2012 Lucan GP

This weekend I was doing a double header of races. The Lucan GP on Saturday and the biggie of the weekend (actually, biggie of any weekend in Ireland), the Des Hanlon Memorial.

Training went well during the week – I feel the form is coming along well, not “firing on all cylinders” yet, but very much in the right direction.

Sun and warm temperatures (for March in Ireland) greeted us – the course was flat but strong winds and exposed roads meant that it was going to be difficult for everyone. Our race was 75km, a combined A1 and A2 field with the A2s getting a 40 second head start. Once the flag was dropped, we immediately went to work and brought back the A2s – I guess they just waited for us.

Splitting it in the winds - photo by Mick Lawlor

As soon as it came together the race splitup into groups – the strong cross winds breaking the peleton into groups of 20. Lots of riding later, we hit the penultimate lap (4 laps). I seemed to roll off the front but not wanting to ride 35km by myself I eased off hoping for a few riders to come across – no one did and I got swallowed by the lead break. Hitting the final lap with very strong cross winds, I rode hard on the front spliting the race up again – Mark Kiernan attacked and I followed, soon we had a gap and we rode hard enough to the finish. I had more in the tank and claimed the win with Mark securing second.

Too windy to take the hands off the bars! Photo by Graham Healy

Win number two for the year – I ended up riding harder than I meant to (considering the race the next day), but a win is a win!

Sticky bottle report here, and Irish Cycling photos/report here.

2012 Newbridge GP

The big race of the weekend – a stacked Irish field and across the 3 categorised races, there were 400+ racers.

In the A1/A2 race, the A2 riders got a two minute advantage over us. Over the first half of the race I ended up riding a lot and pulling some groups across with me - all part of the game. Lots of attacking, groups splitting, groups reforming but with two laps to go I was in the lead break of 12. Coming up to the bell lap, I attacked over the top of the hill and onto the descent, when I was brought back, Fraser Duncan counter attacked and went off on a solo run towards the finish. He dangled off the front while we played games for the next 15 kilometers – going up the final climb, in form Peter Hawkins and Greg Swinard attacked a counter to my move – they got the gap and the rest of the break looked at me... I didn't react immediately (Greg and Peter were super strong all day and would work well together to catch Duncan). Eventually, I attacked out of the break pulling Mark Dowling with me. Mark, having been brought back from an earlier move wasn't able to help much as we plummeted down to the finish. I caught the three riders in the final 150 meters but didn't have enough to get by for the win. Peter Hawkins won, I finished 4^th.

Cross the line for the bell lap - Photo Amy-Norah Farrell

The sprint for the win

Sticky Bottle and Irish Cycling reports.

2012 Carrick Wheelers Cup

I had ridden the St. Patricks Day race in Dunboyne several times before but this year, I decided to travel down to Carrick-on-Suir to race on our national holiday. I had heard that the course would be pretty selective – but unfortunately it wasn't as hilly as I expected with just two shorts drags (Coming up to 11 months now since I last needed my small ring in an Irish road race).

Nice weather, and a big peleton for the start. We would do three laps of the course to total 100km. There were several moves off the front over the first lap but nothing stuck – on the second lap, as we passed the start/finish, I moved off the front with ten others – we stayed away for a few kilometers but were pulled back before the second drag. I kept riding and by the time we got half way around the race distance we were 18 riders off the front.

There were several digs to split things up a bit but nothing got away – we rode pretty easy until the final 15 kilometers where the cat and mouse games began. In the end, it was together (in the break of 18) for a sprint finish. I got things mostly right for the sprint and ended up 3^rd. The two guys in front of me (and behind me) being very strong sprinters – for me, I'm happy enough... My only mistake was not having more confidence in my own sprinting ability.

Me, the sprinter - photo by Joe Cashin

Good safe racing in a beautiful part of the country.

2012 Wallace Caldwell Memorial RR

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

Bling

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

Smiling - photo from Marian Lamb

Sticky Bottle and Cycling Ulster reports.

2012 Cycleways Cup

A very quick report for now...

In 2008, this was my second road race - Peter Hawkins won that day (I was somewhere in the mix around 10th). Today, IG Markets/Sigma Sports rider Peter Hawkins won again.

Things were going fine, a break got away that was dangerous, but I and a couple of other riders (yeah, there was a huge peleton but not much interest in riding - but they were strong, it could have come back to being a bunch sprint!) pulled it back - I made my first tactical mistake of the season a little later when another break left without me. Lots of chase groups, but not enough overall commitment (the break never got more than a minute... a committed peleton, or even a single strong team that didn't have any representation in the break, and there were a few of those, could have pulled it back).

