open cycle race in Mondello !!!

MWalljobs

Bill, that is what we all do, hang in till we explode and hope the finish comes just before that !!!!!

MWalljobs

columbus_66 wrote: »

I was just talking to one of the organisers and it is definitely open to A1's so I'll be there. Happy cornering!

sorry to disappoint but
this is the e-mail I received from one of the main organizers

<<On Thursday Naas CC are hosting an open-race in Mondello Park. It will be a handicapper with a similar format to that which we used in the league. I plan to have S2,3,4 cats with the women going with the 4's. I think having the S1's in with them would be a bit demoralizing for the others. There will be more races at Mondello next year, all going well, and everyone will get their chance then. Alan Downey>>

from it I gather A1's wont be catered for on thursday, but we will be running a full race day at Mondello next year !!!

fondriest

Captain Havoc wrote: »

Hi guys, I need a lift from Carlow for this if anyone can help me out?

Sorry Captain does'nt look like i am going to make it on thursday.

MWalljobs

MWalljobs wrote: »

sorry to disappoint but
this is the e-mail I received from one of the main organizers

<<On Thursday Naas CC are hosting an open-race in Mondello Park. It will be a handicapper with a similar format to that which we used in the league. I plan to have S2,3,4 cats with the women going with the 4's. I think having the S1's in with them would be a bit demoralizing for the others. There will be more races at Mondello next year, all going well, and everyone will get their chance then. Alan Downey>>

from it I gather A1's wont be catered for on thursday, but we will be running a full race day at Mondello next year !!!

CORRECTION : A1 will be allowed to race on Thursday evening, apologies for any confusion.

levitronix

What a day for a bike race this weather should hold up for tonight

BTH

Damn traffic

levitronix

Didnt make because of the traffic, dont know if it was just electric picnic or is that normal ??

chakattack

levitronix wrote: »

Didnt make because of the traffic, dont know if it was just electric picnic or is that normal ??

bummer

I knew I'd be tight for time, glad I didn't bother now.

fondriest

Well any reports?

levitronix

Report ... got as far as the ball on the N7 and gave up!

100Suns

Apparently there was a pile up near Naas. A good few turned up late. Some jumped in for the spin.

Was a fantastic spin-closed roads, technical circuit, fast pace. The A4s stayed away en masse. We had sight of them for the last few bends but didn't get across. The A1s and 2s caught the 3s with about 4 laps to go. There was plenty of attacking from the off but the chase was never organized. I managed to get up in the sprint and got 4th or 5Th in the A3. Had to get the kids home so didn't stick around to hear who won and placed.

I would recommend this to anyone who can do it next year. Thanks to Naas CC for the invite.

MWalljobs

fondriest wrote: »

Well any reports?

First of all thanks for all who raced on such short notice, and to Liam Walker, Chris and Ann Marie Keenaghan, Graham Custerson for organizing a great evening racing.

85 signed on, a4 had average speed of 40.6 km/h. We raced for 50 minutes + 3 laps. an hour and six minutes total. A'4's got caught in last lap with 3 corners to go. full results to follow. perfect conditions.

and here is the Garmin data of A4's race http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47301542?sms_ss=facebook

tawfeeredux

That was a good evening's racing. Thought I'd miss it cos of the traffic on the N7, but turned off for Sallins & after a couple of u-turns, made it to Mondello at about 6:50. Just enough time to sign on & do one half-lap warm up.

Went off with the A4s. It was hard & fast, apparently our lap time for the first lap was the same as the A1s first lap. Thought they might catch us with about 3 laps to go, but we stayed ahead. Found it hard initially to keep up with pace after the turns, but eventually got myself up towards the front & did some stints at the front. Tried to make a break for it with about 4 corners to go, got a bit of a gap but the legs tied up with one corner to go & I didn't really contest the sprint.

Stayed for the presentation but didn't catch many names, they were presenting the Carlow/Kildare league awards as well. An unattached rider in A4 won afaik.

Didn't meet any boardsies, though I think i saw Ryaner in the A4 group (if that's the guy with the goatee & the Cervelo S2 who was taking the times at the Howth hill TT). Actually, I saw Ryan Sherlock as well, he signed on just before me (i've a long way to go before I'd look the part for A1 racing! nice Lightweights, btw!).

Thanks to the organisers for putting on a great race, i hope it's on again next season so i can have another go.

Stokolan

Just back home now after this. Had a great spin at it but the pace was way too fast for me. It was an average of about 39kph for the race.

I think i came off after the 3rd or 4th lap, I was dropped fairly early on and found it hard to get back on The wind was in my face after every bend. So just cruised around at my own pace for a while. Then called it a day after going past the start finish line once too often by myself :P

I was going to wear my boards kit but didn't wnat to shame it with a DNF :P

Ryaner

Yeh I was there. Saw a few guys from Swords CC at the end. Surprised at the turn out especially with the crash. Traffic was stopped on the N7 for short periods of time.

