ballyhoura spook 31st october!!

andysheehan2003

hi all,
found this on ballyhoura website www.ballyhouracountry.com ballyhoura spook is a night and day race on halloween night 31st october. 30k day race and a 10k night race sounds like great craic. also something for the whole family in the activites.
I've only been biking for a few months but been going to ballyh at least twice a week since and havent done any racing. but i think ill enter this one as im not working that wend.

BryanL

you can get a few frights there on a sunny day at speed, night racing should be class!
Bryan

andysheehan2003

yeah id say night time up there will be savage!!!

c montgomery

Not much info on the site at the moment but ill defo be doing this. Looks like it will be great crack.

First aid kit on standby for the nite biking!

mockler007

so lads any transport going. me and the misses have a van with room for 4 more bikes, but only 2 seats, so if yous wanna follow in a car by all means,

Pacifico

Some more info here: http://ballyhouraspook.wordpress.com/the-ballyhoura-screamer/

Tickets are €30! Yo have to ring them on 063 91300 to book it...

Anyone else doing it?! Would be fairly cool in the dark....didn't know it was a race though!

ryan_sherlock

Mel and I will probably be traveling down to this one.

andysheehan2003

cant make it now as the missus has organised a nite out that nite for my bday:rolleyes:
have been out a few nites over the last couple of weeks it is unreal at nite out there..
done a 17k route friday nite starting from the ballyhea carpark its great craic alltogether... pretty pissed ill miss this but im sure mr. budwipe will console me on the nite:D

kayaksurfbum

whats the format for these races? iv never raced before, is there classes? i dont feel like starting off next to an elite racer!

ryan_sherlock

kayaksurfbum wrote: »

whats the format for these races? iv never raced before, is there classes? i dont feel like starting off next to an elite racer!

I have not idea of the format but I wound not worry about starting beside Elite racers. All the Elite types will be vying for the front row, just get into a comfortable position and enjoy yourself.

Also, it is October 31st - the elite season is over, everyone (including myself and Mel) will be there for the craic

kayaksurfbum

thats cool. Im just doing it for the crack really. Any tips for a first time race?

ryan_sherlock

kayaksurfbum wrote: »

thats cool. Im just doing it for the crack really. Any tips for a first time race?

For your first race - just enjoy it. Take it easy enough for the first 30 minutes and push harder towards the end.

If it is the 30km loop for everyone, make sure to take two bottles of energy type drink and a couple of gels/bars (whatever works for you). I don't know if there will be a feed stop but just make sure to eat enough during the race.

Skip the fry in the morning, go for something more carbohydrate based and healthy

Talk to people after the race about it - there will be lots of people willing to chat and give advice.

Good job on going for your first race

mockler007

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

For your first race - just enjoy it. Take it easy enough for the first 30 minutes and push harder towards the end.

If it is the 30km loop for everyone, make sure to take two bottles of energy type drink and a couple of gels/bars (whatever works for you). I don't know if there will be a feed stop but just make sure to eat enough during the race.

Skip the fry in the morning, go for something more carbohydrate based and healthy

Talk to people after the race about it - there will be lots of people willing to chat and give advice.

Good job on going for your first race

mr sherlock are you going by convoy? could we follow you down mate, i read the blog your otherhalf wrote up on the ww. better than any journo. what time will you be leaving dublin at? could we meet you at the poitin still??? im just doing the 30km race. any one else wanna go by convoy? pm me

ryan_sherlock

mockler007 wrote: »

mr sherlock are you going by convoy? could we follow you down mate, i read the blog your otherhalf wrote up on the ww. better than any journo. what time will you be leaving dublin at? could we meet you at the poitin still??? im just doing the 30km race.

I'm flying from Brussels to Shannon the night before so a convoy will be pretty tricky

Give yourself 2:45 - 3 hours to get there. Race starts at 1pm, aim to be there for 11:30 ish so leave Dublin around 8:30/8:45. It is pretty easy to find.

ryan_sherlock

Mel and I are heading down to this anyway - despite what you might get from the Spook webpage, there is still lots of room for the MTB race. Dropping a call to the tourist office for them to get and idea of numbers.

Home:Ballyhoura

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

Mel and I are heading down to this anyway - despite what you might get from the Spook webpage, there is still lots of room for the MTB race. Dropping a call to the tourist office for them to get and idea of numbers.

Well, any news on how it went?

ryan_sherlock

This was actually a really great event - I didn't know 90% of the people there. All big bikes, baggies (i.e. racing newbies) and big smiles afterwards.

The nighttime TT was amazing with a great atmosphere on the start ramp. Its a lot of fun hitting those type of trails a full tilt when you have no idea what is coming up (including ghosts jumping out at ya). With the weather, I could not believe it was the end of October.

They are talking about making it annual - put it in your calendars now, and take the (if any) kids too. There was a real party atmosphere between the two MTB stages with 100s of kids (and adults) running around in fancy dress. I highly recommend this - especially if you are new to racing - a really lowkey way of dabbling into racing

Results etc... are up on their website: http://ballyhouraspook.wordpress.com/

Caroline_ie

Congrats Ryan

Home:Ballyhoura

Man after that post I really wished I had done it. I had other stuff to do but this should have taken priority, I will know better next year...hopefully they do make it an annual event. Who was actually organising it...was it the xct1 bike rental crowd at the trails or someone else? Fair play for an outstanding performance, you absolutely destroyed everyone else hands down! Well done I only know a couple of names on that list of names (results), was there a lot of beginner/newbies out for the laugh on their first kind of race or what?

MarkG1975

yes it was organised by xct1 and a good job they did,defo a more relaxed atmos but still a proper race up front, the night tt was great,my first time night biking and i struggled a bit finishing 14th and blowing my podium chance,fin 5th overall. defo recommend this race/event for next year;)

Peterx

This went ahead again this year, last weekend in fact and was a brilliant weekend away and an ideal way to finish up with summertime. The Saturday night race loop was cool, plenty of lads jumping out at you and a super friendly atmosphere at the trail head with the biggest tent I have ever seen pelting out post race burgers and tunes to the assembled masses. Riders starting every 30 seconds meant you were either chasing down or being chased down by funky pools of white or red light.

The torrential rain and unbelievable amount of standing water made little difference to a cool old school loop on the Sunday with yet more burgers and chocolate apples on show in the unfeasibly large tent afterwards. Chris and team put on a fabulous show and it was no bother to sign up on the day so maybe a pity that the website stated pre-entry only.
Great fun!

The Ballyorgan cottages are the ideal base for a weekend of fun. The pub is within walking distance, the trailhead is 3km cycle away so once you arrive with enough food you can forget the car for the weekend. All good, we even got free crisps in the pub on the Saturday night.

langdang

Glad to hear you had a good experience, Sunday looked like a tough day out!