Nenagh classic

macbane66

Anyone got a strava link for this years a4 race in nenagh this Sunday

harringtonp

Well Guys,

What did yous make of the race today ?

Pawlie

harringtonp wrote: »

Well Guys,

What did yous make of the race today ?

Super until I bust a spoke and buckled my rear wheel in that fecking country mile section 😢 with about 30km to go.
Race for me was over then had to get spare on,absulotly sickened over it,

harringtonp

Yes Pawlie I sat a lot of attrition along the sides of the country mile and immediately after it. It was certainly a tester of how mechanically sound your bike is and of course there is an element of luck there too.

It was enjoyable in the masochistic way if you got through it ok, and I imagine a real bummer and disappointment if you didn't. My saddle tilted up on the bumps and I couldn't get it straight again, lost a bit of momentum trying and a lot of energy chasing on again and had to ride the rest of the race with it tilted.

macbane66

harringtonp wrote: »

Yes Pawlie I sat a lot of attrition along the sides of the country mile and immediately after it. It was certainly a tester of how mechanically sound your bike is and of course there is an element of luck there too.

It was enjoyable in the masochistic way if you got through it ok, and I imagine a real bummer and disappointment if you didn't. My saddle tilted up on the bumps and I couldn't get it straight again, lost a bit of momentum trying and a lot of energy chasing on again and had to ride the rest of the race with it tilted.

Great race, not sure about the Kilroy estate element , we r ameateurs after all, I wonder did that count as a public day for its heritage garden tax exemption, they could buy some tar with it !!headwind coming in was rough. Calved in last 500m when sprint ensued

Smalltom

Think Kilboy may have helped my demise too. I was doing the A3 and tried to get away at the top of Coum and succeeded but had no help so sat up. Had another go just before nenagh and stayed away until near top if Dolla, hoping for a few to come across. Young O Loughlin did but I couldn't stay with him(he got 2nd). Going up Seanins I was near the front and moving well when rear wheel started rubbing the frame. I hopped off and re tightened skewer. Got 100m and same again. Race over. To say I was gutted was an under statement. Hopped my glasses and helmet off the road in a rage. F**king light weight skewers. Steel all the way from now on. A major lesson learned. Great test though in terms of a race.

smurphy29

Superb race. Has the feeling of a real 'event' with the crowds and atmosphere. Energy-sapping climbs, goat-track descents, the country mile, varied terrains and road-types, amazing scenery, not that I got to look at it much. It has the lot.

Did the A3. Last climb was a leg-breaker. Was in the second of two bunches that came together on the big road to the finish. About 20-25 of us after we merged. Our group worked hard, and pretty efficiently to catch the group in front. Dunbar, O'Loughlin, a group of three and another group of nine were ahead of us. We could see the group of 9 but after the first chase, nobody had the heart or the legs to keep it going to catch the next group.

Turns out we were sprinting for the last prize, not that any of us really knew it. Came over about 6th in the bunch after a half-hearted sprint.

No matter how many times I tell myself how important position is I continually underestimate it and on the last climb I found myself in a bit of a jam at the start and by the time it got lined out the break already had a gap.

Still undecided on the country mile. I thought it would be a gimmick but it did turn out to be significant because it's so close to the Dolla climb. It meant gaps were appearing before the climb even started and everyone started the climb on the rivet. I thought I was going to blow on the first section but managed to get moving and close a gap to the lead group and I was ok after that. For all that, it did feel like a bit of a 'lucky bag' whether you survived it mechanically or not (hard luck Pawlie). I was sure I'd punctured at one stage but unfortunately I hadn't and had to keep on suffering.

Pretty much everyone who collected a prize was a junior. 8 of the top 10 and all the top six. What's new, eh? We can only hope that racing with them will bring us on a heap and taking the longer view on things, we'll benefit from it.

harringtonp

Great organisation and circuit, loved the crowds in the center of Nenagh.

A3 was the hardest stage I've done this year, was looking at the calculated TSS (Training Stress Score) on Golden Cheetah and it just about pips Broadford.

Second and final (of 4) climbs were not much more than Boreens, last one had a good green strip in the middle. But we're all well used to this aren't we

Smalltom

'No matter how many times I tell myself how important position is I continually underestimate it and on the last climb I found myself in a bit of a jam at the start and by the time it got lined out the break already had a gap.'

The last climb is all about being in the top 10 taking the turn. It gets steep quickly so the lads at the front who might be struggling will then be in your way (if you're a good climber). On top of that having to stop/pause pedalling momentarily if the wheel in front is suffering makes it hard to have a smooth cadence etc. Nice little leg breaker though!

harringtonp

smurphy29 wrote: »

Did the A3. Last climb was a leg-breaker. Was in the second of two bunches that came together on the big road to the finish. About 20-25 of us after we merged. Our group worked hard, and pretty efficiently to catch the group in front. Dunbar, O'Loughlin, a group of three and another group of nine were ahead of us. We could see the group of 9 but after the first chase, nobody had the heart or the legs to keep it going to catch the next group.

Turns out we were sprinting for the last prize, not that any of us really knew it. Came over about 6th in the bunch after a half-hearted sprint.

