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2014 starts with good intentions
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Weds 29th Apr - Out to Club League 19km - http://app.strava.com/activities/135925397
Weds 29th Apr - Back from Club League 19km - http://app.strava.com/activities/135925392
Weds 29th Apr - Club League Race Ardcath Circuit 33km - http://app.strava.com/activities/135925396
First Club League road race of the season, went out to rip the legs off not to score points, mission achieved, hung well with the Scratch Group and felt very strong.
Fri 2nd May - Over to get Club Car 15km - http://app.strava.com/activities/136460500
Sun 4th May - Frank O'Rourke Warm Up - http://app.strava.com/activities/137366016
Sun 4th May - Frank O'Rourke (A4) Race - http://app.strava.com/activities/137366028
Went all the way down to deepest darkest Wexford for this, form is really good. Race was an utter disappointment, it was basically a leisure cycle with a sprint at the end, tried to get a break going, knew I was one of the strongest there, but couldn't do anything to prevent the mass sprint at the end which I made a bollox of. A particularly frustrating day as an A4 that left me thinking WTF do I have to do to capitalise on being one of the strongest in the bunch and get some points. Also a bloody long way to travel for a race we didn't race.
Tues 6th May - Return Club Car 16km - http://app.strava.com/activities/138159751
Tues 6th May - Howth Repeats 62km - http://app.strava.com/activities/138231254
Felt super strong on Howth, managed to put in the 11th fastest time up Windgate road, very happy with how the form is going - http://app.strava.com/activities/138231254/segments/3137318911
Weds 7th May - Commute in 5km - http://app.strava.com/activities/138413756
Weds 7th May - Club League Corkagh Park Warmup - http://app.strava.com/activities/138609783
Weds 7th May - Club League Corkagh Park Race - http://app.strava.com/activities/138609793
30mins plus 3 laps of Corkagh Park, we had 3 groups this night I was off in Group 2 with about 1/3 of a lap on scratch. Scratch made no impression on us as we worked very well together. We rode right through Group 1 and in the end there were about 4 of us in the group when the bell rang, one of the lads went with 2 laps to go and the lad in front of me didn't seem able to close the gap, I went round him and picked up the wheel. I realised this was it for the win and went to the front with 1.5 laps to go, the other lad wouldn't give me a turn but I didn't want to play silly buggers and let the other 2 back on, in the end I lost a photo by about an inch, still 2nd place is my best ever club league performance and I am happy with the result. Form continues to improve.
Fri 9th May - Commute in 5km - http://app.strava.com/activities/139105289
Fri 9th May - Commute out 5km - http://app.strava.com/activities/139194682
Sat 10th May - Dunsany GP Warmup - http://app.strava.com/activities/139471543
Sat 10th May - Dunsany GP (A4) Race - http://app.strava.com/activities/139471554
This was a big one for me, as I was off on 2 weeks holiday the next day with no chance of any cycling for the duration, so I really wanted to capitalise on the excellent form and bag some points before I lost some of it. I went off the front on the first lap on my own for about 10km, but got reeled in coming into Dunsany, I noted there was a block headwind for the last few km coming into the finish which was going to make it difficult for any break to stay away at the end. I was riding at Threshold so didn't do too much damage to the legs.
I went away slightly further on on the 2nd lap for about 7km but was caught in the same spot, again I rode at threshold so not too much damage done.
3rd lap I went at the turn for Dunsany and 2 lads came with me, we dropped one of them, but the other lad and I worked well together, we got to about 2.5km to go before the headwind took its toll and we were brought back.
I had about a minute to catch my breath before the turn into the uphill sprint. I was third wheel going round the final corner, and quickly passed one lad to be sitting in 2nd, a lad from St Tiernan's pipped me by a inch on the line so I got 3rd spot.
This result put me on 9/10 points for the upgrade and with 2 weeks holiday looming I was happy I hadn't got 2nd as it would have been harsh coming back from 2 weeks of being idle for an A3 debut!
Thurs 15th May - Climb of Goblin Hill (Run) 1.3km @ 10% - http://app.strava.com/activities/141403708
Fri 16th May - Climb of Goblin Hill (Run) 1.3km @ 10% - http://app.strava.com/activities/141792758
Sat 17th May - Climb of Goblin Hill (Run) 1.3km @ 10% - http://app.strava.com/activities/142158506
I got these 3 runs in on holidays, did a good bit of Canoeing too, and wasn't totally inactive, but compared to the hard graft I have put in this year it was not far off 2 weeks of being bone idle, couple that with good food, rum and red stripe and I came back 3.5kg heavier. I knew this was going to happen, but it is definitely frustrating to see some of the hard work pissed away!