Punctured on the third last corner on the last lap but managed to move to the side quick enough to not cause any problems.

There were a few people who kept accelerating to corners, then braking hard and moving across. Almost got run into the grass or pushed up onto the shoulder a few times. That and the stones in one or two of the corners made it "interesting".

n-dawg

Hey

Finially did my first ever cycle race... Went in the A4 group and tried to stay near the front the whole way. Prob did about 7 or 8 big stints on the front and tried to get away once or twice but as soon as anybody had a gap they'd hit a straight with a head wind and be pulled back really quickly. Pace at the end took my tired legs by suprise so I was a little disapointed in the sprint, finished somewhere between 15th and 20th. It was very different from running races I've done, not half as painfull but mentally much more tiring. You had to stay 100% focused the whole way. I found it strange the people who were shouting common guys keep the pace up we can stay ahead and they wouldn't do anything on the front themselves. You wouldn't get away with that in running at all...

So my stats were Avg heart rate 162, max heart rate 187, avg speed ~40km/hr, max speed 53km/hr

I'll be back for more races I realy loved it.

BTH

Really enjoyed this tonite. Great course and great weather for it. Pace was manic but I managed to hang in there. I was in A4 and i was really struggling to hang on the back of the group. Struggled to stay with them out of the corners. But in the last 15-20 min I was feeling much better and moved up through the group and I finished well enough considering it was my first open race (previously only done 2 club league races).

The three car pile up on the N7 put an end to any hope I had of a warmup. Barely had time to change and take a piss before we started. Probably why I took so long get to grips with it. Maybe next time the organisers can pick a night that we don't have idiots driving into the back of each other!

And no fellow boardsie spotting for me as I don't know any!

tawfeeredux

Ryaner wrote: »

Punctured on the third last corner on the last lap but managed to move to the side quick enough to not cause any problems.

There were a few people who kept accelerating to corners, then braking hard and moving across. Almost got run into the grass or pushed up onto the shoulder a few times. That and the stones in one or two of the corners made it "interesting".

Pity about the puncture Ryaner.

There was some dodgy maneouvres going on alright, couple of shouts of "keep yer line!" were roared. That's the main reason I tried getting up to the front, I'd had to take evasive action a few too many times at the bends. Those stones at the 6th last bend were a pain if you were at the wrong side of the group cos you really needed all the momentum you could keep to get up that incline to the next chicane.

The Crunch

Fifth and happy with that as I almost didn't ride. My dodgy back and dicky knee have been playing up again but they're at their best on the bike. Great to be racing a bike at Mondello. It was nice and safe and the great weather was a real bonus. Just for the record the A4 group was caught by a group of four or five with a lap and half of the 2.1 mile circuit left. There were, I believe, three (or four) A3s and Con Collis, the A2 ex-superstar rower. The best of the A3s A2s and A1s got very close on the last lap but didn't quite make it. Some excellent handicapping there. It was great to be in an A4 group with lots working. Not exactly two pacelines (which would be faster and easier on everyone) but better than most handicaps. People were doing long turns instead of getting everyone to tap through...
If Tawfeeredux was on a black bike wearing an argyle jersey then he rode really well for a chap in his first crit and did some great turns close to the end. Looking forward to the next Mondello. Thanks to Liam and all the Lillywhite Mafia for a great night's racing.
Results
1st Anthony Doyle (Unattached)
2nd Eugene Murtagh (Ravens)
3rd Con Collis (Ravens)
4th Graeme Kidd (Naas CC)
5th Declan Quigley (Orwell Wheelers DundrumTown Centre)
6th Steven Enright (Richie)

A2
1st Mark Kiernan (Kilcullen CC)
2nd Brendan Whelan (Lucan)
3rd Fergie Whelan (Lucan)

A3
1st Kieran McKenna (Emeralds)
2nd Brian Hammond (Bikeworx)
3rd Jason Howick (Bray Wheelers)

A4
1st Richie McDonagh (Naas CC)
2nd Matt McDonald (Naas CC)
3rd Wayne Doolan (Naas CC)

Junior Enda Ryan (Sorrento)
Lady Kate Rudd (Wolftrap)

tawfeeredux

The Crunch wrote: »

If Tawfeeredux was on a black bike wearing an argyle jersey then he rode really well for a chap in his first crit and did some great turns close to the end.

That was me alright, thanks Declan. Well done on the place, you did a power of work yourself, good to see you got a reward in the end.

ryan_sherlock

Some pictures my buddy took here: http://picasaweb.google.com/alan.donnelly/OpenCycleRaceMondello?authkey=Gv1sRgCK3Io9HHtYSl-AE&feat=email#

Punctured out of the winning move (the break from A1,2,3 that got across to A4).

I needed the training and they allowed me back in if I didn't contest or change the race. Joined the A1,2,3 group - attacked out - passed a few smaller groups and stayed solo until the end. A good session salvaged. 42.5kmph average speed for me by myself for the last 25 minutes.

Great racing on that course, enjoyed it a lot and there was a huge crowd despite the traffic.

