Post Race Beers

Raam

There are two races on tomorrow, the Dublin Wheelers one which I am going to and another one a few hours later which all the Orwell guys will be at. Is anyone interested in some post race beers later in town to debrief on race tactics? Hogans?

DirkVoodoo

Can non-racers go? I'm going to do the Paddy Martin Memorial cycle, don't know what tactics I will use, maybe crying for help or sleeping in.

Raam

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Can non-racers go? I'm going to do the Paddy Martin Memorial cycle, don't know what tactics I will use, maybe crying for help or sleeping in.

Yes indeed. I should have said that this is open to everyone, of course.

barrabus

what sort of time?

Raam

barrabus wrote: »

what sort of time?

6ish, 7ish? Gives folk a chance to wash their bikes raid the fridge.

TinyExplosions

I may be persuaded to attend...

Raam

TinyExplosions wrote: »

I may be persuaded to attend...

Tiny in beer session attendance shocker!

barrabus

i could be tempted.

Chips Lovell

Gotta work.

blorg

TinyExplosions wrote: »

I may be persuaded to attend...

I hope you will at least do the Paddy Martin Memorial to justify your attendance

TinyExplosions

blorg wrote: »

I hope you will at least do the Paddy Martin Memorial to justify your attendance

I'm mountain biking today I'm afraid

DirkVoodoo

Right, I have some work to do, I was hoping to be back earlier but I don't think I will get it done before 6/7.

Oh, in case you were wondering, my tactics today involved getting towed around by a (tank-like) 61 year old chap. There, are you happy?

Raam

LDB and myself are still on if anyone else is. I saw a bit of the Orwell race after my one. I think el_tonto had a crash. I managed to spot Blorg and RogerB also.

DirkVoodoo

Raam wrote: »

I think el_tonto had a crash.

Crap, was he ok? How did your race go?

ba

i saw aidanoffbeat too. i wasnt racing, but marshalling a corner...so i saw everybody including raam.

raam, you looked good coming out of the last corner on the second lap, you were on the front. scratch were thundering down the road after ye at that point. they ate the 10min time gap:eek:

tonto, gave ya a shout out...dont know if you heard me tho...?

Raam

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Crap, was he ok? How did your race go?

He seemed fine. He was pointing to a gash on his leg as he went by.
I was doing fine in my race, then I got cramp half way around the last lap. I had to stop. I tried to get back on but I had no chance of catching the group.
Even so, it was great fun and I really enjoyed it.

Chips Lovell

Yes, wasn't a great season opener for me. Crashed on one of the first sharp bends in the course. Spent most of the first circuit on my own, working my way back up to the group. Made it, but burnt all my matches doing it. Once the semi-scratch and scratch guys started steaming past I just didn't have the legs to stay on their wheels. Just spent the past half hour cleaning my road rash. No fun.

Blorg, barrabus and aidan.offbeat all did very well.

Chips Lovell

ba wrote: »

tonto, gave ya a shout out...dont know if you heard me tho...?

No, I must have missed you. Was in my own little world of pain and shame though for a lot of it.

Did see Raam and LDB. Thanks for the cheer.

DirkVoodoo

Shame? You got back on the bike, I would have been doing my italian footballer rolling on the deck routine.

barrabus

tonto is hurting but is fine, he got back up and finished the race.
The whole thing was bloody good fun the greasy muddy roads gave it a spring classics feel;).
A bit of a school boy error by me near the end pushing it up front with a group that was way stronger than me led to me finishing a 100 metres or so behind them .. if I had sat in the middle of the group that wouldnt have happened.... you live you learn.

I think myself and blorg are going in for drink .. what time say 6 or so in Hogans?

Raam

ba wrote: »

i saw aidanoffbeat too. i wasnt racing, but marshalling a corner...so i saw everybody including raam.

raam, you looked good coming out of the last corner on the second lap, you were on the front. scratch were thundering down the road after ye at that point. they ate the 10min time gap:eek:

tonto, gave ya a shout out...dont know if you heard me tho...?