Tues 27th May - Commute in 5km - http://app.strava.com/activities/146104468
Tues 27th May - Cycle over to Finglas 14km - http://app.strava.com/activities/146323502
Tues 27th May - Mondello Warm Up 10km - http://app.strava.com/activities/146323499
Tues 27th May - Mondello Race (A4) - http://app.strava.com/activities/146323502
Went over to Mondello on my first day back to see how much damage had been done. Started off just sitting in the bunch, but after about 1/3 of the race I realised I was strong enough to do some work, so I added my bit to the efforts of the 7/8 lads who were driving it at the front. We were doing a good job holding off A3 and after about 45 mins of the hour they seemed to give up the chase, I thought we were going to decide the win among ourselves however a few A3's and juniors along with a couple of A1's had managed to make the junction. The last 15 mins was hectic with lots of attacks from these guys and it was a hard. Managed to get into the last corner with what was left of the bunch, and I reckon I was 2nd unplaced A4 after the lad from bikehub in Howth who had looked strong all day, probably finished around 12th overall, but was a decent ways back.
While the form wasn't desperate, I rode smart and took into account my limitations. I know I am not where I was, I would estimate I am about 15% off of where I was 2 weeks prior, well able to hang with the bunch and do some work, but not likely to be one of those making the race. Some hard work ahead to get things back on track.
Weds 28th May - Commute in 5km - http://app.strava.com/activities/146453254
Weds 28th May - Commute Out - http://app.strava.com/activities/146562402
Weds 28th May - Club League Corkagh Park - http://app.strava.com/activities/146627463
I was put in scratch for the club league on account of my good pre-holiday form, which was a shame as I knew I would be in trouble, what with Mondello in my legs from the night before, and the loss of form on hols. I arrived late and didn't get a warmup, and we set off like a bat out of hell, I held on for 5-6 laps until just before the catch was made, but I rode alot of it into the wind and should have been smarter and sat on wheels. I blew up warmed down and went home.
Thurs 29th May - Commute Out - http://app.strava.com/activities/146932305
Thurs 29th May - Nags Head Repeats 60km - http://app.strava.com/activities/147002099
Fri 30th May - Commute In 5km - http://app.strava.com/activities/147177165
Fri 30th May - Commute Out 5km - http://app.strava.com/activities/147287306
Fri 30th May - 23km TT effort at HR Threshold - http://app.strava.com/activities/147310591
Sun 1st June - Over to Finglas 15km - http://app.strava.com/activities/148211414
Sun 1st June - Deenside Cup Warmup - http://app.strava.com/activities/148211407
Sun 1st June - Deenside Cup (A4) Race - http://app.strava.com/activities/148211435
A race about 2 ascents of a hill! We rode the race handy enough except for the 2 times up the hill. I felt fine the first time up, HR was higher than I would have liked, and I knew I wasn't flying on the hills as I had been before the break, but I got up the first time with an Avg HR just below Threshold and it didn't take too much out of me.
2nd time round however we rode very hard into the bottom of the climb and on the early steep section I was well into the red, I lost the wheel in front a little before halfway and rode the rest of the climb with my nose into the wind, the later section not being as steep and some good drafting advantages to be had. I crested the climb about 24 seconds down on the group that went on to contest the points, and couldn't make a dent in the gap to the next group on the road on the descent let alone those lads out in front.
All in all it was pretty much as I expected, you don't do nothing for 2 weeks and come back uprooting trees, I will work hard for the next few weeks and things will come round again, of that I am certain. I did have my biggest week of the year on the bike, and the legs were slightly dead on Sun, but that wasn't the difference between being dropped or not. Next weeks Meath GP is less selective so I would imagine by then I should be able to be there or thereabouts for the sprint.
Mon 2nd June - Nags Head Repeats - http://app.strava.com/activities/148637657
I intend to have a few weeks of very hard training now to work myself back into form. I am looking towards the Tour of Omagh at the end of the month as a big target, and will be upping the training regime between now and then.
I intend to get out to the Nags Head for repeats either before or after work most days as well as locking down what I eat to get the holiday kilos off.
Onwards and upwards!
Last 4 Weeks
Avg Rides / Week 7
Avg Distance / Week 130 km
Avg Time / Week 4h 5m
Year-to-Date
Distance 3,782.7 km
Time 138h 58m
Elev Gain 28,953 m
Rides 1260 -
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wirelessdude01 wrote: »We are in as well
Good to hear, what club are you and do you have a full 5? We'll have to build some Dublin Alliances between ye, Lucan and Swords!0 -
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wirelessdude01 wrote: »Ohh i'm Lucan.
