2011 Ulster Cyclocross Series - Round 1 Lurgan

Its off-season, its off-season, its off-season... cyclocross doesn't count... does it?

After a long hard season I've been taking it easy. I rode the bike a little but mostly as a mode of transport to get to coffee shops. Most of my scars that have not had the chance to heal from my various knocks with tarmac and dirt over the year are starting to fade. In one way I like the off-season, well, during the season when I'm tired and drained (not much of the time, but sometimes) the thought of reaching off-season keeps me going – you look forward to it, and heaven forbid – some beers!

Once I hit off-season though, I quickly get tired of it and want to ride more again. Last year Mel and I went to Peru for 3 weeks as part of our postponed honeymoon during October – no bikes, but we still remained active – it was really good for us. This year I'm in Ireland and after seven days, I'm already itching to get going again. Basically, I love riding my bike – it I wasn't racing, I would be still riding my bike – possibly more!

Anyway – even though I'm taking it easy, it has just become cyclocross season – one hour of fun racing in the mud. The first race was been held in Lurgan which until 48 hours ago would have been a bone dry, super fast track – Ireland being Ireland – it rained for the 36 hours before the race making it a muddy, sliddery affair. I don't think I have actually raced or ridden in proper mud for about a year now.

A large field gathered at 1pm for our start and from the gun it was frantic as we all skiddered (yes, I did mean to say skiddered!) around the course. After a lap there was a group of five of us at the front – Roger Aiken was looking strong and the former National Champ kept the pressure on and rode away. The rest of us battled for a while but eventually the elastic broke and at the halfway point I was in solo pursuit of Roger.

Thank goodness for the 'bike wash'

He was flying and I wasn't going to catch him (Mel gave me a warning that I must be smiling in every photo otherwise I'm not allowed to race any more cross) – that and my bike sounded like it was going to explode meant I nursed it around for the final lap and a half finishing second. The previous years winner, Matt Adair, came in in third.

Muddy

A great course, great organization, great food afterwards – what more could I ask for seven days into the 'off-season'.

Photos via the Belgian Project and thanks to Sean Downey for the lift to and from the race.

2011 BMBS Round 5 - Newnham Park

I went to the UK for the final round of the British Mountain Bike Series with only one single goal – have fun! It had been a long hard season on the road and I was going to go back to my roots (literally) one last time for the year. My season basically ended the week before when I retained my Irish national marathon title (on a course that I really like and find suits me) although since returning from the Belgian racing it had been winding down. Mel was heading over to Newnham park to finish out the series and hopefully claim (which she did) the Elite Women's overall title so I decided to tag along.

On arrival in Newnham Park, we found what was probably the best XC course of any race that we have raced in the UK over the last 3 years. It had everything - tough climbing, super steep climbing, a few drags and then the fun stuff... technical rooty drops, off camber sliddery descents and super fast rollercoaster singletrack that Newnham park is famous for – it was excellent. My interview Mel caught just as I finished really says it all.
 

 So that was that – a really fun end to the season. In comparison to other times racing in the UK, I really saw where I could be a lot faster if XC was my goal – easily 1 to 1.5 minutes (20 minute lap) on the technical terrain and maybe another minute just being used to the grinding power (as opposed to road racing, where I tend to spin) on the climbs. I'm a huge amount stronger now than I was when I last raced there racing well within myself (remember goal number one) – it was great to see after what was a somewhat mixed season.

There is a report on Sticky Bottle

2011 How to go racing in Belgium

As you may have guessed from my earlier posts, I really enjoyed racing in Belgium. The racing was hard, aggressive and relentless – exactly the way I love it – I only wish I was out there earlier in the season (although health issues would have surely made it an even tougher task).

Anyway – going there and doing the races was surprisingly easy. Both Mel and I have for years travelled the world independently racing on the mountain bike so this was really no different (other than my bike bag being lighter). Belgium is a hugely welcoming country for a cyclist – time and again I was surprised just how hospitable people were.

Anyway, people who have raced there before will not get much from this quick guide but I'm writing this to hopefully inspire some more folk to travel there and try the best racing in the world.

Getting there:

I flew with RyanAir to Charloie Airport which is just south of Brussels. My flights from Ireland were €120 and bike carriage to and from Belgium was €80. Currently, RyanAir allow you to fly with a bike bag weighing up to 30kg. More than enough for the bike and the rest of my kit.

Getting around:

If you want, you can take trains/bike to all the bike races but my trip was going to be pretty short. 5 races in 6 days meant that I didn't want to spend time messing around with train time tables etc... I wanted to get the max out of each race and not spend an hour riding to and from races in the rain. I use both ArgusCarHire and Expedia to find the best deals. I book them through pigsback.ie which also gives me a €5 voucher for each rental. My car, a new Peugeot 308 costed €155. During my trip I drove almost 800 kilometers – fuel costed €55 for the trip.

Staying there:

Oudenaarde is without doubt the center of Belgian cycling – it lies in Flanders and is close to most races. I stayed in a guest house there that I found from this list. I paid €35 a night for my own room including breakfast – it was grand.

