News n' Reports 2009
Swords CC CycloX Race by Conor McGrane December 2008
Trip to Alkmaar Track by Hugh Byrne January 2009
Swords League : My first race! by Peter Doyle April 2009
Track Season underway by Hugh Byrne April 2009
Coombes Connor Memorial by Peter Doyle April 2009
Swords League : Bog of the Ring by Peter Doyle April 2009
Road to Barcelona by Derek Fagan May 2009
Swords League : Garristown Revisited by Peter Doyle May 2009
Season so far & Howth Hill climb by Peter Doyle May 2009
Club League: Race 8 by Peter Doyle 3rd June 2009
DWCC TT League (Round 5) by Peter Doyle 11th June 2009
Club League 25 Mile TT by Peter Doyle 17th June
Club League: Race 11 by Peter Doyle 24th June 2009
My First Ladies Nationals by Laura Banfield 26th June 2009
Club League : Race 11 24th June 2009
Report by Peter Doyle
I'll start this by saying that I am more Andy Schleck than Robbie McEwan. Before I go on, I'll qualify that... if Andy is Barcelona FC, I'm the Kidderminster Harriers version of him. For those that don't follow the National Conference football league in the UK, that's pretty far down the list. Although, comparing the Harriers to me is probably disrespectful to them.
Last nights race was on a new circuit for me: the Damastown course. However, all the roads were familiar to me as I have trained on them manys a time. The weather was absolutely perfect last night. It was so warm, that I didn't even bother with a base layer or armwarmers. Now, when I leave them at home, you just know the weather is good. Once again I was in group three with about twelve or thirteen other riders. I never really know how many other groups are behind us, but there was two ahead of us.
I think the gaps were shorter this week, at least for my group, as we didn't seem to be waiting as long before we set off. Straight away we are on a drag towards Naul. It's nothing steep, but you can test the legs here if you go hard enough. A couple of KM up the road was the first left hander leading down the Nags Head. The road here ain't great, but it wasn't as bad as I had expected. Single file was the order of the day down here until we hit the sweeping left hander on to the main road towards Oldtown. It's nice and smooth for a bit here, but after the road swings to the left it gets pretty bumpy, single file again. This leads us towards another couple of left handers and up some short hills which see us hit the finishing straight which is flat. If you carry on past this you get to another left hander which leads us back to sign-on/start line.
Right, that's us all familiar with the circuit. The first lap went by OK, nothing about it jumps out. I think we lost a couple of riders about two thirds round it, so we were down to ten or eleven riders. On the second lap as we neared the bottom of the Nags Head we could see the ambulance at the sweeping left hander. I saw a couple of Stamullen jerseys on the side of the road getting treated. From what I gather, three or four guys went down together with two of them taken to casualty as a pre-caution. Hopefully nothing serious there. It's never nice to see anyone involved in a crash.
We started picking off some back markers on the second lap and towards the end of it we could see a bunch ahead of us. Before we got to the Nags Head we caught groups one and two and some jumped on as we slipped past. Once again, we were approaching the business end of the race and I'm still in. As we approached the last swing in the road before the end, I was close to the front, maybe six or seven back... poised and ready to pounce. Then the fun started... and by fun, I mean "fun". Inverted commas intentional. This was my first time in a proper bunch gallop for the win. Man it's tight in there. Robbie McEwans were coming from the left, the right... every which way. Shoulders bumping. Andy Schleck does not belong here! Someone came a wee bit too close for comfort on the right, so I looked to move left, but I'm already pretty much rubbing shoulders with someone! No where to go but back as I get squeezed out of it. Dammit, I had a great position heading up the straight and now I've lost five or six places. I moved over to the right where there was lots of room. No one was in my way so I had a clear run at the line. I put the hammer down and passed two guys. I could see the sprint for first place going over the line. The front three had a gap, so it was just the minor places to hunt for. I was inside the top ten now so one last effort to try and nick as much points as possible. About 10 meters short of the line I sneaked into sixth place and tried to steal fifth. But no joy. It was close, but the video replay showed that there was about 6 inches between us. Not quite as close as Cav and Haussler, and not quite as fast either.
Derek Humphries was the nights winner. Well done to him. That might see him into first place in the league now. In second was Rob Staunton who owed his placing to, and I quote, "my big arse and elbows" helping him hold position in the sprint.
Back at the finish line a passenger in a passing car advised us that none of our parents are married and that we should remove our sexual non-motorised vehicles from the carriageway post-haste! I'm not sure what she was on about as my folks are definitely married, my bike is a road bike, so it belongs there, and while it's a damn sweet bike, I wouldn't go so far as she did with the description.
My First Ladies National Road Race 27th June 2009
Report by Laura Banfield
So somebody managed to convince me to ride the Nationals. I didn't have an iota what to expect but the course this year was rideable for beginners so I figured I'd give it a bash. I had nothing to loose.
