The 3rd round of the British Downhill Series was held in Llangollen on a steep and twisty track. I was feeling confident coming into the race as I knew the track from the Welsh champs a few weeks back so I was going for the win.

We arrived in the van on Friday afternoon, I walked the track twice, once with Brendan Fairclough which was a good help.

The track was so dusty and loose. It was so much fun to ride and I was loving getting wild on the steep, dusty track. I was running a Schwalbe Dirty Dan spike on the rear for better braking and a muddy mary on the front, gave great grip in the deep dust.

Saturday practise went well for me, I only had 1 small crash. I was having fun on the track but got into it a bit late and only started getting properly up to speed on my last run.

I cleaned and checked everything over on Saturday night then walked the track once more.

Sunday morning came quick and I had 2 good practise runs. I was feeling good on the track and knew what to do.

I went up for my seeding run and just wanted to get down steady as you get points towards the overall for seeding. I had a pretty good seeding run, no mistakes but wasnt full pace.
I ended up in 2nd place, only .3 of a second slower than 1st place.

I was feeling good for the final and knew if I had a good run I could win, but it would need to be on the edge the whole way down.
I ended up crashing in my run, fell down the hill and lost loads of time, I tried getting back on quickly and kept going. When I got to the bottom I finished in 9th place, only 2 seconds of the podium with a crash that lost me over 10 seconds! Im happy I went for the win instead of sitting back and getting a podium.

Thanks to all my sponsors. The bike went great all weekend, helped by the great parts like Novatec wheels.

Up next is the Scottish champs in Dunkeld this weekend, then im riding in Scotland for a week and then doing the British champs in Ae Forest!

Round 6 of the Irish NPS took us to Glen Of Imaal, a new venue deep in the Wicklow mountains.

It was a new track built and hosted by EpicMTB, it had lots of natural features and was great fun to ride.

I arrived up on Saturday morning, the sun was shining and the track was dusty. The uplifts were good so I got lots of runs in and did some helmet-cams of the track.

I packed up and headed home, as it was only an hours drive from my house. Washed and prepped the bike for Sundays racing and got some rest.

Sunday morning, there was some light rain but the track was just the same. I got 3 practise runs in then rested up for my race runs.

My first race run was going good, until I slid out on a stump/roots near the bottom, I got back on quickly but it was quite flat so I struggled to pick up speed.

I came down and still went into 1st place, 9 seconds ahead of second place.

Annoyed, but happy I was still winning, and ready to put a smasher of a 2nd run together.

Just before the second runs started, it started pissing rain, and I knew any chances of a quicker run had gone.

As everyone went slower in their second runs I took the win by 9 seconds in my category, my time would have won the Junior category and put me 4th in Elites. Not bad considering I came off the bike!

Photos reproduced with permission of "http://www.uberdogmagazine.co.uk">überdog magazine</a>. Copyright 2010

My bike, Tomac Primer, Novatec wheels and Chromag components went great all weekend.

Ive just finished my exams while writing this so now its lots of biking and racing over the summer, next up is BDS round 3 in Llangollen, cant wait.
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Video of the race by Flexo Designs.

Thanks to all my sponsors:

Cullohill was the venue for round 5 of the Irish NPS.

I had missed this race last year due to injury so I wasnt sure what to expect. My new Tomac Snyper 140 had just arrived on the Wednesday before from Hotlines so I decided to bring it along.

We arrived at the track on Friday evening, set up the pit and then I went up for a look at the track on the Snyper 140. The track was fast and fun with some big jumps and a steep switchbacks section. I ended up sending all the jumps on the Snyper with an XC lid on! I rode for the rest of the evening and was loving the Snyper, the thought of racing it was starting to set in…

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Headcam of the track on the Snyper 140.

On Saturday morning I did a few runs on the big bike, Tomac Primer 220, but I felt it was a bit too much for the pedaly and pretty smooth track, so i whipped the Snyper out of the van once again and did some runs on that! The Snyper is simply amazing, it rides like my Primer, pedals like a hardtail and is extremely light. After some mods to it – wider Chromag OSX bars, a 36 tooth Gamut ring and some Schwalbe tyres  it was ready to go for race day. Also OC Tuning got me a set of 150mm Fox 32 talas for race day, which gave more travel and they rode like 40s! Huge thanks to James!

