Enfield Grand Prix: Tue 4th June

clonard_rc

Hi all,
Just to let you know that Clonard Road Club will be holding the Enfield Grand Prix tomorrow, Tuesday 4th June @ 8pm in Enfield village, Co. Meath (on the old N4 road).

This year we will also hold U-12, U-14 and U-16 races, starting at 6:30pm, on a separate circuit in off the main road.


For the seniors/Juniors, it is a 51km race (8 laps of a 6.4km circuit).
The race will start at 8 p.m with sign on from 6:30 p.m The Bridge House Pub in Enfield (Kinnegad side of the village, on left, just past the petrol station).
Sign-on for the Underage races will of course open earlier, also at the Bridge House.

There will be post race refreshments, and further details are on the website:

http://www.clonardroadclub.com/Enfield_GP_2013.shtml

Thanks

Inquitus

Is this mass start, 1 race, open to A1/2/3/4?

clonard_rc

sorry....I always forget something!!

The race will be handicapped, with the A4's off first, followed then by the A3's and then last off are the A2's and A1's.

smithslist

clonard_rc wrote: »

The race will be handicapped, with the A4's off first, followed then by the A3's and then last off are the A2's and A1's.

A4's in the same handicapped race? Do they not have there own race on or will that depend on the number of riders that sign on for the event?

clonard_rc

no, there is only the one race (handicapped)....A4's are away first. Last year the Comm's gave the A4's about 2mins on the A3's and if I remember correctly they stayed clear for about 6 of the 8 laps.

pprendeville

Good race last night. Nice to rub shoulders with some of the big guns in A1. Unfortunately I got carried away and when I heard the whistle (which hadn't been blown on 1st 4 laps) I thought it signalled last lap and put in a huge sprint only to realise nobody else was sprinting. Packed it in then as I was knackered. Rolled back to finish line and a Lucan guy was in a stretcher. Couple of guys had come down close to the finish line and he was the worst. I hope he's ok. Few sketchy incidents midrace for myself with a guy switching line in front of me and almost clipping my front wheel when it wasnt necessary at all, a DID guy coming on my inside on a bend and not calling and clipping my bars and a few wheelie bins on lap 1. Nice cakes afterwards. Fair play to promoting club.

pmurp141

did the race last night, got caught up in that crash, problem came when the big guns caught up the A4s,the speed which both groups were going at was the problem, ie A4 going too slow, having sat up for the majority of the 3rd lap, despite all the roaring of a mullingar lad, not really sure of the point of all that as it was his team that were not pulling through on their turn.
Anyway back to the crash i think what happend was as faster guys swarmed both sides overtaking just coming up to the finish line, there was a gap of a couple of hundred meters between parked cars and some of the overtakers had gone into the hard shoulder in this "gap" overtaking then came the parked jeep and bang, 1 guy's bike came out into the peloton and me! had nowhere to go as swerving would have brought down more so went out over my handlebars, luckily just some road rash and bike seems alright will have to investigate futher.

manwithaplan

Really enjoyed last night's race. It was the first piece of proper lined-out racing I have done this year and I was happy to stick with the pace. As usual, I felt better the further we went - short races are not for me. I badly needed some speed work and the (poor old) hip held up fine and is not complaining today.

I didn't see the crash referred to above but I saw a guy hit the grassy verge on the last lap (say he was OK with a nice soft landing) and a very fast crash involving two riders coming into the finish, which looked nasty.

andy69

manwithaplan wrote: »

... It was the first piece of proper lined-out racing I have done this year and I was happy to stick with the pace...

yeah kinda the same for me - but was my first open race I've done since 1999!! what a (re)introduction!! I was happy to chat to some of the A1's and 2's afterwards who told me that even they found it difficult and very fast! was delighted to stick with the bunch right to the finish. Such a buzz with the high speeds!!
Was pretty tough there on the back road with the low sunshine right in our faces! It was a case of 'all sound and no picture' each lap. Was thinking that if the front guys rode into a field, that we'd all just have followed them! couldn't see much past my front wheel. not for the feint-hearted!!

The crashes sounded awful, I heard both of them, and then the one in the ditch on the last lap was in front of me....I think that guy actually broke a bone, he must have landed awkward.

Hope all the guys are ok and make a speedy recovery.

smithslist

manwithaplan wrote: »

I didn't see the crash referred to above but I saw a guy hit the grassy verge on the last lap (say he was OK with a nice soft landing) and a very fast crash involving two riders coming into the finish, which looked nasty.

guy that crashed in last corner has a broken collarbone, guys that crashed at finished line I haven't heard, one was taken to hospital...also guy that crashed into car during race after finish line went straight to hospital(possible broken pelvis)

pprendeville

there was one senior (senior in age) chap yelling like mad in the A3 bunch every few kilometres and he gave me such a fright on one occasion I nearly fell off the bike. UP UP UP was the gist of it.

J Madone

manwithaplan wrote: »

Really enjoyed last night's race. It was the first piece of proper lined-out racing I have done this year and I was happy to stick with the pace. As usual, I felt better the further we went - short races are not for me. I badly needed some speed work and the (poor old) hip held up fine and is not complaining today.

I didn't see the crash referred to above but I saw a guy hit the grassy verge on the last lap (say he was OK with a nice soft landing) and a very fast crash involving two riders coming into the finish, which looked nasty.

