Tuesday, March 20, 2012

2012 Carrick Wheelers Cup


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.

Me, the sprinter - photo by Joe Cashin
Good safe racing in a beautiful part of the country.

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