Lumen

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

Punctured out of the winning move (the break from A1,2,3 that got across to A4).

How did you manage to puncture on a race track? Would have thought it would be very clean.

ryan_sherlock

Lumen wrote: »

How did you manage to puncture on a race track? Would have thought it would be very clean.

I was on the front cornering on (I think) the third last bend of the lap (same one Ryaner punctured on) and felt the rear wheel clip something (shrapnel?) and then psssst. It is a sidewall slice of all things! 70euro tub for the bin

I have punctured tubs twice while cornering (once in the RAS, last night). Man, they are a hell of a lot easier to control than when the same thing happens on a clincher... Puncture occured, slowed down and rolled over to the grass - easy. (In the RAS it was 70kmph going around a bend - a little more frightening)

Ryaner

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

I was on the front cornering on (I think) the third last bend of the lap (same one Ryaner punctured on) and felt the rear wheel clip something (shrapnel?) and then psssst. It is a sidewall slice of all things! 70euro tub for the bin

Mine was a sidewall too. Think it was the stones that were flying up that caused it. They were quite loud when hitting bikes during the corners.

billaustin

Still currently without a bike (come on Cyclesuperstore where is it!!) but I was on the bus home last night and the traffic was chaotic. Glad so many made it out to the race, from the pictures it looks like it was a fantastic night!

Swordsdave

Would anyone else question the unplaced A4 results? from pictures i`ve seen it doesn`t look right. I`m probably wrong but looks like a navan rider comes in 7th and he was an a4 rider but no mention of him! maybe lapped? maybe in naas club just wearing a navan jersey? i came in two riders back from him so just wondering! not trying to take anything away from anyone:o

zzzzzzzz

Lumen wrote: »

How did you manage to puncture on a race track? Would have thought it would be very clean.

I hit something on the 3rd or 4th corner - don't know what. Maybe a big stone?? Pinch flat anyway.

The Crunch

The stones are from the gravel run off areas dragged out onto the track by cars. There was very little debris on the circuit but I hit a couple of them myself and got away with it. Maybe the organisers should consider doing a bit of a sweep before the next one?

n-dawg

Yea I hit a few stones too... was a bit unnerving when cornering at high speed. I hope there are more races in Mondello, its a perfect venue for them. Other then the odd sharp stone the track is super smooth and wide. I cant imagine racing when there is the possibility of cars coming the other way, must be really scary!

In my prevous post I forgot to thank the organisers... So thanks Naas cycling club, great race. And thanks to Mondello for letting us use a supurb track.

columbus_66

I think they had an autocross on recently so that would explain all the stones on the road, also for the tyre banks marking off the off-road course. The league race we had earlier in the year was a lot cleaner and had no tyres in the way.

ryan_sherlock

Lumen wrote: »

How did you manage to puncture on a race track? Would have thought it would be very clean.

3 punctures by the folks on boards - pretty high rate! That was my third RR puncture, so I can't complain too much.

Must say it again, great course and venue - flat, but more than interesting enough.

mc2000

From a mere mortal's point of view, I came to this from the relative safety of the IVCA races I'd done this year [with the Greens in the IVCA Vets] and the club league races [in the semi-limit group in Orwell league and with grp 2 in Swords] I decided to have a go at this open race (my 2nd attempt at open racing this year, the first was in Kildalvin which was abject misery), as it might be another 26 years before I got a chance to race on a closed-road circuit (I read somewhere that the last time there was bike racing was in '84).

So going in, I had a good suspicion that it would be eyeballs out stuff [well for me anyway] so I'd be adopting a strategy of doing what laps I could with a group, probably getting shelled, then tagging onto another group for a bit, then sitting up and not worrying about the fact that I wasn't doing as many laps as other groups when they came round and getting back onto the group again [sometimes with a few, er, shortcuts on the circuit - it's a very handy circuit that way ]

So I lined up with the A4's [I would have liked an A5's group :rolleyes: or let's call that an A4 with no points group ] and off we went like scalded cats, I wanted to stay up the front and tried to do so but the speed was fairly moving, think I lasted about 3 or 4 laps but it was a great buzz while it lasted. Got tailed off with a few others, did a lap or two or so, then tagged onto the A3's for a lap, did a lap or so on my todd, and then had to use my, er, strategy of sitting up and waiting/using nice little shortcuts to get over to a part on the circuit where I could let the A4 group fly by me again and get back onto it again. So this worked fairly well, and I finished the last 3 laps with them, wasn't going to mess about in the sprint as i'd, er, missed a lap or two,:D and anyway i was ker-knackered.

Anyway, thought it a great circuit and the corners were great when you got the hang of them and took the right lines, you could really burn through them and pedal all the way - i'd encourage anyone to have a go at this circuit (and not worry too much about doing all the laps, and next time can we have an A5/A6 group, just to fuel the CI Grading debate even more :rolleyes: )

Have to say big thank you as well to the organisers for getting the chance to race here, it was deadly buzz man, story bud.