With an hour of racing to go, I gave up on there being a concerted effort and put a lot of work in to pull it back - great training... With 15km to go, I rode off the front of the peleton and made a solo effort to catch the break (46 kmph for final 15km - side winds) - I got within a couple of seconds of them, but it was not enough. I finished 4th... Well, better than a slap in the face!

2012 Annaclone and Traders Cup

Racing handicaps, oh how I dislike you.

Many races in Ireland at the start of the year include race handicaps so that all category of riders can race within the same race and have a fighting chance at a high finish – it makes good sense. Both races last weekend, the Annaclone GP and the Traders Cup used this.

Conor Ryan and I in Annaclone - photo by Marian Lamb from here

Unfortunately, either there wasn't enough A1 riders (in Annaclone, 7 riders chasing down 60, 6 minutes up the road in a 60km race just didn't work), or the gap was too big. Both days, the A1 riders worked pretty well together from the start - we did make an impact on the lead, just not enough, quickly enough. It was a frustrating weekend as I felt I didn't really get to race – just ride a fast group ride...

More racing this weekend – I don't think the Cycleways Cup (130km) has any handicap...

Good job on Mel winning the women's race at the Traders Cup - report here.

2012 Ned Flanagan Memorial

The Ned Flannagan Memorial is a new race on the Irish calendar one week earlier than the usual start of the Irish road racing season. Fortunately, bright blue skies welcomed us as we lined up for the 70km race around one of Ireland's flattest counties.

After a winter of training without racing you wonder how the legs are doing. For me, training has been going really well, I feel happy, healthy and the problems that plagued me last year are gone. This is all good to know when you are out training – but still, we train to race... How will I feel racing?

Several weeks ago I spent a week training with the AnPost Sean Kelly team in Calpe, Spain – they had a great setup and spending many hours on the road training with the team (a very highly regarded UCI Continental team) – I was confident that the season would start well – still, you need to race.

The Ned Flannagan was been run as a handicap race with the lower categories getting a head start – the A1/A2 category would start last and (hopefully) chase down the rabbits before the finish.

The race started without much collective urgency to catch the leading groups – we were a large group (about 50 riders) with about 70 already ahead of us – but the long straight road and slight headwind blunted the groups appetite to ride hard.

I knew after about 18km we would make a turn that would send us up a slight drag and give us a cross wind. I waited until that point to make my move – after several attempts, a break of 8 of us got away from the peleton – we worked well together and quickly caught the lower categories. Once there, we all moved to the front and continued pushing the pace.

Another few kilometers down the road, a small group of us now forged the lead break. Unfortunately, coming into the town of Athy – a wrong turn was made. I reacted first and got back on the correct road quickly but the damage to our break was done. They were swallowed by the now 100 strong peleton – I was still off the front and I saw a rider bridging. With almost 40km to go, I decided to wait for him. As he got on my wheel, I realized who it was, Robin Kelly – one of Ireland's strongest sprinters.

We worked well together in the road and built up a good gap on the peleton. I felt good the whole way in and could see that Robin was tiring. Not wanting a sprint finish, I made several attempts to get away heading into the finish but unfortunately, without a huge distance or any drags/climbs, it was hard for me to drop the strong sprinter.

We sprinted into Monasterevin, he won, I came second with the peleton coming in a minute later. I picked up the prime in Kildangan, but unfortunately no win.

A well run event, in sunny conditions raising money for the charity Rehab – sure what else would I be doing on a Sunday morning in February?

Specialized Turbo Pro Review

Tires, or more correctly in this case, training tires are a funny thing. Everyone has their preference built up on price, longevity, feel, grippiness and the most important factor – how many punctures did you get on them. Some people swear by a certain brand that others despise with a passion.

Me, over the last few years I have been pretty devoted to using the Continental GP4000s tires on my training wheels (I have no tire relationships on the road bike so I'm buying them) – I have found that they grip well, are reasonably comfortable and last for ages. The negative thing about them is that they feel pretty sluggish (and rolling resistance tests back this up) and cost a lot.

So there I was, in California to train and my rear GP4000s gives up the ghost... What to do – I go to the bike shop and see that the GP4000s are $80... EACH! Hmmm – maybe it is time to try something different.

Mel and I have had a long term good relationship with Specialized (although no tires) so, remembering about some good reviews I noticed recently, I picked up a SpecializedTurbo Pro for $55.

