There is a grand tradition in sports journalism of journalists taking on the sports they cover. Legendary writer George Plimpton was perhaps the master. He played with both professional baseball and American football teams during his career, and wrote a book called 'Paper Lion' about his experiences as the quarterback with the Detroit Lions. He tried to answer a simple question: "how would the average man off of the street fare in an attempt to compete with the stars of professional sports?"
This weekend, one of the Balls.ie team is taking on a similar challenge, although it's arguably more frightening than playing quarterback in the NFL. The Red Bull Foxhunt, Ireland's premiere mountain bike race, will take place in Rostrevor Co. Down and our own Gavan Casey will be taking to the trails this week to see if he can ride with the best in the business. Gavan is a fan of the pugilistic arts and has zero mountain biking experience. Over the next week, he's going to be cutting his teeth on Ireland's bendiest trails to see if he can take his place at the start line at Red Bull Foxhunt this weekend. His training regime starts in the Wicklow mountains tomorrow afternoon.
We're pretty sure by the end of the week, Gavan will be rocking the trails like the great Gee Atherton.
Athertonwill be in Rostrevor this weekend and his words about the race speak miles about how enthralling it is.
It’s hard to describe just how much fun it is – there are elbows flying and bodies everywhere but everyone takes it in really good spirits. It is total chaos but so awesome.
The race itself is sold out and should be a truly magnificent weekend of mountainbiking.
This go-pro footage from last year's race provides a glimpse for what's in store for Gavan and the 400 other competitors this weekend at the Red Bull Foxhunt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl4qcmYmjsQ
Keep an eye on the site and our social channels to see how Gavan gets on and say hi to him if you see him at the Foxhunt startline. He'll be the guy in first place.
