I had ridden the St. Patricks Day race
in Dunboyne several times before but this year, I decided to travel
down to Carrick-on-Suir to race on our national holiday. I had heard that the
course would be pretty selective – but unfortunately it wasn't as
hilly as I expected with just two shorts drags (Coming up to 11 months now since I last needed my small ring in an Irish road race).
Nice weather, and a big peleton for the
start. We would do three laps of the course to total 100km. There
were several moves off the front over the first lap but nothing stuck
– on the second lap, as we passed the start/finish, I moved off the
front with ten others – we stayed away for a few kilometers but were
pulled back before the second drag. I kept riding and by the time we
got half way around the race distance we were 18 riders off the front.
There were several digs to split things
up a bit but nothing got away – we rode pretty easy until the final
15 kilometers where the cat and mouse games began. In the end, it was
together (in the break of 18) for a sprint finish. I got things
mostly right for the sprint and ended up 3rd. The two guys
in front of me (and behind me) being very strong sprinters – for
me, I'm happy enough... My only mistake was not having more
confidence in my own sprinting ability.
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| Me, the sprinter - photo by Joe Cashin |
Good safe racing in a beautiful part of the country.
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