Speicalized had originally started out making tires and apparently they were great. Unfortunately, they lost focus for many years and were making road tires I wouldn't put on a commute bike. Fortunately though, this all changed a couple of years ago and the new Turbo Pro is part of that new generation. They are light, resistant to puncturing, roll well and have a few different versions at different price points. I went with the Pro rather than the S-Works because they apparently wear better. Mel has a pair of Turbo Elites now too (even cheaper), but it is too early for feedback.

So I threw it on and straight away I noticed that it rolled better than the GP4000s (which isn't hard to do) – the proof would be how long it would last...

So, I now also have a Turbo Pro on the front of my bike and the rear tire is still running strong. I have put 6,500km on it since the end of November split across dry roads in the US, a month of riding in Ireland on its rough roads and crap weather and now in Spain on a mixture of roads and conditions. At this point – the tire is 'squaring' off and there are numerous small cuts (mostly acquired in Ireland) but still no puncture (I know – I'm cursing myself). They still roll well and are comfortable. I'm 73kg and am pretty light on equipment but that is still an excellent figure. So basically, I'm giving them a thumbs up.

My request now is that Specialized bring out a 25mm version for me to use – 25 is the new 23... I'll try the S-Works version of the tire next - apparently it rolls and grips better but lasts about half the time - maybe perfect for the front?

UPDATE

I finally replaced the rear tire as it was getting pretty old looking (descending at up to 85 kmph I want my equipment perfect!). No punctures and 8,000km on the tire on the rear - impressive!

A summary of the 2011 bad bits

It's always hard to write a summary when things didn't exactly go to plan. My 2011 season, my first where I concentrated on road cycling, was a real mixed bag. Sickness, health, national titles and missed targets – a bit of everything.

Things went well for me during the 2010/2011 winter. My job was busy but I was able to consistently get good training in in decent weather with enough recovery. I came into the end of February as strong as I had ever been and as lean/light as was reasonably possible.

My season ahead looked great – I would start racing with Giant/Kenda Pro Cycling (a UCI Continental team) in Asia at the start of March with a Criterium in Singapore, then the 6 day Jelajah Malaysia followed by the 10 day Tour de Taiwan – happy days.

The happy days were pretty short lived – the day before the start of Jelajah Malaysia, the worst road crash I have had left me covered in road rash and aching all over – exactly what you don't want the day before you start a stage race with 200km+ per day in the saddle in tropical heat/weather. I could hardly sleep at night, I stuck to the sheets and on reflection after the stages, my power meter said I was barely turning the pedals. Not so good.

Ouch - and yeah, I was lean

With a week between Jelajah and the Tour de Taiwan, I hoped most of my wounds would heal and the legs would come back – it didn't happen like that. I was fine on any of the mountain stages but the snap, the extra 10%, was never there – it frustrated me – I didn't know what was happening. I was as strong or stronger than a large part of the peleton – but that wasn't what I trained for – I trained to be faster than that.

I came home somewhat dejected from the experience and FOUR kilograms heavier! What the hell happened to me?!? Asian buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner is something to be feared was amongst my take home lessons – I have learnt from it and made adjustments.

I started racing at home and sometimes felt okay but most of the time felt drained. I couldn't train as hard as usual, I couldn't race as hard, and I felt I had to sleep in the middle of every day. Oh, and work was still busy. My next port of call was a trip to the doctor for full blood work and many many tests to investigate what was happening. The result – well, my blood values where 20% below what I would normally see – I was heavily anemic... Starts to explain some things. I went on iron supplements, but months later there was still no change – it was a very frustrating time. I couldn't race as hard I wanted, I couldn't even train hard.

Eventually, my doctor decided that iron injections may help my situation (4 months of normal supplementation didn't do anything for me) – 3 weeks later, bing, blood values shot back up, even before I found the results, I knew things were different – I felt healthier and was able to train harder – the probable reason for my issues: a viral infection picked up in Malaysia. Unfortunately, at this point I was most of the way through the season and I was not as race fit as I should be. A trip to Gran Canaria for 10 days of hard training and I returned feeling much more like myself and finished off my season strong winning a few races and retaining my MTB Marathon National Championship.

A lesson I learn't during the year was to really follow and trust my instincts in relation to my health. I knew when I was strong, and I knew when I was weak – I really should have gotten on top of my health issues as soon as I started to feel weak and really focused on fixing it rather than continuing at 70%. All the signs were there, the power to heart rate ratio changed dramatically, poor recovery, saddle sores, motivation issues. Was it over training? No – I seriously doubt that, considering how quickly I recovered once the iron issues were resolved (without taking a break from training) – it wouldn't make sense.