Good stuff, you in Roundwood tomorrow? I'll ascertain which one of the Lucan horde you are and say hello 0 -
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wirelessdude01 wrote: »Yep i'll be there
Did you recently buy a new bike? (process of elimination)0 -
Weds 11th June - 53km of warmup, warmdown and commuting with a 10 mile Club TT - http://app.strava.com/activities/152407992
Thurs 12th June -12km Commuting
Fri 13th June - 27km Commuting
Sat 14th June - Roundwood GP 62.1km - http://app.strava.com/activities/153383485
Made a mistake this week, I developed a chest infection from racing last Sunday and got antibiotics from the Doctor Monday morning, I thought I was well enough to do the TT on Weds but it ripped my throat out, then decided again that I had recovered enough to race Saturday and had trouble breathing with a rattle in my chest. I tried to help work for a Club mate, gave a hard pull into the climb the last time and then rolled home myself.
Sun 15th June - 50km Naul Hills - http://app.strava.com/activities/153992193
I went out for a gentle spin on the Sunday, wanting to race the Tour of Omagh and having a family weekend away and a work trip for 3 days to Brussels in the intervening period means I went out racing / training when sick worried I might not get enough in.....probably not a good idea in hindsight.
Mon 16th June - 50km Naul Hills - http://app.strava.com/activities/154344612
Rode the hills hard, set a bunch of PR's, felt my chest infection was behind me, thankfully. Form seems good.
Tues 17th June - 12km Commuting
Weds 18th June - 52km Commuting to work and to the Club Champs Race
Weds 18th June - Club Champs A Race 60km (7th) - http://app.strava.com/activities/155223841
Now in Scratch in the Club League so the A race for me, good race, hard ridden, 3 of the Clubs Strongmen got into a break on lap 3 of 5 and stayed away with our new A1 Ken Tobin riding away from the other 2 lads for the title of Club Champion, I finished 4th in the 2nd Group sprint for 7th place (I think)
Sun 22nd June - Out and back to race 40km
Sun 22nd June - Strabane Lifford GP (A4) 50km - http://app.strava.com/activities/157100925
Good hard race, the lads up north seem to be alot more honest about their A4 racing then those down south. Used it as a training session, put the hurt on at the front a good bit up the drags, and went off the front a few times with various lads. Was on the wheel of the winner up the final kick, started to go round him and sat up to avoid getting points ahead of next weeks Tour of Omagh. Definitely had some points for the taking there anyways, hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass! and I get none in Omagh and spend the rest of the year trying to get my upgrade.
Tour of Omagh
This race was pure class, the organisation the host club put into it was first rate, it was not far off the Rás in terms of Marshalling, support etc. From race radio for the Team managers, to Neutral Service cars, this race had it all. I would recommend any A4 factor this into their season next year, and any clubs from the 26 counties to prioritise entering a team. It is a chance for A4's to tackle a stage race of the highest quality, and a unique experience. I saw one crash, caused by a pothole not anyone else, the whole weekend with 3 road stages and 110 riders, that is testament to the quality of the riding and the marshalling.
Stage 1
http://app.strava.com/activities/158882523
72km with 685m of climbing according to my gps, ridden hard and fast for a 39.4kph average on my Garmin. There wasn't enough to really break it up and there was a massive field coming in for the sprint. It was downhill with a tailwind for the last 5km, leveling out into a slight drag for the finish. I was some buzz, but we were just inches from disaster if someone made a wrong move.
I was positioned well coming into the final km moving up as gaps appeared as some people found the pace too much, I found myself in 3rd place on a wheel with about 200m to go and went as hard as I could, I couldn't get round the eventual winner, but got up for 2nd place taking a 6 sec time bonus to put me 2nd in the GC.
The rest of the team rolled in on the sametime, with my clubmate getting 6th on the stage putting us both up to A3. We led the team Classification as well.
Stage 2
http://app.strava.com/activities/159136311
We rocked up early to get warmed up and were amazed to see the array of TT equipment the northern boys had, lots of Team Sky setups, 4 or 5 turbos out the back of a van with really nice TT bikes and disk wheel setups. TT'ing is quite big north of the border I was told, hence the abundance of good gear, we didn't even have clip ons!
