Leahy Cup 2014 Cobh

Slo_Rida

Anyone doing this?
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ballymore-Cycling-Club/138747162845759

Looks like the A4 has been extended to do 5 laps of 10km plus the hill finish:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ballymore-Cycling-Club/138747162845759#!/photo.php?fbid=666679020052568&set=a.182148408505634.50605.138747162845759&type=1&theater

It was v short in the past @ 37km.
Good times.
SR

on_the_nickel

Plan to. Rode that final hill during the week, it is going to hurt.

surripere

Would this be 8 or 3 points places awarded for A4? Considering it appears to be bang on 50km.

Slo_Rida

I think it will work out more than 50km with the final hill. Here's the A3 from 2 years ago I think which looks like 5 laps plus the finish which is 57km. I am hoping that this is the case anyway.

on_the_nickel

Well done to Ballymore on a well run, safe race.

Pity most of the A4 bunch are happy to sit on wheels all day. Eddie Dunbar went past us in the last 2km.

c50

Great race. Savage pace in a3/a2 bunch. werent many left come the finish line. good route and safe racing

Slo_Rida

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Well done to Ballymore on a well run, safe race.

Pity most of the A4 bunch are happy to sit on wheels all day. Eddie Dunbar went past us in the last 2km.

Couldn't agree more. I was trying to drive it on in the first 2 laps and had a good go on the hill up to the village but punctured out then. I actually got a spare wheel eventually and bust my balls to try and get back on but no use. Got a hooooor of a session done though, good enough course but when the pace is so slow, those hills are very managable.

Well run by Ballymore CC, deffo be back next year.

on_the_nickel

Slo_Rida wrote: »

Couldn't agree more. I was trying to drive it on in the first 2 laps and had a good go on the hill up to the village but punctured out then. I actually got a spare wheel eventually and bust my balls to try and get back on but no use. Got a hooooor of a session done though, good enough course but when the pace is so slow, those hills are very managable.

Well run by Ballymore CC, deffo be back next year.

Limerick CC? It was you and me roaring at the rest of them so. I think I was talking to you in Coachford too.

So many of them happy to sit in and take a tow, it was embarrassing to be caught by a solo Eddie Dunbar, no matter how good he is.

Though maybe we're the stupid ones, I blew up on the last hill and trailed in 10th. A lot of lads I'd not seen all day took the points.

mccutchie

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Limerick CC? It was you and me roaring at the rest of them so. I think I was talking to you in Coachford too.

So many of them happy to sit in and take a tow, it was embarrassing to be caught by a solo Eddie Dunbar, no matter how good he is.

Though maybe we're the stupid ones, I blew up on the last hill and trailed in 10th. A lot of lads I'd not seen all day took the points.

And that in a nutshell that is A4 racing, unless you are super strong. If lads actually put in a shift it would be to everyone's benefit. Our local club run a league over a lumpy circuit and there's bodies everywhere after 40km, constant attacking. Great night of suffering.

Slo_Rida

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Limerick CC? It was you and me roaring at the rest of them so. I think I was talking to you in Coachford too.

So many of them happy to sit in and take a tow, it was embarrassing to be caught by a solo Eddie Dunbar, no matter how good he is.

Though maybe we're the stupid ones, I blew up on the last hill and trailed in 10th. A lot of lads I'd not seen all day took the points.

That's me.
It was so slow when we weren't on the front and then if someone did make half a break people (thus far invisible) chased immediately.
To be honest, I've been embarassed to be part of the A4 bunch in the last 2 races. Ah well, hopefully not too long and I'll be up to A3 to be embarassed in a different way

pedro_colnago

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Limerick CC? It was you and me roaring at the rest of them so. I think I was talking to you in Coachford too.

So many of them happy to sit in and take a tow, it was embarrassing to be caught by a solo Eddie Dunbar, no matter how good he is.

Though maybe we're the stupid ones, I blew up on the last hill and trailed in 10th. A lot of lads I'd not seen all day took the points.

