Kilmessan race Sunday

J Madone

Anyone know route details about this race on Sunday?

manwithaplan

Can't help you with that but I was wondering if there was an A4 race.

manwithaplan

Seems there is an A4 race this evening as well as one tomorrow. I think I'll give tonight's one a go - any info on the course would be appreciated.

killalanerr

just got off the phone to noel. He says he will run an A3/A4 if he gets the numbers but with the small numbers of A1s around its more likely to be a handy cap on both days

J Madone

killalanerr wrote: »

just got off the phone to noel. He says he will run an A3/A4 if he gets the numbers but with the small numbers of A1s around its more likely to be a handy cap on both days

Hope it's a bit longer than the 1 minute we got in Donore!

not sane

can anybody answer, why the organisers give such small handicaps any race that I've done in the last few weeks where this has been the case the A3's where caught in less than 20k.

skidpatches

J Madone wrote: »

Anyone know route details about this race on Sunday?

kilmessan - bellinter cross - bective loop. Seven 13km laps I believe.

manwithaplan

Six laps tomorrow I think. It was three tonight.

It was a handicap race and the A3/A4 group were caught on the first lap. It was my first open race and I had no idea what was going on. I nearly missed the start so I didn't get to ask anyone. I didn't know who I was supposed to be racing against or what the colours on the numbers meant - they were mostly blue so I thought that might be A4! I found it alright and came home with the bunch. I didn't go all out on the sprint because I thought there were too many in front of me. It turns out that there were hardly any A4s towards the front of the bunch so I should have pushed a bit harder. I enjoyed it a lot and was happy to find I could do OK at open race level. I will give a few more of these a go next year.

Damian from Dublin Wheelers who regularly does Swords League races got second A4.

100Suns

Is it flat, draggy, steep hills, all of the above?

Any idea if it's separate races or handicap tomorrow?

Well done manwithaplan. Sounds like going without a plan might have been the best plan. Ironic:pac: will try that tomorrow.

manwithaplan

Couple of small drags but mostly very flat. Big ring all the way.

Edit - Not sure what the plan is tomorrow

manwithaplan

This is the circuit (I think!):

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/655128

Caroline_ie

I saw the start. I don't think the A3/4 had very much of a handicap. I'd say max 2 minutes.
They were caught by lap 2 with a group in the break including Philip Lavery. Poor Lavery had bad luck though as he showed up at the finish with about 4 laps to go with a broken wheel.

not sane

it was a crap race those A3 & A4's just hang on.

xz

not sane wrote: »

it was a crap race those A3 & A4's just hang on.

Isn't that the point of the grading system? Maybe they are hanging on because that's all they can do when they get caught, do you expect A4 riders to push the pace when they are caught by A2/A1, if so, surely they would be riding in the latter categories. BTW, I don't race, just expressing my feelings on your statement,granted there are probably those that could and should be riding in a higher category. But to a lot of A4's these races are a learning curve, who knows some of these guys you complain about "just hanging on" may just hand your ass to you next season

Diarmuid

xz wrote: »

Isn't that the point of the grading system?

Exactly. If they could drive and attack an A1 bunch, then they wouldn't be A4 riders.

nomadic

A4's shouldn't be racing against A1's anyway.

The season has been a bit lopsided. Loads of A4, A3 individual category races at the start of the season and none at the end.

morana

not sane wrote: »

it was a crap race those A3 & A4's just hang on.

Ha Ha! I didnt enjoy it ticket collecting all day long and I had a lot by race finish. I thought that was extremely hard just back from a week on hols and I did 3 1.5 hr spins but not enough intensity.

I agree the A4 should have their separate race and shouldnt be in with the A1 just because it would be more enjoyable for them to have their own and the circuit was big enough for them to do a 4 lapper and the rest of the animals to do 6.

manwithaplan

Despite my utter confusion on Saturday night, I enjoyed being in with faster riders. A small A4 only race wouldn't have been half as much fun. I assume over six laps the A1s and A2s would have gotten away anyway and left the mere mortals to fight it out amongst themselves?

killalanerr

not sane wrote: »

it was a crap race those A3 & A4's just hang on.

well i enjoyed it even went up the road before we were caught ,
as for A3/A4s in open races it depends on your goals as a old A4 it was never my goal to be competitive in A1 races in fact i dont even want to be riding with them,with my training base i havent a hope of hanging on, given we were only given 2min of a handicap,but im being forced to as its either that or dont race at all,with up to 100 riders taking the start they could have easily split the field as i was told would happen if they got the numbers !
anyway got in 4 laps @ 39kmh good work out of me bit disappointed i didnt hang on a bit longer it was scary at times in that big bunch but good fun while it lasted

manwithaplan

killalanerr, were you out on Saturday evening too? There was another Swords rider there who I knew to see but didn't get a chance to talk to. Well I jokingly said "go on Swords" to him/you at some stage during the race and he/you looked at me like I was on drugs!

killalanerr

no wasnt me. i love a bit of banter i all ways have a bit of crack when im able to talk that is :-):)

Beasty

manwithaplan wrote: »

Well I jokingly said "go on Swords" to him/you at some stage during the race and he/you looked at me like I was on drugs!

You tell him from me that unsubstantiated doping allegations will not be tolerated;)

not sane

morana wrote: »

Ha Ha! I didnt enjoy it ticket collecting all day long and I had a lot by race finish. I thought that was extremely hard just back from a week on hols and I did 3 1.5 hr spins but not enough intensity.

I agree the A4 should have their separate race and shouldnt be in with the A1 just because it would be more enjoyable for them to have their own and the circuit was big enough for them to do a 4 lapper and the rest of the animals to do 6.

Only joking it was a great race, and I was one of those A3's. I thought you would've been in your element on that course.

chakattack

nomadic wrote: »

A4's shouldn't be racing against A1's anyway.

The season has been a bit lopsided. Loads of A4, A3 individual category races at the start of the season and none at the end.

I wonder if there any plans to try shake this up for next year?

Going to start winter training now otherwise - aiming to peak on March 1st

It's the only argument for not getting into A3 on merit and just going for a free upgrade.