2011 AnPost Ras race files and articles

As some of you know, I was writing a blog entry for the Irish Examiner newspaper throughout the AnPost Ras. I have links to the online articles below as well as links to the actually race files from my bike computer. In some cases the HR data is wrong due to interference - also I lose power data for the final stage when I had to change bikes.

I hope some people find the files etc... interesting.

Pre-race
Openers (500W for 4 minutes or 1900VAM)
Examiner Piece

Stage 1
Race file on Strava
Examiner Piece

Stage 2
Race file on Strava
Examiner Piece

Stage 3
Race file on Strava
Examiner Piece

Stage 4
Race file on Strava (altitude data incorrect due to the weather!)
Examiner Piece

Over the Healy Pass in the front group (via Stevie McKenna)

Stage 5
Race file on Strava
Examiner Piece

Stage 6
Race file on Strava
Examiner Piece

Stage 7
Race file on Strava
Examiner Piece

Stage 8
Race file on Strava
Examiner Piece

2011 AnPost Ras Stage 8

2011 AnPost Ras Stage 4 - Irish Examiner Blog Article

(A report from Stage 4 of the Ras)

Having finished today's 142 kilometers from Castleisland to Castletownbere, we are officially at the midway point of this years Ras and I'm glad to say that I'm feeling better as the kilometers tick by.


Today's stage was mostly flat for the first 70 kilometers but the final 70 went over some of Kerry's finest mountain passes. As we left Castleisland, the sunburn that many riders acquired the previous day was a distant memory as high winds and rain battered the peleton. From time to time during the day we would have a brief respite, but wet roads were a common theme – to some riders detriment later on in the stage.


A small group escaped pretty early in the stage but it wasn't significant for the general classification so it was mostly ignored while group after group tried to make their own escape on the roads to and out of Killarney. I was in a few such groups but everything was pulled back by a very attentive AnPost team (AnPost are the current yellow jersey leaders).


After 70 kilometers we hit the first climb of the day – it is more a long drag, and again, the race was controlled over both Ladies View, Molls Gap and the resultant descent. Even the next climb, The Tourist, was handled at a pretty pedestrian pace.


As we hit the category 2 climb of Knockanoughanish I realized that I had mistaken it for another climb and suddenly the race, and peleton, started to blow apart – my position wasn't the best, but I used my climbing legs to make sure I was in the front split as we crested the climb. A slippery descent made everyone nervous but I think everyone in the front part of the race made it down safely.


The final climb of the day, the Healy Pass, was where the final culling of the front group took place. A reasonable tempo was set at the front – I was comfortable (this is my terrain afterall), but riders where dropping off quickly – it was only when I got to the top of the climb that I realized I was still in the big chainring on my bike – I guess the ascent was fast enough!


The climb caused people bother, but the descent was much worse. Small, windy, well travelled roads were lethal in the wet. I expected it to be dangerous so I made sure I was in the front couple of riders as we crested the climb – only to see rider after rider fall on the descent – it made me nervous too so I was pretty cautious.


After a few kilometers on the flat roads towards Castletownbere the front group formed of 35 riders. There were attempts from riders to get off the front but it all came back together for current yellow jersey holder, , to win another stage. I finished 16th in the sprint and lost out on the county rider prize by a tire width.


I enjoyed today's racing – my legs are starting to feel good, I think I'm at about 90%, but that is a lot better than a few days ago and I'm super motivated to have another strong day tomorrow.

2011 AnPost Ras Stage 7

2011 AnPost Ras Stage 6

Stage 6 report

2011 AnPost Ras Stage 5

Report says it all:

2011 AnPost Ras Stage 4

An interesting enough day in the hills - report says it all.

2011 AnPost Ras Stage 3

Why does it take me a few days to start feeling okay... Starting to come around today and we hit the hills tomorrow.

Today's report after the race.

2011 AnPost Ras Stage 2

We didn't have good internet connectivity yesterday so I'm only getting yesterdays report up now. The wind, oh, the wind!

2011 AnPost Ras Stage 1

Tough day - report says it all. Also a piece in the Irish Examiner online/paper.

Feeling broken

As I have mentioned in a few of my other posts lately, I have not been feeling great since the start of March. I have had some reasonably good days, but in general, my body and my general feelings have not been as consistent as usual – my body has been acting weird. I had put in a really great winter of training, recovery and watching my nutrition and was in the best shape I have ever been. In February, I was fit, strong and confident - but since March, it seemed to be whittling away.

The motivation is usually there for racing but during training, a lethargy encased my body. It was hard to push, hard to really give it everything, was I a 'wuss', did I need to HTFU? Was it over-training? I gave my body time to recover, looked through the symptoms – but I really didn't think it was overtaining. Was it something else? Did I pick up something while I slid along the Malaysian side walk or some virus/bacteria afterwards? All I know, is that since then, I have not felt normal.

Initially, I put it down to needing more rest, so I focused on that, but the feelings were not leaving. In races, I was hitting max and average heart rates I have not seen in years. In training, I was still going out and setting some personal bests on climbs – they were shorter climbs though. Nothing too long. I was stronger than ever, but there was something holding me back.

I was frustrated and got more blood tests done – oh, why didn't I do this earlier? The results highlighted a lot of what was wrong – my Hematocrit (PCV) values where 20% down on where they should be – Hb (Hemoglobin) was also way down. That and a bunch of other results showed one thing – I am anemic. This explains a lot – the high heart rates, the tiredness, the recovery issues, why I could set personal bests on shorter distances/efforts but just 'normal' on the longer.

Knowing what is wrong is half the battle, the other half is fixing it. I'm on the first steps in that direction and am confident that I'll be tearing the cranks off again soon.

