Swords League Race #5 11/05/11 - Corduff Circuit

Beasty

Sign on at Ballyboughal from 6:30 this evening

2 and a quarter laps of the Corduff circuit, finishing on the flyover bridge which makes it usually one for the sprinters as it's a flat and fast finish.

A flattish course until you hit the Nags Head climb about half-way round - then it's 100m or so of climbing over 3.2km before a long descent back to Ballyboughal

Roads for the most part are OK - there is a dodgy km or two coming out of Ballyboughal though with lots of road repairs that make the road very uneven in places, and then there are some potholes to watch out for particularly alongside the hard shoulder on the old N1

Please note - only Group 2 should read this

If we work together keeping a big group and stay away until we get to the top of the Nags Head second time round we have a chance in this one (unless Martyn is around!). If we get caught before or in the early part of the climb most of us will be dead meat!! We need to keep it as smooth as possible and regroup when we get to the top of the climb first time

English Bob

+1
Tough course this one. Hope the weather is ok.
Hopefully group 2 won't have to be split so there's more of a chance to stay away!?

Beasty

English Bob wrote: »

+1
Hopefully group 2 won't have to be split so there's more of a chance to stay away!?

I guess it depends on how many turn up, although these roads are wider than on the other 2 courses used to date which makes larger groups easier to accomodate.

I've found with group 2 that the wide range of abilities make it difficult to keep a steady pace when the group is very large - what tends to happen is a few riders do the majority of the work. In smaller groups it does tend to be a bit smoother. However this course (apart from the hill) is ideal for the up and overs and if we can get it working efficiently I think we have a chance if we get a half-decent handicap

Raam

Beasty wrote: »

We need to keep it as smooth as possible and regroup when we get to the top of the climb first time

What he means is: please don't drop me on the hill.

Beasty

Raam wrote: »

What he means is: please don't drop me on the hill.

I've got the camera in the car, on the assumption that I should be able to get some photos of the finish after giving up at the end of the first lap

manwithaplan

I promise I didn't read the Group 2 spoiler;)

For Group 3 eyes only:

We have to work strongly together to catch Group 2 before the second go up the climb because we have bugger all chance of catching them on the run to the finish

Early excuses (I will think of a few more later):

1. The rolling circuits suit me better
2. With my crappy cadence, my compact is not going to help me on the run home.
3. I have a bit of a cold

shaungil

It always amazes me how much the groups actually do stay together on this circuit.

The hammer fest from the Nags head down to Ballyboghil is one of my fav's of all the courses.

Prob best to go single file coming out of the village as there is a racing line available. As it's out of a fast corner it's normally single file anyway.

Marshalling for me tonight best of luck everyone.

killalanerr

whats with the spoilers ? with beasty back this week it fully expected that group 2s performance will improve by many factors on last week,now that i have my club jersey i will be able to hide so i wont be shouted at by the scary man :P

manwithaplan

killalanerr wrote: »

whats with the spoilers ?

On my part, merely in jest. I am not in any position to be doling out any real advice to my fellow cyclists. I have never even been round the circuit.

Beasty

killalanerr wrote: »

whats with the spoilers ? with beasty back this week it fully expected that group 2s performance will improve by many factors on last week,now that i have my club jersey i will be able to hide so i wont be shouted at by the scary man :P

OK - my excuses:
Head cold
Sciatica
"Racing" last night
Age

I won't be wearing a Swords jersey btw;)

I do remember your number though

PS - the spoilers can only be viewed by Group 2 riders - my mod powers allow my to apply special filters to those viewing - if you can see the messages you are in Group 2 this week, towing me up the hill

El Director

Looking forward to my first club race of 2011 and only second ever (did the 40k TT LAST YEAR)

Better get a move on so I guess! Whoop whoop!