Races – tell me about the races:

So the standard race is the Kermesse (or Kermis?). It is basically a lapped race of about 100 to 120 kilometers. The laps can be between 4 and 11 kilometers and be on big roads, small roads, farm lanes, cobbled roads/paths and if you are lucky, climbs. These races are called 1.12B

To find out where the races are go to this website, select weg, select kalander and in catagorie enter 1.12B (and of course the dates you want to look at). That will give you a big old list – then with the help of google maps enter the signon venue and your location to find out how close the race is – decide from there.

Entering a race costs €3 and usually a €5 deposit for your number which you get back. There is usually a frame number so either take a holder for it or lots of zip ties (oh, and take lots of pins for the number).

The races start full gas and continue as such – arrive warmed up and ready to suffer from the start :)

After the race, drop back to get your deposit back and collect your prize money. Prize money isn't great but it does run deep – you get a LOT for your €3!

I found these sites useful for finding out information:

The Chain Stay - lots of great info and advice

http://www.fcwb.be/

A report about the racing

Also, thanks to Paddy Clarke (an Irish racer living out there) for lots of pointers.

Drop me some comments if there is anything you would like me to expand on.

2011 Irish MTB Marathon National Championships

It was 12 months since I was in Ballyhoura where I successfully defended my MTB Marathon National Title – this year it was a slightly different (better) course that covered much of the trail center style trails as well as a few new additions.

The course had several fireroad climbs as well as some technical climbs and trail center style climbs but the major feature was the kilometers of flowing fast singletrack. The trail center has been completed for several years now but recent changes have made some of the trails a lot nicer to ride – more flow and some jumps. The other really nice thing about the race was that it was 100% off road – at no point did we touch tarmac or a public road. We used fireroads (and some single-track) for the climbing and all the descents were technical and fast.

The race started with a 3.5 kilometer fireroad climb before entering the first of many singletrack sections. We started pretty fast with some less experienced riders sprinting off like the race was a kilometer long – about two minutes later their legs blew, Niall Davis (recently crowned single-speed World Champion – ran in the same venue), Ray O'Shaughnessy and I created the lead group. We rode together for most of the first half of the race with each of us leading our group at various times. About 20 kilometers in I unfortunately punctured my rear wheel – I rode carefully until I got to the fireroad and fixed it before starting the chase. About midway through the race I caught and passed Ray while I caught Niall a little later.

Picture from here

When we hit the penultimate long climb, I increased my pace and Niall dropped off. The rest of the day was plain sailing as I rode pretty hard on the climbs and took my time to enjoy the singletrack descents which with the pouring rain where turning extremely slippy. After just over 3 hours I finished the 65 kilometer race and retained my National title by 16 minutes over 2nd place. 21Kmph for a 100% off-road race in the rain, I was happy with that.

A few people I would like to thank – firstly Cycleways/Specialized (and the mechanics!) and Shane Connaughton for sorting me (and Mel) out with the best MTB bike out there – the Specialized S-Works Epic – I have been riding those bikes a for a few years now and every time I get back onto it I feel like I'm cheating versus everyone else (seriously, go out and try one)! Having spent so little time on the mountain bike this year, it really did allow me to get away with minor mistakes on the technical terrain. ZipVit for covering all Mel and my nutritional needs during the season both on and off-road and my buddy Alan for driving down and back and supporting me during the day – many thanks!

National Champion

The venue is perfect for MTB racing, especially marathon racing and the club that ran the event (their first event), ran it to a world class standard (as good as anything I have raced on the continent). Ireland will host the 2014 MTB Marathon European Championships in the area and this was a great dry (errr, wet) run for the event. Thanks guys.

Results are up here. I'll add in other reports when they go up.

2011 Belgian Kermis Racing - Kluisbergen and Maleizen-Overijse

Kluisbergen

Saturdays race was going to be 11 laps of a 10 kilometer course. I don't really have much to say about this one – the weather was warm (30+ Celcius), reasonably strong winds but a pretty boring course. Pan flat (despite being within one kilometer of the Koppenberg!), multiple 90 degree bends on small well surfaced roads. It started fast, stayed fast, eventually some groups got away and I was in a group riding for 24^th.

Maleizen – Overijse Kermis

My final day of racing in Belgium – indeed, it would be my final road race of the season (I am finishing off the season with two more mountain bike races – the Irish Marathon Championships and a UCI race in the UK). The weather was a mixed bag but by the time I got to signon it had started to rain and the rain would stay for much of the racing getting heavier for the final hour.

As I warmed up, I rode the first 3 kilometers of the course before returning to the start – it was rolling and looked cool. Two AnPost riders were present, Philip Lavery and Kenny Terweduwe so it was nice to have some familiar faces in the race.

The race didn't start quite as fast as usual, well at least until half way around the first lap. We descended a short fast descent, rounded a corner and I could see a dark tree lined tunnel in front of me. The peleton accelerated and we hit the first cobbled section, a shallow climb, at full speed and one long line. The climb was short enough but it still needed 750 Watts for 40 seconds bouncing around to keep my position. A short reprise and then another cobbled twisting section followed by a descent, a sharp corner and more cobbles – this time a gradual climb. After a long wind swept straight we were back at the start of the 10 kilometer lap. This was the coolest course I'd seen all trip.