The weeks lead up the the race saw me doubting why I signed up... after having mechanicals and getting lost (yes I did actually manage to get lost, for shame!) in the league race on Wednesday my love for cycling was waining. I very nearly had a David Millar style moment that night where I almost threw my bike in a ditch, I'm sure we've all been there at some point.
Saturday morning could not have been nicer with the sun splitting the sky but I was a bag of nerves. Nerves do funny things to your brain, I must have walked in and out of the house 20 times before I got all the kit I needed into the car. I could hardly concentrate.
I had some delays on the road out and my tension was building but arriving at sign on there was such a buzz with everyone milling about it was exciting. I chatted to one of the Swords lads riding in the vet's race (hope you enjoyed it), checked my bike and kit and eventually calmed down a bit.
All the riders rolled down to the start line together. I felt very professional heading down there I must say. Not long waitng on the line and it was time for us to start. The womens race set off just a few minutes behind the mens. I had been told that the first 10k was nuteralised but the pace seemed pretty hot for me from the start - good God what is it going to be like once we round the first corner?!
Once we got onto the course I was hanging in ok. There were a few hairy moments with people riding close and nearly coming into contact with cars on the far side of the road but thankfully no incidents. One of the girls in contension for the title punctured quite early, I felt so bad for her but she got sorted and got back on.
My race was not to be good for long and alas I started to slip backwards up the climb to Summerhill. Bit by bit I lost the wheels and soon I was on my own. A few encouraging words from Paddy Doran up the top of the climb kept me going and I persisted. At this point the team cars started coming past me and people shouted at me out the window to get in behind. Now normally I wouldn't do this but I needed all the help I could get so I dutifully tucked in. I felt like a pro drafing up through those cars.
After not too long a few of us who had dropped of the main bunch came together and got working together. I was so thankful that I didn't have to do 50k alone! That would have been a long time trial.
As we approached the 3rd lap our group was waved down and told to stop. I had a sinking feeling that there had been a terrible crash but actually all the women were being stopped to let the men's race come through - bizarre. The men zoomed past and we got on our way to finish the last lap. I'm not sure if this stop affected the dynamics of the womens race or not.
My final lap went without incident and I finally crossed the line. I sure didn't win but I was happy to have completed my first national race.
http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/art_4079.shtml
Club League 25 Mile TT League 17th June 2009
Report by Peter Doyle
A quick question to all riders... did anyone else's house builders have the foresight to put a kitchen in the middle of your bike workshop? What a genius idea. You can very easily work on your bike and be close to all the snacks at the same time.
A few weeks ago I spent the best part of three evenings in my workshop/kitchen cleaning my white bike. It was absolutely filthy from the damp races that we have had. Sure, white bikes seem like a great idea when you are in the shop and they are sparkling clean and when I saw it, I simply had to have it. It was also about 700 Euro cheaper than the black version. But since that day, it has been a constant struggle to keep it clean. It doesn't help matters that one of my other bikes is also white.
It was somewhat clean at yesterdays TT. A 25 mile TT (40km). The longest I have done prior to last night was a 5 miler around the Boot Inn circuit. I wasn't enitrely sure how to attack this one. In the end I settled for this: pedal hard on the way out, pedal harder on the way back. I've read that one should not go into the red too early because it will be very difficult to recover if you do. So I kept just the right side of the burn, which was tricky enough heading directly into the wind.
The circuit was straight out and straight back over some lightly rolling terrain. Nothing steep involved. Some of the guys and girls had their clip-on bars or TT rigs, aero helmets and disc wheels and maybe a skinsuit or two. Not me, I just had me plain old road bike. I think at least the bars might be a worthwhile investment. On the road, the first 2km were not a bother. From there after it became steadily more difficult. When I got to 5km I was beginning to appreciate how long 40km actually is when you are trying to do it as fast as you can.
It was at about 5.5km that my behind started to hurt. I couldn't get comfortable in the saddle. That kind of spurred me on a bit as I wanted to finish quickly so I could get off the stupid bike. I won't bore you with what happened on the course, not least because nothing actually happened, but at the end it was a serious struggle to get off the bike. Bike and body had almost become one, and not in a "he was so fluid on the bike that it's like an extension of his body" kind of way, more like "he is so unused to time trials that he hasn't a donkey's notion how to set up his bike" way.
I got 1.05.47 with an average speed of just under 37kph.
Dublin Wheelers TT League (Round 5) 11th June 2009
Report by Peter Doyle
I wasn't racing this week as I was scheduled to marshal, so here is the race from a marshals point of view...
Sign on, everyone is on their bike. Us poor marshals are not. The weather is cool, but it looks like a nice evening. Try not to be envious... fail miserably.