After some more practice runs on the Snyper I was feeling really quick and ready for my race runs.

My first race run went pretty good, I got down clean, there wasnt really much on the track that you could make mistakes on or sections were you could make up loads of time; just had to pedal your arse off!

I came down and went into first place, with a 1.35, 6 seconds ahead of 2nd place.

2nd run went a bit better, I made up 1 second and ended up winning by 7 seconds. My time put me 2nd in Juniors, 4th in Elites and 5th fastest time of the day!

Another great weekend having fun riding bikes in the sun. Everything went well all weekend and both bikes went great.

My new Tomac Snyper 140 turned up last week from Hotlines.

Ive had it dirt jumping, a quick XC ride and also raced it at the latest Irish DH NPS…its an amazing bike and does everything brilliantly. A true ‘Do it all’ bike that can do everything from dirt jumping to XC to DH racing.

Built it up with Chromag components, WTB saddle, Gamut dual ring chain device, Schwalbe tyres and Fox 32 Talas from OC Tuning (www.OCtuning.ie)

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Frame pictures

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Full Bike pictures.

You can check out the Snyper 140 and the rest of the Tomac range at – http://www.hotlines-uk.com/Brands.aspx?BrandID=153

Round 4 of the Irish NPS took us back to Cahir, the venue for NPS round 1.

The weekend didnt start well, the accelerator pedal snapped off in the camper van as we were about to leave, so we had to take everything out, pack the car and unload the trailer which was full of branches and soil. After that was done we went to bed to get up at 6 am ready to leave for Caher.

The track was great – flat out, dusty with some good jumps.

I had some spanking new saddles on my bike this weekend, I was running the WTB silverado saddles, Sweet az!

I had a great day on Saturday, busting out loads of runs and having lots of fun. We packed up and headed home again (2 hour drive each way, bit of a pain!).

Up again at 6 on Sunday morning, another 2 hour drive to the race. It had rained a bit over night but didnt really affect the dusty track.

I did 2 practise runs on Sunday morning, crashing on the second and hurting my elbow.

My first race run went pretty good, my elbow was still hurting me so I found it a bit hard, I came down in first and was winning by 10 seconds.

My second run went better, but about 2/3s or the way down I snapped my chain, right before a flat pedaly section, so I lost a few seconds there. I went 1 second quicker as I pinned the top bit.

I ended up winning my category by 11 seconds, my time put me 2nd in Juniors and 5th in Elites.

All in all a very fun, sunny weekend riding and racing with friends…doesnt get much better than that.

The bike went amazing as usual, Novatec wheels went strong and Chromag steering kept er on course while the Knox armour was keeping me safe for when i went off course!

Round 2 of the ‘British Downhill Series’ took us to the famous Fort William in Scotland. I was at the British NPS there last year so I knew what to expect.

My dad, James OC, Dennes O Shea and I headed off in the van on Friday morning, we arrived in Fort Bill 11 hours later at 7 pm. We set up the pit, had some dinner and got ready for the weekend ahead.

Saturday morning went well, Myself and Gavin Carrol got a uplift que jump pass as Dennis was marshalling, which was great as we didnt have to que up for the Gondola, Cheers Dennis!

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Track headcam with Ben Reid and Dan Stranbridge.

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I got 7 good runs in on Saturday, I felt quick on the track through the corners and the rocky bits, but I hadnt done a full run during practise so I wasnt sure how id cope in a full run.

I rested up for the rest of the day, checked my bike and got ready for race day on Sunday.

Up again early Sunday morning and I got 2 practise runs in, felt good so I rested up for seeding. Gave the bike a check, got some food and then went up for my seeding run, ready for my first full run of the weekend. I came down and went into 8th place, which I wasnt too happy about but I had bent my mech during the run so I couldnt pedal much at the bottom.

Race run went even better, I went strong out of the gate and pinned all the top section, still not pedaling too much trying to save some energy for the bottom, but even still I was dead, I struggled through the bottom pedaly section and went into the hot seat. I stayed in the hot seat for a while and ended up in 4th place, which im pretty happy about considering I struggled alot on the long, physical track.

As usal the tomac went amazing all weekend and everything held up great, my Novatec wheels went strong even on such a rough track!

All in all a good weekend, except for when we missed the ferry on the way home and had to wait till 3 in the morning.

