) headed for the Bull Raid in Bellurgan Park Co Louth. The format for these races is simple - do as many laps of the course as you can in your allocated time!
Me and Ross arrived about 12ish, the lads had already been at it since 7:30. Hayden looked in a bit of a daze having already done 3 laps. Rudolf was looking fairly fresh and Damian was as usual flying around with his big happy grin.
Me/Ross/Rudolf/Lynn were set up together in the pits, so there was a bit of crack and company when you were talking a rest.
The course was savage - 11.1km including all of this years NPS course - so pretty technical. Started off with a lungbuster climb then into the technical stuff - tight switchbacks, rocks and roots a plenty. I was lapping average about 50 mins, Ross about 45. For us it was one lap flat out, back to the pits, crash for five minutes, get some food, change clothes, off again. Similar for the lads, with Rudolf doing a few 2 lappers. Didnt see much of Damian as he was in a different area. Conditions were good, although a good shower in the early afternoon made things a little interesting
In the end me and Ross managed 8 laps for 5th place, Rudolf/Lynn 15 laps
again for 5th and Damian 12 laps in 6th The organisation etc.. was great and there was a great buzz around the place..I really enjoyed this event - the course was tough, but that made it great, you really had to be on your game or you could lose vast amounts of time easily. The format is excellent too, very sociable atmosphere
Fair play to the lads - they were all flying
The results are here: http://www.chipit.ie (although you'd need a PhD in Maths to figure them out...)
photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/racing795/Bull_Raid_060811
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Wow is all I can say. Another podium for Rudolf, he's the man. Great results all round guys. So Miller is the sports drink for mountain bikers. Sign me up quickly 