Stand in car park holding my GPS unit trying to figure out which corner I am to stand at, eventually figure it out.
Go to the corner with flag and trendy yellow jacket. Some consolation can be taken in that we at least get to try tell folk in their cars what to do. Sure they can ignore us and we actually don't have any power to stop anyone, but with a yellow jacket and a red flag comes an inordindate amount of authority that people seem to respect. Think about it, if someone came up to you in the street and starting telling you to go in a different direction or wait where you are for a minute... you would ignore them. But if they are wearing a yellow jacket, you somehow feel compelled to follow their direction. And so it was that I stood like a sentry at my corner, flag and power-trip at the ready.
5 minutes... 10 minutes... 15 minutes...
Sigh... when will something interesting happen? Hang about... here they come... nope, that was just the trees moving. Oh great, here's the rain, lot's of rain :o( And thunder and lightning too! Quick check of the flag to make sure I didn't somehow take a metal one! There I am, in the middle of the road, standing tall in an electrical storm. Is this how it's all going to end? Frizzled in a yellow high vis vest with soaking wet jeans? I had hoped the end would be much more majestical.
Wait a minute, here they are. Now is our chance to shine :o) Wave that flag like you've never waved it before, point the riders in the right direction. OK, that took about 20 seconds. Now do that for the rest of the groups for two more laps and encourage the guys who are dropped. That was pretty much the order of the day. Everytime the guys came by our corner they took it very handy. It's a sharp corner followed by a couple of blind bends with a road full of holes. Bad enough at the best of times, but when the road is like a river... well it can't have been fun. Why do we do this anyway?!
It looked to me like group 4 caught group 3 early enough, but were not gaining on group 2 and group 2 were not gaining on group 1. I'm not sure. Possibly I invented my own race to pass the time. I was also counting those orange trucks. There seems to be no end to them heading out that way. I got to 20 and gave up.
After the second lap, something good happened. The rain eased off. It didn't stop, but I took it as a positive as even though I was still getting wet, it was not at such a fast rate as earlier. There's optimism for ya.
Eventually the last group went past. Our job was done, no crashes, no incidents of note. I'm bloody starving.
The following day, Thursday was another round of the DWCC TT league. It was in Howth so I was eager to try and put in another good effort. I think we had fourteen people sign on. There was four of us from Swords there. I was fourth off. There were bonus points on offer tonight if you managed to beat your time from before. Under 7.30 was my target. This time I opted to stay in the big ring all the way so that I don't risk any shifting problems. I have enough of a range at the back to allow this. Probably not great for the chain, but anyway.
I started off much harder than last time. I almost regretted it before I got to the golf club as I was wondering what the hell I am doing and how this is hurting so much, so very very much. I got into my groove just before the descent and recovered on it, getting ready for the summit push. I felt like I was digging very deep. So deep in fact, that I missed the dashing lady in pink shoes and short white skirt at the bus stop that seemed to distract quite a few of the lads.
I caught my minute man and also my two minute man. There was no mist this time but the lungs were still complaining and the legs were burning. I tried to sprint coming over the top, but I couldn't gather any more energy so I kept the speed up as much as I could. 7.33. Slower than last time, but it felt much much harder. I got the fastest time on the night, but after handicaps, I came out with 7 points.<Full results>
Club League : Race 8 3rd June 2009
Report by Peter Doyle
Everyone who races probably owns more than one bike. First of all you have your hack bike which you save for winter and wet days. You don't take too good care of this bike but you still love it. You call it your hack bike but it still probably cost a crazy amount of money. The only reason that it became your hack bike is because you read too many bike mags and the relentless Colnago/Cervelo/Look/DeRosaSpecialized adverts wore you down and you bought that carbon fibre beauty. Whatever about the cost of the hack bike, this new bike is so expensive that if you smash it up in a crash, there's no way you can afford to replace it! But you race it anyway. Those of us that cycle commute will have our commuting bike. Invariably it's a fixie, as is the current trend. There's also your mountain bike which either gathers dust in the shed (like mine) or gathers mud on the trails (like some of our successful MTB lads in Swords). Finally there are the frames that you have accumulated over the years. They are hanging on hooks in the shed, waiting to be built up and ridden. I must admit that I have been commuting on my Cervelo for over a week now due to a series of punctures and mechanicals on the other bikes that I have been too lazy to fix. It's massive overkill, but I figure that the more you ride a bike, the less it actually costs you as you are getting more value out of it. I reckon by the year 2030 I'll be able to read the original price tag without wincing.