With all of this, it was really unfortunate that I had to decline my place on the National Team this weekend for the Lincoln GP – a classic road race that would have been great to race in (my teammate for the weekend, Philip Lavery, finished 2^nd in it last year). But alas, my body needs a little down time (well, I'll still be training, but training for 4 hours, is a lot easier than traveling and racing for the same!) - the An Post RAS is just a few weeks away and I want to be fresh and ready for it.

There were actually other issues uncovered, allergies, breathing issues etc... but they are a little less interesting than the above and a little easier to fix. Man, elite sports is hard on the body!

2011 Ras Mumhan Part 2

Stage 3 – 142km

This is a repeat stage from last year – the Waterville stage where we go on a very lumpy tour of the surrounding area and a circumnavigation of Valentia Island. Last year, the weather was terrible and there were huge crosswinds – I was in the break for the day and had a pretty good ride. Today, the sun was shining and the scenery splendid. Kerry at it's best.

A small break went pretty early, which I was happy about, I missed getting onto it but wanted to bridge to it on the first 5-6 minute climb. Unfortunately, the break was caught at the base of the climb. The dutch team in yellow were keeping tight control of the race (a mistake? Why not let a break of “no-hopers” from a GC context get a few minutes?). Attack after attack came and everything was chased. With 40km to go, a dangerous move went and I missed it. I was left back in the peleton (well, what was left of it – the days hard roads and strong winds tore it to pieces). Paul Griffin drove the pace over the final climb of the day and we were only 20-30 seconds off the break. With the main teams represented, it made sense their riders didn't work to catch it, but everyone else... Maybe they were too shattered, or just gave up, but no one came to help Paul and I (and a few others) pull it back.

With 20km to go, after I put in a hard pull, Andrew Roach made a huge effort to get away and bridge – damn, that was my ticket outta here and I missed it. Paul, hitched on and after a few km, they made it to the break. Me, well, anything I did had 30 riders tagged along looking at me. Eventually, I got away too taking a few riders with me. Of the 6 or 7, 3 of us were working – the others sat on. We were close to catching the front of the race, but still the others sat in... Why the hell did they make the effort to get on my wheel and form a chase if they didn't want to chase? A race WIN was only a few seconds up the road...

Anyway – I finished up a few seconds off the front having ridden full gas for a long time... Really great training though. I changed my position on the bike a lot recently, and now feel I'm getting very comfortable with it.

Stage 4 – 113km

2 laps of a big loop, followed by 10 laps of a shorter course around Killorglin. The big loop was straightforward while the short lap had lots of scope for splitting the race (like every other year).

I woke in the morning feeling good, my legs felt fresh and I was starving – a good sign. From the start, I was aggressive, in a few groups off the front and solo off the front for a while (hoping for some other strong riders to bridge). I was enjoying myself. After about 15km, my teammate, Martin O'Loughlin came up to me – the peleton has split – we have a lead bunch of 30-35 riders and the yellow jersey missed the split! I looked around, Sean Lacey and many other Edge riders were up with us (Sean trailed the yellow jersey by a second). We all kept the pressure on until there was a sizable gap and then the Edge team (and some others) went to work on the front pushing out the gap to a max of 2:20. The Edge team worked amazingly well with teammate after teammate destroying themselves keeping Sean and Timmy (mostly) fresh for the finishing circuit.

As we hit the finishing circuit, the gap was a little over a minute. The front group would split a bit, then come back together, then split again. Through all this, the elastic would break and a rider or two would be dropped off the back. As I said earlier, I was feeling good – in the final couple of laps, I stayed around the front and scoped out the line I would take for the tricky left hander onto the final short kicker climb to the finish line. When the last lap came, I stuffed it as I was almost thrown into a parked car, lost momentum and chance for a win. We finished 1:40 up on the peleton moving me to 7th overall.

2011 Ras Mumhan Part 1

Like last year, Mel and I took part in the Kerry Group Ras Mumhan. A spectacular stage race held in Kerry of the Easter Holiday weekend ran across 4 stages on tough roads. I rode the race for the Carrick Wheelers cycling team.

Stage 1 - 103km

I have been feeling very up and down recently, some days I go out training and the legs feel amazing. I set power records (for me) and cover climbs in the fastest time I ever have. Then the next day I'm empty – nothing to give. I'm looking into possible causes but it all started back in March.

Anyway, most of stage 1 was one of those days. My HR was pegged from the start despite my power meter saying the effort was normal (I look at these things afterwards, not during the race). I knew that it was critical to be part of the main break on the first stage to remain high on GC overall. I missed it, there was nothing I could do, the legs would not respond - I knew what I had to do, but I couldn't. Towards the end of the stage I came around a little and pushed the peletons pace to close down the break – we got it to under 2 minutes but apathy in the group meant it went out to 2:48 by the time I crossed the line in 30^th.

Riders coming into the finish

Stage 2 - 126 km

This stage was going to be a tough one. Small rolling roads hugging the coast, long drags and finally, my favorite bit – a mountain top finish.

A large crash at the front of the peleton 15km in split the bunch to pieces. A chunk of chasing and after another 15-20km, the bunch was mostly back together. The dutch team that held the yellow jersey were keeping a close guard on any moves with everything being chased down. I conserved my energy.