That Lucan guy who hit the grass verge broke his collarbone , remember thinking he was lucky not to fall back into the bunch and also a softer landing!
Ended up following one of my pals who I gave a lift to the race to Blanchardstown hospital , he got switched and came down in the gallop, luckily nothing broken, hard man! Pity Danny Bruton who broke his collarbone also in the same gallop crash. Was never so glad to finish a race upright

eoghankevlihan

I was just on front of guy who crashed on last corner and heard fall and directly behind bruton crash on the gallop. Don't know how i escaped. That crash was totally unnecessary as they had loads of room in front of them and got tangled with eachother. Reckon it was about 50km/h coming down. Incident was crazy. I dont know if fields have to be smaller or that route has to change as 4 crashes in an hours' racing( exciting as it was) isn't right when you gotta work next day. That's my 3rd enfield gp and It's a great buzz racing with top men on a fast course but maybe safety should be looked at on that route?? or 2 seperate races ?? some blind corners on back road also.
Despite all this i thoroughly enjoyed the race but was happy to finish safely

manwithaplan

I feel like an Irish economist with my assessment of a soft landing. Hope all make a speedy and full recovery.

niceonetom

Crashes are inevitable at that kind of race given the short format, wild variability in rider ability and experience, and total lack of geography to thin the herd. Even the cracking weather conspired to increase the risk - nothing like a warm evening to bring out the more casual racers and give them delusions of competence (I include myself in that before anyone takes offence).

It was fast enough for the first couple of laps, even a bit of line-out action, but once we caught the A3s and A4s the lulls in pace felt a bit dicey.

Coming into that final corner there must have been 50 lads who were thinking to themselves "jayz, I'm feeling all right, sure maybe tonight's my night". That, to me, is the most dangerous scenario in racing.

I was just to the left of the guy who went into the ditch before that corner and as soon as that happened I just knew that he wouldn't be the last one to go down. We'd already passed several times one rider (a junior I think) being put in an ambulance on the finishing stretch. So I made the executive decision not to gallop for unplaced nothingth whatever and soft pedalled in. Sure enough, bodies on the floor.

It's a fun race but in future I might avoid it if it's an all-in handicap.

clonard_rc

Hi everyone,
First of all we hope that the guys caught up in the crashes last night have a speedy recovery. It is an unfortunate side of the sport that there are crashes, but hopefully you are feeling a little better, and will be back on your bikes again soon.

Secondly, we really are very grateful for the feedback given on the race here - open and honest feedback is invaluable, and we would like to thank you for that. We will of course be discussing all aspects of the race and the incidents at our committee meeting when we review the race. The feedback from this thread will be a valuable input to this process, and we will take on board the comments already given, and any more that might be offered.

We would like to thank everyone who turned out for the race, and of course all the volunteers who helped out with the marshaling and the Gardai and ambulance crews for doing such a great job.

Photos and race report will be up on the website in the morning - work commitments unfortunately are delaying that process

Clonard Road Club.

1750W

eoghankevlihan wrote: »

I was just on front of guy who crashed on last corner and heard fall and directly behind bruton crash on the gallop. Don't know how i escaped. That crash was totally unnecessary as they had loads of room in front of them and got tangled with eachother. Reckon it was about 50km/h coming down. Incident was crazy. I dont know if fields have to be smaller or that route has to change as 4 crashes in an hours' racing( exciting as it was) isn't right when you gotta work next day. That's my 3rd enfield gp and It's a great buzz racing with top men on a fast course but maybe safety should be looked at on that route?? or 2 seperate races ?? some blind corners on back road also.
Despite all this i thoroughly enjoyed the race but was happy to finish safely

Obviously you haven't a clue what actually happened. There was no way Danny could have stayed upright after the way he was switched and as Danny was hitting the ground he took out my front wheel.

wav1

1750W wrote: »

Obviously you haven't a clue what actually happened. There was no way Danny could have stayed upright after the way he was switched and as Danny was hitting the ground he took out my front wheel.

Really hope your injuries are not as bad as they appeared 1750W.Danny and yourself could do shag all about it from where I was looking.Was a nasty crash fest all round and just one of those nights.Speedy recovery to all the riders.Never seen such inconsiderate motorists as the other night.Driving towards the race with the sun in their eyes and wanted to know what all the fuss was about.Riders probably did'nt realise it but for most of the race on the main road they were meeting cars,trucks,buses,etc,who couldn't see them.

clonard_rc

Hi again,
Photos from the night are available on Flickr:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjFNcynT

and also, a Race report from Tommy Campbell is also available in case you haven't already seen it: http://www.irishcyclingphotos.com/?p=16769

pprendeville

just out of curiosity, did all the A1s/A2s bridge across or just a few of them? Proabably all. Thought we deserved a bit more of a handicap although in saying that someone said last year the handicap was the same and it wasn't altogether til closer to the end.

dedocdude

wav1 wrote: »

Really hope your injuries are not as bad as they appeared 1750W.Danny and yourself could do shag all about it from where I was looking.Was a nasty crash fest all round and just one of those nights.Speedy recovery to all the riders.Never seen such inconsiderate motorists as the other night.Driving towards the race with the sun in their eyes and wanted to know what all the fuss was about.Riders probably did'nt realise it but for most of the race on the main road they were meeting cars,trucks,buses,etc,who couldn't see them.

hope all riders get well soon, sounds like carnage alright, convincing win from Dude Crowley, hes still got it!

niceonetom

pprendeville wrote: »

just out of curiosity, did all the A1s/A2s bridge across or just a few of them? Proabably all. Thought we deserved a bit more of a handicap although in saying that someone said last year the handicap was the same and it wasn't altogether til closer to the end.

Yeah, I think everyone got across. I think the catch was made on that road where were riding directly into the sun so only the bravest/maddest did the usual trick of swarming around the sides and trying to jump off the front before the rest of the A1/2s get around. Tha might have looked like there were only a few A1/2 around from inside the A3 bunch. The handicap seemed reasonable enough to me - the first lap or two certainly felt faster than after the groups came together but that's just my subjective take on it, and could be the product of a crap warm-up.