What kind of a standard would you need to be at for A4 racing?

ChickenBalls

Loved reading this thread especially Happyhappy's post who I personally know, looking forward to seeing him back out there.

My story is one I hope will help people starting out in cycling and planning to move to A4 racing - my background is of the running nature turned Triathlete in the last few years. Did Barcelona Ironman last year in 11Hr 30mins - the cycle was fine for me kept my heart rate/speed consistent throughout so knew how to gauge it. This year I joined Bray Wheelers and did a few weekend spins which are fine usually 26-29kph with 800-1000m at most. Started my first club race back in May and while nobody knew what group(usually groups 1 to Scratch[10]) I was to be in I told them I cycle 200-250km a week on a good week and immediately was put into group 6 - All I remember from that first race was.... "Blown Away!" there was 4 of us and while I'm still getting use to cycling in groups the up and overs were so intense that I was spent after 10km (was averaging 40kph) way too fast for me. Every other group passed me out I came in paddy last about 10 mins after everyone was finished, averaged 33kph in that - didn't care cause it couldn't get any worse than this! Determined, I kept up the weekly club races, the second week I was slotted into group 3 were I was dropped two weeks in a row, distances of 27-30km races. Each week I improved slightly and then popped up into group 4 cause of my TT time which is strong-ish of course So after 10 or so club races(only finishing ahead of the scratch group once) and with the season nearing an end I planned to do Stafford 2 day but got wind of the Gorey GP (14th August) so decided with that as my maiden race. I recommend it as it’s safe enough if you can call a cycle race safe. It’s a 4 lap 18.5km roundabout to roundabout route. Great day, weather was perfect - race debriefing done, A2/A3 riders gone, the nerves set in, surrounded by 60 other A4 cyclists (only my 2nd time in this sized group which I only lasted 11km in our yearly club champ race) we set off behind the lead car it felt very Tour de France peloton to me. The plan was to stay with the group for 20km before being spat out the back and plod around on my own but amazingly I kept up or more like dragging along it was a surreal experience cycling 39/40 average which I’ve never been able to do before but this was really my first big group cycle in fairness. About 40km in I decided to move up into the top 20ish just to keep out of any trouble in case of any crashes. Course had a few slight hills and it felt very slow whenever we came to them so one time I just went ahead of the group to catch two people who broke away, reeled them in and took it easy as that effort took me a lap to recover from! The kms kept building up and after we hit 60km and 4 caffeine gels I was convinced I’d make it to the end – wired to the moon from caffeine I started to position myself for the final 5km and distanced a few markers to the finish line but that all came to a halt when 7km from the finish someone crashed ahead (hard shoulder came to a close so rider decided to jump in!) – I managed to stop right in front of the rider on the ground curled up in a ball, I was just about to fall on him but just about clipped out and got my foot to ground… phew! Went round him on my way to chase the peloton down. I got maybe to within 50/60 metres of them but the effort I put in got to me and that was that no hope of catching them. Kept working away for last 5 km and while some turned off before the finish to the car park I wasn’t doing that I continued to the finish line job done all in one piece – speed was 39.5kph with the peloton but after the crash dropped to 37.8kph; goes to show how much difference it can be. Great experience I’m pretty much hooked – I don’t know why I waited so long! For anyone out there give it try it’s the only way, you’ll be surprised how the peloton keeps you going.

Iwernia

A superb write up from one of our A4 club members who was in the recent Tour of Omagh A4 race.
So close but yet so far.

https://www.facebook.com/donegaltowncyclingclub/?fref=nf

bryangiggsy

Did my 2nd A4 race yday at the North Down Gp. My background is triathlon so fitness not an issue. Extremely hard to get away in A4 especially when the wind is blowing. Tried to jump a couple of times off front but was reeled in both times. How best I would describe the 2 races I have done so far is a procession at 38kph average with surges and slow down every couple of k. It's quite hairy as people are constantly trying to move up on the outside and get back in line before a car comes in the other direction. There was a bad smash yday with 4 or 5 going down after I think someone cut in....the unpleasant noise of crunching carbon . Luckily I was on the inside away from it. No one seriously hurt thankfully. I would not attempt a4 racing until you have a number of club league races under your belt..just to get used to riding at speed with numbers. Having said that you will not be fully prepared as a4 races have large fields usually unlike club races. Hand signals are very important too before changing your line.