Last nights race was at Bog Of The Ring. The first time I did that circuit I did one lap with the group and the other three on my own. Unceremoniously dumped out the back door like a roudy drunk down in Tamangos. Last nights race was five laps. We had beautiful weather with not much wind. The sun was out, but not too warm. A perfect evening for racing. The knee and arm warmers were off and the gilet was discarded. I was in group 3 again. To be honest, it's difficult to dress up the fact that we rode for 50km and didn't manage to catch the earlier groups. Not much happened on any of the laps. For me, the most exciting part was when I got to discard my bidon like a pro. I don't know why I did it. All the lads in the pro races seem to randomly feck their bottle into the ditch, so I figured that it was an integral part of the racing cyclists experience. It felt good doing it and I even managed to find the bottle afterwards! Seriously though, the bottle was popping out of the cage on the bumpy stretches and I was worried that it would fall out and take someone down so I ditched it as we passed the sports complex.
Only on the fifth and final lap did we manage to catch some back markers from the earlier groups. Scratch caught us on the far main road of the circuit. When they did I think we all stayed together. I'm pleased that I was able to stay with them. I wouldn't have been able to do that a month ago. I tried to stay close to the front as we hit the second to last left hander and I managed to pretty much do that for the remainder of the lap, which wasn't terribly long anyway. As we neared the sports complex we caught a few more from the earlier groups, but we had no hope of catching the leaders. They had done their work and stayed away. Good for them. They had probably already finished by the time we were at the complex anyway. The final part of the circuit sees us go past the complex and up a short rise to finish on the bridge over the motorway. I could see that the game was over but decided to hammer it anyway for no reason other than to get a bit more value out of the bike. I hope I'm still cycling when 2030 comes around.
Lessons from this week:
- I need new bottle cages, again
- must learn to shelter better from the wind
Something to show for my efforts! 20th May 2009
Report by Peter Doyle
Following my silly mistake in the last Garristown race where I felt strong but lost the bunch by looking around me instead of at the wheel in front, I was determined to hang in for the entire race no matter what the cost. The conditions were much better than the last few weeks. Very little wind and dry roads apart from some small wet patches. Not as many people turned up this week for some reason. I took my usual circuitous route out via the quiet backroads of Ballyboughal and Oldtown. Along the way I passed a farmyard where there was geese all over the road. They aren't the friendliest of animals and let me know that they didn't want me around. The roads were still quite wet, so I was surprised when I saw that our circuit was pretty much dry.
There was quite a relaxed atmosphere at the start as we waited for our orders. The first group set off, I think there was only two of them. After group two went, there was a late comer who decided to time trial it after his group instead of waiting and going with group three. It took quite a while to catch him, fair play to him for staying out so long on his own.
When we got underway there was no bike shimmy action from the other week that I could see. I had overheard one of the guys at the start talking about how his bike shimmied quite a bit. It must have been the same guy that I had seen a few weeks ago. Guys in our group were also saying that they expected us to be caught before the end since we were definitely doing three laps this week. I had made sure to pay attention this time so I knew how many laps we were to do.
The first lap was done at a pace that felt comfortable. That either means that we are going too slow and will get caught or that I have finally found some race legs. Well some of the other guys didn't care about my legs and tried to push the pace and keep the up and overs going. For some reason, we didn't seem as cohesive as we were in the other races.
At the first left hander a couple of guys thought the course was straight on and missed the turn, but they got back on quick enough, so no real harm done. I like this section, there is a nice sweeping downhill that you can carry speed through to get you up the other side. Gotta watch out for that pothole full of water on the left though. I'm not sure, but I think I saw a dog swimming in the the thing, it was that big!
On the back end of the course Tony and another couple of guys were doing a lot of the pulling. I hope that I was taking enough of a turn at the front too. I certainly felt that I was. At the end of the first lap, I was still in there, so that was good. I just need to hang in for more than half of the second lap to beat my record. I don't know if all of our group was still together on the second lap, but there was still quite a few of us there. After we passed the half way point of this lap, I was still in. Bonus :o) As we were heading along, there was an unmerciful BANG! What in christ's name was that?! It sounded like someone had lit a banger. Well no one was about to stop to find out so we ploughed on and thought no more of it. At the finish it turned out that one of the lads had a blow out. I've honestly never heard that happen before and I hope it never happens to me. God bless his bike handling skills, it can't have been too easy to keep it together safely. We finished the rest of that lap without incident and picked off a few back markers.
So, we started the last lap and I'm still in there. Scratch must be catching us soon. Our group is mostly together. Some gaps start opening and a bit of energy has to be spent to go around. At one point there must have been a 20 or 30 yards split in our group, yours truly being in the wrong split. I don't think it was a concerting attack by the front guys as it was too early. Just a wheel lost by someone. We all joined up again after only a short time. We hit the back end of the course. This is all new territory to me now. We haven't been caught and we don't have much distance left to cover. Maybe 5km. Tony, a guy with much more race experience than me, (and nicer overshoes too) advised me not to waste energy by doing too much work at the front now as the attacks are going to start happening. It was sage advice.
