Orwell/Lucan/Usher/Tiernans Club champs changed to DMS

mc2000

Just so people know, the champs tonight (1st July) have been changed to a DMS instead. Which gives some of us mere mortals a reason to go out to Brittas , instead of being chewed up and spat out :eek:

http://www.orwellwheelers.org/forum/5-racing/708-rr-championships-mass-start-1st-july.html#730

http://www.cyclinglucan.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=205:club-championships-2010-details&catid=51:club-league-2010&Itemid=70

http://www.irishroadclub.com/index.php?news=238

Lumen

Ah balls, I conceded a night in minding the kids 'cos it was supposed to be a mass start and I couldn't be arsed going out to Brittas to be dropped 10 seconds into the race.

Is it not possible to make these decisions with slightly more notice?

</moan>

DirkVoodoo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjJZudJ3xos

This means the course is unchanged then? Huzzah, loose chippings for everyone!

mc2000

@Lumen ...time to put those negotiating skills into practice.... learn from the master.....

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2010/06/negotiating-a-leave-pass/#more-11893


[with thanks to tunney who originally posted the above http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055946329]

barrabus

Can someone check if the horrible descent is on the route , I cant remember my club forum login...

mc2000

well it's stated on the Orwell forum [which is publicly viewable] that:

"This year's road race championships has been moved to Saturday 7th of August in an effort to get the largest turnout possible. The race for this Thursday will go ahead, but it'll be a DMS, no bonus points or medals. It'll be the usual Red lane circuit, 3 laps, finishing just before Manor Kilbride. If the surface on the descent is still dodgy we'll change the finish as appropriate.

There will also be underage races this Thursday in Brittas."

...so looks like they'll make a decision there at the race itself.

velo.2010

I recce'd the bit I was unfamiliar with yesterday-From N81 down to the small lake bridge. Awful surface and narrow road not to mention the two stretches further on that were re-surfaced. Loose chippings have formed into peaks down the centre of the road.
I'll stick to working on my TTing for the moment.

DirkVoodoo

We really aren't as good as the swords lads when it comes to reports, are we?

montac

Dirk
I see you're on the move! You and Rodney on your way to Semi Limit. It's getting more and more lonely in Limit...
You recovered well from your dropped chain last night - well done!

Lumen

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

We really aren't as good as the swords lads when it comes to reports, are we?

Race report please

RobFowl

Results ???
Rooting for MC200 but his spectacular lack of a sprint prob didn't help

DirkVoodoo

Ok, well it was another DMS race so Dave said to let the semi-limit group disappear up the road and then head off. We had to wait for a line of traffic to pass also so they had a bit of a gap.

Off we went, pretty fast and into a not so pleasant headwind. The 9 man limit group was working well, no hangers on this week and the fact we were given 2 laps over the rest of the groups' 3 was showing in the pace. No early breaks.

Turning off the N81 we saw the back of semi-limit up ahead already in the turn. There was no attacking here, I think everyone knew that the pace was high and the wind strong enough to nullify anything. Plus maybe it's me but a smaller group means that every move seems to be marked, it's hard to be sneaky.

Going over the bridge the wind was fierce. The new deep section wheels started kicking like a mule. Should have brought lighter wheels?

Heading up the drag to the old finish line, disaster struck! I made the mistake of thinking I could spin up the hill and my chain dropped off as I shifted into the small ring. I called puncture (I think!) and moved over. The lead car (at the back, is it a rear car?) passed me as I dismounted and fumbled with the chain. I got back on and tried to get rid of any thoughts of "race over". It was on a drag so I had a hope of getting on and there was no wind. Went hard up the hill and saw them crest the hill. I noticed they were slowing up a good bit on the descent, although the surface was much improved this week I guess there were a few nerves. Went hard down the hill and managed to catch back on, relieved and a little tired but knowing that I had a plan for an attack.

Second lap was a lot more fun, there were a good few attacks. Not winning attacks but ones that stretched the legs and made you sprint. Dave and Conor were looking strong as usual and there was a new Orwell guy who looked decent. Rodney, who just seems to get stronger as a race goes on (every week, weirdo!) made his move before the bridge. I went across and caught him but it took me forever to move up and take a go with the wind. "Let's go, death or glory!" he shouted at me as we made an attempt to get away. It wasn't happening, despite feeling like we were going hard we couldn't shake the guys behind.

Eased up a bit until the drag when I got to the front and started winding it up. Pace wasn't crazy as this was a hilltop finish but once I neared the old finish line I went. Was there a sonic boom in my wake? Probably not, but I felt like I was going well and a gap was opening. Rodney got across to me as I threw caution to the (head)wind and did what I did on lap 1: power down that hill.

At this point I think my brain was melting so I might need clarification. We had a gap, I kept looking around to see the chasers but I was fading and wasn't feeling a sprint was on the cards. Or at least not a sprint that would have remained upright. I kind of cruised over the line with Rodney edging me for first. Dave was there and his report after was one of confusion. Apparently I just seemed to sit up. 2nd place, more importantly though is I got promoted to semi-limit at last!

