Visit Nenagh Classic

michaelm

The inaugural Visit Nenagh Classic will take place on Sun. April 22nd, featuring 3 races from A1 to A4 - full details here: www.visitnenagh.net In conjunction with the race the town will also host a continental style food market with over 40 local food producers selling their wares. If you are planning to participate we would encourage you to bring your family/friends as there will be loads for all to do while waiting for the various passes of each race. For the kids there will also be a fun cycle, a go-kart track and street entertainment, all free obviously. The race itself should be very competitive as many of our leading cyclists will be participating. The Irish Junior Development Squad will also be having a training camp in Nenagh on the Sat. and taking part in the race on Sunday. Races will finish on the main street and we are making every effort to have as many locals and visitors come out to experience the thrill of bike racing at this level.

www.visitnenagh.net

michaelm

Just a few updates on this:

1. We will be providing live text updates during the races on Sunday via our website: www.visitnenagh.net and in summary form on Twitter @northtippcyclin

2. For anyone on the N7 between Nenagh and Limerick tomorrow the Irish junior development squad will have a training session where they will be practicing riding in echelons, sprint leadouts etc. They will start the session at approx 1.45pm. Once again details will be posted on twitter for anyone interested.

morana

the whole event looks super Michael. I hope it s a great day weather wise and you have an excellent turn out

michaelm

Many thanks for that - really appreciate the goodwill surrounding this event. It has got huge support from the local community, the local authorities and indeed local media so fingers crossed that all goes well.

harringtonp

Todays A4 main group Garmin Stats and mini report at

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/170588109

jimbo28

Did this today and must say i enjoyed it.Was going well, had the few digs as usual and then bang.................about 10 k from the finish my fu@kin rear sram rival shifter just breaks off.......................Well Fu@k me i thought, thats it for me.Didnt think i could last on just the 53x12 or the 42x12 but said i may as well give it a go.Have to say it was though at times and thought i may not have hung in there,at this point i knew the sprint was out......just couldnt seem to hold my place in the bunch with comfort, alot of moving down the back then using the momentum of the hills to get back up to the front.1 Km to go............last chance...........put in a move, got a small gap and felt o.k until i hit the ramp,no gears to change up jimbo, you have had it, get swamped with about 4-500 mtrs to go.Happy enough all considering but now i need a new shifter...................Anybody on here got one for me? want to do the swords league wens night before hitting roundwood sunday.

lalorm

Took part in the A4 race today. It was a great route and I was feeling strong after a good warmup before the start. As we were going up the big climb, I was feeling strong but was unlucky that I got stuck behind someone that had gear problems and he started to slow down. I couldn't get around him as riders started passing me on both sides. When I did manage to get around, it was too late. Had to dig deep to limit the damage and try to get back on. Was off the back as I got over the top as a result. Managed to catch a couple of other riders on the decent and we managed to get within a few meters of the back of the main group, but had to drive it hard on the descent and needed time to recover and just as I got to the back, the road ramped up again. Tried to get back on again but at that point the roads started to get very lumpy. Worked well with another couple of riders and we picked up more riders that were coming off the back of the main group. By the time we got to the N7, there were 5 or 6 of us and started some up and overs and caught a few more riders.
The only problem with the race today in the A4 race was as we came back into Nenagh, we got to a roundabout and there was no marshal. A Garda had stopped the traffic, but no one knew which way we were suposed to go! We went around the roundabout a couple of times and we all split up! Eventually we found the finish. Was told we were not far behind the main group, so it's a shame as we had worked well on the N7.
Besides that, the event was good and great atmosphere at the finish with a proper finish line.

Go2Guy

Did the A4 race yesterday (my first race ever). It was a great race and a great day out. Well done to Michaelm and all involved and I really hope you got what you wanted from it. Looking forward to next years race already!
G

kenmc

A friend of mine was out on his motorbike down around there with a few other lads and said that one of them was followed into a petrol station by a load of cyclists thinking he was a lead-bike! Anyone know if this is true or not? If it is, LOL!

michaelm

Go2Guy wrote: »

Did the A4 race yesterday (my first race ever). It was a great race and a great day out. Well done to Michaelm and all involved and I really hope you got what you wanted from it. Looking forward to next years race already!
G

Thanks for that - very much appreciated. We were delighted with the turnout of both riders and spectators and very much hope we can build on this over the next few years.

fixie fox

michaelm wrote: »

Thanks for that - very much appreciated. We were delighted with the turnout of both riders and spectators and very much hope we can build on this over the next few years.

Yea, well done. It was a very ambitious venture - especially to close off the town centre and bring the races in through roundabouts etc. I shows what can be done - a real proffessional approach - and i hope it develops.

lalorm

fixie fox wrote: »

Yea, well done. It was a very ambitious venture - especially to close off the town centre and bring the races in through roundabouts etc. I shows what can be done - a real proffessional approach - and i hope it develops.

I liked the fact that there was music and a crowd of people at the top of the first big climb (A4 race). That actually encouraged me get over the top of the climb. Only thing I would say is keep the marshalls on the circuit for the full race. we were in a group of 10 or so riders coming into the Nenagh and no one knew where to go. At another junction before we got to the N7, we got held up by cars in the junction. No one was stopping them as we came up.
That said it was great turning into the finish and seeing the crowds. Back again next year.

michaelm

lalorm wrote: »

I liked the fact that there was music and a crowd of people at the top of the first big climb (A4 race). That actually encouraged me get over the top of the climb. Only thing I would say is keep the marshalls on the circuit for the full race. we were in a group of 10 or so riders coming into the Nenagh and no one knew where to go. At another junction before we got to the N7, we got held up by cars in the junction. No one was stopping them as we came up.
That said it was great turning into the finish and seeing the crowds. Back again next year.

Points taken and your comments are very much appreciated, this was the first running of this event and we are determined to iron out any glitches for next year.

michaelm

kenmc wrote: »

A friend of mine was out on his motorbike down around there with a few other lads and said that one of them was followed into a petrol station by a load of cyclists thinking he was a lead-bike! Anyone know if this is true or not? If it is, LOL!

If it did happen (and I haven't heard any other such reports) I would imagine it may have been participants on the family cycle of which there were over 200 participants on the 7Km route - which incidentally was completed by a number of very young kids on tricycles - great sight to see a 5 yr old coming up the finishing straight with her dad! Cycling is just fantastic at some many levels. Witnessing Ryan Mullen's solo win in the A3 was also a joy to behold.

RobFowl

I heard great reports on this event and the photos and news reports (before and after) were brilliant
Well done to the organisers.

mccutchie

I raced in the A4, my first race too, managed to stay in the main bunch thanks to getting a few gaps on the climb up Portroe. From then on it was a matter of survival for me, and thankfully hung on in there. Must say I really enjoyed it and i'm now looking to see where can i race next.
The organisation was top notch and actually finishing to a crowd was fantastic. I thought the marshaling was excellent. I can't wait for next year again. Well done to all the Visit Nenagh Team.

fixie fox

lalorm wrote: »

The only problem with the race today in the A4 race was as we came back into Nenagh, we got to a roundabout and there was no marshal. A Garda had stopped the traffic, but no one knew which way we were suposed to go! We went around the roundabout a couple of times and we all split up!

Same happened to a mate who punctured - got lost on the way in. You wouldn't expect marshalls to wait for every last rider but u would expect the route to be marked. Just a small detail - ye obviously pay attention to detail!

michaelm

fixie fox wrote: »

Same happened to a mate who punctured - got lost on the way in. You wouldn't expect marshalls to wait for every last rider but u would expect the route to be marked. Just a small detail - ye obviously pay attention to detail!

Again point taken but every junction was marked so I am surprised that this happened, the A4 used the same route back into town as all the other races.

Burgess5

Congratulations to everyone involved in organising this fine event. I hope it becomes an annual event. I took part in the family cycle with my 3 year old on a child seat and he really enjoyed it.

My suggestion for next year would be to run a sportive on the Saturday for leisure cyclists like myself. It would widen the appeal of the event. It might encourage newbies to cycle racing who could get a feel for the roads in the area on the Saturday and do a race on the Sunday.

Again well done.

LeoD

Well done to the organisers for attempting such an ambitious venture - I hope it was a success and that we see it back again next year. Crashed out of the A4 race on the left turn after Ballina - took ages to get going again so not a hope of getting back on. Rode hard back to Nenagh and was caught by a small group as we approached the confusing roundabout. As I was f**ked from my solo effort from Ballina to Nenagh I went straight on and finished up at the start/finish line just before the front group got there. I rejoined but just toured around the last few km at the back of the bunch. When the routes were announced I thought it would be difficult to marshal with so many junctions and that would be my only concern about the event. I went back to the scene of my crash to take some photos of the A1/2/3 races and there was only one marshal and one Garda - they could have done with one or two more marshals. A couple of riders came down in the A1/2 race in the exact same spot I crashed which left the marshal and Garda with a dilemma - help the riders and abandon their posts or ignore the rider and keep the traffic back.

rochefan

Really enjoyed the day out. Best part was when we were on bypass at start of A1/2 race we passed the family fun run who were on the walking path. That was great to see, all the kids and parents on their bikes as we rushed by. Also noticed that along the route there were people out to watch us up hills and through the villages which was nice, Chapel hill had a great crowd.
Well done to all involved, there was more than a cycling club involved as the whole town took part

michaelm

The Visit Nenagh Classic and the work of race director Rene van Dam was featured on Dutch TV last night - as a result of a TV crew deciding to do a story on how one of their own is doing great work with the development of this race in Ireland - they met up with him and his family at the start of Monday's stage of the TDF - watch out for cameos from Dan Martin and Nico:

http://www.rtvnoord.nl/tourdunord/artikel.asp?p=111497