The days route

With about 50km to go, a dangerous move got off the front with a few of the favorites (but no yellow jersey). The peleton repeatedly stalled and their lead shot up. With 30km to go, a chase group of a few riders (4 or 5) rolled off the front, they were let go. Another 2 riders made a move, let go again. At this point, I knew it was now or never for the stage. I left the comfort of the peleton on the long descent and rode full gas to catch the other chasers. Fortunately for me, one of the dutch riders was on my tail so we worked together and I knew that the dutch lead peleton would be less likely to chase us. We soon formed a good chase group that worked together reasonably well. First we were 2:30 back from the break, then 2 minutes, the 90 seconds, then 60 seconds with about 5 or 6 km before the start of the cat 1 climb. At this point, most of the group turned into 'sandbaggers'. We were close to catching the break but all of a sudden, everyone lost interest – maybe it was the thought of the 5.5km climb at the end... Some South County Dublin riders and I kept the pace going but it was choppy (a few others would lend a hand from time to time, but the guys way up on GC just sat in!). We hit the base of the climb 2 minutes behind the lead group of 8 riders. From talking to others before hand I knew that the base was the steepest part, so as soon as we hit it, I lifted the pace and my chasing companions were gone. After a while, the break was in sight and with a few km to go I caught them. Unfortunately, one rider had attacked at the start and was 1:20 up the road from me. I accelerated again, taking a few riders with me and with a few hundred meters to go, upped the pace again to claim second 1:05 behind the winner (but the fastest man up the mountain on the day). Damn, I'm a brides maid again...

Final few meters

A stunning finish!

There are another 2 stages to come, which I'll get to another day.
Full results and photos can be found here. There are also more reports and photos on the Irish Cycling Website.

2011 Tour de Taiwan

The bubble is burst – for 10 days I lived in a world where all I did was race and think about the next stage. The Tour de Taiwan took us on a complete trip around around the island. The landscapes changed but other than the first two days, the weather remained very 'Irish'.

In the past, I have ridden on a couple of teams, but until this group of races, I had not really ridden FOR a team. As the races get bigger and the focus on the top prize becomes more narrow, dynamics change – it is something that I looked forward to learning about and experiencing but I would be lying to say I didn't put myself on a steep learning curve. The role as a domestique is pretty straightforward from the outside – do what is needed when the team (or team leader) needs it to 100%. Sometimes, this is easier said then done! A shift from focusing on your own goals (in mountain biking) to sacrificing them for the team. If your task is to “go full gas” before a selective point, to make the racing hard, then you ride until you feel your legs are going to fall off – getting dropped afterwards bedamned... As long as you make the time cut, your job is done.

Leading out into a selective climb

Sometimes, it was a little wet!

The racing was tough throughout – I felt pretty bad for the first half of the race – not exactly the shining opening that I had been training for but as everyone knows, these things happen. I'm not sure what happened, I felt like something had attached to my body with the sole purpose of slowing me down – movement was hard – maybe it was the crash in Malaysia, or I picked up something from those wet long days racing with weeping wounds? Towards the end of the stage race though, I felt better and better – I would wake in the morning fresh and ready for racing rather than wondering how I would leave my bed to go to the bathroom let alone race 160km. Today – the day after the finish, I sit with renewed energy wanting to race – wanting to push on the pedals, try and tear the cranks off. A little frustrating. Well – at least I have a race coming up this weekend in Ireland - there always is another race :)

Our team

Our team won a stage, grabbed a couple of second places in stages, second place overall and were the second placed team. A few seconds in there and only a few off the GC. The team has been a great support structure – the soigneurs, mechanics and masseurs worked long hours to make sure we were ready every day – THANKS!

Photos are from the Giant Kenda Pro Cycling Facebook page. Full results, more photos and some videos are available on the Tour de Taiwan website. Thank you Taiwan for a great race.

2011 Tour de Taiwan Stage 7 report

Today was a good day for the team. Basically a flat 130km with mostly a tail wind (a few cross wind sections to keep things interesting though). I had started thinking about getting into a break but it was always going to be a sprinters stage. After averaging 52kmph for the first 40 minutes, a break got away of a couple of riders down on GC and TPT rode on the front. The break went up to 3 minutes but was pulled back for us to have a sprint. Due to all this, the team had a pretty easy day rolling along and to top that all off, our sprinting star, Rico Rogers, finishes the day off with a win for the team. Nice way to end the stage!

The bikes after the stage

Here is a quick video update:



With two days remaining, everything is still up in the air as far as GC is concerned – there are a lot of riders close and the racing will be aggressive. We hit the hills tomorrow with a difficult second half of the stage and the final day starts with 100km of flat roads ending with a 17km climb – I can't wait!

A brisk stage - 47.2kmph average

2011 Tour de Taiwan Part 1

Just a quick update at the midpoint of the race.

2011 Tour de Taiwan Prolog

Just a quick update on the first part of the Tour de Taiwan



Feet are now up and it is resting for the rest of the day.

2011 January Training - Part 2

Finishing out from Part 1 on my January training diary, I'll cover the 'meat' of the Gran Canaria trip and then the recovery.

After doing several 3 day blocks of 2 hard days, 1 easy day, I was ready to move to 3 days on, 1 day off.

The first part of the first day of each block remained the same – 3 x 13 minutes at Threshold – why 13 minutes? That was roughly how long the climb was, I would have rathered it being 15 minutes but the location was perfect – a 45 minute warmup from home and at the most arid part of the island - so the least chance of getting rained on while doing the tough intervals. The remaining part of the ride was mid tempo climbing up to the maximum amount of riding I had planed. It started as 3.5 hours but worked up to 4.5 hours.

A sample threshold day - 2,400m of climb in total

 The following day was a long endurance type ride – between 5 and 6 hours – I would ride tempo on the long sustained climbs – about 80-85% of FTP and the rest at endurance pace. This is when I get to see most of the island.

The last day of the block had 2 options – a group ride if I can find a descent one, or a split day. If it was a split day, 3 x 20 minutes at Sweet Spot (90% of Threshold) – if I can. This would be followed by 1 minute on, 1.5 minutes off by 10-15 times in the evening. If it is a group ride, I would plan for 6 hours with a few harder efforts thrown in (as well as a coffee stop!). By the end of this, I'm pretty toast and ready for a recovery day.

Out with my wife on a group ride :)

As the weeks progressed, my Threshold power increased steadily so that my final sessions where the best of the trip despite having acquired a lot of fatigue – somehow, all my best efforts come when I'm in a fatigue hole.