Beasty

Well that was "fun":D

Turned up to discover it had been extended to 2 and 3/4 laps, finishing on the hill - meaning we would be going up it 3 times (although I suspect I only ever was going to go up it twice at most:rolleyes:)

A very large Group 2 - probably 30 riders, and we set off at a very fast pace. The up and overs were not working very well, but there were plenty of strong riders and we were averaging just under 40kph before we hit the hill first time (we did have the wind behind us though)

The group split big time on the hill with pehaps half of it managing to pull away from the rest of us. They did not follow my instructions in the OP which meant me, Lusk Doyle and another rider had to try and get back on. At one stage I thought they were well away, but we did make inroads and early on the second lap I sensed I may be able to get back on and pushed hard.

I did actually make contact, but it was at a slight incline and I was of the view that they would bury me the next time up the hill. My HR was approaching maximum and I had to ease back. The other two came past and after I had had a brief respite I set about pushing it again - not to get back to the group - I knew they were long gone by then, but to see how far I could get before being caught by the faster groups. I was pretty much resigned to stopping at the end of the second lap at this stage.

Lusk Doyle and the other rider waited for me and we were joined by another guy. We kept a steady pace for a while, and were caught by a combined group of the faster riders as we were starting the second ascent. I knew I had no chance keeping up on the hill, so drifted off the back.

Then there was a crash in the group when I was perhaps 20 metres or so behind. When I went past I saw 4 bikes but only 3 riders - abc_xyz was down and Lusk Doyle was pulling someone out of the ditch. Everyone was OK and some of them came past me again higher up the hill.

I continued to the end of the lap then headed to the finish to take some photos

Stats
Distance 38.5km
Speed - average 34.5kph, max 61.6kph
HR - average 162, max 182
Cadence - average 87
Power - average 255w, pedalling 258w, normalised 275w, max 830w

Overall I can't complain too much - some of my power intervals around the 30 minute mark are PBs, and last night's TT took something out of me

English Bob

FUBAR!!!!!!!!!!
enjoyed that! Group 2 worked better after 1st lap and managed to stay with main bunch with faster group until final climb then blew up! Got a second wind and finished strong so was happy overall.
The Nags Head is a bitch!!!

Lusk Doyle

Yep that time spent trying to get back on took it out of me big time. Felt ok when raam and co joined us but after the crash I knew I couldn't play chase a second time. Stopped after two laps.

I think all were ok after the crash. Have to smile at the garda jersey sprawled in the ditch "I cant get up!" he pleaded so i manfully extracted him with one arm! Game over after that so i cried off.

Good chase with beasty, kellyt and #102.

Raam

That was the hardest 11th place I've ever had.

RobFowl

Well done to all who raced that tough circuit. Was cycling home from work and stopped to say hello to some of the marshals.
It's worth remembering that dedicated non racing members like John and Margaret Ward turn up year in year out to marshal as they did tonight.
Wardie himself has some very respectable and impressive racing performances in the past to be proud of and organises and maintains the touring league.

manwithaplan

Group three was on the big side too. Thought we were working reasonably well together but things slowed up on the main road before the turn for the hill. I was comfortable enough going up the hill the first time (probably because the pace wasn't that high).

Scratch and semi scratch caught us shortly before the hill the second time around. I glued myself to the back of a lead group of about 10 going up and we passed both group 1 and group 2 on the way up. I fell about 10 metres off the last wheel near the top and, while the gap wasn't widening, I just couldn't get back on. I caught up on the sharp left turn for Ballyboughil but the concertina effect killed me and, with the wind was against me, I couldn't catch them as they hammered down the hill. I chased for a good bit - longer than I should have. The rest of semi-scratch caught me near Ballyboughil and I latched on. There was about five of us and we worked well enough but the group had swelled to maybe 20 odd at the turn for the Nag's Head.

That's when I made a bollix of things. I was on the front as we approached the turn. There was no marshall and, gob****e that I am, I went straight on. I'm not blaming the marshalls - I had ridden round the corner twice already at that stage. I turned round and chased back on. I pushed through to near the front but I had used up too much energy. I probably finished about 6th in the group - maybe 16th-17th overall.

It was lots of fun as usual and thanks to all that made it happen.

pprendeville

Raam wrote: »

That was the hardest 11th place I've ever had.

That was a thoroughly enjoyable race I must say. Arrived late as usual so panic stations on the way. Thank God there are no speed cameras on the road to Ballyboughal.