Thats racing, tho, and eddie dunbar is on a different level to everyone in ireland so getting caught by someone like him is not "embarrasing" he was doing his laps at 2 minutes quicker than the a4s were and he won his race by 6 minutes? A4 is A4 fellahs arent strong enough to go up the road on their own and stay away. And you weren't 10th by the way...because I was I checked as I thought I'd placed

Slo_Rida

pedro_colnago wrote: »

Thats racing, tho, and eddie dunbar is on a different level to everyone in ireland so getting caught by someone like him is not "embarrasing" he was doing his laps at 2 minutes quicker than the a4s were and he won his race by 6 minutes? A4 is A4 fellahs arent strong enough to go up the road on their own and stay away. And you weren't 10th by the way...because I was I checked as I thought I'd placed

No I disagree, it's not racing, not when the pace is so slow. Sitting in is one thing, lot's of looders think they are Mark Cavendish and that's ok with me, but it can't be allowed to go so slow in the meantime.
Avg speed until I punctured out was 33.4kph, that ain't fast.

on_the_nickel

pedro_colnago wrote: »

Thats racing, tho, and eddie dunbar is on a different level to everyone in ireland so getting caught by someone like him is not "embarrasing" he was doing his laps at 2 minutes quicker than the a4s were and he won his race by 6 minutes? A4 is A4 fellahs arent strong enough to go up the road on their own and stay away. And you weren't 10th by the way...because I was I checked as I thought I'd placed

Well the lad who came 2nd got away on his own for a lap and nearly held on for the win. Mostly because there was no one willing to lead the chase apart from 3/4 lads.

You might say that's racing, but I don't think it's racing, it's sitting in and hoping for a place in the sprint. Why not just cut A4 races to a 2km gallop? I know I'm being stupid and not "racing smart" but I'd rather do some work, go off the front, get some training in and not place than hide in the bunch and still not place.

The video of the finish on Ballymore's FB has me coming in 10th, but you're more than welcome to have it, I'm sick to death of placing 9/10/11th.

pedro_colnago

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Well the lad who came 2nd got away on his own for a lap and nearly held on for the win. Mostly because there was no one willing to lead the chase apart from 3/4 lads.

You might say that's racing, but I don't think it's racing, it's sitting in and hoping for a place in the sprint. Why not just cut A4 races to a 2km gallop? I know I'm being stupid and not "racing smart" but I'd rather do some work, go off the front, get some training in and not place than hide in the bunch and still not place.

The video of the finish on Ballymore's FB has me coming in 10th, but you're more than welcome to have it, I'm sick to death of placing 9/10/11th.

I stand corrected I was 9th

pedro_colnago

Slo_Rida wrote: »

No I disagree, it's not racing, not when the pace is so slow. Sitting in is one thing, lot's of looders think they are Mark Cavendish and that's ok with me, but it can't be allowed to go so slow in the meantime.
Avg speed until I punctured out was 33.4kph, that ain't fast.

Average speed on my garmin was 33.8, given the hilly course it's not that all that surprising, flatter course speeds are usually 38 or 39 kmh average. fellas give out about a4 but you don't see breakaways because fellas don't have the legs and because the races are shorter. You'll find that the a3 speeds aren't hugely different but the races are longer and that's why it gets more split than A4 IMO . I do accept your point about bunch sprint finishes in A4 but yesterday's race of all races wasn't the usual with that hill finish and fellas are always going to race it to suit themselves not anyone else. That's the nature of it. As an aside the only person I heard roaring and shouting about doing a bit of work during the race was left for dead on the last climb.

pedro_colnago

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Well the lad who came 2nd got away on his own for a lap and nearly held on for the win. Mostly because there was no one willing to lead the chase apart from 3/4 lads.

You might say that's racing, but I don't think it's racing, it's sitting in and hoping for a place in the sprint. Why not just cut A4 races to a 2km gallop? I know I'm being stupid and not "racing smart" but I'd rather do some work, go off the front, get some training in and not place than hide in the bunch and still not place.

The video of the finish on Ballymore's FB has me coming in 10th, but you're more than welcome to have it, I'm sick to death of placing 9/10/11th.

I accept your point about breakaways, and your not being stupid at all, but when a race that's only 50km and the majority of races in Ireland being flat (a lot flatter than ballymore) it's very very hard to make a break stick especially a solo one

on_the_nickel

pedro_colnago wrote: »

As an aside the only person I heard roaring and shouting about doing a bit of work during the race was left for dead on the last climb.

