Tarya Owens, a 2000 Olympian, the first Irish Girl to complete the Tour of Italy and Wicklow girl, has shared her Top tips for the WAR cycle course.

1. Ensure your bike equipment is working perfectly two days before the event. Primarily: ensure your gears are shifting smoothly and accurately, your chain is lubed and not old or rusty, your brake blocks are not worn and working perfectly for the long descents. This course will be demanding on your equipment. If you get a problem during the event on the course, its a lot of time lost.
   

   Tarja Owens

2. Be prepared: Have some spares with you for the race, eg: pump, tube (x 2), tyre levers, allen key set.
3. Before the day of your race, ensure you are well fueled and hydrated. Then for during your event, make sure you have at least one bottle cage on your bike for your fluids, and maybe a saddle bag with energy gels. As there are two sections of biking and running, you will find it easier to digest food and liquids on the bike as opposed to the running sections. But don’t try drinking when going down any steep descents, try to drink on flat sections or at the start of the climbs. Sipping as much as possible.
4. In terms of which bike to use, as its all road sections, a road bike would be the most suited to the course, versus a Mountain bike which has a larger volume tyre which just adds a dragging affect when climbing. If your a seasoned Triathlete then your probably comfortable on a time trial bike/position. But ensure that you are on this course, as the descents are tricky and the surface of the roads are bumpy.  Tyre pressure should be checked before your event too.
5. As the climbs are long, ensure you try to keep a comfortable pedaling cadence (rpm), this will minimize fatigue on your legs. especially going into your run. The ideal rpm is 70-100 rpm, but it comes down to individual pedaling styles. Find out which rpm suits you best before your event and try to maintain this when climbing as well as on the flats.
6. Practice the course before the event day, to ensure you know what the climbs and descents are like. When descending, try to maintain a smooth and flowing braking before you enter corners and not jam on the brakes in the corners, this will ensure a smoother and faster decent
7. Enjoy the day and the event. Don’t forget to take in the spectacular views of Wicklow when your sailing up those mountains.

We (Niall Davis & I) will be there on the day. We also have an mountain bike open day in Ballinastoe on Friday 16th and Sunday 18th, as part of the Wicklow Outdoor festival.

Regards,

Tarja

Tarja & Niall Davis run Mountain Bike Training & Guided Tours Ireland ( www.biking.ie) and All Mountain Experience Tour in Italy (www.allmountainexperience.com).