Matthew Adair my bloggy woggy

Irish cross champs

2012-01-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

So its the morning after the day before and im meant to be riding some track but the list of sore body parts is to long today, legs, hip, neck, back, shoulders, arms and hands but worth it ? yeah of course first senior national champs first senior national medal makes for a happy Matthew.
So anyway morning of the race I got up which is always a good place to start, got feed and hit the road so first practise lap was great loved the course it was fast, technical dry, muddy it was everything so yeah I was looking forward to it even got a pre race interview thank to Joe McCall

Do I really sound like that ?

So onto the race, 9 laps, wow tat sounded like a lot..... anyway with a long straight tarmac start I don't really need to say what I did but for those that don't know me I went flat out and usually half way through the first lap I would get caught but not this time lead for a whole lap and coming down the finish straight I even had a gap!wow this was going well 5 second gap then boom the corner I nearly fell of on every practise lap I did fall of, DISASTER but really that just sped up the inevitable when Rodger and Robin came flying past, phew back were I belong.

I stayed with them for a while until Rodgers chain came of cause then Seymour went and then Rodger went flying past trying to catch leaving me on my own by this point I was more worried about putting time into Evan than trying to catch the other 2 so I rode hard as I could (was the champs after all) so it worked out pretty well for me finishing 3rd. Robin won Rodger second me 3rd, WORC won the team prize (who shouted fix back there).

So a good weekend now im of to lye down cause typing this has finished me of .......

Matthew

2011 review

2012-01-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

Okay this seem to be the fashion at the moment maybe it because its the end of 2011? who knows.....
Well anyway here I go!
So 2011 was a good year on the bike and even though I'm more a MTB biker I can actually fit my whole MTB season into one paragraph, so here goes.....

MTB season was shaping up to be a cracker so I thought, I won the XMTB winter league and first big races was sxc #1 were I won then the next weekend was British NPS #1 at Sherwood were I was a disappointing 6th and then the whole Irish NPS can be summed up in a few sentences. With the only other junior who would no doubt give me a run for my money (Rob Scanlon) concentration on leaving cert, races were only a ride around every weekend the fact downhillers were filling the podium gives an example of the poor level of racing so each race was just picking or elites not very satisfying. MTB season was partly rescued with another Scottish round were I won again and another British round were I finished 3rd my first and probably last British podium. So a very disappointing MTB season but with this lack of racing here I had to get a proper racing fix somewhere.......

This racing came from the road, this started at anaclone first road race of the season so of course I was of the front all day then out the back at the finish this came pretty regular thing. Having been selected for the Irish team for the gorey 3 day I was doing some training races including the Wallace Cardwell were I rode strong enough, but anyway the gorey.... finished overall in 21st place ended up being the donkey of the team but I didnt mind got my go of the front a few times, we also won the team prize here and Conor Mcalwaine was second overall so I came away from this race happy enough and a bit richer.....

Next big road race was the ras Donegal, riding for the ulster team, first stage was a simple affair 30 mile blast which Damien Shaw won which was the story of the weekend he rode as all over.... anyway having finished second in the time trial which Shaw won I went into the next stage second overall and of course the out the back monster visited me again went of a cliff edge in the overall which was a blessing really as the next stage, In the rain and cold I attacked and nobody had any need to chase me got halfway across to the break then Shaw rode past and pretty much rode me up to that break and on the finish up glengesh out of a group of 3 I attacked and won Shaw was second on the stage that day saved my ras Donegal also putting me in a select group who have actually beat Damien Shaw this year but to be fair he was out the front for most of the race so I guess he was a bit tired but still was nice to win. oww and we won the team prize again.

Next race was the Newry 3 day riding for Banbridge cc first stage went great 4th overall with a few minuites over the peloton and the KOH jersey... great, untill the next stage were the out the back monster that is cramps attacked again boom lost 2 minutes lost KOH jersey and don't even remember were I finished it was low anyway.... rather not remember actually

Next race for me was the junior tour of Ireland which was I imagine an eyebrow raising selection, team of Conor McAlwaine, Cormac clarke and Darragh Zaidan riders who have impressed throughout the year and then me, one stage win and a few club race wins and been out the back more times than I want to remember probably not anyone's first choice. So I had a LOT to prove and being on the floor in the first kilometre wasn't the best start, crashing in a tt how embarrassing and to ad insult to injury I was 2 second up... after 1 kilometre .... who knows what could have been. I imagined the whole peloton laughing at me until I found out I was actually 16th so I actually beat most of the peloton and was 4th Irish rider on stage after the rest of the Irish team, disaster averted, just. I could give you a stage by stage account but long story short most of my junior tour was chasing Americans or attacking Americans and out the back sometimes but I loved it and Darragh winning the final stage and winning us the team prize at it was the icing on the cake and with the Irish team first 4 Irish riders on finial GC we proved our selection or I mean I proved mine everyone else deserved there place, I finished body bagged in 13th overall.

