IRC/Lucan/Orwell/Tiernans/UCD club league - 26/04/12

buffalo

kenmc wrote: »

everyone packed their snorkels for tonite?

I have my new winter overshoes, do they count?

Any chance the race will be called off? Not that I want it to be, just wondering. Is there a certain speed wind or amount of rainfall that triggers 'unsafe conditions' ?

edit: figured it was easier to start the dedicated thread now.

manwithaplan

I have a question. Why does "Tiernans" appear after "UCD" in these otherwise alphabetically ordered thread titles? "St. Tiernans" wouldn't explain it. Did they do something bad once?

oflahero

The Swords league race was called off yesterday. So there's some superiority points to be had if the Brittas race still goes ahead tonight.

(I'm struggling to find some positives in the idea of suiting up and heading into a gale and rain for three hours after work. The cycling shoes have only just dried out, again.)

AstraMonti

The wimp force is strong in me today...

oflahero

manwithaplan wrote: »

I have a question. Why does "Tiernans" appear after "UCD" in these otherwise alphabetically ordered thread titles? "St. Tiernans" wouldn't explain it. Did they do something bad once?

I'm guessing you were more of a Beatles Paul fan than John's then...

manwithaplan

oflahero wrote: »

I'm guessing you were more of a Beatles Paul fan than John's then...

I'm so dumb I had to look that up.

doozerie

manwithaplan wrote:

I have a question. Why does "Tiernans" appear after "UCD" in these otherwise alphabetically ordered thread titles? "St. Tiernans" wouldn't explain it. Did they do something bad once?

'Cos "IRC/Lucan/Orwell/UCD/Tiernans club league" trips off the tongue easily whereas "IRC/Lucan/Orwell/Tiernans/UCD club league" is cumbersome and expends a few more calories in the effort of saying it. So leave my calories alone, I need every single one of them! ...and yes, I'm lying down as I type this.

buffalo

manwithaplan wrote: »

I have a question. Why does "Tiernans" appear after "UCD" in these otherwise alphabetically ordered thread titles? "St. Tiernans" wouldn't explain it. Did they do something bad once?

I'm not sure - I just copied and pasted the last one. Better now?

kenmc

doozerie wrote: »

'Cos "IRC/Lucan/Orwell/UCD/Tiernans club league" trips off the tongue easily whereas "IRC/Lucan/Orwell/Tiernans/UCD club league" is cumbersome and expends a few more calories in the effort of saying it. So leave my calories alone, I need every single one of them! ...and yes, I'm lying down as I type this.

The first form abbreviates to "iLout", whereas the second to "iLotu", which just doesn't make any sense at all at all at all.

kenmc

oflahero wrote: »

(I'm struggling to find some positives in the idea of suiting up and heading into a gale and rain for three hours after work. The cycling shoes have only just dried out, again.)

Well the positive came on Sunday when the race was only half as wet as it was for last Thursdays race, so it seemed less bad than it really was. I could hear all the non iLouters grumbling on Sunday, whereas the rest of us were all quite pleased with the refreshing drizzle to cool us down as we crested that gargantuan hill after the start/finish line.

And yes, my glass is twice as big as it needs to be. Which is just as well really, cos if this rain keeps up it'll be soon overflowing

daragh_

off topic (ish)

What are the numbers for these things like? IRCLOTU (now that rolls off the tongue) and Swords?

kenmc

in iLout there are 262 riders registered
216 of these have points, as either marshall or rider, after 3 rounds

buffalo

kenmc wrote: »

in iLout there are 262 riders registered
216 of these have points, as either marshall or rider, after 3 rounds

And of those 262, about 140 are Orwell. :pac:

doozerie

kenmc wrote:

The first form abbreviates to "iLout", whereas the second to "iLotu", which just doesn't make any sense at all at all at all.

I see your "iLout" and promptly slap it down with an "I(r)CLOUT".

kenmc

Damn intellectual property rights lawyers

manwithaplan

Early rounds of the Swords league might attract up to 90 riders but that tends to fall off a good bit as the season progresses. Unlike the student and Irish Times reader league, you don't have to be a member of the organising club to participate so there's a lot of dipping in and out of it.

Lumen

manwithaplan wrote: »

Unlike the student and Irish Times reader league, you don't have to be a member of the organising club to participate

Don't take it personally. Although our interclub league is full at present, Orwell has some vacancies for butlers if you're looking for something to do on a Thursday night.

daragh_

manwithaplan wrote: »

Early rounds of the Swords league might attract up to 90 riders but that tends to fall off a good bit as the season progresses. Unlike the student and Irish Times reader league, you don't have to be a member of the organising club to participate so there's a lot of dipping in and out of it.