Started in group 3 and pace was good. Longsocks had me worried after all the reports I'd been hearing re his riding but I thought he rode well, i.e. no sudden movements. Thought we should have worked better together on the climb first time round. Group 4 (is this semi-scratch) caught us on the main raod before Nags head on lap 2 and I latched on (didn't want to get caught on the inside so apologies to anyone I might have upset by staying out on the right). Was just ahead of the crash on the ascent. Apparently #151's handle bars tangled with somebody else. Stayed on Honk Jellys wheel up the climb second time round and put in a few turns at the front up until and after the Ballyboughal.

Dave Wherity and another guy put in a big dig then just before flyover and I sprinted to get back on Dave's wheel. Was feeling good on main road again and that's when I got dropped. Group made a sudden dash and I was just too lazy to make the effort. It was like my brain was saying "don't bother, they'll slow down again" but alas they never did and that was me gone. Had a few looks over my shoulder and no sign of anyone behind so I said to myself I'll surely get a placed finish. Didn't ease up though. Then at the turn for Nags head I say a massive group behind me about 10-15 seconds I rekon so it was panic stations.

All my effort and I was going to get caught. I was like a schizophrenic at this stage. One minute I was thinking I'm going to make it, next I was ready to give up. A few more looks over my shoulder and some guy was making a break from the group. I'd left my box of thumb tacks at home so I was going to have soldier on and up my effort. Last 400m were the longest/hardest I've ever done. Another look - he's closing. Who is this guy. Looks like he's not breaking a sweat. 50m, 40m another look. I'm caught. Legs burning I let out a war cry to try and frighten him but no that didn't work either.

Practically crawled over the line in the end and congratulated my conqueror - RAAM. Well if I was going to beaten by anyone I'd pick him. Then again, a Cervelo is worth a few more Watts/kg (at least that's what I'm telling myself).

When Sam told me I'd only gotton 12th I was gutted. All that effort. Great fun tonight though and already looking forward to next week. This Swords league is harder than any open race I've done so far. What's the story there?

@ Beasty. Can you post up pics?
@ LuskDoyle - sorry about the pinch. Didn't mean to frighten you. Would love to have seen the guy in the ditch who couldn't get up.
@ scratch/semi-scratch group - would love to read a report from someone in these groups just to get an idea if they feel any apin while cycling.

mc2000

Sweet-holy-jebus that was a hard race; started in Group 2, took a mental note of Beasty's fine jersey, can't wait to see the technicolour version of it

As Beasty says we took off really effin' fast all the way over to the old main Belfast road, and it wasn't very easy up that road to the base of the climb either. The first time up the climb two or three lads obviously hadn't read Beasty's instructions in the OP:rolleyes: but to be fair, most of us let them drift off the front. So there was a goodish group doing a hard but just about manageable pace up the hill, and we got over the top as a group, and piled down the other side. We weren't panicking about the three lads in front, and over the course of the stretch thru Ballyboughal and to the main road again we caught them againm although they did fairly well and were fairly strong to have stayed away that long.

Up the main road again, and then started up the climb, and a bit of the way up the climb Scratch just cruised by, no way was I able to hang on to them, and more or less the same group got over the top again, although there was a split into two groups with bits of other groups intermingled here and there.

I was in the second of these[after ferocious chasing over the top of the hill by about 4 of us, we just managed to get onto the train], and on the stretch from Ballyboughal over to the main road two lads up the front [from group 3 or 4 I imagine] put in some really good up and overs and by the time we got to the bridge over the M1 just before the turn onto the main road we'd caught them. Along that stretch I'd been quite a good bit up the group, but the group was fairly lined out the whole way and I got really tired and nearly got bloody dropped. I was in that horrible place of being last man in the line, swinging about 10yards off the back, and just trying to hang on - thankfully on the old main road again the pace eased a bit and I was able to hang on and even recover a bit.

At the base of the long hill again, and the group just shattered to pieces, I got up ok probably in the latter half of riders, I was knackered at this stage and actually very happy to have got up that hill twice and to the base of the hill the 3rd time with the group.:D

Thanks again to the marshalls and the motorbike lads and lead cars.