With the tough conditions (rain and wind) and the tricky course, I made sure that I was in the first few riders for the complete race. Groups would come and go but by the end of the second lap a break of six had formed (with AnPost's Kenny) that would stay away – I was so pissed not to be there, I was riding strong and felt great. The peleton (around 70 started) would get smaller and smaller per lap as riders were popped off the back (I made sure to be in the first couple of riders on all the technical sections each lap driving it to make sure our group keeps reducing). On the fifth lap, we had cut down the lead of the break to around 10-15 seconds but some stalls (as riders where getting themselves ready for the counter attack) meant the gap went out again and they stayed away.

There wasn't a dull moment in this race (well, maybe the long windy section back to the start/finish) and the laps flew by. Entering the final lap (after many many small chase groups went and were brought back), we could see the break not much in front, it was under a minute (although as I found out later, there was another rider, the race winner, further ahead). After the first cobbled climb, I made a break for it and was joined by two other riders, we worked well together and got within 20 seconds of the break but got pulled back with two kilometers to go. As we were caught, the remains of the peleton (about 25 riders) stalled and the break extended the lead again. I made another effort to get away for the sprint for 6^th (some riders in the original break were dropped) but got caught and passed by 12 riders before we got to the line finishing in 18^th. In the end, we were 25 seconds behind 2^nd place – the winner being another minute up the road riding a pair of Lightweights (I wish I took mine to Belgium!)

Time spend in Power Zones - AC for me is 474+ Watts

345 Watts Normalized Power for the 2:40 race

This was a tough race, but the one I enjoyed most (yeah, I enjoy suffering!). Going to Belgium, I had some ideas of what the type of racing would be like – flat, lots of corners etc... That is true, but the style of racing, hugely aggressive, is right down my street – it is never easy and the strongest riders do best. The only thing is that I wish I went there earlier in the year!

Six one day races in eight days (started with the Richmond GP in the UK) - it was a great eight days!

I'll put up one more post about the mechanics/logistics of going to race in Belgium in a few days.

2011 Belgian Kermis Racing - Assebroek

After racing two days, I took a recovery day before I launched into another three days of Kermis racing. I rode around the Oudenaarde area following some of the roads from the Tour of Flanders and headed to Gent in the afternoon for a quick look around. A very pretty city but the weather was very 'Irish'.

Legs recharged, it was time for the Kermis in Assebroek.

This race was a little different than the other races in that it was more like a criterium – 24 laps of a 3.4 kilometer course around a town. Two pretty long straights but the main features were the corners. Technical, fast and cobbled. The most fun (and dodgy) section was a kilometer stretch in a damp forest (on tarmac) that had a few tight corners but led you to a sharp right hand wet cobbled corner onto a 200 meter section of rough cobbles. Every single time in the race, the cobbled section was a full out sprint.

The race started fast (as usual) and for the first 40 minutes I was racing like a pleb – I was way too far back in the bunch and had to make huge accelerations on each corner. I felt I was about to blow! An hour in, and the front group was still together – a lot of riders had been dropped but the front was still around 50 riders. I now stayed around the front of the bunch, got comfortable and really started to enjoy the racing. Something clicked and I started to treat the corners as if I was on my mountain bike, stay light, let the bike do the work, and stay off the brakes – suddenly I was the one gapping the riders behind on each corner. Over the next hour, I was in most of the moves that went off the front, I stayed in the first 10 riders and although I was in the wind a lot more, it was a lot easier than what I was doing at the start of the race.

Like in Hulste, with 4 laps to go after a strong move I was in was brought back, a counter attack went with eight riders which became the race winning move. Over the final few laps, I tried to bridge but failed and came together for a bunch sprint (well, a majorly depleted bunch) for 9^th.

Full gas or no gas...

Outside of the first 30 minutes (when I sucked), I really enjoyed this race. I have what it takes to win these things, I saw that very plainly – a little luck and a touch more Kermis experience is all I need. Me loving a pan flat criterium... oh, look, pigs flying outside...

2011 Belgian Kermis Racing - Ploegsteert

It's funny, a thing I noticed since I arrived here in Belgium is that all the flags seem to be made of cardboard – they form a ridged rectangular shape in the sky. No flutter, no movement, ridged, just like cardboard.

As you may have guessed, the theme of my second Kermis in Ploegsteert, Belgium, was the wind. We had 11 laps of an 11.5 kilometer exposed course. There was a very short climb on the loop but by far the main race shaper was the wind.

The race started with reasonable weather, not the rain of the night before and again, attack after attack went off the front – I was in a few groups but 40 minutes into the race it was still mostly together. Well, the race started with about 75 riders, about 15 had been dropped in the line-outs and cross winds and could be seen grouped together about 30 seconds back. Yes, line-outs, about 90% of the time the peleton (and later smaller groups) was strung out in one long line. Everyone in the cross winds working as hard as the guy next to him – there was no safety in the peleton, no shelter, just everyone banging their chins on the handlebars trying to get that little bit more aero. It was the cross winds and line outs that eventually split the race up. Instead of a large 50-75 rider peleton, the race was split to bits with the maximum riders in a group being around 10 with everyone still working full out.

This is one of the differences in racing that I noticed over here – no matter where you are in the race, the front group or the last group, everyone is working, everyone is racing and everyone is attacking... Close your eyes (well, maybe not while racing) and if you were in the last group in the race, you could easily imagine that you were racing for 1^st, not 50^th. These guys would love racing the AnPost Ras...

