Shay Elliot Memorial Race and SHA3 April 26th 2014

Lusk_Doyle · 26-04-2014 4:29pm

Inquitus wrote: »

Damien Shaw and Eddie Dunbar who then finished 1st and 2nd in that order, apparently they put over 2 mins into everyone else.

They were waaaaaaay ahead of anybody else when I saw them so no surprise there. the wind was a killer down there so that's great riding.

buffalo · 26-04-2014 4:36pm

From Bray Wheelers' Twitter/Black Umbrella Facebook:

doozerie · 26-04-2014 4:43pm

Just back from watching this on the Shay Elliot, we were positioned about 1km from the top. What a manky day to be on the bike, I was in the car and it felt miserable even in that. Fair play to the riders for persevering, and to the marshals too.

My daughter's enthusiasm to clang the cowbell didn't last until the day itself, so I was left trying to juggle both taking photos and also ringing the bell, both of which I did badly. I might upload some of the photos later if any of them are anything other than a blurred and rain-speckled mess. My daughter just yelled enthusiasm from the relative comfort of the car and occasionally blew her trumpet out the window, that seemed to raise a smile from some of the less shattered looking riders on the climb.

doozerie · 26-04-2014 4:56pm

Hey buffalo, were you racing today? Yelling for you was the prime motivation for my daughter being there (she'd happily have stayed at home in her pyjamas instead - life as a 4yr old absolutely rocks!). I wasn't sure if you were in the main bunch that went past, neither of us spotted you if so.

For the first 10 minutes of the drive home all I heard was "I didn't see <buffalo>. I'm sad that I didn't see him". And when I showed her the results you posted above just now, which I described as a list of the riders that got points, the first question she asked was "Did <buffalo> get points?". She should be a coach, she has something that no adult coach has - a stock of doe-eyed disappointed facial expressions that would guilt improved performances out of the hardest of hearts

Max_Charger · 26-04-2014 4:59pm

Was Dunbar only allowed junior gearing today?

Pawlie · 26-04-2014 5:03pm

Max_Charger wrote: »

Was Dunbar only allowed junior gearing today?

I'm almost sure that's all he is allowed to use until next year

Max_Charger · 26-04-2014 5:06pm

Pawlie wrote: »

I'm almost sure that's all he is allowed to use until next year

If that's the case his result today is incredible tbh.

Plastik · 26-04-2014 5:58pm

He had dispensation to ride the main event along with about five or six others that CyclingIreland requested. Stephen Shanahan in 9th was also on that list. There's no change to the gearing though and they're stuck with a 14 as the biggest they can turn on the rear.

The A3 was as hard as I was expecting it to be. I was with the main bunch turning on to the Elliott but I had to ride it at a pace that would see me to the top and through the 35km afterwards. Picked up a few, dropped a few, and the last gap I got we were 3 from the front and 1 from the next group on the road. Disappointing not to have finished a little further up but the legs from the start didn't feel particularly spritely.

I'm trying to think of a word for the A3 course, and as someone said earlier, sensational sums it up nicely. It has absolutely everything. The miserable weather just added to the pleasure of getting it done!

Thanks to everyone that turned up! We thought the A3 might have been a little better supported than it was but there was still a good size field. Given the weather predictions I'm not massively surprised that some guys chose not to race.

Plastik · 26-04-2014 6:32pm

Full results of all races http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/full-results-for-all-races-at-the-shay-elliott-memorial-promoted-by-bray-wheelers/

buffalo · 26-04-2014 7:34pm

doozerie wrote: »

Hey buffalo, were you racing today? Yelling for you was the prime motivation for my daughter being there (she'd happily have stayed at home in her pyjamas instead - life as a 4yr old absolutely rocks!). I wasn't sure if you were in the main bunch that went past, neither of us spotted you if so.

I'm still in recovery mode - need a bit more at the moment, but am planning to race tomorrow. Hoping all the big guns will have caught hypothermia from today, and I'll waltz to the win. Easy, right?

smurphy29 · 27-04-2014 9:31pm

Epic racing. A great route, foul conditions, one killer climb and some super-fast descending. These selective races tell you exactly where you are, and for me it played out pretty much the same as Nenagh; a group of five or so starlets, another group of 10 or so and then me in the next group; this time there were about 10 of us together. It's all about working hard to get to the level where I can make the next group up.

Surprisingly small peloton; perhaps everyone was exhausted after last weekend? Anyway, it was sort of nice to be in a less than huge peloton and found it easier to hold position. Got to the turn for the Shay in the first 10, which was the plan, but didn't have the legs to stay there.

It felt like a wipe-out was inevitable on the serpentine descent to Rathdrum. I gather with the climb out of the village a handful of riders never got back on.

Chapeau to Bray for such a great spread. I know the Orwell Randonee carrot cake gets talked about in a kind of hushed awe, but there's a new sheriff in town...

manwithaplan · 27-04-2014 10:49pm

Very tough day alright but the racing was too lively to worry about the conditions. After being active for the first 35k, I got away with two others just after Rathdrum. We were caught by a couple of juniors just at the turn onto the Elliott. I couldn't hold Daire Feely's wheel going up so climbed away with one other lad behind him. I was passed by another couple of juniors and then maybe three others on the way up. Was about 7th going over the top.

Hammered it down but ended up in the second group on the road which swelled to 10 or so. We never saw the first five again. After a very sketchy gravelly descent somewhere or other, it turned out we were only about a kilometre from the finish. I now know this but had no clue at the time (I wasn't the only one - some lad from Blarney who had just done a brilliant descent and could have pushed on sat up and waited for us). Started moving up too late but probably wouldn't have made the points anyway. Just outside the top ten overall - I'll claim an imaginary first vet prize.

Great day on a bike and a brilliant show by Bray Wheelers.

Chips Lovell · 28-04-2014 12:43pm

Thanks to Bray Wheelers for putting on such an amazing race. It takes a serious amount of manpower to stage something like this but despite the challenge, it was an impeccably run and marshalled event.

Even the rain made it feel that bit more epic.

Shay Elliot Memorial Race and SHA3 April 26th 2014

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