Meeeowwww

Thanks. That's good to know.

kenmc

Lumen wrote: »

Don't take it personally. Although our interclub league is full at present, Orwell has some vacancies for butlers if you're looking for something to do on a Thursday night.

Indeed, and especially tonight we shall be requiring many skivvies to hold the shelters in place to keep us dry as we change out of our dirty, wet clothes, and then to clean the bikes, bring them home and take care of the aforementioned dirty clothes. Finally a warm bath needs to be prepared, and the kit for the next race will need to be unpacked from its' wrapping.

MadHatter

manwithaplan wrote: »

Unlike the student and Irish Times reader league.

Wouldn't normally read it myself, but I was thrilled to get a free copy of the Irish Times through my letterbox this morning as part of some home delivery promotion they are running - will be very handy for stuffing into soaking wet cycling shoes when I get back from the race.

doozerie

This evening's race will be run by the amphibious ILOUT division, hosting their pedalo league race opener.

Redmond101

kenmc wrote: »

in iLout there are 262 riders registered
216 of these have points, as either marshall or rider, after 3 rounds

Make me 263 as of next weeks, signed up to LCRC Lucan during the week so first one next Thursday!

kenmc

doozerie wrote: »

This evening's race will be run by the amphibious ILOUT division, hosting their pedalo league race opener.

Surfdock used to have some of these sort of things :

Might be a possibility

Rofo

or...

kenmc

ugh.
that is all.
ugh.

chakattack

Swords league cancelled last night.....ILOUT league goes ahead tonight

Could it be possible that southsiders are harder than northsiders? :cool:

Beasty

chakattack wrote: »

Swords league cancelled last night.....ILOUT league goes ahead tonight

Could it be possible that southsiders are harder than northsiders? :cool:

Haha - weather was timid this evening:D

Plastik

Bray League rocked.

Real men do it in the rain, in the mountains.

MadHatter

I should have stayed at home after all.

Semi-limit had our own race. Break up the road at end of first lap. Usher lad goes to bridge across and I go with him, he closes most of the gap and I take over to reach the break. One guy was in the process of making his way up to front so I went up with him, hit the front, another rider came round me to take over and bang!

Touch of wheels, I lose control, hit the deck and 5-6 others do the same. Thankfully no serious injuries to anyone. Plently of road rash for me, expect the body to be stiff as a plank tomorrow. Feet up now, beer in one hand, ice pack in the other.

Could have been a lot worse. Annoying thing is there was a big gang in the break, it was looking promising

buffalo

We had a SS/S handicap again. I'm not sure why it wasn't a DMS - maybe they don't think SS can get around unaided? Usual rush to get out on time (KOM on Embankment!*), and then the rain started to fall as we set off. I'm told Scratch caught us first time over the bridge - we'd been working well on the N81, thought our speed was okay, maybe it just felt like it in the rain, or maybe Scratch are just that good. People started pinging off the front once we'd crossed the finish line. Went with a few moves, but nothing got away. Gave some serious digs on the N81, but all to no avail.
Was up near the front for the sprint - kicked early to see if I could get away, sat back in and waited. When the speed ramped up I had the legs, and I was only a few rows back, but got caught behind a rider who had pulled up. Got around him, still in contention, then had to duck into the gutter inside some Usher guys, then came out, and the sprint was away. Rolled over just after the sprinting bunch, disappointed.

Glad to hear the SL guys are okay. 'twas a wet affair, could've been a lot worse indeed.


*doozerie if you steal it I will not sit beside you at lunch tomorrow.

fat bloke

Fast and wet tonight. Not sure that's ever a good combination, regardless of the activity... Fair play to the semi-limiters, no hanging about tonight despite the dms. Guess everyone wanted it over and done with so we could all go home! Just after the start I pulled up next to the skinny lad on the clean white planet x and the no-decal deep sections and said "How'rya Astramonti, been meaning to say hello" and yer man looked at me like I was a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. Looks like white planet x's are pretty popular!

Anyway, lots of breaks and that big one after the first time over the bridge had potential alright. Everytime someone went to jump across I kept thinking... sh1t I should've gone with that guy. Then coming towards Kilbride I jumped across myself. I was just catching up when I saw the crash. Lots of bikes and riders all tangled up, and half on and off the the pavement too. Could've been sore for some I'd say. Hope carbon wheels and frames emerged intact .

Anyway, we were all together again then from there. A brave Orwellian jumped early and had a good gap from the bridge to the hill, fair play to him, but was eventually hoovered up. An Usher lad jumped too and nearly had the race wrapped up but he died in the last third of the drag up the hill. A Lucan lad suffered a similar fate, shot out like a bullet but it's all too easy to go too early. Anyway, I jumped then meself, kept the head down, ignored the panting and puffing posse and held on for the win. Yay!

