Michael Obrien

Aston Hill Black run race- 2ND

michael — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:07:06 +0000

Aston Hill black run race

A beautiful weekend in march saw the opening round of the 2012 Aston hill race series. With this being the most local to the race to the team base Trek MK store it was important for me to get a good result, I was were real happy after practice and me and my bikewhere feeling good on this fast, loose and dusty track. After first runs I was sitting in second place, knowing I could both improve on my first run time I was keen to head to pits, grab some food and drink and get ready for the final runs of the day. I had a good, smooth run improving my time by just over a second but not not enough to take the win but still a solid second place finish. All in all a great weekend for me and the Trek store MK

Results
Michael-2^ND Junior

The next race for me and the team is at Combe Sydenham which is the first round of the British Downhill Series. Be sure to check back for riding and race updates.

Michael.

Pearce Cycles Round 1 – 12th

michael — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 07:59:27 +0000

The Third weekend in March saw the opening round of the 2012 Pearce Cycles race series. The race took place at Bringewood, a venue just outside of Ludlow. The track was very fast but also very tight which made it challenging to carry speed and get a good flow to your riding. On the saturday it was lovely and dry, track conditions where perfect ! It took some time to get used to the track but by the end of the day I had the track and my bike dailed in for race day. Race day soon came around, in the morning there were some light rain showers which made the small open section slightly slick but apart from that the track was un changed and running very well. In the first run I unfortunatly had a big crash on the lower part of the track which set me well down the order and also hurt my arm quite badly. Inbetween race runs I went to get it checked out before heading up for my final run. Like the first run it didnt go to plan, I again got a good first split time (well inside the top 10) but wasnt riding great due to my arm hurting from the first run and playing in safe to stay on. I ended up 12th on the day, It really wasnt where I should or wanted to be at but I will continue to work hard and come back alot stronger, fitter and faster next race.

Thanks Michael.

26th Febuary 2012-661 Mini downhill Forest of dean – 2nd

michael — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:50:22 +0000

The final weekend in Febuary was the date for the last round of this years 661 Mini Dowhill series. For a change the weather was looking good for the w.e and the sun stayed out. Me and Sam Wakefield who was also racing headed down to the venue Saturday morning to learn the track and get some good practice runs in. At the end of the day I was fully sorted and had everthing dailed in on track, We headed back to the B&B to get some much needed rest for the race tomorrow. We were soon back on track for morning practice which also went very well. My First race run went well putting me into the lead by a small way but unfortunatly I could not improve my time in the second run due to a little mistake and got leapfroged by second place which switched the order round and left me in second spot for the weekend. It’s been a good run of races for me and hopefully I will be back up on the top step of the poduim at the first round of the Caersws cup next week.

Thanks Michael.

29th January 2012 – 661 Downhill-Forest Of Dean- 1st

michael — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:41:07 +0000

The last weekend in January saw the second round of the Mini Downhill series return to the Forest of Dean. This was the first race of the new season and with lots of fitness and bike training going into my programme I was keen to see how I do would against a packed Junior feild. Me and my mechanic for the weekend Rob headed down to the venue early Saturday morning to check out the track and get up to speed, It was a high speed, techincal and by race day rough track which was going to make it a challenge for everyone. Saturday practice I did 5 runs down the track making sure I had all of my lines dailed and felt strong for race day. It was soon Sunday morning and I was heading back up the hill for two morning practice runs before my first race run. With a great meal and a good night sleep at a local B&B I was ready for action. My first run was good, putting me in the lead by a small margin but I knew things could change, For the second run I just had to stay focused, the track was running slightly slower but knowing someone could improve there time you still had to put a solid run in ! thats just what I did getting the quickest second run time aswell and securing the win on the day ! It was a perfect day for me and everyone that has helped me, to get a win in the first race is amazing and im so happy ! Hopefully we can continue this for the rest of the year.

I would like to dedicate this win to my great friends Millie,Charlie and Ollie who where involved in a terriable car accident ! Get well soon guys !

Thanks Michael.

British Downhill winter series -2ND

michael — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:12:35 +0000

The BDS Winter series was a brand new series for the 2011/2012 winter. With the event being held at my local track Aston Hill it made sense to get some more race miles in before the new season. Despite the damp,cold and rainy weather it was an enjoyable event, the track being used was dh3 [...]

