To fll the void created by the cancelation of the Phoenix park races this year I've decided to take up Down Hill Mountain Bike racing. I've entered a downhill race at Rostrevor NI on Aug 14/15. I only go the Dh bike on Wednesday so have not had the chance to get much running on it. I've never raced before so it should be an eye opener. Training has involved a few runs of the Ballinastoe bike trail, doing a few miles up the canal in the evenings and cutting down on the cans. The weekend consists of two practice runs and a seeding run ?? on saturday, followed by a practice run and the race on Sunday. The race is a solo timed run and the winner will be the rider with the fastest time. The objective for this weekend is to end up in one piece hopefully get a finish. There are over 250 entries but only 21 in my class.
The bike is a Kona Stinky and is a pure downhill racer, it's a serious step up from the Trek hardtail that I usually ride. I've been down the runs behind the Blue Light pub in Dublin to get used to the bike. The hardest part of the week has been pushing the bike back up the trail after each run.

Qualifying Day
I'm up at 5.45 and rearing to go. I ring Scilachi to make sure that she's up and on the way, as she loves the snooze button. An hour later and the Saxo is packed to the gills and we're on the road. Rostrevor is not too far past Newry and we make good time as the roads are clear. We take a wrong turn as we enter Rostrevor but soon find our way arrive at the race field. We park up near the arch and head to the sign on. I pay for my day licence and get my race number for the day. I'm 140. The bike is unloaded and set up for the days racing.

I stop by the Chain Reaction stand as I need goggles and gloves, they are only setting up so we opt for a quick bite to eat in the car. I'm eager to get going on the hill so I decide that I'll get the gloves and goggles later, but Scilach convinces me to hang on for them quoting one of my own mantras- Safety First. It was to prove good advice. The shop is set up when I return and I become the owner of a pair of Oakleys and gloves. I put on my gear and head for the uplift. (A van that brings both bikes and riders up the hill to the starting point). Two practice runs are needed to qualify for the seeding run.

I chat to the lads in the vans and find out the top two sections are technical while the bottom one is all speed. I let everyone at the top go ahead to give myself some room, and stay out of their way. I start my camera and off I go. I'm shocked at the severity of the course. I take it easy but still fall a few times. I jump off the bike for the biggest drop making a note that the left hand side is easier. I'm gasping for air by the time section one is complete. Riders start to pass me and I do my best to listen for the shout that they are closing in. I fall a few more times. I'm happy to see the back of section two. I try and carry as much speed through the bottom section but am wrecked, and the jumps are looming. I approach the first one but haven't seen the gully to the right, over the jump I go but the nose dives. I bounce over the bars and fly into the hedges to the cries of Rider Down. Staggering to my feet someone picks up the bike, hands it to me and points me towards the finish. I navigate around the bottom jumps and collapse in a heap. Ferns are sticking out of the new goggles. My lip and left thumb hurt the most.

I take a while to get myself together, check the bike is okay, remove the ferns and head up the hill again, the queue for uplifts is long and I chat to lads trying to get a bit of info. I'm reliably told this is the hardest track and I'm crazy to pick it as a first race but you have to start somewhere. The 2nd run is better although I'm still off the bike a few times, and fairly slow. I try the big rock on the bike but go over the bars and head first into the ground. I take the gully this time and am going to try the jump into the field but on arriving there the arch has deflated which is probally just as well. My chaingaurd has been damaged and I fix it as best I can. Having checked my start time and where the timing beacon is located Scilach and I walk into the forest to watch some of the other riders coming down the hill before returning to the car for a picnic lunch in the sunshine.

The intro of AC/DC's Hells Bells is booming from the Monster truck as I head for the uplift of my seeding run. I hope it's not a sign. The bikes are being put into running order when I reach the top. A quick look at the under 16's starting revelas they have the speed of a leopard out of the gates. I tell the lads starting behind me that I'm new and will be slow therefore to shout loud when overtaking. Before long I'm in the starting gate and underway. I fall twice early on. The following riders are all over me. I think 3 pass me while I'm still in section one; it's not going too well. I get down the course having fallen 5 or 6 times in a time of 6.09 which is well over twice as long as the leader but also 2 and a half minutes gap to the next rider. My left hand is swollen like a balloon and the pain is agony. I stop by the paramedics. Jim bandages the hand and advises me to get it x-rayed. We pack up and head to Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry. An x-ray and some tablets later and I'm good to go with nothing broken, while sitting in the waiting room I'm weighing up having the hand set in plaster in a manner that I could grip the bars to race on Sunday. There is little in the negative column.

The Glenbeigh B&B is lovely when we arrive. The owner directs us to the Kilbroney Inn for dinner, which goes down a treat. I'm in bed and flat out asleep by eleven.

Race day
I wake on the Sunday morning feeling like Stephen Biko only with more bruises. An Ulster Fry later and we're on the road to the track where there is open practice until lunch. We go into the woods and watch some of the riders. I decide I need to practice some jumps and it's better to do it with the medics around. I start at the bottom of the course to try the jump into the field but haven't got enough speed and abort. Then I push up to the fire road and do the whole bottom section, I go around the scene of yesterday's disaster and head for the jump under the arch. I know the second I take off there will be trouble and hit the front of the landing. Over the bars I go in a cloud of dust. Someone grabs the bike off the landing and I dive off the ramp in case another rider comes down. I sit on the ground seeing stars like in the cartoons, my thumb is screaming with pain. Someone gives me a can of Monster. I'm there a few minutes recovering when my ear catches the sound of a generator running out of fuel. I look around and see it's the one keeping the arch inflated. I send Scilachi running to tell the organisers but then spy a fuel can sitting beside it. I head up and start filling the genny: the arch doesn't deflate by the time I have it running again.

My starting time for the race is 2.10 so I'm at the uplift in plenty of time. I'm not that nervous more tense but am sweating buckets after a quick warm up to loosen the legs causing the goggles to fog up a bit. The bike is in a lower gear today and the tyres and shocks have been softened all round. The starter gives me a gap to the riders behind as I'm seriously lacking pace. This is a relief, as I don't want to ruin anyone else's race. Today's run is better; I fall once and jump off at one stage to get down the big rock. The chain guard acts up and I'm unable to pedal for a bit. The jumps are avoided and I finish in 5.40: slow but a finish all the same, I'm shattered. Scilachi makes some lunch after which we pack up and we go to watch the rest of the racing. I stop by Thompson stand and buy a couple of photos before heading home around 4 o clock.

Thanks go to the organisers for a well-run event, everyone who helped and advised me on the day and Scilachi for making up the team. I'm looking forward to the next outing already.

DH...dam hard...