What jersey had you on ? I was in the second of the 2 bunches too in the Dolmen jersey ? We were all well thrashed at that stage, looked at the wattage for the last 7km and it was a mere 2.3 w/kg and that with rolling through.

pprendeville

Smalltom wrote: »

Think Kilboy may have helped my demise too. I was doing the A3 and tried to get away at the top of Coum and succeeded but had no help so sat up. Had another go just before nenagh and stayed away until near top if Dolla, hoping for a few to come across. Young O Loughlin did but I couldn't stay with him(he got 2nd). Going up Seanins I was near the front and moving well when rear wheel started rubbing the frame. I hopped off and re tightened skewer. Got 100m and same again. Race over. To say I was gutted was an under statement. Hopped my glasses and helmet off the road in a rage. F**king light weight skewers. Steel all the way from now on. A major lesson learned. Great test though in terms of a race.

Happened me before as well with light skewers. Stick on a pair of Shimanos or something old-school. Peace of mind for the sake of a few extra grams. Just cut out a bit of chocolate or whatever it is you indulge in and you'll soon be saving weight from the belly to make up for it.

smurphy29

Smalltom wrote: »

'No matter how many times I tell myself how important position is I continually underestimate it and on the last climb I found myself in a bit of a jam at the start and by the time it got lined out the break already had a gap.'

The last climb is all about being in the top 10 taking the turn. It gets steep quickly so the lads at the front who might be struggling will then be in your way (if you're a good climber). On top of that having to stop/pause pedalling momentarily if the wheel in front is suffering makes it hard to have a smooth cadence etc. Nice little leg breaker though!

That's it in a nutshell. And it was so narrow that there just wasn't space to pass so you're kind of stuck. Position, position, position!

smurphy29

harringtonp wrote: »

What jersey had you on ? I was in the second of the 2 bunches too in the Dolmen jersey ? We were all well thrashed at that stage, looked at the wattage for the last 7km and it was a mere 2.3 w/kg and that with rolling through.

Dublin Wheelers. All black kit.

We were thrashed alright. The wattage for kms 10-5 might have been a bit higher, because that's where the hard work took place. We caught on with, what, about 4-5km to go? Once we caught on the rolling through stopped altogether and we all had a bit of quiet time, I'd say the numbers for the last 5k are almost negative.

I thought the group did well considering. The pace was probably nothing special, but nobody missed their turn even though we were all exhausted and the headwind was a killer. It was a long, slow process to close the gap but we got there. When you're up against the junior superstars, you'll take the little victories.

ericzeking

The road through that estate was bad alright...maybe we should have had 27mm FMB Paris Roubaix Tubulars with 50mm Carbon rims and a layer of extra gel bar tape to absorbs the shock......!!

I think the worst was the gravel on some of the bends especially exiting that estate

Great race overall though...serious test

MichealD

How to hold your line in a sprint....not!





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harringtonp

smurphy29 wrote: »

Dublin Wheelers. All black kit.

We were thrashed alright. The wattage for kms 10-5 might have been a bit higher, because that's where the hard work took place. We caught on with, what, about 4-5km to go? Once we caught on the rolling through stopped altogether and we all had a bit of quiet time, I'd say the numbers for the last 5k are almost negative.

I thought the group did well considering. The pace was probably nothing special, but nobody missed their turn even though we were all exhausted and the headwind was a killer. It was a long, slow process to close the gap but we got there. When you're up against the junior superstars, you'll take the little victories.

Yes looks like about 4.5km from Strava, group did work well, it is not too often I have seen that in races. In these type of races my only goal is to finish in a decent group.

You do wonder about the better juniors though and what they get out of it. They can just disappear into the distance at will. The rest of us fulfil the role of easy prey

Smalltom

pprendeville wrote: »

Happened me before as well with light skewers. Stick on a pair of Shimanos or something old-school. Peace of mind for the sake of a few extra grams. Just cut out a bit of chocolate or whatever it is you indulge in and you'll soon be saving weight from the belly to make up for it.

If I cut out any more chocolate I will have to stop smelling the Easter eggs in tesco lol !!!

Aodho

harringtonp wrote: »

What jersey had you on ? I was in the second of the 2 bunches too in the Dolmen jersey ? We were all well thrashed at that stage, looked at the wattage for the last 7km and it was a mere 2.3 w/kg and that with rolling through.

Hope you weren't the dolmen lad with the triathlon tube coming out of the water bottle, the thunderpants on under the shorts & the nasty habit of changing lines willy nilly... whoever that fella was he nearly caused a few crashes & got f&<ked out of it a few times, but he seemed oblivious

mccutchie

Aodho wrote: »

Hope you weren't the dolmen lad with the triathlon tube coming out of the water bottle, the thunderpants on under the shorts & the nasty habit of changing lines willy nilly... whoever that fella was he nearly caused a few crashes & got f&<ked out of it a few times, but he seemed oblivious

Under CI & UCI regulations are triathlon tubes and thunder pants not on the prohibited list :-)

Amprodude

Aodho wrote: »

Hope you weren't the dolmen lad with the triathlon tube coming out of the water bottle, the thunderpants on under the shorts & the nasty habit of changing lines willy nilly... whoever that fella was he nearly caused a few crashes & got f&<ked out of it a few times, but he seemed oblivious

You will always get them in every race.

Amprodude

MichealD wrote: »

How to hold your line in a sprint....not!





[

Jesus thats almost as bad as what i saw in the sprint in Fermoy last week in the A4 race. Crazy stuff.

rochefan

Amprodude wrote: »

Jesus thats almost as bad as what i saw in the sprint in Fermoy last week in the A4 race. Crazy stuff.

Glad I don't race A4!!!!

Amprodude

rochefan wrote: »

Glad I don't race A4!!!!

The problem i think that is wrong with A4 racing is that there are too many riders in that category. There should be a category for A5 riders which should cover new and inexperienced riders.