Whenever I go for long solo cycles I usually get afflicted with some song stuck in my head. A few weeks ago I cycled to Portumna on my own. For nigh on 3 hours I had the sound of Chesney Hawks' "I am the one and only" going through my head. It turned out that the song was aptly named since it was the one and only song that my mind would let me sing to myself. Absolute torture. I only knew that line and the one that followed, something about not wanting to be somebody else. Well I would have gladly been somebody else if it meant that I didnt have to subject myself to that song anymore.
Thankfully for all the races so far, I've managed to stay"song free". There just isn't anytime to let your mind wander as you have to concentrate all the time. Especially near the end because as we approached the rise at Ardcath an attack went out. I think it was started by one of the guys who was in group two. We had caught them earlier. I figured it was too early to go since we still had that awful rise at the very end to contend with. Two or three guys went with him. The rest of us held steady. After the road started to dip the guys were still away and I was thinking that they are going to be successful. I think there was four or five us together behind them. Whoever else was in our group must have been shelled out coming up the previous rise. As we approached the final uphill we closed up on the guys. They had indeed gone too early. There was about a 5 yard gap. The legs were starting to cramp but I felt strong. There's not too far to go so I can probably do one last effort and try get a placing. I decided to close the gap so that we were all together going into the climb. Then I found myself at the front. NO! That's not where I want to be. Too often I have seen the chaps on the tellybox get stuck on the front and have everyone sit in only then to come around for all the glory. We were half way up the hill when Tony drew level with me. I was on the inside, but still at the front. We finished the steep part and came on to the drag before the final bump. I realised that this is a serious chance to really go for it. I tried to shift to the big ring but it wouldn't go in. JEEEEESUS, not now! There was nothing for it, but to leave it in the small ring and hammer like the clappers in the biggest gear available. I was spinning out big time, bobbing up and down like a pigeon. Must have looked a sight, so I'm not looking forward to seeing that on the vid that I think was taken. I stole a glance behind me. I had a gap! I hit the final dip and was fully expecting the guys to catch me. kept spinning like a loon and saw the finish line getting closer and closer. There was loads of people there. I wasn't about to slow up so I hit the line as fast as my gear would allow. No one came around. I had won!
Season so far & Howth Hill climb 13/14th May 2009
Report by Peter Doyle
I had originally decided not to do a report this week due to my abysmal race performance as there was simply nothing worth reportin, but a couple of the guys were looking for one, so just for you two boys, here it is...
It's grand tour season again. As I type, Cavendish has been in and out of the Maglia Rosa along with Pettachi and Lovkvist. Lance has either shown us that he has not got that top end fitness yet or that he likes bluffing. Sastre has been virtually anonymous apart from a brieft effort against Menchov and Deignan has broken his derailleur.
So far this season I have been very close to purchasing a pink jersey, although not the Maglia Rosa. I have been in about 6 races and shelled out the back of the same number. Like Lance, I'm still looking for that extra edge, and I've been about as noticable in races as Sastre has. Thankfully, unlike Deignan, I haven't broken any parts of my bike.
We are about a quarter way through the league, so I thought I'd do a recap on what I have learned so far...
Week 1: uphill TTs are awesome!
Week 2: riding out to Garristown with the eventual winner, Gareth Enright, and trying to keep pace with him is not a good idea. This will result in you having less energy and getting dropped. Of course, this would have happened regardless.
Week 3: headwinds are very difficult to ride hard into and will result in you getting dropped if you are not strong enough.
Week 4: there is no time to look at the scenery when bike racing and trying to do so will result in you getting dropped.
Week 5: turning up to a race in the wrong frame of mind is a waste of your time. Not giving it a proper chance is shameful.
Addendum to week 5: uphill TTs are awesome!
One thing that I have learned about cycling is that you should always have a stock of excuses ready prior to a race. You should say them loudly at opportune moments while waiting around at the start of the race. If someone says "weather looks dodgy", you should immediately use this idle converstation opener as a chance to explain how inclement weather causes your knee to flare up.
I can think of many excuses for why I was rubbish on Wednesday, but none of them would be right. The only reason is that I am just not good enough.
If you forced me to make something up, this is what I would say:
I did some self timed TTs up Howth on Monday in preparation for the Dublin Wheelers TT on Thursday which caused my left calf to get a bit tender. That much is true. That's my strong leg as my right calf is dodgy all the time, which means I had no legs what so ever going into the race. That last line is a complete mis-truth. I had good legs, but I just didn't have the bottle. I dropped out early. From talking to some of the guys later I found out that they didn't like the circuit either. The potholes and wet conditions are not nice.
I know that it's "only" a club league, but I was pretty bummed by my failure, so I was determined to put in a good show at the Dublin Wheelers hill TT in Howth the next day.