A month or 2 ago myself and a few other young Irish riders did a photo shoot with Victor Lucas for Dirt mag.

We had a great days riding and it was great to catch up with everyone and take some pics.

Well the segment, called ‘Irish young guns’ is in this months Dirt mag.

Below is the video from the photo shoot and above is my bit in the segment.

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/john-lawlor-irish-young-guns.html

Big thanks to John Lawlor for organizing the day and to Victor Lucas for taking the amazing photos!

MPORA Action Sports >>

The Welsh champs was on at the weekend (1/2 of may) in Llangollen, Wales.

It unfortunately clashed with Irish NPS round 3, but as there is a BDS race on the same track later in the year I thought it would be better to do the welsh champs which will give me experience on the track.

Myself, my dad, Ben Kennedy and Dan Wolfe headed off on friday morning in the big red beast of the van, we arrived at the track at about 3 and set up the pit. We walked the track on friday evening – it was pretty mental, so steep and muddy with some drops at the finish! I couldnt wait to get some runs on it!

Saturday practice went well, I did some runs with Dan Wolfe and Adam Brayton so I got up to speed pretty quickly. The track was changing so much throughout practice, with new lines forming every run.

Sunday was wetter after rain during the night. I got 2 practice runs and felt pretty good, although the track was so hard to race as it was so steep and muddy, and who ever stayed on their bike would probably win.

My first race run went badly, I crashed at the very top and fell down the steep hill, by the time I climbed back up to my bike the next rider was coming, so I let him past, only to pass him over again half way down. I was in 13th place after that run.

2nd race run didnt go much better, but I stayed on which was the main thing. Due to crashing in my first run, I just wanted to get down safely – which ended in going very slow! I caught a rider on a fast straight which lost me a bit of time, I nearly crashed again but managed to save it and get to the bottom.

Photo by Anthony Willet - www.AnthonyWillett.com

I ended up going 1 minute 6 seconds quicker, putting me in 3rd place, .2 of a second off second place and only a few seconds off first. Considering my run I had I was quite happy with 3rd.

It was also great to meet Joe from Bigstone (FiveTen UK) and Will from Juice lubes.

Thanks to all my sponsors:

Chris at Schwalbe UK has hooked me up with my tyres for the season. Schwalbe have an amazing range of tyres going from the ‘Dirty Dan’ to the ‘Wicked Will’ and eveything inbetween for every type of track.

Im really happy to be riding them and think they are the best tyre avaliable, the ‘gooey gluey’ compound and snakeskin walls go together to make a strong, super grippy tyre.

This season ill be using the Dirty Dan, Muddy Marry, Big Betty and Wicked Will.

Check out the full range of Schwalbe tyres here – http://www.schwalbe.co.uk

Round 2 of the Irish National point series took us to Killarney, Kerry. We drove the red A team wagon 5 hours to the track on Friday, set up the BBQ and had some dinner. A good sleep and ready for practise the day after.

The sun was out on Saturday morning and I was ready for some runs. The track was dusty and running sweet, Its a very short course but packed with everything and is fast and rocky so it was real good fun to ride. Saturday practise went well, although I was a bit nervous on the steep rocky steps were I broke my collar bone last year. After a few runs behind elite rider Dan Wolfe I was feeling pretty quick. 1 slight over the bars crash which was luckly saved by the Knox armour.

After practise I sessioned some of the bottom sections with some mates, which ended in me snapping my crank spiders, chain ring and bashguard, luckly I got it sorted for Sunday.

Headcam of the track, following Greg Callaghan.

Sunday morning was again sunny, I managed to get 3 practise runs in, but pushed up for 2 of them due to the long Qs. I was feeling confident enough for my race runs but I knew it was going to be very tight on such a short track with no room for error.

My first race run went OK, I clipped out near the start and it took me a while to get back in, but other than that it was pretty smooth. I was in 1st place after my first run, about 3 seconds ahead of 2nd place.

2nd run went even better, but I only managed to make up 1 a second, I kept first place, about 4 seconds ahead of 2nd place.

My time put me 3rd place in the Junior category, only 1 second from winning it, which shows how tight the track was!

All in all a great weekend and another win, I have so far won every race in Ireland.

My next race is the Welsh champs in Llangollen in a week, Which I cant wait for!

Below is a video report from the race:

Thanks to all my sponsors: