Cycling Pursuits, Broadford Co. Limerick

Toblerone1978

To get me to Broadford took a bit of a trek from the Marble City, but I glad I done it. I got a Top 10 finish (ninth methinks, my best yet) and whiel I would have taken that with both arms beforehand, given the way the race panned out, I'm a wee bit disappointed with how I did.

I took part in the A4 race, which there were 3 laps of 17km. There is a hill stuck in the middle of it, which basically was the making of the race, a great descent off it and it mostly flat otherwise.

The race started off lively enough and then we hit the hill - it was longer that most people expected, including those who went up in earlier in the day! People were being dropped like flys, but in typical A4 fashion, there was no effort to 'drive it on' after the hill, giving everyone the opportunity to catch up. Three climbs up this hill definitely tested the fitness of most A4 raides. I got dropped on the top of the hill of the last lap when eight lads broke away - I dunno if it was lack of concentration or fitness on my half. I came in shortly after this group of 8 with two others.

Great course. The hill was a killler (but good at the same time!), descents was very fast, brilliant, great fun, but the lack of ambition / drive (?) on the lap between the descent and the ascent meant that it was often crowded and a low average speed. Well marshalled, well done to the organisers.

My stats are here - I dunno why the HRM is not working.

showry

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

I got a Top 10 finish (ninth methinks, my best yet)

I'm sure I held you off on the line
I'd echo exactly what you said though, it was a great race, brilliantly organised and a good, tough course to break it up. Like you, I was disgusted to miss the split on the last ascent. Lessons learnt though.

Toblerone1978

showry wrote: »

I'm sure I held you off on the line

I'm more than happy to give myself the benefit of doubt

I'm sure there are three different stories to come from that crossing!!

michael196

yep I was there, and heres is the data : hope you can see this :

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/71590868


absolutly correct it did start off as 45/ 46 kmph . I was wearing a wexford wheeler jersy ( only one there ) and I was very near the front. three at max attempted to drive on, at the very front , however there was not enough coming through to maintain 45 /46 so there was a concious effort to slow down, by half wheeling and ducking in. it did eventually slow as the data shows....


I raced in Summerhill ( mick lally ) the day before in Meath, and honestly this Broadford race was a hell of a lot more difficult. the hill blew me !!!

I went off the back climbing the hill first time, but as you can see, i floored it as much as possible on the descent hitting 58 kmph on all three descents. I carry 13.5 stone.

catching people and forming groups. we formed a small group after the first lap , a currow person , a killorglin, and one or 2 others, and we worked around , only for the group to drop me again on the second round the hill, again on the descent I caught a lone cyclist and we worked around the whole circuit on our own , only for me to loose my partner again !! on the hill, but i did catch him again on the descent, and we rode back in togather , never letting up on the way back as I knew at least no more hills !!!

back tyre was in bits afterwards with slits and cuts etc: a Continental 4 season ,

holiday for me for a few weeks, then return to racing in april. These two races are my racing debut , first time racing in best part of 20 years !!! ( when i was 11 stone !!! )

P.S I declined the 1 minute handicap for vets > 40 !!

LeoD

Raced the A4. The hill was tough - over 3km long and on my Garmin it hit 10% at one stage. I warmed up on the hill before the race and the 2 or 3 false crests were demoralising - just when you'd think you were at the top it would stretch out in front of you for another 500m . Dropped out of lead group going up the hill on lap 2 and spent half a lap with 2 others trying to get back on but to no avail. We were caught by a group of 10-15 (which made our efforts to chase even more stupid!) a few km before the climb. Hung on for dear life up the hill the last time and got over the top around 50m behind this group but made it back on the descent for a great sprint into the finish. A great circuit although climbs longer than 1.5-2km tend to get the better of me at that pace (need to get down from 13.5st). The last corner into the finishing straight was class - would loved to have come round that bend in the lead group. Anyone know how many were in the first group?

To ROK_ON - you couldn't have picked a tougher circuit to start on! The best thing about this circuit was that the bunches got trimmed down fairly quickly making it a very safe race - something I'd like to see more of. Well done to Liam Collins/Cycling Pursuits and all the marshals for putting on a great event.

michael196

LeoD wrote: »

To ROK_ON - you couldn't have picked a tougher circuit to start on! The best thing about this circuit was that the bunches got trimmed down fairly quickly making it a very safe race - something I'd like to see more of. Well done to Liam Collins/Cycling Pursuits and all the marshals for putting on a great event.

absolutly, Summerhill in Meath was a lot easier, with a bump rather than a hill !! in comparison to Broadford.

and absolutly , apologies for ommission, well done to the organisers and marshals fro providing a safe circuit that was well marshalled. We particularily relied upon the marshall just as we re-entered boradford,as the view ahead of the road into the town was not clear.

most other junctions you could look and double check left and right .

LeoD

michael196 wrote: »

absolutly, Summerhill in Meath was a lot easier, with a bump rather than a hill !! in comparison to Broadford.

and absolutly , apologies for ommission, well done to the organisers and marshals fro providing a safe circuit that was well marshalled. We particularily relied upon the marshall just as we re-entered boradford,as the view ahead of the road into the town was not clear.

most other junctions you could look and double check left and right .

I did Summerhill also and you're right, no comparison. Very easy to 'sit on' on a circuit like that but yesterday there was nowhere to hide going up that hill, 3 times . Of course not every circuit needs to be as hilly but it would be good if Irish races had a few more humps and bumps in them to trim down the main group a bit before the finish - nothing worse than 50-60 riders approaching the finish line all thinking they have a chance of winning.

On the marshals, I trusted them 100% at every junction - especially on the descent - as that was when I was able to make up most of the ground lost on the ascent. No braking or checking left/right for me - head down all the way!

TomBarry

Did the A4. Great race, well marshalled with an excellent route. Hats off to the organisers.

Toblerone1978

LeoD wrote: »

The last corner into the finishing straight was class - would loved to have come round that bend in the lead group. Anyone know how many were in the first group?

Eight were in the first group. You're right, from the top of the hill (can we recall it a mountain now?) to the finish was pure class, great finish.

Home:Ballyhoura

Did this race yesterday too, great circuit I have to say especially because I like the hills :P

michael196

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

Eight were in the first group. You're right, from the top of the hill (can we recall it a mountain now?) to the finish was pure class, great finish.

the final descent on the last lap, you could let lash out as there were no more laps and that himalyan hill was finally behind us......

( himalyan....too much ? ?:D )

garminguy

any results?