On Thursday, I met up with Tony and he headed out to Howth with Laura and myself. The marshals were already there and we were the first riders to arrive. A couple of Dublin Wheelers arrived soon after, Gareth Enright and Brian Attley. Now we already know that Gareth is strong and Brian got fifth place at Stamullen a few weeks ago in the C race, so I was thinking... uh oh.
I did a warmup lap and followed Brian up the hill. At the top I popped into the shop to get a drink. I had taken the waterbottle cages off the bike in an effort to shave off vital weight. The damn things only weight a few grams anyway, so I don't know who I was kidding. Outside the shop, Brian tipped Gareth to walk away with the win.
We headed back down the hill where the rest of the nights competitors had arrived. There was eleven in total. Everyone seemed in good form and ready for some pain. Soon enough we were on the start line. I was ninth to set off, two behind Gareth and just behind Laura. The gap between each rider was a minute.
I've cycled up Howth a million times at this stage so I know it like the back of my hand. I've timed myself from standing starts to the top. I was well prepared and knew exactly what to expect so I had high hopes that I could put in a good time.
After Laura had got underway, I was lined up. Time to go for it. I set off and got up to speed as quick as I could without trying to go into the red. The graveyard section passed pretty quick and it wasn't long before I was at the golf club and near the downhill section. I had started in the big ring in order to get the speed going, but I had downshifted on the ascent. As I crested the the hill, I tried to upshift, but the derailleur wouldn't cooperate and it took a few seconds to get into the right gear. I'm not one to count seconds, but I reckon that I lost somewhere in the region of 18 of them trying to shift gear ;o)
The descent was fine, I did my best to recover but still keep the speed up. At the next uphill section I kept the cadence constant. Now is the time to really start to suffer and dig deep. At this evelvation we entered the mist, which isn't really the best weather to be trying to do an all out assault on a hill climb, but we can't control that and it was the same for everyone, so no disadvantage.
I went past the nuns place. Sorry sisters, there's no time to pop in for tea and a prayer now, I'm in a race. Not much left to go. The legs are burning. Push - push - push. Need more speed, go to a bigger gear. Harder! I'm trying to get as much oxygen in as possible so my mouth is wide open. Mmm, midges, tasty :o)
The carpark is next. I love this section. The road is smooth and steady and it's near the finish. Legs are still burning, more than before, but this is exactly when you need to keep going. One big last effort, put on the race face and try suck up the drool. The end gradually came into sight and the finish line marshals were appearing through the mist. We were told at the start to shout our number as we came across the line. Christ, what number was I again? Who cares, just make some noise as you cross the line, they'll figure it out themselves.
I cross the line. Boom, I'm done. Can barely speak. I go to the marshals car to check the times. 7.30 was my time. But what did Gareth get? 7.13?! Awww man! A savage time by Gareth. Well done to him. He has shown again that he is incredibly strong. Second place for me. I'm well pleased with that.
<Full results here>
Swords League Race 4 6th May April 2009 'Road to Barcelona' - 5th May 2009 Day 1: Having spent the last few months (try best part of the year) doing nothing I have decided to get back in action. When I competed in Ironman Germany last year I was reasonably fit but missed the final six weeks training due to a bike accident on the Balbriggan road. Did time of 11hrs 58 mins and achieved my goal of breaking 12 hours but failed in my other goal of beating Swords CC cyclist and 3D trier Lochlann Walsh. http://www.roadtobarcelona.blogspot.com/ Regards Derek Swords League Race 2 29th April 2009
'Garristown Revisited'
Report by Peter Doyle
At this time of year it's always tricky to figure out what to wear on a cycle. Especially when you have to get your kit ready the night before because you are going to the race directly after work. Today I packed two different raincoats and one gilet. I also had a pair of armwarmers, kneewarmers, a base layer and a full sleeve jersey along with some overshoes... the type that look like socks. Actually, I wonder if they could be worn as emergency socks? Anyway, as a small token of optimism, I took a pair of sunglasses, but not the dark ones, instead I brought those nice blue lense ones that brighten up a dull day. I got them for free from Wiggle.co.uk. Thanks Wiggle. The forecast was for strong winds and some rain. We weren't disappointed there.
A friend remarked after reading my other reports that they are like a chapter from Angela's Ashes, what with all the misery and the gloomy outlook. As such, it was with not a small dose of the consumption and with not two pennies to rub together that I headed out to the race from Garristown to Limerick. Sorry I mean, Garristown to Ardcath.
The circuit for this race was the same one that we did in Garristown a few weeks ago. This made me both happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I knew the course and what to expect, sad because... I knew the course and what to expect! I was in group 3. We set off and headed away on the first downhill section.
A lot of things can go through your head just before you crash. I got taken out by a car executing a u-turn a few years ago. My thoughts immediately before impact were "why didn't you look", closely followed by "oh bugger".