Upon returning to Ireland, it was 3 days of very easy riding and a weekend of longer rides, but still at an easy enough pace (group rides to add in some social aspect). With that, I was ready to start February and build again.

2011 Jelajah Malaysia Report

You are about to start your first big race of the year – what's the perfect preparation? Get used to the conditions, be well rested, scrape yourself across Malaysian pavement? The day before I started the 2011 edition of Jelajah Malaysia, I had the worst crash in training I've had. Many bruises and lots of lost skin was the unfortunate result. It would be a tough few days recovering from it let alone racing 160-220km each day. I went to the medic and got sorted out, a week or two of wounds, and bandages and disinfecting myself lay ahead. This all on my brand few race bike...

Stage 1 – 162km

A fast start – I was in a few moves but felt terrible on the bike – my heart rate was through the roof. A break went and our team did a major chunk of the work bringing it back with 30km to go. A torrential storm hit when we were on the front – probably the best place to be.

Stage 2 – 204km

With the yellow jersey in a teams hands, the peleton attacked and attacked until 50km when a break went. Unfortunately, 30 minutes in, with the peloton in one long snake, I punctured. I got my wheel quickly but unfortunately the commissar didn't allow me even close to any cars for a little shelter – I rode as hard as I could for almost 20 minutes to get back on – I almost had resigned to not being able to get back on when I got close to the end of the cavalcade. Fortunately, the break escaped and the peleton sat up. 48kmph I averaged for those very painful 20 minutes. Main task of the day for me was bottle duty. You wouldn't believe how much we drink in the heat.

Stage 3 – 158km

Of the 3 hours 30 minutes racing, 3 hours where pouring rain. Very very heavy, but the peloton actually felt safe enough. Starting to feel a little better and was in a few moves over the first hour and a half – not the one that got away though.


Stage 4 – 89km

A shorty today. With the yellow in Malaysian hands, it seemed the every part of the Malaysian peleton was used to chase down break attempts. 48Kmph we averaged for the stage in driving rain. (it didn't stop for the whole stage!). My task for the day was to help pull back a small group towards the end – another bunch sprint.

Stage 5 – 221km

Really hot all day and got a little burnt despite having Factor 50 on – I'll need to start putting on sunscreen during the stage. I was in a few breaks over the first 35km and though I was in the one that got away. The green jersey bridged (and teammate, David McCann) – which was followed by the peleton after a few minutes. Most of the middle of the stage was controlled – I spent it grabbing bottles and feeling crap. A group of 35 (in a few parts) got away with 3 of my teammates in it. Happy days, free ride to the finish.

Easy to see when I was in the break

Stage 6 – 175km

Rode on the front over the first 20km following attacks – then we hit the climb, which was actually a climb (unlike anything else in this race which was basically pan flat) – it was rode full gas with the peleton splitting into many sections. I suddenly wished I hadn't ridden as hard over the first 20km. I got to the top in the second group, which after a few km of driving by the German and Iranian teams recreated the peleton. 20Km in, a gruppeto also formed. The rest of the very hot day had very aggressive riding – the day was easy for no one. Getting to the team car for bottles was tough as we were lined out for a chunk of the day. I didn't drink enough and was feeling the effects for the final 50km. My teammate, David, showed his form and attacked with 70km to go with 3 other GC contenders. With 17km to go, he kicked again shedding all but yellow jersey winner Mehdi Sohrabi. With David's ride, and our teams solid performance we finished with 2nd in GC and 2nd in the team classification.

Final stage - I wish I didn't make those efforts before the climb - see the temperature!

In a hurt locker!

The race was hot and fast. When it was easy, it was easy, when it was hard, it was hard – not much middle ground. I didn't sleep well all week with with my wounds and recovery has been slow. I didn't feel like I was “firing on all cylinders”. I know I put in a great winter of training and the form will come – off to Taiwan now for another 10 days of fun, with a few days of recovery first. Hopefully, no more crashes!

2011 Jelajah Malaysia Stage 1 report

I'll do the Jelajah report (video) in a second but first a quick recap of my racing in Ireland before I left for Asia.

A couple of weeks ago I rode an excellent event called the Ballyhoura Biking Blitz - I won it having a close sprint with Robert Scanlan. The following week, on Saturday I rode my first road race of the year - the Annaclone GP. I finished second in it, but fastest ride of the day (there was one guy ahead from the handicap group - they had 5 minutes on us for the 1 hour 30 race). With 5km to go I attacked out of a small group (that I created a couple of km earlier on a climb) and rode to the finish solo. You can see my attack 22 minutes into this video - it was into a big headwind: http://www.youtube.com/user/CyclingUlster1#p/a/u/1/_wJwiOBmkkc

The following day was the Phenoix GP - I attacked out of a chase group with a couple of km to go to get third position. My RAS teammate, Conor Murphy won the race having attacked with a few others earlier in the race.

Now - back to Malaysia - the first stage was 162km. Here is a quick video blog.



I complicated matters for myself by crashing hard the previous day and leaving a bunch of skin on Malaysian soil... Stiff and sore, but should be good in a few days.

I'll have a quick video up for each day.

2011 January Training - Part 1

I love the training I do from November through to January – it covers so much of what I love about cycling (aside from the racing) and builds the big base that I utilize for the rest of the year. Long bike rides, beautiful scenery – many of the spins more social than my normal routine – a lot of riding by feel and really listening to your body. An important aspect for me is training the body pretty hard, but not having to use much 'mental energy' – hard training and racing uses a lot of 'mental power', so in the winter I recharge that. I have already talked a little about what I did in November/December, here I will bring it up to date with January.

Well, first, once Mel and I returned from the US – we had one small problem to deal with – the Irish weather. Freak weather meant that much of our training over Christmas and until we headed off again for Gran Canaria was going to be indoors – on our indoor trainer and on the rollers.