Two groups had gotten away without me present – it is hard to be in everything and with that many moves breaking off and then coming back together it is hard to follow everything that looked good. I also don't know the strong teams or riders so it is still a bit of a lottery for me trying to figure when to go... With a few laps to go, I attacked on the false flat after the climb bringing two riders with me. We worked hard trying to bridge to the main chase group but after several laps didn't make enough of an impact and was brought back into the second chase group. A group sprint into the finish for 23^rd position. I finished 31^st (I of course tried a flyer with a few kilometers to go).

2011 Belgian Kermis Racing - Hulste

Coming straight from the airport, I arrived in Hulste with lots of time to prepare for my first Kermis. It was a six and a half kilometer lap that we would race 18 times. A pretty technical lap with lots of corners, lots of wind, oh, and did I mention the rain!

I built up the bike quickly and luckily noticed something a little scary – the front brake cable had started to snap – it would probably last me the race but that wouldn't be a thing I would chance – I noted a bike shop as I entered Hulste (a high end bike shop in a small village – only in Belgium!) - a quick trip out and the shop owner had me on my way again.

Sign-on was straightforward and before long I was shivering in the rain waiting to start my first Kermis. The race started at 3pm to what was becoming a carnival atmosphere – amusement rides like bumper cars and air rifle stalls filled the square as we pedaled into the mist. From what I gathered, the first last was supposed to be neutral – I don't think everyone heard that as there were minor attacks followed by major shouts of bemusement from the peleton.

After the first (neutral?) lap – there was no doubt that the race was on – attack after attack went off the front but all were brought back – I moved from the middle to the back of the pack as I tried to get to grips with cornering on these wet streets in the rain. I used up a lot of energy fighting back on for wheels but after 3 or 4 laps (without the break having been established) my mojo returned and stuck within 30 centermeters of the wheel in front as we navigated the treacherous corners – life became easier when my cornering skills returned so I went to the front and started to 'play'.

About 40 minutes into the race, I made a huge effort to get away, I was gone with a few other riders but eventually got pulled back – the peleton got onto my wheel and immediately a strong counter attack went. They looked good – crap, I'm gassed from the last effort and these riders look good for it. The peleton stalled and the eight riders had a gap – yeah, that was the race winning move, a counter attack to my move.

After a lap, I made another break to chase – I had two riders for company and we rode flat out trying to make an impression on the break. We got within 30 seconds but as the laps ticked by, we couldn't bridge it. With a few laps to go, one of our group dropped off the pace and we were joined by another six riders attempting to bridge. 70% of the lap was spent working together, 30% was spent attacking each other – it was fun. There was no easy periods in this race!

On the final lap, our group had been whittled down to five riders chasing for ninth. On the back part of the course, I made a huge effort to solo away to claim ninth, but it wasn't to be and I was caught before the line and claimed twelfth position. Pretty happy with that considering it was my first (completely flat) Kermis...

I'll get into it in more detail in the next race post, but the racing here is amazing – there is no 'scrubbing', no 'sandbagging' if you are not working, you are off the back and everyone rides full gas whether you are riding for 1^st or 40^th. A lot of fun, but very very hard work. Despite the race starting late in the day (usually I find it hard to fall asleep after late races) I had no issues entering dreamland – I was conked – with another race the next day :)

2011 Lakeland Warrier 100km MTB Marathon

It was Sunday morning – so the final day of our three day, three race, three discipline weekend. Today it was the Lakeland Warrior 100km MTB Marathon.

I had not raced an MTB Marathon since I won the National Championships last September, indeed, I had not spent more that 2.5 hours on an MTB since then but I did look forward to the race - I really love racing MTB marathons - my major problem with XC racing is that it is continually becoming shorter and shorter races around shorter and shorter tracks - not my style... not real mountain biking. Unlike most Irish off-road marathons, this one was not going to be 50% filled with slow technical riding, it was basically all fireroads and gravel roads. It may not have had much singletrack, but it was still tricky navigating around loose rocky corners at 50kmph!

We arrived at the race venue with typical Irish summers weather – sun, rain, wind, cloud... all in equal portions but for random durations making kit choice difficult (I wore a base layer, two jerseys and a gilet). At 100km (and I was guessing around 4 hrs) – I didn't want to push the pace at the start and was happy to follow others for the first while. After about 15 kilometers, there was 4 of us in the front group and we rode a good steady tempo as a group. At the midway point, the organizers had setup the feed station at a stunning viewpoint over Lower Lough Erne – the sun was out, the wind still and you could see the rolling hills around the lake for miles. I took my time at the transition to really take in the view and wished I took my camera with me.

We continued riding as a group until we had raced 65km when I turned on the pressure on a gravelly climb – I got a gap and simply rode tempo to the finish taking it easy on some of the mud iced farm lanes. I won in 4 hours, with an average speed for 25.4kmph – 101.8km, 1,800m of climb.

The race was a great event, different from most other Irish marathons – the race was tough in that it was long and there was seldom a flat section of road. Thanks to the organizers, 26extreme, for putting on the race – both Mel and I got a lot from it.

2011 Lakeside GP

With the National Hill ClimbChampionships over, it was time to get home, get some food and rest up for the following day's 120km road race. Aye, there is the problem – resting – I was wired! A two and a half hour drive to the race start in Enniskillen meant a reasonably early start so I went to bed early – I tossed and turned but no matter what I did, sleep didn't arrive – insomnia (yes, this was going through my head all night) – how I hate you. Eventually, my alarm summoned me to get up and Mel (who also barely slept) and I prepped to head for the race.