I didn't crash at last nights race, but I thought I was going to when the rider's bike in front of me started to shimmy. Think of the way Elvis used to move those hips. Elvis had nothing on this guys bike. For some reason my own bike started to shimmy, but I corrected it quickly and prayed that the other rider could do the same. I pased him as he brought it under control. I think he stayed upright as I didn't hear any commotion.
We took the right hander at an easy pace. The rain was coming down and the surface was greasy. No one wanted to come off. I learned just how greasy it was at the first left hander. Everyone took it handy, including myself, however, as I was straightening out after the turn, I put down some power and the whole back end slipped out, but I kept it together.
I'm sure to you seasoned and experienced racers those two incidents are nothing to raise eyebrows at, but to a novice racer in his first season, this is the kind of stuff that can be embelished in front of non-cycling friends. When I re-tell the stories, it will end up as me having to bunny-hop another downed rider and pulling a powerslide out of a 90 degree left hander.
I later learned that one of the guys had crashed in a separate incident. Hope you are OK buddy.
The downhill section at the far end of the course was a bit nervy. I wasn't enjoying the driving rain and the blustering wind. I was relieved when we turned out of the wind and on to a drag towards where that Robin Reliant is. This time I had managed to hang in for more than a lap. Maybe I have found my group. Halfway round the second lap, I made a bit of an error. I was on the rear of the bunch and I sat up as we were taking a corner. I should have known that it was followed by a downhill. The guys belted off down the hill while I was looking at the scenery. I wasn't too worried as I figured I had a whole lap and a half to get back on and I was feeling strong enough.
I ploughed on by myself for a few KMs. There were still a few back markers from the earlier groups littered on the road. Then, I looked around and saw the faster group behind me. A few guys passed me, including Stephen Halpin (good luck in the Rás, Stephen). We were just starting an uphill section. I realised that this is actually the finish! Did we miss a lap? I finished in the middle of the rest of that group. I know they started four or five minutes after I did, and that we had only done two out of the three laps, but I'm pleased that I managed to hang on as long as I did before I was caught.
On the way home the heavens split and the rain came pouring down. There was a strong tail wind so it was bearable. I still got totally soaked. I definitely feel the consumption coming on now.
Report by Derek Fagan
I am planning to do an Ironman event in Barcelona on 4th October and have just set up blog with regards to my training.
Had planned to go back this year with Mick McBride (anothers Swords cyclist) and Lochlann but won't make it due to ...................... laziness!! This laziness was confirmed to me in the first three Swords races of the year - a poor TT, an abysmal Ardcath race and a poor showing in the Bog of the Ring race (which I won the previous year). Anyway no excuses as you can't hide from the lack of training.
So in order to motivate myself I am setting this blog up which I hope can make me do the hours needed - on the basis that I don't want to quit when some people might be taking notice of my training.
So main goal is Challenge Barcelona on 4th October and training starts today!! A number of other events planned along the way. Current weight is 220lbs (just shy of 16st).
The plan is to go sub 11hrs 30 mins.
Will post training along the way so that you can look at to compare against your own or even to criticize. Address below:
'Bog of the Ring'
Report by Peter Doyle
I don't know about anybody else, but that's what I'm going to have to do. I thought I had trained hard. I had done my intervals, my endurance spins, my recovery days. It seems that they just aren't enough.
I mentioned in the last report after my dismal performance in Coombes Connor that I was going to bring my bike back to Cyclelogical. I did just that on Monday. The guy in the shop said he won't take it back. I asked him why not. "It's been made slow", was his deadpan response. OK, so I just made that up, but I reckon that's what he would say if I brought it back.
OK, on to the race report...
It looked like it was going to rain, there were plenty of grey clouds hanging around. It was also chilly. Up ahead of me I spied a lone rider. He had a yellow jacket on. He must have set off earlier than I did. There were a lot of cars on the road. I put the hammer down and tried to catch the lone rider. He was getting closer. I strained to see him. It looked like he was on a mountain bike, with panniers. And that wasn't a yellow jacket, it was a high vis builders vest. I doubt this guy even knew that he was actually in a race. A commuter race! A race I can actually win. The best kind. I caught him. As I passed, I unclipped one foot and pedalled with the other. Just like Cav did to Cipollini (no, I didn't really do that). I didn't bother looking back to see his anguish. I was focused on getting past the virtual finish line. You have to take victories where you find them.
That was this morning on the way to work. I'm still trying to block out the real race from the evening before. The Bog of the Ring CP. The only thing in common with this morning's commuter race was the grey clouds and the chill in the air. Everything else was different. I had been moved into group three for this week (group two, I'll be joining you soon). The circuit was to be mainly flat with just a couple of short bumps. The finish straight looked like it was directly into the wind for about two km, ending on one of the bumps.