Defending my MTB Marathon Title

If you have been following my blog over the last while, you'll know that my season wasn't all bad, lots of great things happened (I won my first stage race while still being 'sick') and there were parts that I really enjoyed – it's just, I like to remain honest on the blog and level out the good things with the bad. When things are going well, it is easy to tap down a few words but to be more complete, sometimes you have to write about the tough times.

Next up, a post on my preparation for 2012 (hint – things are going well - I'm feeling good, lean and happy – but I still need a team!)

2011 LKHC - Mount Hamilton

And there we were, lined up for the final round of the LKHC series – the annual, Thanksgiving trip up Mount Hamilton. The 30 kilometer climb has two short descents but is a pretty steady 5-6% the whole way up with the first half being slightly shallower.

Like last year, the weather wasn't exactly playing ball – we had to wait until the morning of the event to see if it would go ahead – there was a tropical storm coming in across the area – not a problem at low altitude but it does become a problem at the altitude we climb to (and for descending afterwards). 140 riders lined up at the start and off we went. There were two plans of action I had to choose from. 1) Full gas from the the start and try and smash the record or 2) Sit in for the first half, do my turns on the front and then attack. With the weather, I decided the later option was appropriate (of course, all that can change as soon as you start racing).

The first half of the race was at an easy pace – Mel (who broke the female record last year, and will go on to break it again this year) was still with us at the start of the second part of the climb – a great ride by her – there was only about 20 riders left in the front group.

Almost exactly half way through the climb, I saw a slightly steep section – time to go – I accelerated and kept it going. Eventually, I saw that Eric Wahlberg had also escaped the front group in pursuit of me. He hovered around 15-20 seconds back for about 15 minutes. With about 5 kilometers to go, I no longer saw him and I continued on my pace to the finish line.

Photo via Christine Costa

Despite riding the first half of the course slower than last year, my pace on the second half meant I broke the record from last year (and won of course).

Conditions at the top of the mountain were bleak – low visibility, cold, windy - felt like home. Everyone grabbed their extra clothes and made it off as quickly as possible – I wish I could have been more leisurely and chatted with more folks.

Thanks again for putting on a great race and something fun that I look forward to in the winter. Hopefully, in 2012, Ireland will have a similar (if smaller) series – I know we have enough good climbs in the Dublin area!

Results are up here and my ride details are available on Strava.

2011 LKHK - Kings Mountain

Like others years, it is November and I have found myself in California for some early winter training. Long rides with lots of tempo riding is on the cards – but first – there are a couple of Low Key Hill Climbs to do. I find them to be great markers for where my body is at this time of the year. Since September, I have taken a few weeks very easy (with a few cyclocross races breaking up the coffee shop rides) and last week I spent a week in Gran Canaria with my parents (of course my bike was with me) and resulted in a big week of rides – 31 hours, 18,000m of climb in 7 days.

The first hill climb I'm doing in California is the penultimate of the series – it is one of the de facto climbs in California – Kings Mountain Road. A perfect 6.8 kilometer ribbon of tarmac weaving up the mountains gaining 500 meters of ascent. The record for the climb (at least, the known record) was set in 1996 by Tracy Colwell at 19:51. I figured that this race would be a perfect 20 minute power test...

With jet lagged legs my brother and I rode over to the start – entry was closed 4 days earlier when 150 riders had signed up! Amazing. In order to keep the race/timetrial more manageable, the race would be started in waves of 15 rider groups – the first group, the fast guys, swelled to 36 riders.

Before we rolled out to the start line, the race organizer, knowing my climbing abilities, announced that if a rider wins ahead of me, he will give him $100! wow, some pressure now – and what if I punctured?? (I was riding my beautiful Lightweight G3 tubular wheels).

Like in Hicks Mountain last year, the race started at a frantic pace – the first minute was around 500 watts! Much too hard for these guys (and me) for the 6.8 kilometer climb. After a couple of minutes, the pace eased a lot, too much, so I went to the front and started riding hard. I would look around from time to time to see the line of riders behind me getting shorter and shorter, eventually there were only a few left. I eased off and Emilio Barzini went to the front – I tried to use his draft but unfortunately he was having some gearing difficulties and staying close to him was too dangerous... 6 minutes into the race, I had enough (remember, I was trying to do a 20 minute power test) and accelerated to drop my remaining companions. From there to the top I rode a pretty hard pace – I didn't feel I had good legs (all the training and flying lately still in them) but I knew I was making good pace when I passed the point I usually finish my 15 minute threshold drills and only had 13 minutes on the clock.

