Hi from sunny Ireland! We’re just south of Dublin in Wicklow for Round 3 of the 2016 Enduro World Series.
The sun is shining, track walk is done and we’re warming up for practice.

I’m out here with the Marin Stans NoTubes team who’ve got Rob Williams, Leigh Johnson, Chris Keeble-Smith and Nikki Whiles on the start-sheet. I work with the team at my day job but don’t have much to do with the sharp end of their racing. I’ve stowed away with the team for our local(ish!) EWS to see how a team that isn’t Team Wideopenmag do it. Having spend the last 7 years trucking to races with TeamWO i’m looking to pinch some ideas!

We rolled into town on Tuesday evening after an easy ferry to Rosslare and a couple of hours drive in the truck. Wednesday was bike building, chilling and BBQ day and then today was business day one – the pits went up and I walked stage 6 with the guys.
Despite blue skies, the stage was greasy as all hell. The eucalyptus grove bottom section is flat-out single-track strewn with sniper roots and plenty of time-saver doubles and manuals. Above that, riders are treated to a rocky, loose, gravely gully and then above that again it changes completely.
The top is open moorland and absolutely covered in greasy, peaty rocks. The gem of the section is a steep, rocky chute into a left hand berm that is going to look bloody brilliant when Sam Hill thunders through on race day.

Tomorrow is practice day – keep an eye on our Instagram for loads of coverage from the day from me, Chris Hutchens and Monet. I’ll fire up another update at the end of the tomorrow and every day of the race after that.
You can also follow my hosts for the week over on Marin Stans NoTubes racing.