Grant feeling ‘a bit lost’

KELAN Grant admits he’s feeling ‘a bit lost’ after the first two rounds of the World Enduro Series in Columbia and Chile were postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Omagh man was due to travel to South America next week to prepare for the start of his third season at the top level for Team Chain Reaction Cycles.

Unfortunately for the 26-year-old he will have to wait a little longer before he can attempt to improve upon his results in the two countries last time the Series visited in 2018. Then, the reigning Irish national enduro champion recorded a top 10 time in the prologue in Columbia, but at present he doesn’t know exactly when he will be returning to action, which has led to frustration on several levels.

“The races will still go ahead at a later date. At this stage that’s the plan but you just don’t know, it could get worse,” he explained.

“Nobody knows anything. They have postponed it until October but realistically it’s not going to be next week or even a few weeks time until it’s all cleared up. I think it’s going to be a long sit. I’m a bit lost! I went down to Dublin for a few days to do a bit of training with Greg [Callaghan, a fellow Ireland team racer] and we just ended up doing nothing!

“You can’t really train right through because that would be pointless, so I guess we’ll just take a break for a while. We’ll just have to wait it out.”
While he’s unable to compete using pedal power, Grant has found another way to get an adrenaline rush. He has recently taken up off-road motorcycle riding and was competing in Tinker Hill near Newry on Saturday, less than six days after he won the Senior class at the Todds Leap Extreme Enduro organised by North Monaghan and District MCC.

Having seen his Ireland Enduro team colleagues, brothers Greg and Killian Callaghan, getting a kick out of messing about on scramblers, Grant decided to joining in himself and he admits he‘s ‘hooked‘.

“I’m loving it, it’s good training!,” he beamed. “My mates Greg and Killian had bikes and I was mad jealous so I just bought it and I’ve been hooked ever since.

“It’s a different ball game. Although it’s two wheels, I still have to get used to the thing wanting to jump out from under me! It’s a good crossover and it keeps it fresh.”