I was never a fan of training indoors but the Cycleops 300 Pro indoor trainer has really helped change that (so much so that all my recovery rides are now on the trainer – just more time efficient and I can really tune out). A good road feel, built in power, sturdy and super quiet – it ticks my boxes. When we were away from home (around Christmas) – the turbo trainer and rollers where out. A bunch of two hour sessions (I was doing things like 2-3 x 20 minutes at upper tempo with constant change of pace) kept the legs ticking over.

Before long, it was January 4^th and time to travel to Gran Canaria for our 3 week camp.

Stop to enjoy the view (sometimes)

Traveling to the Canaries at this time of year is really a no brainer for cyclists that have the flexibility of performing their day-job from anywhere. Mel and I are both fortunate in that all we need are our laptops and a fast internet connection.

For the first 9 days, I follow a 2 days on, 1 day off training protocol. Too many people when they go to training camps burn themselves out by going on back to back 6 hour epics each day. While we are there for 3 weeks – it is important to treat it as a normal training block and ease ourselves into it.

This is a simplified version of what the first 9 days looks like:

Day 1: Long warmup, and powertest – see where the legs are at – rest of 3.5 hour ride is by feel – enjoy it. I do the same ride at the start of each year.

Day 2: Long ride – again, ride by feel – 4-5 hours – throw in a hard 3-5 minute effort – see how the legs are feeling and use it as a marker for the trip

Day 3: Recovery ride – easy 1 to 1.5 hours, go for lunch

Day 4: Upper Tempo (say 80% of Threshold) on climbs (1.5hrs total at 80%+ of Threshold power) 3.5-4 hours

Day 5: Long Endurance – Upper Tempo on Climbs – focus on various skills (fast pedal etc...) - 5 hours

Day 6: Recovery ride – easy 1 to 1.5 hours, go for lunch

Day 7: 3 x 15-20 climbs at Sweet Spot (90% of Threshold) – sprint work at the start. 4 hours

Day 8: Long Endurance – Tempo on Climbs – focus on various skills (fast pedal etc...) 5.5 hours

Day 9: Recovery ride – easy 1 to 1.5 hours, go for lunch

At this point – the body is pretty well acclimatized and it ready to up the intensity a little.

It is always super important to watch hydration and nutrition during this time (well, ANY time!) especially if the conditions are different from what you usually train in. Weighing yourself first thing in the morning, and then after you return from the ride is a great way of monitoring your hydration levels. On long hot sessions, I tended to lose about 700 grams of body weight – about 1% of my total body weight so more than acceptable for hydration loss. The first thing I do everyday when I arrive in from training is grab the ZipVit Recovery from the fridge, put the feet up and enjoy.

Eat well!

Part 2 coming up soon.

Best of 2010 - ZipVit Sport

Since Mel and I started racing, nutrition has always been at the top of our priorities – my past in other sports had shown the importance of this to me before and starting an endurance sport made it that much more relevant. I changed by diet a lot from my 'party' lifestyle I had between sports and it has benefited me in many ways even outside cycling. Anecdotally, I was on the borderline of needed glasses/lenses a few year years ago – I have since stepped away from that border – I put that down mostly to nutrition.

But I digress, back to ZipVit.

At the start of 2010, Mel and I had the opportunity to start working with ZipVit. I had used some of their products before and was very happy with the results so we went all in. I'm so happy we did.

ZipVit are a relatively new sports nutrition company but have quickly become part of the leading edge of sports nutrition – their products are constantly being adjusted and perfected (let's just say that I didn't like one of their Recovery Drink flavors at the start) with the aid of their testing team and athletes they support – teams like Cervelo Test Team, RadioShack and the Irish National Team.

Throughout the year, we used all their products during racing, training and even on our honeymoon, what impressed us most though was their gels, bars and recovery.

There are two major things I love about the gels. First, is their size – they are about 30% larger than standard gels and contain around 200 calories. When racing, when under pressure, the last thing I want to do is to have to take a gel every 15 minutes (my stomach can handle a lot of food) – these are a size that are still easy to swallow but yet give a lot of important carbs. The other major thing for me, is that these are not jammed full of electrolytes... One of the problems with lots of sports food is that everything is now full of various salt solutions – okay, if you are only taking one or two gels/drinks, but if racing and eating 5 gels and 4 bottles of energy drink, I get way more than I need and end up feeling bloated for a day or two. These gels are a lot more subtle and have helped me feel a lot better (and retain a lot less water) in the days following a race.

The Bars – well, they have the right amount of carbs/protein etc... but the major feature is their taste – yum. When a new batch arrives, Mel and I have to split the boxes, half with “Mel” written on the side, the other half with “Ryan”. We like them that much that it is hard not to live off them – especially the recovery bars. Being mostly pescatarian (we eat meat if out at a restaurant though – we just don't cook it in general) – getting enough protein can be tricky enough at times – that is where the recovery bars have come in (or as the snack between lunch and dinner). For hot conditions, I would stay with the uncoated chocolate energy bars as the others can get a little melty.

Water -> Chocolate Milk -> ZipVit Recovery... That has been my progression in post training/racing recovery. If there is one thing that I can say that can greatly benefit riders, it is to really sort out your post ride recovery. Whenever I train any longer than 1.5 hours, I always have my recovery drink prepared and waiting in the fridge for when I get in. Taking this straight away kick starts my bodies recovery process so that I can then get cleaned up and make a proper lunch knowing that I have done everything to ensure that I can gain the maximum out of that session and start the preparation for the next. Of the flavors, Chocolate and Vanilla are my favorites.