Next up.... youth commonwealth games another eyebrow raising selection no doubt the fact it was the same weekend as the junior champs played nicely into my hands I guess, as i wasn't going to do the champs anyway. These games were a tt a road race and a crit, and quite frankly was the worst week of the year, but the racing was good. was 10th in the TT and as become the norm went out the back in the road race with you guessed it cramps. And then the crit, quite possibly the most dangerous circuit ever, in the rain the tram tracks covered with rubber mats which were leathel when wet as a poor soul in front of me found out which also resigned me to chasing for the whole race as I had to stop but was great fun taking time out of the roadies in the corners my flying round them and they were dead slow stop round them anyway finished 11th which wasn't to bad.

Being the all rounder I am I also did the junior track champs were I was second..... in everything, probably should have concentrated on just a few events but I got greedy and didn't, but still more medals is good right ?

So last but no means least is the cyclocross, like Damien Shaw in Donegal Rodger Aiken rode us all over in ever race, but second overall in the ulster league and second in the ulster champs isn't bad I guess, second behind Rodger is never bad...

So that's it folks..... if you read all of this thanks, swear I've been doing if for hours, here's to 2012

last but not least a thanks to all who have made 2011 great and good im going to try and name some but you know who you are

Ryan conner, Neil Martin, Stephen Prentice, Brian Cardy, Anthony Mitchell, Paddy Doran, Ciara McManus, everyone in Banbridge CC , Neil Taggert, Claire Oakley, Sean McNicholl, Marian and Tommy lamb, Dany Blondell, everyone who gave me a lift anywere, Tina Murry, Ian McIntyre, Barry Dunn, everyone at CRC and vitus, everyone who helped at junior tour and gorey and Myles McCorry I could go on but sorry if I missed you out big thanks to all.

Matt

update time

2011-12-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

So been a while, well time for an update then ..............
well knees are all better again which is always a good start, and also got some new kit from Galibier, what do you mean you never heard of them ! well check them out here http://www.galibiervelo.com/ you will be impressed, I definitely was better quality than any kit I own including loads of Santini and the like, well made comfortable, warm and damn stylish could probably wear the jacket out for the night, yes its that cool.......
well that's all until the cyclocross champs oww wait...... i also happened to snap my cx bike so looking out for a bike to use at the champs, so hopefully get one.

Down and out again

2011-12-16T09:37:00.001-08:00

So here I am lying in bed with 1 very sore and one not to sore but still not great knees, how ? Well long story short I am never running in minus temperatures in shorts again! So knees taped up and no cycling for a while. Just my luck ehh !

Oww all arty thing

2011-12-11T14:55:00.001-08:00

Okay so playing around with the instagram app and came up with these masterpieces ........

Vincent van who.......

CI training weekend

2011-12-11T14:51:00.001-08:00

Well last weekend I headed down to Dublin on a wing and a prayer I got down but had no way home and was runnig low on funds but still I was there and ready to do stuff!
First thing a run now thi was easy cause i usually run flat out and this was a gentle jog all good so far, after that a circuit class Owww I hate circuits muff said. After a few workshops we headed to our hotel for the night.
Now this was the best part of the weekend! Self catering houses and me sharing we the legend that are rob deign and David monty !! As you can imagine some massive giggles were had as well as some dodgy dancing and lot of eating.
Right morning after the night before we kitted out of for a 3hour spin so this was nice enough cruising in the bunch then bam, sprint! I don't sprint this was hard !! But after that shock we hit a circuit but before we done that some strength training over a massive hill! But this wasn't so bad as I can half climb ! But anyway then the rain started and this was horrible just soo cold but thankful we didn't do to much more before we headed back into lovely showers. Ahh warmth ! So weekend done now how to get home.....
Well I had planned to get the train but then monty stepped in and gave me a lift, what a hero ! So thanks to paddy doran an the CI crew for the weekend.

Back in business

2011-12-11T14:40:00.001-08:00

Okay here we go again, back and better than ever hopefully

Ulster cross champs

2011-11-24T10:09:00.001-08:00

Well finally here it is...
This weekend was the ulster cyclocross champs and having taken a
break from racing i was feeling good and looking forward to it. having
done a few practise laps the course was very slippy but also fast as
it was mostly dry.
the race started well and I lead into the first section of off road, i
lead for the first half lap until Rodger came flying past which has
become a familiar sight this season and like ever over time i couldn't
stay with him, but i did keep him closer for longer than previous
times after a few laps i was second with an post pro Conor McConvey
closing down on me he came shooting past but managed to stay with him
for a while but he soon left me. by this time i was in 3rd with a gap
of 30-40 seconds over 4th so i continued to push hard and try ed to
increase this. coming through the start finish are with 3 lap to go
Conor was standing having rolled a tub so i was up into second. with 3
laps to go and a good gap over 3rd place it was looking good, however
one lap later i crashed hard on a slippy section and lost time but
with only one lap to go i kept my 2nd place. So a good race for me and
i'm looking forward to the next one.