661 Downhill-Forest Of Dean-3RD

michael — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:57:57 +0000

The anual 661 winter downhill series came back to Forest Of Dean on December 4th. With this being good chance of seeing where I was at interms of speed for next season and how my winter training plan was going, me and the Abarth mtb team where keen to race. Luckily the weather was fairly sunny all weekend and with no rain it was a great bonus for the start of Decemeber, this left the track fairly dry ! I did three practice runs of the track and was feeling good for the race runs, my Saracen Myst was feeling great so I knew we could have a good race. After the first runs I was 0.1 off the leading and sitting in second place, I knew it would be hard after that good run to improve my time as track conditions where looking slower. Unfortunatly I didnt improve and droped back a postion to third as James (Third after first runs) came though to take the race win. With being on the poduim and only a second back off taking the win I was very pleased with how it went, hopefully we can repeat this preformance next weekend at the British Downhill winter series at Aston hill.

Michael #7

Aston hill 423 – 4th

michael — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 09:16:28 +0000

A crazy race is how to sum up Aston hill, On the Saturday the weather was amazing ! sunny and hot all day, We had a really good day of practice and where feeling good on track. Sunday came and it was the same for morning practice ! sunny and hot, after practice the weather suddenly turned for the worst with a huge amount of rain leaving the junior first runs in the hardest and slickest track conditions. My run was crazy, 2 crashes and riding no feet on lots of the way, I ended up in a solid forth which is where I would stay as the rain hammered down more and with having bigger problems in the second run I couldnt beat my first time. I felt this weekend was the first weekend I deffinatly had the speed to win and only being o.5 off second place with crashes reasured me I could do it. Also this weekend we finally found out about the issue we have been having most of year with the bike. Now we are working to get this sorted I hope to be Top 5 every race.

Michael.

Silverstone duathlon -3rd junior

michael — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:57:21 +0000

Tuesday night was the second round of the Silverstone duathlon series, the sole reason I do these events is for some fun and extra training for my racing. It was a great night and I ended up 3rd in the junior catagory which I was pleased with ! I cant wait for the next one [...]

michael — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:39:05 +0000

A small selection of images from the road trip.

Summary of team trip to san remo Itlay

michael — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:09:37 +0000

After A very long 11 hour drive we finally made it too are apartment in the lovely town of san remo on the Italien coast line. The first few days consisted of lots of morning road rides for added fitness, With around 20 miles being covered each day it was pretty certain that we were doing the right thing to become fitter and stronger for the upcoming races. After the mornings road ride we would head up the hill and ride lots of downhill,

Sospel was the first venue a flat rocky track lasting around 6 minutes. A good day wih 7 runs in the bag but very hard work and lots of room for improvement over the trip.

Next day we kept it local heading just up the hill to romolo which by far was the hardest track of them all with huge rocks non stop.

Day 3, The hardesr road ride of them climing a massive 2400 feet up the romolo hill. The climb was well worth it in the end as it ead to the biggest decent down I have ever done and hitting speeds of 40mph was very exicting as well.

Day 4 was when I really got things moving along, a Monnaco road ride to start was ideal, After this i took the day out for some much needed rest to make sure I was 100% for the rest of the trip.

On the fith day The team headed back to Peille, It was my first day riding the track which ment it was yet another new track, Clearly the first few days had been paying off as I really got in to the swing of riding and was putting in some very fast sections of track and deffinatly feeling more at home than ever.

Day 6 saw us head over to the local trails of the world famous Fabien Barel, The track had some big drops and jumps which I had never done and knew I concer to be able to race at the highest world level. By the end of the day I had it all nailed and was doing stuff again that I hadent been doing before the trip.

Back to sospel for the next day where I got the freelap timing out for the first time, I was feeling better than ever and posted down a 3.23.50 before the rain started to close in which was only 5 seconds slower than top 30 wolrd cup rider Olie Burton.

The eight day was unfortunatly the last day of the road trip so we headed local to romolo for more riding but this time on the other track, The track was very fast and rough which ment to was great for rider training, With a very sucessful last day It was time to head to the apartment and get packed up to drive home the next morning. The trip was so valuable and I learnt so much, Im looking forward to being able to do some more training with Olie before the next U.K race.

Michael