Photo from here

I pushed on to the line and crossed in 19 minutes – I broke the record from 1996 by almost a minute – my VAM on the 7% climb was 1550m/hr... pretty good I hear for a guy just restarting training. (A VAM calculator here)

It was great chatting to a lot of the guys before and after the race – organization was fantastic as usual and I look forward to taking part in the final round on Thursday up Mount Hamilton.

Results of the race are available here and the Strava segment is here. Garrete Lau has some nice pictures here.

The results of the power test - I'm happy with where I am at...

2011 Supercross Cup Round 3 - Corkagh Park

Make hay while the sun shines... Since the last Supercross Cup race the sun has been shinning, I left off-season mode and have been making hay. Other than a few horrible days, the weather has been warm and dry, well, for October/November in Ireland. I love this time of year, lots of long bike rides, group spins and no thoughts of tapers or races – well, almost no thoughts of races. With almost 40 hours of riding done in the 13 days since the last Supercross Cup, I wasn't so sure how my legs would react. The big hours are needed for what I hope to achieve next year on the road – and that is my underlying goal, but still, it's fun to be fast when cyclocross racing...

A beautiful sunny morning in Corkagh Park greeted us – a similar course to last year – slightly shorter, and I think slightly better. A fast course that really facilitates group racing and heavily penalizes mistakes. My average speed for the race was around 26kmph.

This time I was gridded on the 3^rd row – there was good passing opportunities and my start was fine. Like the race in Lady Dixon Park, I could tell I was on a diesel day – the legs were fine, but the big miles had dulled the snap. From the onset, Roger Aiken and Robin Seymour where riding a gear faster than me – they were quickly gone. A familiar grouping of Evan (Robin's teammate, who was playing teammate tactics), Peter and I fighting for 3^rd. We all made a few digs during the race, but like Robin and Roger up front, it was hard to split the group.

With a few laps to go, Evan misjudged a corner and went down, that left Peter and I a few seconds in front. After a lap, he was almost back on to us when I attacked out of the group. I rode the final two laps hard and finished in 3^rd place.

Roger claimed a well deserved win. Like in our group, a mistake by Robin allowed Roger to get a gap and timetrial his way to the win. I said earlier, Roger is the man on form at the moment and I'm happy to see him finally showing it in Dublin.

Tomorrow I have another Cyclocross race – the final one of 2011 for me – this time close to Belfast and Mel will be joining me for her first cyclocross excursion. Hopefully today's race will suitably “open up” my legs and I'll be dicing with Roger for the win.

As always, thanks Team Worc for a perfectly run race. Links to other reports and photos coming soon.

2011 Supercross Cup Round 2 - Swords

Sure, what else would I be doing on a Saturday morning during the off-season? The 2^nd round of the Supercross Cup was held in Swords within a beautiful river valley. The course weaved up and down the valley slops giving the riders with power somewhere to make time (the short sharp climbs) and those with the skills to make up even more (the twisty, muddy descents).

As I rode my first lap of the course I was really impressed – a great use of the valley, great for spectating and a type of cyclocross course (very hilly) I have not ridden in Ireland before – I knew it would be a very tough race but couldn't wait to get going.

Due to my rolled tubular two weeks earlier (and the resultant DNF), I wasn't gridded for this round – 25 riders lined up in front of me. My starts in the past were never the strongest but, this year I have been getting much better and here, there was no time for taking it easy.

The gun fired and the race began – I was able to move up a couple of places pretty quickly but still sat in around 15^th or so. The course lended itself pretty well to passing but the quality of Irish CX riders now (especially for the first lap or two) is such that it is pretty much full gas and fast for everyone.

Smiling riding sideways - photo from here

As I finished the first lap, I came through in about 6th. But I could see I was making progress – another lap and I was in 4^th. For three or four laps Conor Cambell, Evan Ryan and myself had a close battle – it was good fun – I would make some time on the power sections, they would make time on the technical sections. Eventually, the elastic broke (unfortunately Evan punctured) and I rode the second half of the race in solo pursuit of Robin. I pulled back time on the last lap, but it was much too late.

Like all cyclocross races in Ireland this year (that I competed in anyway), it was another well run race on a great course – I would guess I left a minute or two on the course by not practicing my cyclocross skills, but hey, I had a big smile on my face for the full race and this is when I'm supposed to be taking it easy :)

Results are here, and another report from the race here.

