Ok racers
I don't have an overall distance as yet (I am a simple peasant without a Garmin)
and it got too dark on Wed eve to do a timed lap (we'll be doing on on Fri though) but the route goes a little like this:
Start off with a short flat blast sprint along a fireroad to loosen up the pack before pulling a left hander up the wide dirt path.
Pick your lines to roll along the hardpack and avoid the big rocks and then through the short section of singletrack with the big roots before popping out onto the next fireroad section and veering right.
This fireroad is going to be a dual-way affair (like Carlingford was).
On the lead-out it may seem long as it stretches off up towards the 3rock aerials but at race pace you won't be longing spinning along it, and you'll be glad of the regular pace after the intense and extensive singletrack beforehand.
Up to the crest of the hill with great views out to Dublin Bay when you lift your eyes for half a second before ripping right into T-Connector - a peaty path through thick gorse peppered with the odd big lump of granite or two.
Out of the peat and onto very fast hardpack with a series of small dips and rocky outcrops to test your speedy-tech skills.
Then into the winding and much favoured single track section: Rock n Roll.
2 new extensions have been added to this trail since the MAX-XC to add more challenge and variety in particular a short and very rooty section littered with rocks to force a careful consideration of line choice - or just power through the middle of it!!
Finally drop out of this never-ending trail and onto a hardpack path - tear across this then over the camel humps and climb up Spartacus - a really nice singletrack climb through a heavily wooded section.
Break right at the exit - 5 seconds to catch your breath - then another climb up a sandy rocky path with hardpack sections to get gain some traction and speed on.
At the top of the climb bear in left, over the hump, and through Bungle - a loosely wooded short singletrack section with nice flowing humps and turns.
A right then a left at the exit brings you back down the fireroad you came up - but it's at least twice as short because you are going downhill for half of it and you skip a large section of it because of the previous climb.
Stuff an energy gel into yourself and get that all that drink into you too because it's nothing but extensive full-concentration singletrack when you hop in left over the rock bridge and into the brand new Quack section.
Quack is a really long fun trail - faster and more open than previous singletrack sections but with some cheeky kickers, tight testing turns and swooping dips and chutes to keep your eyes wide open and your brain ticking overtime trying to calculate the fastest line through this forest trail.
Finally exit Quack and onto the fireroad you started on - turn right up the wide dirt path and that's one lap complete.
More detail re; times and distance soon...