Doing the 'loop' in GC

The 'loop'

It is not that often I write just about a training ride, but this one was pretty cool. A lap of Gran Canaria. It is around 185km and pretty tough in places. A group of about 12 of us left from Maspalomas at 10am (8 of us finished up). A steady pace the whole day with some amazing views – we even picked up a few other riders during the spin.

Some dude called Fabien went to the front... :P

A sheer drop off - stunning

HR, Power, Altitude for the spin

8 of us finished up the ride in the end. One more training session on the island and my training block will be complete.

S-Works Stumpjumper Hardtail

It has been a long time coming - I had planed on having this bike put together during the summer but things got in the way and it took a while to get all the bits and pieces together. I didn't need it for any races so there was never really a rush to get my butt in gear. The upside, is I have finally built it up the way I want it (apart from one minor thing - but I'll get to that).



It is basically a 2010 Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper hardtail frameset pimped out with some of our sponsors kit. Lots of KCNC bits (some making their first Irish appearance - have a look at the brakes) - NoTubes wheels, the new CrankBrother Eggbeater pedals and Schwalbe tires. A really impressive package and tips the scale at a little over 8kg (I know, saddle and crankset can be lighter)

The new KCNC X-7 brakes are really something to behold - mega mega light (277 grams for the rear, 259 grams for the front INCLUDING rotors and all bolts - wow that's more than 100 grams per wheel lighter than most of it's competition). Braking has been great so far - a very positive feel and another nice feature is that they use Shimano style brake pads - so easy to find when you are stuck.

The rear caliper is simply beautiful - someone had fun with the CNC machine

I run a 2x10 drivetrain. An XT crankset modified to run a 42/28 combo and a 11-36 cassette out back. For most conditions I shouldn't have to leave the big ring (which sits in the middle ring position of the XT triple so gives a great chainline for the whole cassette). The crankset is the only thing I may alter in a while - it does not really befit the rest of the build, but it is what I had easily available.


Crankbrothers newly updated Eggbeater pedals finish out the build.

So, first impressions - it's all about the fork, the stiffness and weight of the bike - the bike just flies - you really want to push hard on it at all times. Sure, it isn't as quick on the descents as a fully, but still remains a lot of fun and is easier to clean and maintain.

So I have both the S-Works Stumpjumper and Epic - if I had to have one, it's easy, it still is the Epic - there just is not a bike like it. The suspension works so well that it is a no brainer to ride around with the extra few hundred grams of weight over the hardtail... But I still really like my new bike.

Early season training

I have gotten lots of questions lately about how I approach the off-season and how I prepare for the next season. In this post, I'll bring you through a little of my preparation for the 2011 season. I have been influence by lots of different things. Joe Friel and his blog/books, Hunter Alan/Andrew Coggan book "Training and Racing with a Powermeter" as well as the Wattage Group and 100s of articles/papers I have read. Oh, as well as my own personal experiment – that is me.

First off, my 2011 season starts after the day of my final race, my second National Title of the year at the MTB Marathon Championships. I had not felt raced out towards the end of the season, indeed, I wanted to race more but I did feel pretty trained out. I had enough of the structure and intervals and looked forward to some recovery time. After spending a couple more days in Ireland (I rode or ran each day – just for fun though) Mel and I headed for our delayed honeymoon in Peru.

For the first time since I started riding, I would be moving away totally from the bike for a few weeks – I was not sure how I would respond to it afterwards. Fortunately, from a fitness point of view, our trip was very active with lots of hiking, climbing and running around – all this at high altitude meant that despite indulging a little (or a lot) more than usual we came home from our trip a little lighter! Gotta love traveling to altitude.

No bikes found up here - climbing a 6,000 meter mountain

This takes us to around the 19th of October – my official, “start training” point is November 1st (a Monday, so for me – a recovery day) so up until then, Mel and I joined up on various group and social spins. Moving the legs, meeting new friends and being brought down roads and loops that we had not seen before. I really enjoyed it – some of the spins were 6 hours long, but at a pace that was closer to recovery for me I would still come home fresh, both mentally and physically. I felt like a social cyclist.

As November comes along, things get a little more serious training wise. My body seems to handle the rigors of training very well and doesn't seem to need a break, but after almost 16 months straight of racing my mind does. This time of year I focus on doing rides that can be hard (in some cases, very hard) but are not mentally challenging. For instance, a lot of rides would be simply, endurance on the flats, tempo on the climbs – if I want. If I feel good and want to ride harder, I will, if not, no biggie. Get the volume in without causing any mental fatigue. So for the first few weeks of November, it was about doing training to prepare myself for the 'real' training.

As I mentioned earlier, the 2.5 weeks gap off the bike was by far the longest time I had spent off the bike since I started riding – even breaking my collarbone (and the resultant surgery) only meant 2 days not riding. For the first few days when I started riding again, the bike felt a little alien – I didn't feel my legs spin as easily as they had in September and I'll be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried... Two weeks later however, while out on a normal training ride I came to a hill I often perform tests on, I decided to ride hard, but not too hard – as I closed in on the top of the climb, I noticed I wasn't actually very far off a PB set in the summer (while wearing shorts and a jersey – not all the winter garb I was wearing then). My mind was set to rest. My body and mind had time to recover from the 2010 season and my legs weren't going too bad either!

Cyclocross - for something a bit different

Next was the first proper training block of the year – like past years I went to northern California to get some quality riding in. In the past it was to meet work requirements, but that had changed a little and now my trip was to take advantage of better weather, nice roads and a change of environment. While there, the weather was not exactly typical for the time of year (I got rained on a lot and it was pretty cold) but having seen what Ireland was going through, I was very glad to be there.

Many of my longest rides of the year (at least in the past – I will have a different focus in 2011 so this will change a little) came in this block - packing in 20-30 hours of riding a week. In the area there is a set of hill climb races that I take part in (and blog about) and they served as great power tests. Mentally, it is so much easier to push hard when in a race and being timed. I rode two this year and the power figures (for November) where good, actually, very good. There are lots of great, fast group rides on in the area – many Pro cyclists and National Champions make up the bay area cycling scene so you can often get your hours in in great company.