I thought I saw you. Were you wearing a DWCC hat? I wasn't sure if that was you or not.
I was feeling strong on the second lap. Our group wasn't working together at all apart from a few guys. We were very unorganised and I may have been taking too long pulls at the front.

blorg

Well that was fun. We had quite a good thing going in a group of 10 or 12 that broke off the front of the limit group with (almost) everyone sharing the work in a really continual rotation. El Tonto took a bad fall on an early corner but managed to get back up to us. We were caught by two guys from one of the other groups (one Orwell guy and another guy on a Giant, who was doing most of the work) that I then went after and the three of us stayed away for around 10km and were in front for the start of the second lap. We were caught by what I can only imagine was the scratch group just a bit before the turn back onto the Trim road- saw LDB and I think Caroline at that junction. A lot of Stagg guys IIRC.

Trim Road was a severe headwind but no-one seemed to have any interest in anything organised at that point so after a few stints on the front I sat up and tried to get some shelter. Was I think in the wrong position going up the hill just off the Trim road, I think it was around there that the bunch fragmented and the bunch the winners were in got away. We got a reasonably good co-operation going on the road back but didn't catch them; I finished at the front of the second bunch.

Second half was a hell of a lot faster once I was away with those two and then caught by the scratch- 32km/h average first half, 38km/h average second half. I think the more sensible thing to do next time would be to wait for the bunch to come by and not head off with the first two crazies!

Raam

barrabus wrote: »

I think myself and blorg are going in for drink .. what time say 6 or so in Hogans?

6 is good.

Raam

blorg wrote: »

saw LDB and I think Caroline at that junction

Ahem, that was LDB and myself!

barrabus

Raam wrote: »

Ahem, that was LDB and myself!

At the end of the race blorg's glasses were covered in mud.. that still goes no way to explaining how he managed to confuse RAAM and Caroline_ie ...
nearly a foot height in the difference, one a boy one a girl, long hair short hair ... must be all that traveling at the speed of lite ...

Caroline_ie

blorg wrote: »

saw LDB and I think Caroline at that junction.

No wasn't me. You probably confused me with Raam... cause I was at home all day.

Billy Whizz

Alright Raam, glad to hear you enjoyed the DWCC race.

Was in the semi-scratch group myself. You lads had 6 minutes on us and after a lap we knew from the time checks that we'd catch you soon enough so we kinda waited to join up with scratch. Missed the break and had no idea how many people were in it, so just stayed up front in the bunch and fortunately got a good position and leadout and squeezed a top 10.

It was a pretty tough race, a lot of lads were suffering on that last lap.

Gavin

What's the scratch/semi-scratch?

Chips Lovell

Gavin wrote: »

What's the scratch/semi-scratch?

Handicap system. Scratch would be the strongest riders, semi-scratch the second strongest and so on.

Raam

Billy Whizz wrote: »

Alright Raam, glad to hear you enjoyed the DWCC race.

Was in the semi-scratch group myself. You lads had 6 minutes on us and after a lap we knew from the time checks that we'd catch you soon enough so we kinda waited to join up with scratch. Missed the break and had no idea how many people were in it, so just stayed up front in the bunch and fortunately got a good position and leadout and squeezed a top 10.

It was a pretty tough race, a lot of lads were suffering on that last lap.

Well done, Billy Whizz. Did you see Cathal Miller there? How did he do?

Billy Whizz

Raam wrote: »

Well done, Billy Whizz. Did you see Cathal Miller there? How did he do?

I saw him after the race, no idea how he got on. Will you be heading up to Navan for the Cycleways Cup?

Raam

Billy Whizz wrote: »

I saw him after the race, no idea how he got on. Will you be heading up to Navan for the Cycleways Cup?

I saw him at the start and thought "oh shít".
I don't think I'll go to Navan, are you? I'm not ready for proper big bunch racing. I was quite nervous at the start today and in the first lap. I got more comfortable in the second lap. I figure doing the Swords league races will get me conditioned and hardened.