Beasty

pprendeville wrote: »

Longsocks had me worried after all the reports I'd been hearing re his riding but I thought he rode well, i.e. no sudden movements.

I know a couple of people had a word with him before the race, following some of the comments made here, so it looks like it paid off - he was still riding strongly at the end

pprendeville wrote: »

This Swords league is harder than any open race I've done so far. What's the story there?

Bear in mind there are some pretty good riders in scratch - a couple who have ridden this year will be in the Ras - I'm only in semi limit but I know from some of the open race reports the sort of power I am putting out is not too far adrift from some in the open races - I guess these races are a lot shorter though

pprendeville wrote: »

@ Beasty. Can you post up pics?

I'll try and sort some out over the next day or so - light was deteriorating, but I should have a few at the finish

killalanerr

enjoyed that, bit of surprised to find out it was 3 times over the hill,
set off in group 2 it was moving well i even done a few pulls on the front i managed to stay near the front on the first ascent of the nags-head big ring all the way,2 young bucks went off the front so tried to get across to them with another guy on the way down put just havent got the legs for that sort of thing yet so waited for the group to get back to me,
i was trying to save a bit for the hill so sat back a bit on the next lap but did go through a few times on the main road ,i was going ok on the hill on the 2nd lap until a faster group caught us about 500 meters from the top i managed to hang on till just passed the finish line,a group of about 5 of us formed on the descent and started to work to get back to the group ahead of us i wasnt much help i tried to ride through but when one of the guys pulled over i couldnt get pass him so from then on i just kept out of the way at the back i was right on the limit with theses guys good fun we got across just coming into the village well done guys ,
from then on i was hanging on gave it my best shot on the hill for the last time and rode in at the back of group ,happy with my work out defo seeing improvement
twice tonight i found my self 20 to 30 mtrs of the front of the group after riding through a corner,may be its my motorbike back ground but if your at the front just let your bike run through the curve you can carry so much speed

thanks to the club for running a super race

Hungrycol

Oh man that was hard and I normally don't mind that circuit too much. Started in group 3 and got dropped the first time up the Nags head. Spent the next lap with 4 others trying desperately to keep them within our sights and close the gap but we weren't making any ground on them and I'd spent a lot of energy trying. Then G4 came through and a few shouts of "jump on jump on" bit I lacked that kick needed and I knew then I was toast. I went up the Nags head the second time and I was slow, very slow. That was it, I made up my mind, I was heading back to my car. So disappointing and not like me to quit bit there was something not quite right last night. I didnt seem to have the spark or energy.

Hope 151 is Ok after the crash, I was riding with him in our group of 4 for a bit.

Thanks to all the marshalls and front drivers. Marshalls shouting time to the front is very helpful thanks

manwithaplan

Hungrycol wrote: »

Hope 151 is Ok after the crash, I was riding with him in our group of 4 for a bit.

Rode back to Ballyboughil with him afterwards - he has a cut knee but is grand.

shaungil

Open races are a piece of [EMAIL="p@ss"]p#ss[/EMAIL] compared to the club league. The standard of rider can be so high you end up chewing the tape for an hour solid. As Glenamddy says the League is the workplace and the open races are the playground.

Personally I use it for training and hammer from the start. If we catch a group I like to pick up the pace again to try and burn off bodies if possible. I always shout encouragement to individuals as we go by but never mean it.

This didn't apply last week in Ardcath when we caght group 3. We actually slowed to their pace though we were on a fast stretch so maybe that was it.

Two lads off the front of group 1 last night nearly stayed away for the finish. Looked like sandbaggers to me chatting and laughing when I aw them. Glad scratch caught them. Such a hard hard course , Nags head:eek:.

RobFowl

shaungil wrote: »

Personally I use it for training and hammer from the start. If we catch a group I like to pick up the pace again to try and burn off bodies if possible. I always shout encouragement to individuals as we go by but never mean it.