Our group set off in hot pursuit of group two. I don't know if we ever caught them because I wasn't going to be with them for much longer. Although I had high hopes at the start. We were going fine and had a bit of a tail wind once on the main road. The wind also helped us when we turned off and headed towards the back of the circuit. One of the guys reminded us to work better together and not to go flying off the front too hard. I was feeling quite strong and was confident that I would be able to hang in this week. How wrong was I? Once we hit the back of the course just off the second main road, we started going into the wind. I simply don't have the power to keep the speed up like the rest of the guys in the group. I was still taking my turn at the front, but it was getting more difficult and I wasn't recovering as well once I was back in the draft. As soon as we finished the first lap, I was off the back. Still 30km to go. I didn't hold much hope of being able to jump on to any other group behind, since they are the faster guys. Near the end of the second lap I was caught by group four, and one of the guys kindly called "jump on". I would have loved to, but I couldn't. They pulled away. At one of the corners on the third lap a marshal told me that they are only 30 seconds ahead. I counted 30 seconds in my head to see if they had waited for me. No such luck, there was no one there. Group 5 caught me not long after. Actually they may have caught me earlier, I can't remember.
As I finished my third lap, the finish line marshals were getting ready. I was the only rider in sight. So this is what it feels like to breakaway and win solo! As I reached each corner on the last lap, all the marshals were heading for home. I guess that means I'm in last place again. I had hoped to see some other rider who had been dropped, or at least be caught by someone else. It's lonely at the back.
P.S. on the way home some passenger in a car decided to whack me on the back of the head as he passed. The joke is on him though, I had a helmet on. I hope his hand hurts more than my legs.
Coombes Connor Memorial 26th April 2009
(My first open race!)
Report by Peter Doyle
Hot on the heels of my first TT and my first club race, I decided to try my first open race: the Coombes Connor Memorial in Drogheda on Sunday last. I had originally planned to do a training spin in Wicklow with a cycling buddy from Orwell but on Friday he then suggested that we do the race instead. In a moment of blind optimism I agreed that it would be fun. On that point, I was to be proved very wrong, but more on that later. In the meantime, I spent all of Saturday thinking of ways to get out of it: "oh my bike is in pieces", but no such luck, it was in perfect working order. Besides which, I have a spare. Couldn't this recession have arrived a few years earlier before I bought them?!
Saturday passed without any divine intervention and so I resigned myself to more of the same punishement that I got in Garristown last Wednesday. My Orwell buddy drove us up to Drogheda where we arrived in good time.
At sign on I was given my one day license and a shabby race number which screamed "Newbie! Keep at least 10 feet away!". I pinned it on and went for a warmup. There were plenty of familar jerseys around warming up: Usher, Orwell, Dublin Wheelers and also a few familiar Swords faces, although I have no names to put to them yet. Eventually we were coralled and escorted down to the race start, a 5 or 10 minute spin down the road. I was chatting to one of the guys from Cyclelogical on the way down. He sold me the bike I was riding... "better put in a good show", I thought to myself.
The As and Bs started first, they were to do 7 laps. The announcer informed us that the Cs race is to be shortened by a lap due to our late start, 4 instead of 5 I think. Fine by me. After a short wait we were given our starting orders and we were away. There was a slight drag at the start, but adrenalin was enough to see me over that. I tried to stay in the middle of the bunch and I felt I was doing OK at it. The pace was high, but it was early so I could deal with it. The road quality was very good and it wasn't long until we hit the first corner. Everyone seemed to be taking it handy and it passed without incident. This took us off the main road and on to a smaller one. The surface was good so speed was still up. It was a bit of a drag so the group split out a bit and I was able to move up. I gained a few places, but suddenly I found myself drifting backwards as the tempo increased. Was there a break away happening? I've no idea, so don't ask me! All I know is that, if there was, I wasn't in it.
Soon after, we hit another corner which brings us back on to a main road, a call went up for "gravel!". I wasn't too bothered as I had already picked a line and it looked clear. About 20 yards ahead and off to my right, I saw a collision and then heard the horrible clatter of carbon fibre colliding with the ground. My first thoughts were for the bikes... after all, bones heal, but carbon fibre stays broke.
Very quickly after the first rider fell, another plowed straight into his bike and went head over heels. It looked like he landed on his head. As I passed the two riders I saw that one of them was my Orwell buddy. He didn't look happy. I later found out that he was the first to go down after someone took out his front wheel. Strangely I wasn't bothered by the crash. There was a race to finish so there was no time to think about it. The bunch moved on like it had never happened. Just two less riders to worry about.
The pace definitely went up after this and I was finding myself fighting to stay on. A couple of other Swords riders were at the back with me also fighting hard. They wer
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