Mr. Skeffington

Good race today, very dirty conditions, just after cleaning the bike, didnt know that there were going to be so many people from Boards at the DWCC race I thought that most people were doing the Orwell race, sorry I missed yous, only really know ba.

blorg

I think I saw Caroline first and she then morphed into LDB and stabilised in that form. Didn't perceive Raam, he may have been standing sideways at the time.

Raam

I'm heading in now. Will be there for about 6.30

Billy Whizz

Raam wrote: »

I saw him at the start and thought "oh shít".
I don't think I'll go to Navan, are you? I'm not ready for proper big bunch racing. I was quite nervous at the start today and in the first lap. I got more comfortable in the second lap. I figure doing the Swords league races will get me conditioned and hardened.

I'm only new to bunch riding myself, never mind racing. You just have to be confident in your bike-handling skills and know how to follow a wheel. Most important though is to be able to move around in the bunch, moving on to a guy's wheel who is moving up and then slotting back into the paceline without exposing yourself to the wind. You can conserve a lot of energy by riding smart.

I'll be off to Navan, should be fun!

zzzzzzzz

That was fairly tough alright. Fair play to you tonto for getting back on after the crash - as I said to you on the way back, I nearly went over on the same patch of mud. The other groups got slowed right down by the marshalls coming up to that corner apparently.

First lap was alright but when the pace went up and the other groups started passing us it was very tough.

Tried to stay with one of the groups that passed us (semi-scratch I think but could be wrong) but my chain came off just as I had caught the last wheel. Tried to get back on but was really hurting and couldn't manage it.

Think if we were a bit more organised from the start we could have stayed away a lot longer. Was talking to a friend of mine who was in the scratch group and he said that we got a 10 minute lead over them to start with. He reckoned they were doing 40-50k/h in scratch from the start.

Was good craic alright - looking forward to the next one.

And blorg - that's a great finish for your first race. Fair play to you.

ba

raam, that was me wearing the dwcc hat. think i popped the oaks on 'em too. was carrying a camera for most of it...didnt really get to use it cos i was waving a red flag...bummer.

ba

were you drinking your water? cramps can often result if you dont. 3laps of that circuit...shoulda had 2 empty bottles at the end.

Raam

ba wrote: »

were you drinking your water? cramps can often result if you dont. 3laps of that circuit...shoulda had 2 empty bottles at the end.

I had one bottle with a Nuun. It was 75% empty. I defo wasn't drinking enough. There's a lesson there.

ba

could be it. i normally drink loads of water the day before, and the morning of the race... then stopping 1hr before race start so that i dont need to pee when on the bike.

check yourself out!



ya can spot stephen halpin wearing the yellow baseball cap in the distance... the eventual winner. solo break, nice.
btw, whats with the spesh raam?

Raam

ha ha, there I am. That's LDB beside me.

Raam

ba wrote: »

btw, whats with the spesh raam?

Do you mean why wasn't I on the Cervelo? I didn't want to turn up to my first race on too bling a bike.

TinyExplosions

Raam wrote: »

Do you mean why wasn't I on the Cervelo? I didn't want to turn up to my first race on too bling a bike.

That's tactics right there!

zzzzzzzz

Found some pics of the Orwell/Usher/Lucan race

https://cid-27d43e783e033be3.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Lucan/2009-02

Chips Lovell

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

Found some pics of the Orwell/Usher/Lucan race

https://cid-27d43e783e033be3.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Lucan/2009-02

Doesn't seem to be pics there.

Chips Lovell

Ah, they've reappeared

Raam

el tonto wrote: »

Ah, they've reappeared

They ain't appearing for me, even after signing in

Chips Lovell

I can only see the thumbnails

zzzzzzzz

weird - i can click in to the thumbnails - I don't need to sign in or anything

Maybe if you go through the link on this page it'll work

http://www.cyclinglucan.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=568&Itemid=75

or maybe it's the browser you're using

Chips Lovell

More importantly, are any of us in them?