Love the last bit

Beasty

shaungil wrote: »

Two lads off the front of group 1 last night nearly stayed away for the finish. Looked like sandbaggers to me chatting and laughing when I aw them.

Sam tried to stop someone taking off with Group 1 at the start - presumably one of these two, and the Lion of Fingal made it clear at the end they were sandbagging

TBH, if someone does something like that again (ie not going in their formally allotted group), I would like to see them officially disqualified

Raam

It has been mooted that more experienced riders go off with groups 1 and 2 to try and spot sandbaggers and tell them to go back to the group behind.

tawfeeredux

Great reports guys! Can someone clarify something for me though; do your groups 1-4 correspond to limit, semi-limit, semi-scratch & scratch or what way does it work? Every time I think i have it sussed, i read a report that confuses it again.

Raam

More or less. Group 1 is the first group off. Depending on who turns up there can be 5 or 6 groups on the road.

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

TBH, if someone does something like that again (ie not going in their formally allotted group), I would like to see them officially disqualified

A flick of the back wheel works even better

tawfeeredux

Raam wrote: »

More or less. Group 1 is the first group off. Depending on who turns up there can be 5 or 6 groups on the road.

Right, so group 3 could be the second group of semi-limits for example?

Raam

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Right, so group 3 could be the second group of semi-limits for example?

Roughly.

Beasty

RobFowl wrote: »

A flick of the back wheel works even better

Trying to drum up business are we?;)

eoin9288

@ scratch/semi-scratch group - would love to read a report from someone in these groups just to get an idea if they feel any apin while cycling.

Oh plenty of pain allright don't worry about that but its just all about how you can handle it and who can take it for the longest period of time. Sure t'is only temporary anyway.
Started in my usual group of semi scratch. Even without nutjob Shaungil it was on and I struggled to get into any rhythm. Dropped near top of climb first time round, scratch arrived and I did a lap with them getting dropped by them on the second time up the climb. Was stoked to have done a lap with them and contributed to them reeling in other groups. Good for the legs. Rallied up riders then on the run into Ballyboughal, doing plenty of roaring etc to get folk to start working together. I guess lads were well cooked by then but got a posse gathered anyway and rode a fair bit on the front hooking up with some of my semi scratch men around the flyover for the run home.
Was toast after I rode home but all good.

Raam

Eoin, you left out the bit about missing your turn for the Nag's Head

eoin9288

manwithaplan wrote: »

That's when I made a bollix of things. I was on the front as we approached the turn. There was no marshall and, gob****e that I am, I went straight on. I'm not blaming the marshalls - I had ridden round the corner twice already at that stage.

Ah yes forgot about that. Unfortunately I was on the outside of the chap above. Jaysus I thought we were off to do a circuit of the Bog o the Ring to finish off.......now that would be a way to finish!! No worries. These things happen.

pprendeville

shaungil wrote: »

Open races are a piece of p#ss compared to the club league. The standard of rider can be so high you end up chewing the tape for an hour solid. As Glenamddy says the League is the workplace and the open races are the playground.

Personally I use it for training and hammer from the start. If we catch a group I like to pick up the pace again to try and burn off bodies if possible. I always shout encouragement to individuals as we go by but never mean it.

This didn't apply last week in Ardcath when we caght group 3. We actually slowed to their pace though we were on a fast stretch so maybe that was it.

Two lads off the front of group 1 last night nearly stayed away for the finish. Looked like sandbaggers to me chatting and laughing when I aw them. Glad scratch caught them. Such a hard hard course , Nags head:eek:.

by the term sandbagging do you mean mean deceiving someone by pretending to be weak or creation of temporary flood protection using sandbags (definitions taken from wikipedia). didn't see any of latter lasnite so assume its former.:)

Telltale signs your friend is a bagger:

1. Kicks your butt in training, but says he hasn’t been riding

2. Shows up for pre-season practice with jersey and shorts tan lines

2. Sleeps in an altitude tent or uses a power meter and isn’t racing As

3. Never needs to see the posted results

4. Tapes racer’s #s to his handlebar

5. Knows exactly what place he/she needs to come in to win a series

abc_xyz

Well that was an interesting race. Group 3 started off fairly big (30 odd I'd guess) and the there were a good number working quite well together, along with another few hanging off the back. Group worked fairly well to the bottom of the hill (first time) where guy in BMC top proceed to lead us up the hill. He fairly destroyed the group and we had about 12 left by the top I say. I was under a bit of pressure nearing the top and dropped back from 3rd toward the back to get a respite. Then back onto a wheel which brought me uncomfortably close (to anyone who's seen him in action) beside the guy in long socks. He then proceeded to hug me - at least he put his arm around my shoulder (hence my shout of "Get off me" if anyone heard and was wondering). Sam should continue the discussion on group cycling etiquette next week. Group took a bit to get going again but was working well again till we got caught coming to the hill second time, just as we caught a group ahead of us. Got a little messy then at the bottom of the hill with people trying to stick on wheels but out of the wind. On the hill itself I was in an ok position when the bike on my left (151) suddenly shifted away from the side of the road (maybe to avoid a pothole or maybe to follow the wheel of the bike in front of him which did the same thing). I'd nowhere to go as there was another bike on my right and our handlebars got entangled. We stayed upright for a few seconds but both went down. I've no idea how the other two bikes/riders ended up in the ditch, as they we both a few metres further up the road then me. Got back up on bike and headed up the hill (sorry if I was a bit abrupt to anyone - wasn't in the best mood at this stage). Did the hill and the last lap with 151 (who did most of the work - my legs were mostly gone at this stage) and three or four others at various times (including guy in Leinster shorts who towed us along very rapidly from Ballyboughal to old Belfast road). Glad I finished it at least. That's four races now I've not managed to finish with the group. Also first ever crash in a Swords race - elbow a bit sore and knee a little bloody but nothing major. 52.44km in 1h29m24s. Avg spd 35.19, Avg/Max HR 165/185.

goldencleric

shaungil wrote: »

I always shout encouragement to individuals as we go by but never mean it.

I'll tell you to F**k off next time so :P

Beasty

A couple of thoughts having read through everyone's experiences of last night

It looks like both Groups 2 and had around 30 riders - this seems to me too big for this format. Maybe they need to rejig the seedings, pushing some down into Group 1 and some up into Group 4. There are some in Group 2 who should probably be in Group 3. I guess ideally we should have similar numbers in the first 4 groups at least - I accept it's unfair if a Martyn Irvine comes along to lump too many riders in the same category as him

As an alternative, maybe we should simply move to 6 groups rather than splitting Groups 2 and 3 on some arbitrary basis

Now coming back to my OP, and the topic of re-grouping. 3 times up the hill may be too much to expect any of the slower groups to stay away (I'm not complaining btw - just wasn't expecting the extra ascent;)). However my own Group did show how fast they could go in the first lap, when a relatively small number were doing the majority of the work, but most were contributing something.

By the top of the first ascent it appears there were 3 in a breakaway, perhaps a dozen or so in the main group, and another 3 of us trying to get back on. If those 18 or so riders could have re-grouped and then worked, it may well be that we would have stayed away, at least until the final ascent (although I would certainly have been dropped second time up the Nags Head anyway). As it was, we had effectively 3 riders doing the hard work of pulling everyone along at any one time, slowing the overall speed of Group 2 considerably

My understanding of these CPs is it's best to work together to hunt down the slower groups, and only when you know there is no-one ahead does it make sense for riders to make a break (unless you are in the wrong group in the first place:rolleyes:, or have the slower riders in your sights and are attempting to bridge across).

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

My understanding of these CPs is it's best to work together to hunt down the slower groups, and only when you know there is no-one ahead does it make sense for riders to make a break (unless you are in the wrong group in the first place:rolleyes:, or have the slower riders in your sights and are attemting to bridge across).

I'd agree completely with this. I can only recall one league race (in 20+ years) where a single rider was able to bridge groups on his own and leave them to go on and win (Colm Cassidy on the old Nags head circuit in about 2006).

Until you're at the front with no groups ahead the best was to ride a CP is to work as a group.

shaungil

Beasty you have it all wrong.