Ulster champs

2011-11-20T14:06:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post I was 2nd, Rodger won again. Full report coming soon. Told you it was quick....

Update time

2011-11-18T06:53:00.001-08:00

Well rough week anyway, I've had a lucky year but looks like I'm getting all the bad luck the past few weeks, crashes on bike falls of the bike loosing everything, not sleeping as well an imminent breakup, it's all happening. But on the bright side thanks to vitus for agreeing to keep going with me through next year as well as some new teammates which I am super excited about. So anyway ulster cx champs on Sunday so hopefully that goes alright.

Belgium update

2011-11-09T11:44:00.001-08:00

Long story short it's not happening, school has different plans, disappointing? Yes but thats life isn't it.

Belgium 2011

2011-11-05T14:35:00.001-07:00

Thank to Dany Blondeel for organising this, i will be traveling ti Belgium on the 9th of December for 2 weeks of cyclocross racing so I'm looking forward to that. hopefully not do to badly....

Welcome to my blogosphere

2011-11-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

hello, I guess if your reading this you don't have much else happening so I will try to help that out a bit by being remotely interesting here, enjoy......

Ulster cyclocross rd3

2011-11-03T14:15:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the third round of the Ulster Cyclocross League in Larne. The days leading up to the race were very wet and turned the course into a mud bath worse than the first round in Lurgan.

My race started badly when I had trouble clipping in – and when I did get in I was second behind Roger Aiken but passed him soon after. I bunnyhopped over the first set of boards but ran into the second one and had to get off and jump over it. Once I'd got back on the bike I noticed my chain was off so I got back off and fixed it.

After all this I was surprisingly still third as Roger had fallen off which caused a traffic jam at the board – lucky for me. But things just got worse from there as Roger quickly passed me and was away and I couldn't stay with him at all. I was feeling bad but slogged on through the mud and was in second place until I was passed again. I couldn't stay with them but they crashed, putting me into second again with a good gap.

However in the closing stages I was slowly being caught by John Bogues and then Roger came shooting past to lap me, which I was almost thankful for with how bad I was feeling. It was a demoralising race but I somehow managed to finish third which helped a bit on the overall – where I'm now in second place."

Ulster cyclocross rd2

2011-11-03T14:14:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the second round of the Ulster Cyclocross League and having finished third in the previous round I was looking to improve on this.

Having done a few practice laps I really enjoyed the course which was mostly dry with only some muddy parts. My race started well and I got a gap of about ten seconds within the first half lap. I rode around the first lap with the previous round winner Rodger Aiken closing on me quickly.

On the second lap, Roger flew past me and started to put time into me. Sitting in second I was keen to keep this position and already had a good lead over third place but continued to push on. I finished two minutes down on Roger but was happy to move up one place from the last race."

Lurgan park cyclocross

2011-11-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

I started my defence of my 2010 Ulster Cyclocross League title, finishing in third at the first race of this season in Lurgan Park, Lurgan, over the weekend.

"This weekend was the first round of the Ulster Cyclocross league and having won the overall last year I was looking forward to it. Rain had made the course very muddy and after a practice lap I knew it was going to be a hard race.

My race started well and I was in the lead through the first few corners, which helped to avoid any possible trouble. After half a lap out in front I was passed by the flying Rodger Aiken and a group of three riders formed behind him, with me in it.

After another lap the two other riders started to pull away, and I was sitting in fourth with a good gap over the fifth place rider. However on the next lap I passed Conor Campbell for third after he cramped, and I managed to hold on to third for the remainder of the race, finishing several minutes down on Rodger who won, but I was happy enough with how my race went."

Plymouth British XC

2011-11-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

I raced at the final round of the British XC National Points Series in Plymouth, Devon, over the weekend eventually finishing in an impressive third despite a couple of mechanical problems.

“This weekend was the final round of the British NPS held in Plymouth, and having been selected for the Irish development team for this race I was really looking forward to it.

We arrived at the course on Friday and headed round for a practice lap. The course was a mix of steep technical sections and steep climbs with some fast wide singletrack. I enjoyed the course and was looking forward to the race.