For the solo rides – a lot of it is basically, endurance riding on the flats (focusing on high cadence work too and some sprints), and riding sweet spot on the climbs – that is basically riding at 90% of my threshold power. Basically trying to get 1.5-2.5 hours of tempo (or better) riding in per day. The climbs in the area are all pretty big (15-35 minutes) so getting good steady efforts in is pretty straightforward. People say that I have a big engine (in cycling terms), I put a lot of that down to this type of riding I do this time of year. Again, if I'm out and the legs, mind or body really are not feeling it, I can ease off, enjoy the scenery and charge up the batteries for the next day.

Climbing hills - big ones... (pic from here)

Now, after 4 great weeks training I'm back in Ireland – a few days of recovery first and then back to building for the 2011 season. Due to the weather, I probably will not be able to get in the same sort of hours, but the intensity will no doubt rise a notch (especially considering I expect a chunk to be on the indoor trainer).

Many thanks to my brother and his family for taking Mel and I in under their wings while we were in California - you guys made everything so straight forward for us to get the best training in while still meeting our work commitements. THANKS!

So that is it for my first month and a half of training. Basically it is about building the engine/base for the harder things that follow without making it too hard on yourself.

2010 Mount Hamilton Hill Climb

Thanksgiving for me has been about two things for these last few years – a wonderful Turkey dinner shared with my brother, his wife and kids and the Mount Hamilton Hill Climb to wet the appetite.

This year, Kieran, Mel and I headed over to the base on what was going to be a very chilly ascent. Just a touch above freezing on the top with snow on the side of the road would make for a picturesque finish. But first we had to get there.

A huge group of cyclists, ranging from the competitive to the recreational trying to best their time gathered at 9:30 for the climb. It is 30km long, climbs 1,350 meters and has two short descents (about 3 minutes and 2 minutes). The climb is never steep, just long – very long – I liked it.

For the first long ramp, we rode along as a pretty big group – I'm guessing 30 riders stayed together of the close to 150 that started. As we neared the first descent, I went to the front to stretch things out a bit to make it a little safer – riders where popping off the back but it made for a relatively safe descent. At the start of the second climb, a rider attacked off that I didn't recognize – he looked dangerous, so I too left the group to cut my own path. As I tried to bridge to the rider, it didn't look like I was getting much closer – on this course, drafting helps a lot so if we were together, we could really make a good time – I couldn't quite get there, so I settled into my pace – there was only one rider ahead so they had no real advantage – the gap stayed around 10-25 seconds. With about 5km to go, I noticed I was getting closer again and with about 3.5km to go, I caught him. As I got a glimpse of the rider – things now made sense – it was Eric Wohlberg – 3 time Olympian, 8 consecutive Canadian TT Champion, Common Wealth Games Gold medalist... ehh, you get the picture. I also know Eric from riding the Wednesday group rides – to say he is a strong rider, does not give him justice! (He also lives at the base of this climb) We rode together to the top and I went for it at the final steep 200m ramp. Great fun.

Phil's finish line photos

I bested my time from last year, but the pace was way too low for the first 12km (and I was by myself for the remaining distance) to set a very fast time. But still, the day was stunning (but very very cold) and the views were incredible. Also, Mel, showing here amazing climbing form finished just 9 minutes after me and 12 minutes infront of the next female. In the mens race, she would have been 18^th – rider of the day if you ask me!

Back to Thanksgiving – after all that, (and another bike ride when we got home) – we feasted all evening until we could barely move – it has been a long while since we did that and I felt if for the first few hours of todays ride.

Results, photos and a short report can be all found here.

Many thanks to the Low Key crew – I look forward to doing a few of your races every year – a great bunch of folks and great events.

2010 Low Key Hill Climb - Hicks / Mt Umunhum

Mel and I are currently in California for some training, a bit of family time and some work. All this while hopefully enjoying its famously good weather... Well, after 7 days, I have had 3 good weather days and 4 less nice – but the climbs are still stunning and I just love the feel of the place.

Anyway, while here, I'm taking part in the final two races in the Low Key Hill Climb series – a series of 9 very tough climbs over 9 weeks. On November 20th, my brother and I took part in the Hicks / Mt Umunhum climb – a 4.8km climb that raises 515meters with long stints at 15% gradient. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my 27 rear cassette before I left Ireland so I was going to use the 39x25 as my lowest gear – I sensed some standing on the pedals.

On the ride over (one hour fourty minutes so more than enough time to warm up) my legs felt dead and my body tired from the previous weeks training. After signon, we were ready to go – I left off my extra clothes into a car to take them to the top, stood on the pedals and said to myself, cool, my legs actually feel ... “POP” . My rear tub just punctured – a deep cut – it was toast.

Lucky break, number 1 – Brian Lucido – the current leader of the series had a spare Zipp 202 rear wheel I could use – excellent, I will actually still take part in the climb. A quick wheel change and I was off again.

Almost 100 of us lined up in what was turning into 'epic' conditions – a super steep climb (and descent on the way back down) in rain and wind. Well, with the Irish Hill Climb champs, I'm well used to these conditions.

The race started at a hard pace – I looked down a couple of times to see the power meter read 450W, 480W, 460W... These guys can't hold this up for 20 minutes (didn't see any Grand Tour contenders on the start list) so I rode my own race. Chris Phipps and Brian Lucido got about a 10 second gap on my about 1.5 km in, but it was so steep that drafting was almost useless and riding a steady pace would pay off. At the half way point, the 3 of us where together. A little while later Chris made another strong surge but with 1.5km to go, I passed him again and kept going to the finish claiming the KOM by 32 seconds with Brian finishing in 3rd.


