller of a unit with a dinner plate cassette so hopefully not too much slower.

Goals... Do a 160km spin (100 miles), if the weather holds it will be this year.

Epic club league (if it starts again).

Get down towards 90kg, have a clear plan this time and it was working until Xmas.

Do more of the old school xc spins I did 10-15 years ago whilst I can still remember them.

Oh, and stay healthy.

C3PO wrote: »

Start riding my mountain bike (rather than the road bike!) again!!

That sounds good! :rolleyes:

Goals are:

- Top 10 overall in the Gravity Enduros in my category (keep dreaming)

- Visit Wales for an MTB trip

- Go back to Rostrevor

- Do one Blitz (it's been a few years since I did one)

- Keep up core exercise regime throughout the year

- Nail the gap jump at the GAP and get it off the pedestal it's been on. Then - DreamTrack gap jump.

- Learn to backflip (optional)

steamsey wrote: »

If you can deal with clubs, then yes - they're a great way to learn but are not the only answer. I'd hate for anyone to feel **** because they are not in a club. You can teach yourself (with help from youtube etc).

Well yea true, sure you can do anything solo by watching videos; gym work, hiking, soccer, dating..... it's just more fun with other people....

Fair points there steamsey re the jumps - I'd like to do the gap jump at the gap also. Same on dreamtrack, but getting back to dreamtrack would be a good start.

rizzodun wrote: »

If I'm correct, it's an unofficial trail in Ticknock that has a pretty gnarly gap jump near the end.
More like a downhill course.
Big rutted mess near the top if I'm not mistaken though...

Correct. It's an amazing trail. One of my favourites. Definitely a downhill track but there are chicken runs for the jumps. Aside from the jumps - it has a bit of everything. Really good fun but only when you know it. Spent a fair bit of time on it 2 or 3 years ago and was bombing down it (still can't do the gap jump though).

If you stick dreamtrack dublin or dreamtrack ticknock onto youtube you should get plenty of vids, including an older one with Greg Callaghan doing it in style and showing you how it should be done. It's very well maintained most of the time and it brings you down just behind Lamb Doyle's so a great way to finish a spin, especially if you have parked at Lamb Doyle's.

I stuck a video up doing the boneshaker straight down to dreamtrack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56WxuvycHT0. Dreamtrack starts at 3.10 on my vid. The 2nd half of dreamtrack where jumps begin to appear is at about 4.50. You can see the bigger gap jump at 5.50 on the right. It's not a good video and is not how to do the dreamtrack but at least you can clearly see it as I'm not flying. You can tell that the dreamtrack is an old one - some of the vids on youtube were shot with video cameras back in the day with added special effects and some very old looking bikes.

You can find the boneshaker right at the start of the bottom loop / Metro 1 at Ticknock. This takes you right down to the dreamtrack. I like the boneshaker - it's a good challenge but not particularly fast. It's not a popular trail. Otherwise, you can go down Metro 1 and there is bit near the bottom where you come out of the forest (the trail turns left to continue down through the forest, across the road and down to the hut) - if you go right there - along sandy path, slightly uphill - it's 2 mins cycle to start of the dreamtrack.

Well worth taking a look at. If you have never done anything like it before - you'll defo find your heart in your mouth. Great test of your skills. First half is technical downhilly stuff - then the jumps start appearing so best to take it handy at first so you know what's coming. Savage fun wet or dry and it can get very wet at times and very overgrown late in the summer.

Let me know if you give it a try

Can you climb up boneshaker or is it just downhill?