The whole point is to make people suffer including yourself. I have never placed in one of these races and never want to.
If I'm strong in a group then I dole out pain if I can and try to stay away from the group behind as long as possible.

If we're caught by the group behind where there are stronger riders than me then I accept the suffering will be doled to me. All the suffering makes you stronger and then open races are a doddle.

Am I doing something wrong?;)

Oh and Pren we proabably should erect sandbags for the lads who need some "ahem " help knowing where to turn.

And of course bad as Sandbaggers on I hate scrubbers more.

El Director

Well last night was my first proper league race (did one last year but it was a TT). I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. My head was full of questions throughout and I just did my best in doing what I thought was right.

I was off in group 1 and just as we got moving a big lorry beat us to the first left turn. So question no. 1 - "should I get in behind that?" Only two did this so I thought that I would stick with the majority (majority rules kinda thing) But as I watched those two go further and further into the distance the more I thought "i should have gone with..." Anyway stayed in the group and we were working away fine.

First time up the Nags Head and I was just doing my best not to waste too much energy as I knew we had 3 more climbs up it. So I was spinning away at the top of the group, half way up I looked back and notcied that I had pulled away from the rest. This brought up question no. 2 - "do I slow up on a hill and re-group?" I thought 'no' as this would be too difficult, 'try re-grouping again after the hill'. The thing is by the time I was up and over the next guy back was a good bit back and I was now on a fast section. So I took it easy for about a minute to try and re-group but decided "feck it just go and use it as training", anyway there was only one guy behind me that I could see and he was a long way back and probably waited to re-group himself.

So a whole lap on my own. The two in front were nowhere to be seen even on the really long parts. I decided to keep a nice fresh cadence of 100 rpm this way ensuring that I didn't burn the legs off myself for when I would eventually be caught myself. I was averaging a nice speed of 36km/h and on the main road all the way up to the turn for Nags again 31km/h. So wasn't doing too bad.

Then half way up the Nags a group went flying by and then another. I wasn't able to latch on but when the third group came by I was able to. I stuck with this group all the way around to Nags for the 3rd time. I did plenty of turns at the top of this group as I didn't want to fall too far back into it. 3rd time up the hill and I was struggling but somehow found an extra bit in me half way up and got back 3/4 positions.

I felt shattered but had a real sense of satisfaction. 5 weeks ago I was dropped on this course (Ben McKenna) so I was used to riding it alone I guess anyway. My last question is should I have been in group 2? Would this have served me better-in the sense that I wouldn't have been isolated so early on.

Cheers to all the organisers and marshals, I really really enjoyed it.

Raam

Sounds like someone will be moved out of group one.

El Director: make sure you go group 2 next week.

kennyb3

I would be in Shauns camp, unless you have a chance of winning the league overall what do a few points in a club league race mean? okay a win one day would be nice i guess.

But I'd prefer to hammer myself, than wait around on a group and miss some turns, with the aim of improving myself and inflicting pain on myself and others.

Raam

It's entirely possible to do work on the front and win the league, whilst winning a race along the way. :pac:

kennyb3

El Director wrote: »

My last question is should I have been in group 2?

Eh yeah, at least group 2. You ll get alot more out of a harder group.

Raam

You could even give 3 a go if you fancy.

El Director

Raam wrote: »

Sounds like someone will be moved out of group one.

El Director: make sure you go group 2 next week.

Won't be there next week so it will be the following week which is a TT. But ya, I will be in group 2 after that. I thought it better to be in group 1 for my first race but in hindsight I should have gone in G2. Thanks lads.

Raam

El Director wrote: »

Won't be there next week so it will be the following week which is a TT. But ya, I will be in group 2 after that. I thought it better to be in group 1 for my first race but in hindsight I should have gone in G2. Thanks lads.

There have actually been a fair few guys who have turned up for their first race, whilst not being a stranger to a bike, and have gone in group 1 and then ridden away from them for the win. One of my mates for starters!

El Director

Raam wrote: »

You could even give 3 a go if you fancy.

I will try 2 first for sure and sure see how that goes.