The race was a 10km ride out to a loop we rode twice and then back to the start for almost 120km. The roads were good and there was a long picturesque drag (3% climb for 4-5 kilometers) midway around the lap.

It was a handicap race so a group of A3 riders where let off in front of us – they would be given a 3 minute margin. When we started, there was no effort as a group to bring back the riders ahead – the pace was driven along by attack and counter attack with drops in pace while people called a truce. Eventually a small group got away with my teammate Mark McGinley (who won the previous nights criterium) present. The break stayed between 10 and 30 seconds for around 10 kilometers before the elastic finally broke and they extended their lead. While we hit the long drag, I was happy to find a tail wind, after a couple of minutes, I attacked the peleton and rode “full gas” over the climb shredding riders that tried to stay on my wheel. Over the top, I had two riders for company – one punctured and the other was dropped before I made contact with the break – I took almost 40 minutes bridging across the large gap!

As I arrived at the group, a rider shouted at me for not doing any work – I laughed, I don't think he realized what I had just done! We rode steady (a hell of a lot easier than what I had been doing for the last hour) as we drew closer and closer to the A3 riders ahead (who where obviously working well together) – the pace on the final climb meant that our chase group fell to 4 riders (including my teammate) as we closed in on the A3 riders. The catch was eminent, but we held back to only catch them with about 8 kilometers to go. Not too many riders wanted a bunch sprint so it was very aggressive racing with attack after attack. Mark followed a bunch of strong attacks and each time it was brought back I would counter. With about 4 kilometers to go, I countered an attack and got the gap – I went into timetrial mode and raced to the finish to claim my first victory of the weekend. I didn't retain my hill climb championship, but this made up a little bit for it.

Photo from Marian Lamb

Mel, like the night before, won her race – the final round of Irish Women's Classic League. A nice day for Mel and I.

The course was great, the weather a mixed bag (cold, wind, warm, sun, showers – typical Irish weather), and the organization was spot on. A special thanks to Stevie McKenna who was one of the comms on the motorbikes – he kept us all updated with time splits throughout the race. An awards presentation topped it all off in Enniskillen's historic castle.

As we drove to my family home in Monaghan after the race, I hoped that at least tonight I will sleep – I have a 100 kilometer mountain bike marathon the following day!

There is a report and photos available here and here.

2011 Irish National Hill Climb Championships

I had number 1 on my back and was set to be the last rider on the climb. For the first time (well, since I started riding bikes), the National Hill Climb Championships was on my doorstep. A wickedly steep 2.5 kilometer climb up Kilmashogue Lane just 4 kilometers from my doorstep. The climb starts steady, then hits a long steep section for a couple of minutes, flattens out to an 'easy' 5.5% for a few minutes and then we turn onto the final wall with a 350 meter section averaging 17%. A tough testing climb – the fastest man or woman up the climb would be a very deserving winner.

To say that it was one of my favorite climbs in the area would be a lie – I rode the climb a few times before I knew it would be the Nationals course but I never trained on it – it is just so steep in sections. It is really not like anything I have seen in any road races I've taken part in – mountain biking, yes, road racing, no and when I train for steep stuff, I tend to be on the mountain bike so away from the tarmac. The surface had been recently redone so rolled beautifully and the view back of Dublin remains spectacular.

In the day or two leading up to the race I was a little on edge – the result of taking a couple of easier days and the (self imposed?) pressure of retaining a title meant I had a lot of nervous energy. I bounced around trying to be productive from a working sense but yet resting up as much as possible (I would also be racing two more long races over the same weekend – more on those in another post).

Race evening arrived. With 45 minutes to my start time I started my well rehearsed warmup on my rollers – over the last couple of months I have been trying various things for warming up to see what works for me – I think I have finally found a protocol that I like and I arrived at my 8pm start time ready to roll.

The race was rather straightforward – try to keep myself controlled (as in, don't go out too hard) for the first three or four minutes and then push to the line making sure I have emptied the tank on the course. I mostly did that – the hardest part of the race was keeping the power up in the 'flatter' sections but by the time I hit the steep final ramp, my legs were pretty cooked. Usually I can up the pace a little for the final part but looking at the power data afterwards, despite feeling like I was pushing harder, I kept a really steady output over the steep sections. I crossed the line in 7:18 – my Garmin flashed 485W (average) at me as I collapsed into a fetal position. I was fast, but not fast enough – the other local climbing goat, Mark Dowling beat me. I finished 2^nd.

Photo from here

Dutch Corner - from here

I'm no longer the Hill Climb Champion – I won't go into next years race with the number 1 on my back or get to ride in the Champs kit at hill climbs. Rumors are that due to the success of this years event next years race could be on the same course. Climbing is about your power to weight ratio... 485W over that length of time is pretty good for someone my weight (72-73kg) but I'm still 14kg heavier than the winner – that killed me on the super steep ramps! Maybe another kg or two and a few more Watts and I'll be riding with the number 1 on my back again next year.

Results are available here and I must also thank Gary McIlroy and Usher Road Cycling club for running this first class race. Also, many thanks to all the supporters who came out on “Dutch Corner” - it was a real wall of sound that we passed through – thank you so much!