A 4km TT. I did it in 5:52 which was 30 seconds slower than the winner. I didn't feel I did a particularly good TT, and left some time out there, TT's are not something I do very often, this was probably my 4th ever, and by far the shortest. I put out 355W for the 5 minutes, I think I could have gone deeper and a full TT setup would certainly have shaved some time off too.
This dropped me down to 27th in the GC with work to be done in the following 2 road stages.
Stage 3
http://app.strava.com/activities/159136355
A 67.3km road stage with a decent climb about 20km from the finish. The climb did it's work and only 44 of the 110 starters made the split. I crested it at the front with maybe 7 other lads, and we had maybe a 20 second gap, but noone wanted to ride, probably mindful that 20km is a long way to the finish.
I was very well positioned for the sprint, but missed the 1km to go sign and as we rounded a corner the finish appeared right in front of us with maybe 100m to go, I was feeling great, but cursed as I knew I was too far back, I gave it everything and managed to get 6th, but a much better result was on the cards, and I could have done with the time bonus for a top 3 to help move me up the GC.
6th on the stage and up to 18th on the GC 27 seconds down. Having dropped from 1st in the Team classification to 13th on the TT stage, a good ride by the lads all finishing in the front group saw us move up to 4th 33 seconds down.
Stage 4
http://app.strava.com/activities/159608094
The final stage had a climb that peaked with 10km to go, likely to be the most selective road stage event of the Tour. It was 2 back to back climbs, with a short fast descent in between.
One of the Blanchies on our team was tied 1st for the Green Jersey, so I offered to help lead him out. The first sprint was only about 8km into the stage so we set off at breakneck speed as there were teams chasing time bonuses for GC and others Sprint points so lots of people had an interest. he sat on my wheel and we made our way towards the front, in the end we didn't get ourselves positioned close enough to the front when the 1km sign came up, and he narrowly missed out getting 4th.
There was another sprint after 32km, but we had started a mile of so further down the road than anticipated so we had to guess where it actually was as the route notes were now off. I got to the front with about 4km to go to the sprint, I thought we were nearer, and drilled it, lining it out, the 1km just never came and I was fairly well emptying the tank which was far from ideal. I let him go with about 300m to go and drifted back in the pack. Unfortunately immediately after the sprint we went into a hill, I didn't get much recovery, maybe 30 seconds and felt bolloxed, I could see my whole race goiing down the pan if I couldn't hold the wheels up the hill and get some more recovery in. Fortunately it was a short enough dig and I got up it hurting and settled in 3/4 of the way back in the bunch to recover, knowing I had about 16km until the first of the 2 finishing climbs.
I didn't feel great after the effort and was worried I might not make it over the hills to come, had some gels, high-5 and rested up. I started to make my way back up the bunch with the climbs looming in a few km, and hit the bottom of the first one in about 20th, passed a few lads on the way up and crested in a group of about 8 with the yellow jersey and some other lads high up in the GC. A fast descent took us through a village and into the final climb 3km at 5% according to strava.
http://app.strava.com/activities/159608094/segments/3699684126
A few of the GC lads attacked hard at the bottom, I decided not to go with them but to set a hard steady tempo, there were maybe 4 up the road and myself in a group of 4 about 15m back, the gap stayed about the same over the top and we quickly brought them back as we rode the fast, technical descent, a few more got back on and we formed a group of about 14 off the front with a good gap.
We rode hard up and overs for the next 8km or so and stayed away, myself and one of the Blachie lads slfcarro from boards had make the split from our team, which was good. A bit of messing started going into the final couple of km as people started eyeing the stage win. I agreed to try and give slfcarro a leadout to get him some CI points, but as we got into the sprint proper both my hamstrings cramped up and I struggled to get in without a time gap, just managing it, which was a shame as I had been measuring up very well in the previous sprints with 2nd and a 6th that could have been more.
Anyways, a better TT, or even a TT bike would likely have gained me some seconds, how many I don't know, so in the end I finished 11th, 27 seconds behind.
Team McNally Swords finished 2nd in the team competition as we had 2 in the decisive split, sadly Greenmat missed out on the split and finished 34 secs back in the 2nd group on the road, if he had made the split it would have been enough to overhaul our deficit on the Team Winners.
Prizegiving for 2nd Team
I can't speak highly enough of this event, I had an excellent weekend and the racing was hard and fast, none of the slackfest we have had sometimes in Leinster A4 races this season.
Onwards to A3 now, I amassed another 10 points this weekend alone to put me up to 19 and an an upgrade.
A huge thanks to the 2 Blanchies who helped make our team up to 5, a pleasure to ride with the lads.0 -
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