Stamullen Weekender

nomadic

So who's racing what at the weekend?

I'm just going to do the A3 on Sunday. It sounds tasty. Is there an actual KOM prize for the climb? I've heard not but the map on irish cycling has a KOM marked on it.

fondriest

Does anyone know what the circuit is like for sunday? i know its supposed to be hilly but are the roads in good nick and what is the finish like? Thanks.

GlennaMaddy

Sunday surface is average, no major ravines that I'm aware of, descent climb for the skinnies fast and straight descent for fat blokes

Lumen

fondriest wrote: »

Does anyone know what the circuit is like for sunday? i know its supposed to be hilly but are the roads in good nick and what is the finish like? Thanks.

This was the circuit last year. This was the profile (shows 2 laps).

Apologies for screenshots, but it gives an idea. There is enough time to get back on after the climb.

jimbo28

hope to do this also. going in the A4. wasnt that fit this time last year so hoping to have a better showing. from what i can remember i got dropped on the second climb and had to burst me balls to get back on the back of the bunch. wasnt the only one mind you, one or 2 more of the established boardsies were right ther with me:). aim is to get the points to get upgraded to A3 this year, so will see how it goes.

shaungil

Ah that chase was hard work alright Jimbo, We caught them just coming back into Balscadden.

Fri and Sat for me domestics don't work for me on Sunday thankfully. That hill :eek:Then Gorey next week and al my brownie points are gone so I'll be easing back on the races for the next few month.

jimbo28

thought you might take the bait alright shaungil .may do saturday myself, may see first if im allowed go both days!

uberwolf

Saturday for me as well

cipo

Lads, anyone know if Friday night's race is handicapped or just all in together???

Dave

shaungil

last year was handicapped and they had some primes for each lap too so was worth staying away. A4 first last year on our own. No idea about gaps etc.

DirkVoodoo

Sunday, looking forward to it!

tawfeeredux

Sunday for definite, might give the Saturday race a go too.

The Sunday race is listed on the CI calendar as 110km. I'm assuming that's for the A+/1/2s. Does anyone know what the A3 distance is?

DirkVoodoo

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Sunday for definite, might give the Saturday race a go too.

The Sunday race is listed on the CI calendar as 110km. I'm assuming that's for the A+/1/2s. Does anyone know what the A3 distance is?

70km or so, 4 passes of the circuit.

morana

Sunday is a tough race and so is Saturday. That circuit is really good for Sat its fast and up and down suits an attacker!

Friday is for the sprinters although it was won by Mark dowling last year on his own iirc. If I was doing the gorey and had hopes of doing somehting in the race I would do all 3 but just glass cranking.

buffalo

Sunday for definite, maybe Saturday as well if my legs recover from last night's non-race.

I know Sunday sign-on is Gormanston College Leisure Centre, anyone know where Saturday's sign-on is? Same place? Somewhere in Balscadden?

Chips Lovell

buffalo wrote: »

Sunday for definite, maybe Saturday as well if my legs recover from last night's non-race.

I know Sunday sign-on is Gormanston College Leisure Centre, anyone know where Saturday's sign-on is? Same place? Somewhere in Balscadden?

Last time I did it, it was in the pub in Balscadden.

Saturday's race is a nice circuit, a bit up and down, with an uphill finish.

Sunday's one is a bit savage with that climb of Snowtown.

kennyb3

Balscadden per here, so id say the pub. Only really a pub and a church in it

killalanerr

heading out tonight to get a bit of speed into the legs in the uk on moto marshal duties for the rest of the weekend,but not sure i would have went even if i could as im finding it hard to stay with the pace over the hills
the sig on in Balscadden on sat is handy to find take the middle exit for balbriggan off the M1 head for the town and after the roundabout take the left into the side road,then take the 2nd left and pub is on the left ,the surface on the hill out of stamullen is in bits but other than that its not bad

pprendeville

Interesting ride tonight. Fast race. Learned a lot. Took off on 3rd lap and near last corner I was burned. Whole group overtook me in no time and before I knew it I was dropped. Good learning experience. Well done to Cosman who came in 7th.

Road on 3rd stretch was absolutely diabolical. Left my glasses in jaxx and when I went back for them they were gone. Doh. Lucky not to get a stone in the eye.

Must get me some Swords gear soon so I fit in.

Beasty

It looked like they filled a lot of potholes with loose gravel, which managed to spread itself across the road

Race was won by Martyn Irvine with Paul Kennedy second, and shaungil getting 5th

The first group held a 2 minute handicap over the A1/A2 group for most of the race, but 4 riders, including Irvine and Kennedy, broke away. They were still 48 seconds down entering the final lap, but managed to reel them in shortly before the line. The main A1/A2 bunch were still a couple of minutes down, and it was a tremendous effort by the 4 in the break to bridge across to the A3/A4 group

Here is the sprint to the line:



Looks like morana may have placed well also

A few more photos here

morana

My run to the line was blocked. Unfortunate because I felt ok! well done to the swords lads. looking like a team with every race.

the lad on the cyclocross bike was very strong and of course the Honorary Treasurer did a great job for first race!

J Madone

Well done Morana
Great race very fast and lots of gravel

uberwolf

any word on how todays crashers are?

easygoing39

How many km is the A4 race on Sunday?? Cheers

emtroche

uberwolf wrote: »

any word on how todays crashers are?

Simon O'Dea fractured his shoulder. Even more of a bummer considering he finished 4th yesterday.

Staro

emtroche wrote: »

Simon O'Dea fractured his shoulder. Even more of a bummer considering he finished 4th yesterday.

Get well soon Simon, hope to see you back asap.

Diarmuid

Did Simon fall?! That sucks, he has been motoring all season. I was on the left when the first lad went down. Didn't really see what happened after that.

Lumen

Hope Simon recovers quickly, he was making an awful howling noise as I passed.

This race (Monie Nolan) was definitely harder than last years one - around 3kph faster. A3 and A4 went off together (A4 got a start last year I think), and the pace was pretty savage in the first lap before calming down a bit.

Shaungil correctly predicted that we'd get a small handicap and get caught early (3rd lap?). I was feeling a bit nervous/cautious/slow so went round at the back, and by the end of the fourth lap was starting to get dropped. I got back on in the 5th lap just in time to slow up for the crash, but was too far back to wheelsuck my way back on and blew up on the hill.

Stats compared with last year (but for 2011 only first 38km until dropped):

2010: 37.4kph, 252W (267W normalised), 176bpm. Near the front.
2011: 40.6kph, 231W (250W normalised), 167bpm. Off the back.

Need more fitness!

Good luck to those doing the GP today.

morana

Lumen wrote: »

Stats compared with last year (but for 2011 only first 38km until dropped):

2010: 37.4kph, 252W (267W normalised), 176bpm. Near the front.
2011: 40.6kph, 231W (250W normalised), 167bpm. Off the back.

Need more fitness!

Good luck to those doing the GP today.

...or better positioning?

bad news for Simon. Very honest , good rider. I didnt know there was a crash until we came around and the traffic was stopped. Hope he recovers quickly!

emtroche

Lumen wrote: »

Hope Simon recovers quickly, he was making an awful howling noise as I passed.

Thats was probably from the nettles!

jimbo28

Did the A4 today. a bit disappointed with my result but what about it. Was very similar to last years race.Semmed to be alot of hairy riding in the bunch so i tried to stay to the front as much as possible. gave an aul dig coming out of balscadden and stayed away until just before the second time up the hill. the bunch split on the hill but all came back together again.kept my placing up the front coming into the finish but had no kick left for the sprint. held on for sixth but i had other ideas this morning. ah well the season is long yet. not making excuses but i think i need to sort out my gearing, was slipping like f@uk on the climbs, couldnt get any momentum going at all.

nomadic

A bunch of about 12 got away on the second lap of the a3 and stayed away. I think a couple bridged at some stage too. I finished in the bunch. I couldn't fathom most of the riding in the bunch today. No one bothering to do a tap of work but loads of pointless attempted breaks. Surely if the 20 odd who tried to break used their energy a little more constructively we'd have brought the break back. Thats a3 racing for you . Great loop though, the climb is a real tester.

zzzzzzzz

nomadic wrote: »

A bunch of about 12 got away on the second lap of the a3 and stayed away. I think a couple bridged at some stage too. I finished in the bunch. I couldn't fathom most of the riding in the bunch today. No one bothering to do a tap of work but loads of pointless attempted breaks. Surely if the 20 odd who tried to break used their energy a little more constructively we'd have brought the break back. Thats a3 racing for you . Great loop though, the climb is a real tester.

I wouldn't say that they were all pointless... some got across! Bridging to the break is better than dragging the whole bunch up to them unless you've got a savage kick to win a bunch gallop after chasing down a break.

nomadic

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

I wouldn't say that they were all pointless... some got across!

I think the few who broke on the climb on the 3rd lap were the only few to get across. People were still trying to break from the bunch on the last lap when the break was long gone.

nomadic

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

Bridging to the break is better than dragging the whole bunch up to them unless you've got a savage kick to win a bunch gallop after chasing down a break.

Bridging and dragging the bunch aren't the only 2 options. Obviously no one has told the a3 bunch but surely 10+ people working could get the break back. The bunch pretty much sat up after the 3rd lap.

velo.2010

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

I wouldn't say that they were all pointless... some got across! Bridging to the break is better than dragging the whole bunch up to them unless you've got a savage kick to win a bunch gallop after chasing down a break.

HOw did you get on Aiden, any Orwell A3 points scorers?

morana

nomadic wrote: »

Bridging and dragging the bunch aren't the only 2 options. Obviously no one has told the a3 bunch but surely 10+ people working could get the break back. The bunch pretty much sat up after the 3rd lap.

Depends really. I attacked as much as I could to try get away. I wouldnt ride after the break from the bunchexcept if itwas astage race and I was defending something but if in a small group of course I would. As you say thats A3 racing for you. everytime you go you look around to see 1 long thin(ish) line.

so heres a scenario you have a group of 12 riders up the road all from 1 team only, so what do you do when a rider tries to go across?
we had 2 riders today,. had he made the break or I made it we would have still being jumping like crazy to get away. why because the odss go from 12-1 to 13-2 so thats better for us.

But look as I always say we are only playing! enjoy it.

zzzzzzzz

It depends how you look at it I guess... I had a team mate in the break and was marking any attacks going in the hope of someone bridging across and me getting a free ride.

I can't say it's how I like to ride races, but if I'd contributed to any chase and brought someone across that then went on to beat my team mate it would be bad form.

tawfeeredux

I was one of the ones that bridged across in the A3. I suppose it was a bit risky given I had a clubmate in the break, so I was conscious of trying to make a clean break & avoid dragging the bunch with me. Got away cleanly though & got as far as Balscadden before I saw 4 chasers coming up to me. Waited for them & together we worked well to eventually catch the bigger group on the start of the main climb the last time round. A few guys got dropped here & a bunch of 12-13 stayed away to the end. Not everyone working though. Ian from UCD did a huge amount of work, i helped out as best I could, especially on the drags, guys from Blarney & Cuchulainn too. Blarney had a go going over the motorway on the way back, but couldn't get away. Came down to a sprint in the end & a lad from Henry J Lyons took the win. Ended up 11th myslef. Happy to pick up a prize, but the lack of a sprint is letting me down big time. Clubmate Eugene Murtagh picked up the A2, well done Eugene! had a good chat with jimbo28 after (might see you in the Connacht league at some stage over the summer Jim!).

morana

tawfeeredux wrote: »

I was one of the ones that bridged across in the A3. I suppose it was a bit risky given I had a clubmate in the break, so I was conscious of trying to make a clean break & avoid dragging the bunch with me. Got away cleanly though & got as far as Balscadden before I saw 4 chasers coming up to me. Waited for them & together we worked well to eventually catch the bigger group on the start of the main climb the last time round. A few guys got dropped here & a bunch of 12-13 stayed away to the end. Not everyone working though. Ian from UCD did a huge amount of work, i helped out as best I could, especially on the drags, guys from Blarney & Cuchulainn too. Blarney had a go going over the motorway on the way back, but couldn't get away. Came down to a sprint in the end & a lad from Henry J Lyons took the win. Ended up 11th myslef. Happy to pick up a prize, but the lack of a sprint is letting me down big time. Clubmate Eugene Murtagh picked up the A2, well done Eugene! had a good chat with jimbo28 after (might see you in the Connacht league at some stage over the summer Jim!).

and your teamate came back as well.

nomadic

morana wrote: »

Depends really. I attacked as much as I could to try get away. I wouldnt ride after the break from the bunchexcept if itwas astage race and I was defending something but if in a small group of course I would. As you say thats A3 racing for you. everytime you go you look around to see 1 long thin(ish) line.

so heres a scenario you have a group of 12 riders up the road all from 1 team only, so what do you do when a rider tries to go across?
we had 2 riders today,. had he made the break or I made it we would have still being jumping like crazy to get away. why because the odss go from 12-1 to 13-2 so thats better for us.

But look as I always say we are only playing! enjoy it.

I get the club mate up the road thing but not every club had someone in the break (I had a club mate up the road aswell but **** it, he can look after himself). You'd be the perfect example of someone who would've probably done well if it came back together.

easygoing39

Jimbo28,you did well to get 6th considering youre solo effort out on youre own for all those km's.The climb on the last lap split the A4's down to a group of 30ish for the road home from the Naul to the finish.

pprendeville

easygoing39 wrote: »

Jimbo28,you did well to get 6th considering youre solo effort out on youre own for all those km's.The climb on the last lap split the A4's down to a group of 30ish for the road home from the Naul to the finish.

2nd lap climb almost killed me. Went flying off with Ryaner from Swords. Think there was a group of 3-4 at the front? Passed a group of 4 on the way and were caught by same group on the hill. They accelerated passing us and had to bust a gut to stay on the tail guys wheel.

Honk Jelly started organising some good up and overs but it kinda fizzled out. Pity because it could have kept us away if everyone worked.

Seemed like everyone came back together near the college and twas a bunch finish. How many A4 riders were there? Came in 10th or 11th I rekon.

Had no computer today. Not sure if it made much difference really but it's nice to have all the stats at the end.

Was talking to a guy in Foyle CC in Derry before the race. Think he placed well today. He's 50 and doing the Race around Ireland later in the year. Think his son/nephew took 6th in U16s.

honkjelly

Was my first weekend back racing in the A4's after breaking my finger in the lucan gp. Omens weren't good when I got held up behind a fall in the final lap yesterday to have someone smash into the back of me and bend the rear derailleur hanger and buckle the wheel but the lads in Cyclegogical were great to get me back on the road for today. Made sure to stay well up the front all the way around and decided to go early in the sprint as i've been too late in the others. The plan went great until the legs turned to jelly before the line and I got pipped.
Got to watch the A2's and 1's properly for the first time and it was pretty impressive.

easygoing39

@ pprendeville,as i posted above,about 30ish for the group finish.Read on another forum that the A4 race was 39k distance,avg speed was 37k and race time was 1.03 hrs

Ryaner

pprendeville wrote: »

2nd lap climb almost killed me. Went flying off with Ryaner from Swords. Think there was a group of 3-4 at the front? Passed a group of 4 on the way and were caught by same group on the hill. They accelerated passing us and had to bust a gut to stay on the tail guys wheel.

I had thought they'd let us go since we weren't wearing the same gear and most of the guys weren't working but such is racing.

easygoing39 wrote: »

@ pprendeville,as i posted above,about 30ish for the group finish.Read on another forum that the A4 race was 39k distance,avg speed was 37k and race time was 1.03 hrs

My Garmin tags it as 38.78km / 1:03:58 / 36.4km/h however I didn't finish with the main group. Would have thought I was more than a minute off.

Great lesson learnt - do not eat lunch 20 minutes before the start of a race :rolleyes:

Diarmuid

nomadic wrote: »

Bridging and dragging the bunch aren't the only 2 options. Obviously no one has told the a3 bunch but surely 10+ people working could get the break back. The bunch pretty much sat up after the 3rd lap.

I was in the break. From what I remember, no club had more than 1 in the break. There weren't many teams active in the pack without a team mate in the break, UCD and Epic excepted and those guys bridged across. Morana and aidan.offbeat had a dig just before the break went, which was a pity as I reckoned both would have made the break otherwise.

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

I can't say it's how I like to ride races, but if I'd contributed to any chase and brought someone across that then went on to beat my team mate it would be bad form.

Good man! I fcuked up in the break and dropped the bunch about 2 mins for the top of the last climb. I dropped less than 20m but I just couldn't make it back on. Myself and a lad from Lucan chased for the next 20min but it was lost cause. Disappointed with the way it turned out but enjoyed the day

Thanks to the Stamullen Road Club for organising the weekend. Both days I raced were on good, testing routes, well marshalled and superbly organised. If anyone's considering racing this next year don't hesitate.

levitronix

Really enjoyed the course today would of loved another lap in the A4 , thought we had a break going after the climb second time around but it came back together and i let myself get sallowed in the last few km.. need a few more races still way to cagey and not aggressive enough

pprendeville

levitronix wrote: »

Really enjoyed the course today would of loved another lap in the A4 , thought we had a break going after the climb second time around but it came back together and i let myself get sallowed in the last few km.. need a few more races still way to cagey and not aggressive enough

which guy were/are you? was a great course alright. what was the top speed you were doing going into The Naul by the way (downhill into village after climb)? had no computer yesterday.

thought we had a good break as well. Honk Jelly made a a valid point yesterday in that it would have been better if finishing line was there in Naul as a reward to those who worked hard on the climbs although seeing as the race was organised by Stamullen it's hard to see that happening.

shaungil

Fri good fun stayed away with A3/4's and caught by break of 4 right at the end. Some good team riding to stay away which was great fun, think ave for first 2 laps was 44km. Finish a bit hairy with some heavy leaning on last corner which I managed to stay up, tho Staro ended doing some gardening on the other side of the road. Club got 2nd 6th (me) 2nd A3 Staro and 2nd A4 (little brothers first prize ever) so great night for us.

Saturday as we stayed away Friday the handicap was less generous. Caught on third lap. 5th lap crash I was caught up and came to a total standstill. About 5 of us made it ack up but we had to work really hard and then went straight into the hill so was chewing the tape. By the finish I was too far back to make a proper challenge and as was working up outside saw a team mate making my save of the season so far as he had to unclip after a tip.

Great work from Gaybo and the gang for the weekend as always. And best to Simon who may not be as bad as initially thought and hopes to get good news today. Fingers crossed for him a great honest rider and best wishes from the Swords lads to him.

RobFowl

pprendeville wrote: »

which guy were/are you? was a great course alright. what was the top speed you were doing going into The Naul by the way (downhill into village after climb)? had no computer yesterday.

thought we had a good break as well. Honk Jelly made a a valid point yesterday in that it would have been better if finishing line was there in Naul as a reward to those who worked hard on the climbs although seeing as the race was organised by Stamullen it's hard to see that happening.

Finishing in Naul after that decent would be utter madness !!