2011 Suir Valley 3 Day

Like last year, it was the August bank holiday weekend and I found myself down in Clonmel. Last year I was using the race as a tune up for the MTB Marathon World Championships, this year however I arrived a little more rested and coming into good form.

I'll write another post specifically about it, but over the last few weeks, I have been starting to feel much much better and the Anemia (and other things) that has plagued me and my racing this year seems to be leaving – I'm starting to feel strong on the bike again – a feeling I hadn't had since February!

Back to the racing.

Stage 1: 105km

The first stage, like all the racing this weekend, started out fast with small groups getting away and being brought back. Soon we hit the Category 1 (well, Irish category 1, in the Tour de France, it would be a Cat 3) climb of The Vee – I had not been up it before but it was cool with an amazing view over Munster. The speed up the climb and descent was fast enough to break the peleton into many pieces – with the lead group becoming around 50 riders. After the descent a break escaped (which I wasn't part of) – I had thought my teammate was in it and didn't chase (he had been unfortunate and actually punctured at the top of the climb and due to the chaos on the climb, took a long time to get a new wheel not being able to get back on). Over one of the later climbs, Tigernach Murphy and an Isle of Man rider and I clipped off in pursuit of the 13 man breakaway mopping up (and quickly dropping) some of the riders who couldn't handle the pace of the break. We rode hard for 20 kilometers and pulled back about a minute before been caught by the remnants of the chasing peleton. About 7 kilometers before the finish, a small group of us forged ahead again after the break getting to within 48 seconds but the proper catch wasn't made. I finished 1 minute back from the race winner (who got additional time bonuses).

Stage 2: 92km

This was another quick stage taking us slightly over 2 hours to cover the 92 kilometers. Again, there was constant small groups getting a few seconds and being pulled back with nothing sticking for long. I was content to ride in the middle of the peleton watching what was happening. On the climbs, they were ridden at a good speed but there were no real big attacks – also the climbs where shallow enough that we were riding at 35kmph up the 4% drags so drafting had a huge benefit – there wasn't anything too selective. On some of the descents and flat roads around Dungarvan the speed was crazy – the peleton was lined out to 300 meters in one long colourful band as we averaged 65kmph – this was just like the AnPost RAS. On the smaller roads back towards the finish, a break got away but was whittled down to AnPost rider Ronan McLoughlin, Damien Shaw and my teammate, Paudi O'Brien. They hit the finish line 20 seconds ahead of the chasing peleton (which I was in) with Paudi getting to throw his arms in the air for victory!

Stage 3: 1.1km uphill timetrial

This time trial was a real feature of the race this year – something different from every other Irish race I have done, and if it was 8 times longer, would be a focal point of the Giro d'Italia!

It started off with 250 meters of good quality tarmac and then two steep tight switchbacks, then 700 meters of what could be described as an 'unfinished' road surface. There were holes, rocks, and cracks everywhere, with water bottle high grass in the middle of the road – it was cool!

By the time my race start arrived, it had been raining for several hours and the course was now slick too. I heard some of the earlier riders talk about how slippery it was but I knew with my MTB and Cyclocross background, it shouldn't be an issue.

The time trial itself went pretty well – I pushed hard the whole way up but I did misjudge the middle section and finished with too much left in the tank - I left seconds on the course – I do wish I prerode it instead of driving up it in a car. I did finish 3^rd though with at time of 3:28 – 4 seconds off Conor McConvey's time who now took the yellow jersey of race leader.

I must say it again – that hill climb was a real highlight of the weekend – the road conditions and rain in my opinion only added to it all! Next year, use the full original length – that top section was cool!

Stage 4: 116km

Sitting in 9^th, at a minute back from Conor, I had hoped that I would be a little off the race leader (and friends!) radar. I woke in the morning feeling strong (as I mentioned earlier, a feeling I'm only getting again after months of feeling terrible, morning, noon and night) and knew that I would be on the attack. There are only so many 'bullets' that I could use during the race so I had to be reasonably clever about when to really go for it. The pace was very fast from the start, and I followed anything that looked dangerous, but I felt it was simply too fast for anything to stick without all the 'danger men' present so I bided my time. 15 kilometers before the only category climb of the race I made a move, I got a good mix of riders with me and we rode hard but were caught several kilometers later – time to rest a little before the climb and get ready again.

The climb was ridden at a good pace, nothing too hard and I moved towards the front at the top. An attack on the climb would be too obvious (and marked) so as we hit the top, I accelerated over and into the fast technical descent - oh, it was pouring rain too! The race had been on and I knew it would be treacherous but I felt it was a great point to get away. As I got to the bottom I was really glad to have the company of Tigernach again – a strong timetrialist who is also coming into great form. We worked hard together to get a good gap and then went into team time trial mode. After about 10km, the gap had extended enough so that I was now the yellow jersey “on the road”. Damn, I wish that climb was closer to the finish – holding a speeding peleton off for 45 kilometers is tough going!

After a while Tigernach started to tire – I needed to keep going, trying to stay around 48-50kmph on the straights. After a while, Tigernach dropped off but for me, a bunch sprint (in horrible weather) wasn't an option so it was still all or nothing and I was committed. Another 5 or 6 kilometers later I got pulled back. We were away for the guts of 30km.