MadHatter

Well done fat bloke. That'll be an upgrade for the next race so!

fat bloke

MadHatter wrote: »

Well done fat bloke. That'll be an upgrade for the next race so!

Curses! :pac:

MadHatter

fat bloke wrote: »

Curses! :pac:

Every silver lining has a cloud

oflahero

Just a night of hanging on for me once we were through Kilbride and scratch decided to up the pace again. Suffered all the way up the N81 and round the houses. Just glad to stick in the bunch. No visit to any restaurant of note post-race this week.

Keep_Her_Lit

MadHatter wrote: »

Well done fat bloke. That'll be an upgrade for the next race so!

A boards upgrade might also be in order ... fast_bloke ???

Arthurdaly

I've always imagined fat bloke as a massive guy going around with batter burgers hanging from his lips. He is obviously a pretty trim and fit guy who has played the fat man card and proved himself to be world beater! Did you get a medal?

AstraMonti

fat bloke wrote: »

Just after the start I pulled up next to the skinny lad on the clean white planet x and the no-decal deep sections and said "How'rya Astramonti, been meaning to say hello" and yer man looked at me like I was a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. Looks like white planet x's are pretty popular!

Haha! Sorry I wasn't there, took the wimp boat home today. I was too cold and out of mood for any racing. Congrats

doozerie

I was in Semi-Limit. Sat in for the first while. As the breakaway grew coming up to Manor Kilbride I was itching to try to get across but every time I thought I'd get a gap I found myself boxed in again and it would have been risky to try to create a gap. Once the crash happened though everything split up. I found myself completely boxed in yet again on the other side of Manor Kilbride and there seemed to be a group heading up the road while the group around me seemed to be slowing up. There was no-one behind me so I hauled on the brakes dropped off the bag and pegged it up the road on the outside.

In what was now the front group the bike handling was dodgy, there were a couple of people in particular who seemed to randomly change lines with no warning. I was being forced to the wrong side of the white line so I overtook and sat in about 3 back from the front. The very same thing happened with the guy now beside me and I found myself being pushed over the line again. Sod this I thought and pegged it up to the front. No-one was coming through so I just dug in and pushed it towards the N81. I was slowing by the time I got to the junction (thanks to the marshal who had to work hard to stop a car coming from the right at speed!) and someone came past me. From there on I just reverted to mindless cycling mode and chased down every attack, by individuals each time, and ended up off the front again turning off the N81.

I was passed on Red Lane (?) and despite another dig before the bridge we seemed to be all back together by the far side of the bridge. In the last few km's I was surrounded by 4 Usher's (worst musical quartet ever!) who moved to the front and seemed to be controlling the pace. Things got hairy in the last couple of km's as lines got switched, etc. I was feeling reasonably good coming up to the finish but each time I found a gap out I either encountered someone going backwards or someone going forwards pushed into the space I was aiming for. I came in, at a guess, in about 12th or so. I might not have fared any better if I'd sprinted, might even have fared worse, but I didn't do a good enough job of creating space for myself.

Hope all who crashed are okay, it looked messy.

Oh, and to the Orwell woman who hit the brakes going into the huge puddle on the far side of the bridge first time through, my swearing behind you was not directed at you, it was just a reaction to the situation of having to haul on my own brakes and swerve round you. So I was expressing a "Oh holy god! Oh holy god!" sentiment but with words more like "Fcuk, sh1t, jaysus!". When I heard you saying sorry it occurred to me that you might have thought I was having a go at you, but I wasn't.

doozerie

buffalo wrote: »

*doozerie if you steal it I will not sit beside you at lunch tomorrow.

I got third! Nooooo.....

lalorm

First of all, thanks CramCycle for swapping the marshalling gig. Tough old night alright in Semi-Limit. I don't perform well in the cold/rain so I tried to get warmed up before the start as much as possible. Then just after the start I decided to warm up a little more by going from the gun! Just wanted to get warmed up. Hope it didn't cause too much pain . Kept it together for the rest of the race not panicking when people went off the front and trying to chase everything down right away. I had intended to jump across to the front group once we got back to the N81, but the crash put an end to that, so sat in and got to the front for the finish. Was feeling good and the pace was ok as we came to the start of the climb to the finish but I could feel a slight stitch coming on. Suddenly people started to push to the front and the pace went up and the stitch got worse. Still hung in and was behind another Lucan teammate about 4 from the front as we turned around the last bit of corner to see the flag. Then it was like someone just flipped a switch and bang I blew the moment I saw the flag!!! Got over the line in the group and happy to be in one piece as I had to cycle around with no glasses because of the rain so everything was a bit of a blur and that was before the rain and grit! PLEASE GOD let it be dry next week.

kenmc

Anyone dried out yet? Think I'm almost there.