Need to use Garmin autostart. Forgot to turn it on for most of the race. Anyone else got numbers?

EDIT: Full results here. Had to go marshall the end of the other races and saw Diarmuid sprint over the line with daylight on the chasers. Fully earned the promotion to SS, the guy is a horse!

Lumen

Well done Dirk and Diarmuid on promotions.

About bloody time too Dirk!

barrabus

for the record the horrible stretch of a few weeks back is fine.
i missed diarmuid and co's break away, only a small few were doing any work in the rest of semi-limit so we didn't catch em.
managed to break clear from chasing group on drag (where finish often is) but got caught on on the way back up into kilbride.

good race tho ..
In 4 weeks the brittas race is up sally gap which should be interesting...

Lumen

barrabus wrote: »

In 4 weeks the brittas race is up sally gap which should be interesting...

Oh great, Diarmuid has been promoted but Dirk is now in semi-limit.

Dave Mc: He giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other.

Time for some psychops I think.

dave.obrien

It was a little confusing in the Limit group alright... It seemed like Dirk popped in the last 50m_having been the strongest rider in the group for the entire thing! For me, I don't know what's happening, but I feel like I'm getting worse! Severe stitch meant I lost contact coming off the N81 on the second lap. Had a bit of a Jens moment and said "shut up stomach!" and managed to catch back on just in time for the hill, but wasn't comfortable on the way down it. Managed to get myself into position that I should have taken third, but it was a bit too much at the time. Had it been another 200m away, I think I could have had a better chance of just catching my breath, but no complaints by me, the right people won it. I think in terms of race fitness, I'm coming along, but race smartness is still in it's infancy!

Congrats to Dirk and Rodney, you should slot in the SL without any problems.

DirkVoodoo

Definitely getting stronger Dave, I wouldn't worry about that.

EDIT: On first read I thought you said "Dirk pooped in last 50m", that would have been something! Yep, I think my legs left me, need to dig deeper!

mc2000

holy crap, that was a hard race. I was in semi-limit, and while we went off ok, and the first bit down the n81 was a grand pace, going down the Red Lane at the right hander at the bottom I managed to get myself into a real crap position and was one of the last out of the corner, with the result that I'd let a bloody 50ft gap open up just after the corner, and I had to burst my ar$e to get back on. First time over the hill was fine, and the chippings bit on the downhill is fine now as well. I think back on the main N81 road again the bunch split in half with that strong wind, and with the group being small enough, it was quite tough.

Initially, no real co-ordinated effort to chase them down happened, but by the time we'd crested the hill the 2nd time, there was a lot more effort being put in to catch them [although at this point I was going thru various shades of pain]. It is my humble recollection that after we went down thru kilbride the 2nd time, the speed in the chasing group had gone up a good bit, I was really feeling it. All the time the chasing group could see the group in front, the bloody hound could see the rabbit, and I was suffering big time. At the end of the 3rd lap, I just about managed to hang on over the last crest of the hill, and finished with that chasing group.

Effin' knackered after it

Well done to Rodney on his win - that sneaky racing with the Vets is obviously doing him some good.:D

Some stats in the attached file

dave.obrien

In fairness, catching back on like that after dropping a chain, and then heading straight for the front and powering up the next hill(!) probably cost you more than you expected!With yourself and Rodney gone now, I reckon the Limit group will be caught by the SL's a lot earlier! Mass races, woohoo!

Diarmuid

Better document my moment of glory before it gets stale!

Starting into the headwind, nobody wanted to stick their nose in the front. A few hundred meters before the turn off the N81, I took a pop off the front to see who was interested in racing. One guy from Lucan bridged up to me but we only stayed away for a few minutes before sitting up. I formed my plan of action then. Wait for the hill on the second lap, get a break going and with the headwind on the main road, the chasing group won't be able to get it together to catch us.

One lap later, a UCD lad was a few hundred meters up the road wearing himself out, I moved up through the group with two others (Pat from Orwell and ANother, who were in on the plan), on my wheel. It was still the same up the front. No one working and the two lads at the front encouraging others to pull through. Well I did. And kept going. I could hear the abuse as I hit the hill. Sweet sweet abuse.

Unfortunately my two co-conspirators didn't make it and about 3k up the road another group of 5 had formed behind me. I sat up, waited for them and then it was just a case of some vocal encouragement to get everyone to do their bit. We caught the UCD lad pretty fast and he joined us. It took a lot of "encouragement" but we worked well keeping our distance from the pack.

For the first time, I've understood what "having good legs" meant, so when we hit hill for the last time I put the foot down. It wasn't a real attack but more like upping the tempo. I looked behind after about 1min but everyone was still there. I kept the pressure on and suddenly there was a gap, and it was growing. By the brow of the hill I had about 100m.

Head down from that point out, cursing the idea of changing the finish line, I kept the pedals going round and once the finish line was within 30m, I looked behind myself (for the 20th time) , sat up and raised my arms. Semi scratch here I come.