Saturday, March 10, 2012

2012 Wallace Caldwell Memorial RR

Well, I just finished building up my new road race bike on Friday (Thank you Cycleways) - a Specialized S-Works Venge. What a way to go on its first ride - winning the Wallace Caldwell Memorial road race - first round of the Ulster Classic series...

Bling
I did make it a little hard on myself though - midway way through the race I had to make a huge bridging effort (about 20-30 minutes) across from the peloton to the break (which was a counter to a move I was in). I had a few riders with me bridging at the start, but I was the only one to make it. Just as I got to the break, the attacks started - fortunately it was on a climb so I was able to recover a little and made the final/winning break of 6. We rode the next 40km steady enough - the final climb (more like a couple of kilometers of a drag) came with 10km to go. Everyone in the break knew I was the one to watch when climbing and they just sat on my wheel - I made a bunch of jumps stinging their legs (and mine!), then Gary (Audi rider) made an attack towards the top, I countered, got 3 meters and went into Cancellara mode for the final 8km to the line. I had a good gap so could enjoy the finish.

Smiling - photo from Marian Lamb

2 comments:

Brian L said...

You are one of the few people who can say this:
"fortunately it was on a climb so I was able to recover a little and made the final/winning break of 6"

Ryan Sherlock said...

Well, it was more like - fortunately the attacking begun on the climb (with a tailwind) that meant I could ride my own pace a little more rather than making lots of huge efforts... It was tough going.

32kmph up a 4.2% climb (surges, so not optimally paced) - it was quick enough!