The most anticipated event of the year for everyone in Ireland did not disappoint! Chain Reaction Cycles Emerald Enduro was held at Carrick Mountain, Co Wicklow and was set to be a great event. For the Nukeproof Factory Racing Team this was their EWS debut, both Chris and Kelan were looking to make a big impact and gain as much experience as possible.
Practice got underway on Friday and was stage 1-4 with the remaining 3 stages being open for practice on Saturday. Niall and the whole Biking.ie crew had done an amazing job and created 7 very testing tracks both physically and technically.
I had only ever ridden the downhill track in Carrick so was excited to see what Niall had in stall for us. After both days practice I was happy to see that there was a good mix of dh orientated trails and more physical stages which would really test all styles of riders. For me after practice I felt really strong on stage 6 and 7 and was looking forward to race day.
Unfortunately race day didn’t go as planned for myself, I punctured on stage 2, 6 & 7 which ended my chances of a top 40 result. At the end of the day I finished up in 73rd place. I took a lot of positives out of the race however with a 31st and 30th on stage 3 and 4 I knew that my pace was there and I’m now looking forward to improving on this result next weekend at the next round in Scotland
The next event will be the Tweed Love EWS in Scotland this weekend. Thanks to all my sponsors for their continued support, Nukeproof, Bell Helmets, Schwalbe, SRAM, Ride 100%, Mucky Nutz, Point1 Athletic Development.
