Mountain bike racer returns with win after gap of 16 years
A Frenchman living in Coralstown has marked his return to competitive mountain bike racing with a win, after an absence of 16 years.
Xavier Arnold is well known in the midlands and beyond for his skill as an osteopath and a physio – what is less well known is his skill on a bike.
The 34-year-old represented France as a youth, and though life steered him away from bikes when he was in his late teens, he now finds himself back on the racing circuit and delighted that he can still be competitive.
Xavier is racing this year in the Gravity Enduro Ireland series, and he won the ebike category at the first round, at Djouce woods in Wicklow.
He is now preparing for round two, at Ballinastoe, also in Wicklow, on July 9 and 10, and is focusing on his fitness.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, he said: “It went well, I won in my category at the last race – that’s roughly it! I’m happy and I’m training hard – it’s never too late to get good!”
He might say that, but Xavier was good from the start and his 16-year absence from racing hasn’t affected his skill level.
He started racing bikes in his native Alsace when he was eight, and quickly showed promised at county and regional level.
He was county champion four times, and won a French national title when he was 10; plus he was second at national level at the ages of 12 and 14.
After 15 he moved up to competing on the same tracks as the senior riders, and he won another French title at age 18, before he stopped racing to concentrate on his studies.
A crash at the age of 15 also pointed him in the direction his professional future would take, as during his recovery, he saw the benefits of osteopathy and physiotherapy and decided to study those, along with Chinese medicine.
Back to the mountain biking: why is he racing in an ebike category? “It was more that I had the opportunity to buy the bike. It’s a 2021 model and I got it second hand.
“The ebike is heavier, so it’s a bit slower going down – it’s interesting, it’s another way of riding – on certain tracks and corners, it might be a bit slower than a normal bike, but you have more stability on faster sections.
"The battery assistance is limited to speeds up to 25kmh, so helps out of slow corners, and between the stages, and you also have to consider battery management.”
Xavier, a member of the Mullaghmeen Mountain Bike Club, also has a road bike, which he uses for fitness training, and while he looks forward to the other three rounds of the 2022 Gravity Enduro series, he’s already thinking of adding the other main Irish mountain biking competition, the Grassroots Enduro series, to his calendar for 2023.