Can I Beat A PRO Downhill Bike Racer

We're here at The Gap in Ireland, home of Guinness and one of the world's fastest downhill racers, and today we're going to have a race, but with a twist. In recent years, the Irish mountain bike scene has erupted. Fresh trails, new bike parks, and some seriously fast riders. With a passion for wet conditions and the pace to back it up, it's got the old guard scrambling. One of Ireland's youngest talents is Oshino Callaghan, at just 22 years old and a few years on the World Cup circuit, he's already bagged himself a Junior World Champs title and Ireland's first ever World Cup win. After winning his first Junior World Champs in 2022, Oshino backed this up in 2023 with his and Ireland's first ever Elite World Cup win in Snowshoe. He continued this show of form, kicking off the 2025 race season with a second place just one second off the win. These impressive results have landed him with a fresh new ride on Trek Factory Racing in 2006. Speaking of those results and your previous amazing accolades, I thought it was about time to give you your ultimate challenge. You're going to take me on in a head-to-head downhill race. Seriously, Ferg? You may laugh, but given my years of disappointment and mid-pack results, I am perfectly fitted to take the win in this race. The plan is simple. We're here at your local bike park, The Gap, and you can pick any trail you want and we're going to have a downhill race. There is just one small caveat, though. What's the caveat? Well, the caveat is you're going to race a trail bike, and it just so happens there's a very shiny one right over there. What track are we going to be racing? We're going to get straight into the black jumps into Team Biscuits, so it's a kind of a jump line into a slippy kind of downhill-y one. It's going to play in the favor of one or two corners in this, but the rest of the track is going to play into the downhill bike. It sounds like a very different Team Biscuits to what I'm used to back home, but anyway, we will get into it. Let's do a warm-up lap. You can show me down the track, show me a few of your local lines, I'll see if I can pick up anything, and then we will get straight into racing. Let's do it. Quite nippy on the short trail bike. I'm not sure how much of an advantage I've actually given myself. We're going to mix it up. We're going to, just so it's more of a level playing field between the trail bike, downhill bike, there's a little bit of a flat section here, so we're going to cut off this kind of hip jump, you could say, cut up high into this little section that they usually use for races, which we've gotten permission to use, to roll straight into the next section into Team Biscuits. Any advantage I would have had on this, on the flat section, is now gone. You're that confident you're going to beat me? I see how it is, I see how it is. But yes, that looks pretty hairy, coming off the track at that speed, and then you're going to be doing a flat corner straight in, that's just going to be quite- It still makes it interesting, for sure. Yes, it's definitely going to be quite awkward. All right, show me some more, see what the tech's about. So, being the racer that you are, Oisín, and I am going to tap you up for some insider knowledge right here. Obviously, coming in off the far road, I'm going to be gassed. Are you planning on pulling up here all the way to flat, or are you going to try and transition into the turn? What's the fastest thing through here? With there being kind of a fast straight coming up, it's all about carrying good overall speed, good speed, into the next straight, and with there being a slight little incline into Team Biscuits, we want to get as much drive as possible from this far road, and make use of any little downsides, backsides we have. We're going to be pedaling hard up this little bit, pulling from here, and as you can see, we have a nice pocket to really get the most out of it, and if we drive through properly, we should have enough speed to carry us the whole way into Team Biscuits without pedaling. You might be able to. I've got to concentrate on just trying to make that landing, which looks fairly sniper. This should be where the downhill bike's going to come into its own, I think. All these roots and big rocks. Not sure how the little Steve's going to handle it, but we'll keep going. We're finding the limit of the little one now. It's just a little bit unsettled coming through all this rooty, rough stuff, so Ferg has the advantage on me now. I'm going to push my limits and try and find any speed I can on that, but I think that might be my limit in that corner right there. Yes, so the track's really, really good. It's got a really good mix of big jumps, technical sections. O'Sheen's managed to squeeze a little bit of a pedaling section in there, which I'm not that happy about, but I did say he could pick whatever track he wanted, so he has been as fair as he can to try and make things as even as possible, but unfortunately, he's really quite fast on that trail bike, so I'm going to have to really pull a run out of the bag if I have any chance of winning, but we won't let him know that just yet. Right, so that is it for practice. I feel much better on the track. Thank you so much for all of those lines, but you are going to pay for that when it comes to the all-important race run, which we are on now. We're going to do one run each. We're going to time them, and then we're going to look at the results at the pub later on. Let's do it. I got you. You're not ready for it. Oh my goodness. It's so short track, but so intense. There's no way he's beating me, surely. Surely, he hasn't got that. Oh my goodness. I had a few wild moments, that's for sure. Speed demon. How was that? Not too bad. Not too bad? Short compared to a run I'd usually do. Got a little loose in one bit, but apart from that. You reckon you got me? I'd like to think so. All right, well, we're not going to find out the results here. You've told me there's a pretty wicked pub down the road, and we will announce the winner back there. Let's go. Let's do it. Back into the warmth. Okay, scores on the doors. We've been sent the times to our phones. We have the prize here of a pint of Guinness, but you are way too much of an athlete, so you have your little glass of Coke. This is the biggest race of your life. This is the most important. This is bragging rights of your life. You're never going to be able to see me again. If I win this, you're never going to be able to see me again without me mentioning it. So, right, let's show the times. Are we showing each other? No, we're going to put them on the table, our times. Towards the camera? Yeah, towards each other. All right, ready? Three, two, one. Six seconds. Sorry, Ferg. Six seconds. On a trail bike. Good thing I still have a job. It would have been embarrassing for me if I lost though. I mean, it's embarrassing for me regardless. Six seconds on a one-minute track. I reckon you cut the track. There's no way. At least we have GoPro footage of what we've done. Well... Sad day for Ferg. It's not good. I would offer you the pint of Guinness, but I will buy you a little glass of Coke. Just, you can drink your sorrows away now. Exactly. Right, well, while I drown my sorrows, I will leave you guys there. I hope you enjoyed that video and I hope it's shown just how fast Oshino Callaghan is. It turns out it really isn't the bike, it really is the rider. If you like this video, don't forget to like and subscribe, and I will catch you guys in the next one. Cheers.