My adventures where not over yet – on the way back down (along with a bunch of other folks) I punctured the rear loaned wheel. I couldn't really do anything but laugh... Lucky break number 2, I met Calvin, who had been taking the video of the finish, coming back down in his car and he very kindly gave me a lift back home (which was miles away). I was able to get back, warmed up and head out for the rest of my training because of him. Many many thanks – you probably saved me from getting a cold and missing out on good training! (Also, it was really nice chatting to you outside of all that!).

Getting back to the climb – I was around 72kg in the morning and put out 414W on the climb – it wasn't exactly steady, but reasonably steady - it was a good 20 minute test. (I do think my power meter is reading a little low at the moment though). VAM for the 20 minutes was 1,600 meters per hour – so pretty quick. Happy with the power output, after just 3 weeks of training for a month taking it easy although my average heart rate was really low given the effort – 173 beats per minute – I would expect 180 for that sort of effort. Now back to my diet of tempo climbing, steady on the flats...

Full results, video and photos (including the one I nabbed above) are all available here.

Some off season racing

With some deserved relaxation time in October complete, November 1^st starts the training season again for Mel and I. This year, with it falling on a Monday – it starts with a rest day, how fortunate :)

The training has been going very well these last few weeks with the legs starting to feel faster session by session. Like last year, this time of year we do a few other fun events to keep the training interesting. Over the last couple of weeks I took part in one adventure race and two cyclocross events – all low-key and something to simply have fun with.

Ivan Park runs a great series of Adventure Races (Causeway Coast Adventure Races) and until now, I had not had a chance to race in one. Mel and I headed down to my home county of Monaghan to take part in the first in their series. The course was going to be a 5km run, 3km kayak, 5km run, followed by 40km of mountain biking (well, more fireroad/road riding) - with 4 special tasks thrown in for good measure (one was eating a packet of crackers). As this was a team event (pairs) Mel and I would be competing together for the first time in a long while – we both looked forward to it. I would be the mule (carrying the bag etc...) while the more experienced racer (ehh, Mel) took care of the navigation – a task she completed wonderfully not making a mistake in finding the 30+ control points!

The race started and after all the running and kayaking (I hadn't ran in any sort of race in 4 years, and had never kayaked) we were somewhere in the middle of the field (around 34 teams). As the mountain bikes were brought out we slowly clawed our way back (we really were just cruising along – average HR for the event for me was 134 – a CX race is closer to 180!) eventually coming 3^rd overall and winning the mixed category. Yummy food was our reward and we really had a great day in Monaghan. If I have one word of advice for the adventure racers out there – it is “TUBELESS”.

Next on the cards was my first Cyclocross race of the year – and really my first intensity since winning the marathon championships. I had no idea of how my body would respond after having completed the adventure race the day before (my legs where killing me) but gave it a go anyway. The 3^rd round of the Ulster league had a really nice fun course which rode very quick other than a few very muddy and heavy sections – I think one quarter of the field had to retire due to mechanicals (mostly mechs being pulled off) and I had my own issues – mud clogged my cassette in such a way that I was single speeding all day in a low gear – great for the heavy sections but bad for the fast bits. I finished out 3^rd on the day but had great fun doing it.

Steps in Ulster

At the weekend just past, I made it out to the 3^rd round of the Supercross Cup Cyclocross series in Dublin. A windy day greeted us in Corcaigh Park – but the wind helped dry out what turned out to be a very fast course. All the corners where slick but riding fast meaning that much of the time was spent sliding sideways. Due to not being part of the series up until now, I didn't get a gridding and after the first lap was in no mans land in 5^th watching the front four riders racing a road race in front (my average speed was close to 24kmph for the day). Long miles didn't give me the 'oompth' to bridge the 25 second gap and nothing changed until the penultimate lap when a flying Conor Campbell made a technical mistake on the boards leaving him within striking distance. We rode together for a lap but I attacked to claim 4^th with a half lap to go. A fun fast course, that had me smiling all the way around.

Nice big boards

Having fun as I rolled around the course

Gert has some really great photos from the race here.

Now I'm off to California for three weeks of training and work. I'll take part in a couple of hill climb races – but the focus will be on long miles with big climbs.

Best of 2010 - Massage

Mel and I are always trying to optimize our equipment, nutrition, training, racing and recovery. In 2010 a new thing popped along for us to take advantage of that we had not used in the past. Namely, one of the main reasons we all shave our legs – massage (well, other than vanity and it being a hell of a lot easier to clean up...).


PRO cycling has long had the connection to pre and post massage to aid warmup and then recovery after hard training and racing. Indeed, I "enjoyed" my first long stretch of post race massage during the FBD RAS – Eamon Brady from Dungannon was our team's masseur and his deep massages (ouch!) had our whole team's legs flying every day (we won the county team award, amongst other things). While this was excellent when you were doing an arduous 8 day stage race, the biggest advantage we got over the year was the weekly massage via Stewart Carr.

When putting your body through as much hard racing and training as we do, over time small niggles can arise – maybe the cleat was 2mm out or your legs seized up after the 4 hour cramped car journey after the race (both of these happened to me this year). The weekly massage quickly found any such niggles and worked them out before they became serious. We have both been fortunate in that neither of us had to miss a days training due to these niggles growing into injuries – in a large part I put it down to regular massage and checkup. On the other hand, those massages were great just for relaxation too :)

We would like to thank Stewart for all the support during the year (and about 100 other things you helped out with) – I would also like to mention that he runs his own studio for sports massage out of Sprocket Cycles in Bray – their number is 01-272 3010 to setup an appointment. He is an all-round good guy and a fountain of knowledge with all things biking.

Having a weekly or fortnightly massage I believe to be much more beneficial then buying those bling set of carbon wheels.