Beasty

kenmc wrote: »

Anyone dried out yet? Think I'm almost there.

Simple solution - stay off the bottle ...

buffalo

kenmc wrote: »

Anyone dried out yet? Think I'm almost there.

I'm hoping that when I get home my shoes will be dry, rather than melted on the radiator.

MadHatter

Following last night's crash, I couldn't sleep properly with pain down the left side of my back anytime I moved. Took myself off to the doctors this morning and was diagnosed with a cracked rib - nice! Six weeks to heal properly, doctor said I can start cycling again as soon as I feel comfortable on bike, but to try not to fall again before it's fully healed.

Guess I'll have to give the racing a miss for a while :pac:

kenmc

Ouch. get well soon

buffalo

+1 Hope you're cycling again soon!

TheNah

MadHatter wrote: »

Following last night's crash, I couldn't sleep properly with pain down the left side of my back anytime I moved. Took myself off to the doctors this morning and was diagnosed with a cracked rib - nice! Six weeks to heal properly, doctor said I can start cycling again as soon as I feel comfortable on bike, but to try not to fall again before it's fully healed.

Guess I'll have to give the racing a miss for a while :pac:

nasty - hope you heal up quickly!

Rofo

Yikes - hope the pain eases and you can get back on the bike soon

CramCycle

Report of a marshall (in a car that was both dry and warm) posted on the Tiernans website as well:

I have marshalled before and have driven support car for a charity event years ago (involving an interesting game of leap-frog, a trailer, An Garda Siochana and Galway City) but last night was my first night as a lead car for a race and it was interesting to say the least.

I set off leading the Semi limit, at a remarkably fast pace considering the weather, the average speed was over 40kmph for the straight along the N81. As I constantly flicked between my rear view mirror and the road ahead. All I could see was the line of cars doing an overtake in my rear view mirror with only the first two having a clear line of sight ahead of the group. I went on ahead, flagging cars to slow down as I worried about the overtaking cars having nowhere to go but into the group.

I took the left down to the T where I seen a Lucan (I could be wrong as I have heard other people say it was a different jersey) jersey making an early break for it and making about 40 or 50 metres on the group, taking the right I pulled in as far away as I could from the junction to wave cars to slow down (which they all done with a smile on their face but as I was about to take off again I looked in my rear view mirror to see a Dark Car barrelling through the bunch, zig zagging through with scant regard for the cyclist and then tearing down the road in my direction. I stayed as long as safe to see no one had fallen (I didn't see anyone go down but the Marshalls were there regardless) so I ploughed on. All the way to the bridge this car drove within a foot of my boot and to say the temptation to slam on (not condoning it but it flashes through your mind as an idea) was their was an understatement but I thought better of it, there may have been a reason for the reckless driving (not sure what but you never know, father with sick child or going to sick child).

I took the turn at the bridge and waved him around me as I figured I had a few minutes before the group arrived. this was not to his liking as he pulled up beside me to rant and rave. I smiled, pointed out that your not allowed overtake on a bend and that the road was not wide enough for a safe overtake at the time he attempted it as there was cars parked in the general area to which I reciecved a barage of Fs and Cs explaining how we are not allowed take up the road (it was for the guts of 20seconds). By my calculation I had no time for this and was not in a safe position (well he wasn't), I asked him not to worry, I had his Reg and I would be discussing it with the Gardai, I unfortunately did not have time for this at the moment. He pulled in further up the road to give out to the other marshalls as he screamed about my reg plate and reporting me.

I enjoyed staying calm at this point as his head looked ready to implode at the mere thought of patience and common sense.

After this I seen one of our own jerseys pulling ahead with a clear lead that remained for most of the race as far as I could tell, while he seemed to be caught near the end, he did stay in the small splinter group up near the front and put in a powerful performance. I didn't get his name (or make out a face) but it was a great performance.

The rest of the trip was pleasant after this with every other car giving a wave, slowing down and pulling in if appropriate (except for one who blew by me but at least slowed down.

The only other incidence of note was my fear coming back onto the N11 as I could not see cars slowing at all but a large vehicle with yellow lights pulled in and gave a rear escort for a short period of time.

I pulled in to the right at the end to see those who I had been looking back at power up the final climb, although it has to be said the sprint finish for the limit group was nothing short of pure class with a group of 8 or so powering through the final few metres at top speed.

Can't wait to get back out and race though.

TheNah

Did anyone one see the small white van man in the last few k's of the semi-limit race last night? The bunch were spread over the road coming up to the hill towards the end and your man was going psycho trying to overtake - beeping away, i thought it was funny as he mangled his way through his passenger was like a cartoon 'mr. angry' character, red in the face and violently shaking his fist through the window at us! such craic.