Our next card was for Daniel Clifford, our sprinter, to go for a win. He was being minded by Mark McKinley so I felt that the best thing for me to do was to attack some more and make sure I'm the one in the moves that get off the front of the peleton before the finish and the speed remains high – it was fun (and a lot safer) but it all came together for a bunch sprint with Daniel taking it – our teams second stage win of the weekend.
Irish Cycling report from the stage here.

Again, it was a great weekend of racing, thanks to the orgainizers for putting in all the time, work and resources to make this a great, safe weekend of racing. For next year, how about the Suir Valley FOUR day? Almost a 45kmph average for the weekend – fast for Irish roads!

Finally, thanks to my Sportactive team and teammates for a really great racing weekend.
Results etc... are available on the website.

2011 Irish National XC Championships

At the start of the season I had not really planned to be in the country for the National XC Championships, but as plans changed – so did my attendance. With only a few outings on the mountain bike in recent months (but a fun win on a great course a couple of weeks earlier), I found myself preriding the National Championships course in Kilruddery.

The course was basically 90% twisty forested singletrack – there were a few short climbs and a few technical sections but the guts of the course was easily ridable – the faster you go, the more difficult it gets. As it was, being really efficient and smooth on the bike, rather than absolute power or speed was the most important aspect of racing this course fast – me, coming back from racing on the road, was almost opposite of what suited me. There wasn't really anywhere where I could really dig in and put in long hard efforts. Having said that, the course was really fun to ride.

Race day arrived and I got a great warmup in only to find the start was going to be delayed for 30 minutes. In an earlier race, a rider hurt themseleves badly on a feature known as “Tombstone” (basically, a big rock drop – easy to ride but the sheer hight meant that it was much more about your mental abilities rather than skill or bike handling – roll into it not committed and bad things could happen). The ambulance had to take the person to hospital so we had to wait until it returned – these things happen... (oh, the rider is fine)

Garreth McKee and myself (from Andrew Lowry)

The start was frantic – on the final bend into the singletrack Aidan McDonald and I got tangled and unfortunately he fell – that really threw me off my game for a while as Aidan is a fantastic rider and I don't like seeing anything negative happen to him at the start of a race.

Anyway, my little time on the mountain bike was apparent for the first couple of laps – I was riding around in 5^th place but 3^rd was only a little further ahead. I knew, come the end of the race that I could make up the time.

As the race went by, I got more used to the singletrack and finished off with my last lap being the fastest of my race. I caught and passed Joe McCall towards the end of the last lap and finished in 3^rd.

Robin Seymour won his billionth championship going from the gun and really showing that on that type of course, there is no one in Ireland that can come close. Peter Buggle finished 2^nd.

Picture by Ciaran Maunsell

Am I happy with the race – well, yes and no... I'm fit and strong at the moment but that type of course really didn't suit me – so 3^rd place I'm reasonably happy with. I had a fun day and the event was ran off perfectly. My only gripe is that there has been almost no publicity about it – many people (outside of the MTB community) have been asking me if it has taken place yet – and these are cyclist. Guys, you ran an amazing event – tell the world about it!

Many thanks for Stewart Carr on the day for helping out with some logistics and a massage, Angela Oakley for feed support and to my MTB sponsors, especially Cycleways, ZipVit.

2011 Ulster XC Round 5

I raced in Dunnore once before. Two years ago it was the venue for the National Cross Country Championships – I competed seven weeks after an operation on my broken collerbone and finished second to rising Irish star, Conor McConvey. My memories of the course was that it was brutally tough (in a physical sort of way) and left me tired for days.

I have not rode my mountain bike much this year – six or seven times total before this race. Originally, I thought I would be out of the country for the cross country nationals but as some things didn't pan out, and there was a natural break in my road season, I felt a bit of MTBing would be great for me mentally and physically. With all that, I decided that I had better ride a race before Nationals which is how I found Mel and I driving up north to this race on a fine Irish Summers day (that isn't actually sarcasm – it was actually a beautiful day).

Heavy legs greeted me for my practice lap around the course – it was the fifth day of training in a row (although the previous day was an easy 4 hours on the TT bike) but by the time I recced the lap, my legs had come around a little. The course had some rolling flat singletrack/double track but it's main feature was two steep climbs – the first about 90 seconds long, the second, about three minutes – they were walls! But good fun to climb and even more fun hurling yourself back down the recently acquired elevation.

The startlist for the race was small but contained a strong selection of the top Irish racers – a stronger field than I expected for what was a regional race – excellent!

Cool pic from the start - trying to find where I found it - comment if it is yours and I'll add the link!

The race started fast as expected – I stayed third wheel until we hit the first climb, there I climbed into second behind a flying Matt Adair, on the next climb, I passed Matt and took the lead. That was basically it for the race. Ray O'Shaughnessy would be close enough (I would drop him on the climbs/flats, he would catch on on the descents – I was there to practice my techy riding more than anything) and Gareth McKee wasn't far behind. I rode tempo for the first 5 laps and decided I would up my pace for the last lap. When the bell lap sounded I upped my pace on my chasers – by the midpoint of the lap, I had gained around 90 seconds (the course was great – you could see the other riders really well) so I eased off again (I was racing a road race the following day) and finished back safely to take the win.

Thanks Dromara Cycling Club for running a great race on a tough course – I enjoyed that!

Results and photos etc... can be found here.