2011 Ulster Cyclocross Round 2 - Lady Dixon Park

This weekends cyclocross race was Round 2 of the Ulster Cyclocross League held in Lady Dixon Park just outside Belfast. As Sean and I arrived at the venue, other than the beauty of the park the big thing to hit me was the number of kids around for the earlier races – there were hundreds! As we walked over to sign-on there was a party atmosphere with kids racing, screaming, whistles blowing and parents cheering – you could not do anything but smile...

We rode a lap – it was a cool course, the weather was dry and warm (for October) but the corners where all damp enough to make them tricky. There was more singletrack than I would like, but you really can't fault the course – it even had a long, fast, muddy, off camber corner (with nettles - see video!) that acted as a perfect spectator focal point – there were many many crashes there, fortunately I kept it “rudder side down” throughout the race.

Photo of start from here

At 1pm we started and Matt Adair took a flier! I'm really impressed with how explosive he is from the start line and he left the rest of us in his dust...

I was second into the singletrack but I could already tell it wasn't really going to be my day. My body was fine but it lacked any snap that I had the previous weekend – I was going to be in diesel mode for the day :( The opening laps were pretty tight but it spread out a little eventually with Matt fading a little and Roger taking over and powering off for the win. I didn't catch Matt (who took second) and I claimed third.

I have to say, Roger seems to be the man on form at the moment.

A good big competitive field, nice weather, party atmosphere and TV cameras... Now all we need are the beer tents and it will be perfect!

2011 Supercross Cup Round 1

Yip, still off-season – a couple of coffee shop rides and a cross race at the weekend to keep me somewhat active.

I arrived out for the first round of the Supercross Cup in the Grange Castle Industrial Estate. After a quick explorative lap, I came to the conclusion that I loved the course – it was super fast and I knew the racing would be close.

A fully booked up field of 75 competitors lined up at the start of the 350 meter long tarmac runway for the start – it was cool. I was third wheel as we hit the first off-road section and felt comfortable. I lost a couple of positions, gained a couple and about a third of the way into the lap I was in a lead group of 6 – National Champion, Robin, popped off the front so I went after him and we rode away from the chasers. First lap I rolled through on Robin's tail.

I didn't want the others to catch back on to us so I started to drive it – I went to the front and started to ride reasonably hard for the next couple of laps – when there was a strong headwind (and huge draft for Robin) I didn't go too hard, but rode a decent tempo. Hoping that Robin would ride some too, he did and I spent a lap riding on his wheel – man, that was SO much easier – coasting :)

Midway around the the fifth lap, Robin attacked on a techy bit and bunny hopped the barriers (I hop off and run them – I should really practice some CX skills but that would probably be taking things too seriously) and he got a 7-8 second gap – instead of pushing it too much I kept riding steady and as we arrived back into the start/finish for the half way point of the race it was only a couple of seconds - I would be back on his wheel by the end of the tarmac – happy days – hmmm, where will I attack? Then it all went wrong – I jumped off a curb into a hard left hander (on tarmac) and my front tub rolled off. The single tech zone was 15 meters behind me (you can't go backwards on the course) so I would have to run the full lap to get a new wheel – game over.

I was frustrated – my legs felt great and knew a win was on the cards (riding super easy a couple of times a week makes me feel fast – who would have thought it?)... I think this was the first cross race that I felt very comfortable for the whole race - well, half a race at least. I think one or two more weekend cyclocross races and then I'll hang up the race wheels again until the road season starts.

Great course, really well run, lots of racers.

Report and results here (oh, and Robin did not put 30 seconds into me in 3 minute of riding!!! ;) and I never completed the 5th lap - I believe a couple of mistakes were made in the reporting - very creative writing I think)

(I'll add some photos when they come online)

My Specialized Tri-cross Cyclocross Bike

This is the third year that I'm riding Cyclocross and I just realized I hadn't even put a post up about my bike. In the 2009/2010 I rode most of the season (finishing with a 2nd in Nationals) while last year I rode two races and two or three training sessions. For the 2011/2012 season I'm sticking to the same idea as last year. I'll probably only ride three or four races (I do need some time away from racing) but I'm glad to have a nice bike ready to roll again.

The setup is basically a SRAM Force groupset (Rival rear derailleur - the force one exploded in a muddy incident). Tufo carbon tubulars with Tufo tires and a mish mash of other bits I had in the house to finish it off. Nothing exotic but everything robust. I lowered the bars a little since I took this photo and changed to a 42t 'big' chainring.

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 :)