For those of you that don’t know me my name is Chris McGlinchey, although a lot of people know me as Kipper, a nickname given to me by my older brother when I was in primary school. From an early age I have loved everything on two wheels, initially it was racing 50/65cc motocross before my brother introduced me to mountain biking – and that’s where it all began.

I progressed through the downhill ranks in Ireland/UK before racing at an International level with my best result being 42nd at the 2013 Fortwilliam UCI Downhill World Cup. Representing Ireland in both European and World Championship downhill events was a massive achievement for me.

After committing everything I had into downhill for years and not reaching where I had dreamed since I started racing, I started to loose motivation and most importantly the love for the sport that I enjoyed so much. Downhill has been an amazing experience and I have made a bunch friends along the way while seeing some incredible places however, I felt it was time for a change.

So, in 2015 I decided to give enduro and road cycling a go. Although I really enjoyed racing enduro and the format, I was instantly hooked on road cycling. I think because it was a completely new sport, a new experience and with so much to learn, I knew I wanted to test myself. In my first season on the road I managed to move up from the A4 category to A1 and also represent Ireland in the Tour of Ulster, something I certainly didn’t expect when starting out.

For 2016 I will be focusing all my efforts on road cycling and I’m excited for the new challenge that lies ahead.