The MTB season was finally here and ready to start. Ballinstoe was the host for the 1st round. A super hard and demanding course due the the long draggy climbs and the techie descents kept you on your limits for the duration of the race. We had an amazing weekend with the weather, such a warm and sunny weekend made for a super dry and dusty race.

I got a good start up the long fire road climb at the start and got nicely onto 3rd wheel for the descent behind the 2 favourites for the race. The 3 of us got a gap from the beginning. As the race progressed I was feeling really strong and the national champion was not looking good. At the top of the climb the other favourite attacked me and the national champ. I responded with everything I had and managed to gap the national champ Curtis. I held my gap over Curtis for the rest of the last 2 laps and I finished in 2nd only 10 seconds off the winner. A great start to my MTB season and I’m very happy with how I felt.

I really enjoyed this course and I am super happy with the feeling this weekend. It was nice to have good legs and to be able to show that with a very solid performance. I’m also happy with how I felt on the bike after not spending much time riding my mountain bike this year, I’m looking forward to riding the MTB more this year and making the NPS series more of a focus