The race started fast and I went into the first singletrack in second place. By the end of the first lap I was together with another rider fighting for third, but at the bottom of the second steep climb my chain came off and I had to push hard to catch back up. We pushed on and caught and passed the second place rider. On the last lap my chain came off again on the hill, and with only 2km of the course remaining I wasn't able to catch up again. I finished third and was happy to get on the podium.”

Youth commonwealth games

2011-11-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

Commonwealth Games earlier this year on the Isle of Man.

Here's Matti's report from the Games:
“I was really looking forward to the Youth Commonwealth Games and couldn’t wait until the first race which started on the Friday night with a short time-trial along the promenade. It was windy with a tailwind on the way out and headwind on the way back. During the time-trial I felt good and finished in provisional third with several left still to finish, but in the end I took tenth place.

Next up was a road race. I was feeling a bit rough on the morning of the race, but was looking forward to it as the sun had come out and the wind had dropped. However, early in the race I cramped and was dropped from the leading pack. I rode around the rest of the course on my own and finished a disappointing 28th.

My final race was a crit around the Douglas promenade area, and after the disappointment of the road race I was after a good result. The race started fast and I was in the middle of the pack which made moving up hard because of the fast pace and the tight corners. On one of the corners a rider went down in front of me which meant I had to stop, resulting in a group of 10 forming out front. From then on I was riding on my own trying to catch up but I couldn't, and finished 11th overall.”

**Photos credited to Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council**

Perth SXC 2011

2011-11-03T14:04:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the 5th round of the Scottish league in Perth and having won here last year I was looking forward to it as I was representing the Ulster team on this occasion.

The trip started on Saturday morning with an early start to catch the boat from Larne to Troon, we arrived at the course around lunchtime and set of to do some practise laps. The course was tough with steep climbs and very fast descents but I liked it and was looking forwarded to the race.

On race day I began with bottle duties for the team members in the morning race before I went and got ready. My race started fast and i led into the first single track climb, looking back coming out of this I saw that there was 2 of us

with a clear advantage. Coming to the top of the next hill I got a gap on the other riders and pushed hard to force it open. Coming round to finish the first lap I had a lead of 30 second over a group of three that had now formed, going through the feed zone i missed my bottle but continued to push on and by the end of the second lap going into the finial lap I had a gap of just over a minute but over the finial lap I pulled this out to 2 minutes 37 second at the finish. I was pleased with how my race went an happy to win again. "

Junior tour of Ireland

2011-11-03T14:03:00.001-07:00

The first stage was a short two mile time trial up the Windy Gap, and it was a stage I was looking to do well in as it suited me. I started well and was two seconds up on the leader but I crashed on a corner, quickly getting back on and finished 16th – only 27 seconds down on the stage winner.

Stage two was a 70-miler with several big hills. In the opening stages of the race a breakaway went of two American riders and got a gap of two minutes. Coming onto the second big climb I rode a hard tempo up and over the top, where a group of nine riders formed. We quickly got a gap and started to eat into the American riders’ advantage. Coming into the finish the Americans still had a 100 metre gap and I finished tenth on the stage moving up to 12th overall.

Another 70 mile route, stage three had only a few hills towards the end, however with it traversing the coast there was the potential for crosswinds to cause havoc. Coming into the final hills the bunch was still together with two riders up the road, but they were brought back quickly. However, coming into the finish with 10k to go I cramped and ended up losing two minutes. Having gained time on the previous stage it didn't affect my GC position and I remained 12th overall.

The 60-mile hilly fourth stage was always going to be the deciding stage in the race, and from the start the pace was very fast. I tried a few attacks that were brought back and the strong winds meant that the bunch was completely shattered in the first 20k with a group of 20 riders forming on the front, which included me. Coming across the bridge to do the loop of Achill the group slowed right down so I attacked and to my amazement I got away and wasn't chased down. I rode hard and gained a maximum advantage of two minutes before turning into the headwinds which was very hard on my own. It wasn’t long before the gap came down and I was caught by the bunch, which stayed together for the final climbs. The group split near the top and I couldn't get back on down the descent. I finished in 17th place – losing another two minutes, but stayed in 12th place overall.

Stage five was a short 54-mile stage and from the start I attacked and was joined by two others. We had several miles on our own until we were caught again. After about 10 miles I attacked again and got away on my own. After a few more miles I was joined by Ireland team mate Conor McIlwaine and another rider. On the hill the other rider was dropped and me and Conor rode hard, giving ourselves a maximum advantage of two minutes. With 16 miles to go, Conor rode on and I went back to the bunch, which is where I finished.

The final stage was a short 42-mile stage finishing on top of the Windy Gap. Before the climb I mostly sat in as we had a man up the road. Going onto the climb, the week of racing took its toll and I finished 15th, 30 seconds behind the main group. I finished 13th overall and we won the team prize.