2011 Mullingar 2 Day

I saw the Mullingar 2 Day on the racing calendar a couple of weeks ago and the timing looked perfect for me. A good two days of racing right at the end of a hard training block. The race consisted of a 100km road race on Saturday, a 6km time trial on Sunday morning followed by another 110km road race in the afternoon. The course for each was slightly rolling so it didn't look like it would be bunch sprints each day.

Stage 1:

It was a really aggressive stage from the start. My legs where heavy (didn't get my proper warmup due to some start time issues – the only thing I have to say against the weekends organization) for the first 30 minutes but I was in every move of strength. On the 4^th of 7 laps, Damien Shaw, Aaron Buggle, Colm Cassidy, Anthony Doyle and myself were away. Most of the strongest riders in the race and I thought we were gone for the day... Somehow, after a lap, the group caught us – then 9 riders rolled off the front, then another 3, and then another 3 made a move to get across – I didn't think the break had the right mix, but there was enough numbers there that I had to go – so I hitched a ride over. Immediately we started to work and we were gone for the day. With a lap to go, Damien Shaw bridged across. As we closed in towards the finish, everyone started to think of the stage and the group started to stall – everyone looked at Damien and I (and a couple of others) to do the work. Damien and I (with GC in mind) rode hard enough and with about 5km to go I looked around and noticed a bit of a gap – I said to Damien, lets go and we drilled it to the the finish pulling out a gap of 24 seconds on the chase. With both of us thinking of the overall competition, we both went full out to the line and I got the win.

Photo from here

Stage 2 – TT:

This was my second TT race, and thankfully in much nicer conditions than Nationals a few weeks earlier. I think I'm going to really get into TTs, I just need to spend the time on the bike to get the power up to something approaching what I can do on the road.

The course was just under 6km and I covered it in under 7 minutes. It started on a climb so I went hard from the start. The finish came sooner than expected and I think I left 10 seconds on the course, but I was good enough for 3^rd behind Damien and Aaron.

I now set second on GC a few seconds behind Damien.

Stage 3:

With Damien wearing the leaders jersey and a strong team around him – it was up to them to ride strong and defend his lead. My plan was to do as little as possible for the first half of the race and save my legs for the end.

After a while, a break got away with Robin Kelly (who was 3^rd on GC at 51 seconds). It was a strong move of 10 riders – I wasn't too worried as it was as much a treat to Damien as I (and I didn't have any teammates). Damien put in huge chunks of work but unfortunately, his team was not able to give him the support that he needed – I actually ended up doing as much time on the front pulling the break back as the rest of his team... (it was clear that if I didn't do anything that the break would go out to 5 minutes and Damien and I would lose out) I got away a few times with various riders chasing the break but nothing stuck until the final lap. Aaron Buggle, another rider and I worked hard and caught the ruminants of the break. There was 8 riders with another 2, Robin and Colm forging ahead. We tried to get the break to work but it looked like they had already worn out their legs. With about 10km to go, Aaron and I decided to go full gas on the climb and drop the rest of the group – we did that and went into team time trial mode – I was there to win the GC, Aaron was there to win the stage – if we work together we could get both. With about 1.5km to go, we caught Colm and Robin who had spent a long time out front. Not knowing how far Damien was behind me, I didn't play any games and just rode full out to the finish line finishing 4^th of our group of 4 (Aaron got the stage!) but winning the overall – a good day's riding.

Photo from here

Finally, I must congratulate the Lakeside Wheelers on running an excellent event – the roads were safe and really well maintained, organization was top notch (other than the timing issue for the first stage), but more impressively, they ran a 3 stage stage race for the A1/A2 men, A3 men AND the women. Good job!

Full results are here.

2011 Sean Nolan/Meath GP

June – is this really June – really? Well, today it rained all day and my Garmin informs me it ranged between 9 and 10 degrees for the race. Two thermal base layers, thermal arm warmers, a jersey, heavy shoe covers and long fingered gloves meant that I didn't get too cold but I don't think anyone enjoyed the conditions – anyway, back to the racing.

The race was shortened from an advertised 160km to 122km (one less lap) which I was initially disappointed about (nationals will be 175km so I need the distance), but with the weather, 3 hours racing was enough.

The race started aggressive enough, I was careful to see what groups where going and when I saw a good mix go up the road, I quickly bridged to the break. Martyn Irvine had a slight lead over us but he is riding so strong at the moment, we were not worried about leaving him 20 seconds in front of us for a while.

50km into the race, there were 7 of us in the lead group – there was a chase group some distance back and then the peleton after that but they didn't really make inroads on our lead.

With about 30km to go, we were whittled down to 5. A few digs were made but nothing stuck until I rolled off the front with 12km to go and went into timetrial mode. With about 8km to go, Martyn Irvine (Ras Stage 7 winner) bridged across to me. We rode hard together and with 2km to go it started to get more cagey. A fast, slighly descending finish against a world class track sprinter... Hmmm. I gave it everything on a slight rise with 700 meters to go, but Martyn pipped me to claim the win.

I have had a hard week of training and didn't feel great for most of the race (although, the weather was sure to play a part) but came around towards the end. The last 20km were fun.

This is the race from Strave – 291W average (inc. Zeros) for 3 hours. Never mind the elevation - the weather didn't let the Garmin work correctly.

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.