That was me and I was just behind you. And I worked my hole off.

on_the_nickel

pedro_colnago wrote: »

I accept your point about breakaways, and your not being stupid at all, but when a race that's only 50km and the majority of races in Ireland being flat (a lot flatter than ballymore) it's very very hard to make a break stick especially a solo one

If lads were more willing to have a go, breaks would stay away. 3/4 lads working together have a great chance of staying away. Look, if someone is a good sprinter, I've no problem with them not busting their balls on the front, but no one benefits from a race where most of the race is at a pedestrian pace.

pedro_colnago

on_the_nickel wrote: »

That was me and I was just behind you. And I worked my hole off.

It wasn't you he was from another cork club that I'm not going to name as he was the only one from that club racing so it wouldn't be fair to say who he was on here

on_the_nickel

pedro_colnago wrote: »

It wasn't you he was from another cork club that I'm not going to name as he was the only one from that club racing so it wouldn't be fair to say who he was on here

Sound.

pedro_colnago

on_the_nickel wrote: »

If lads were more willing to have a go, breaks would stay away. 3/4 lads working together have a great chance of staying away. Look, if someone is a good sprinter, I've no problem with them not busting their balls on the front, but no one benefits from a race where most of the race is at a pedestrian pace.

If they do then why don't the bigger clubs organise breakaways? IMO because it's everyone doing there own thing, u have to be pragmatic and say I'm racing for me not anyone else, that's the nature of it at A4

on_the_nickel

pedro_colnago wrote: »

If they do then why don't the bigger clubs organise breakaways? IMO because it's everyone doing there own thing, u have to be pragmatic and say I'm racing for me not anyone else, that's the nature of it at A4

Don't know if any clubs have enough A4s to do that? And if more than one jersey of the same colour go away, the bunch will react and cover.

I agree about racing for yourself, but when everyone thinks that, it becomes a slow bike race. If everyone rolls through, you're not on the front for long. When no one rolls through, the lads on the front is stranded so everyone thinks, "that poor f*cker, I don't want to be him". It's a vicious circle when no one works, that's why the lads who want a decent pace get frustrated.

ericzeking

pedro_colnago wrote: »

Average speed on my garmin was 33.8, given the hilly course it's not that all that surprising, flatter course speeds are usually 38 or 39 kmh average. fellas give out about a4 but you don't see breakaways because fellas don't have the legs and because the races are shorter. You'll find that the a3 speeds aren't hugely different but the races are longer and that's why it gets more split than A4 IMO . I do accept your point about bunch sprint finishes in A4 but yesterday's race of all races wasn't the usual with that hill finish and fellas are always going to race it to suit themselves not anyone else. That's the nature of it. As an aside the only person I heard roaring and shouting about doing a bit of work during the race was left for dead on the last climb.

For what it is worth, the average in the bunch (that came in for 6th) in the A2/3/Jun event yesterday was 36.odd kph....
Great days racing.
Only way to drop 'sprinters' is to ride the hills hard and keep riding over the top.....I should know, I'm a sprinter, of sorts!!

pedro_colnago

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Don't know if any clubs have enough A4s to do that? And if more than one jersey of the same colour go away, the bunch will react and cover.

I agree about racing for yourself, but when everyone thinks that, it becomes a slow bike race. If everyone rolls through, you're not on the front for long. When no one rolls through, the lads on the front is stranded so everyone thinks, "that poor f*cker, I don't want to be him". It's a vicious circle when no one works, that's why the lads who want a decent pace get frustrated.

I suppose breakaways and doing your bit up the front in a bunch are different, I think it's harder to organise rolling in a big bunch which A4 racing largely is, I do say that the front dictates the pace not the fellas at the back, I suppose too that average speeds don't win races it is being able to hurt fellas when the hammer goes down that wins races and it's harder to do that in short races.

Quigs Snr

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Well the lad who came 2nd got away on his own for a lap and nearly held on for the win. Mostly because there was no one willing to lead the chase apart from .

That lad is a clubmate of mine and he'll kill me if he sees this.... he is 60 years old..... No excuses for ye younger lads.... take a leaf out of your elders books...put your necks on the line... give it a shot.. take a risk.. race.. enjoy.

on_the_nickel

Quigs Snr wrote: »

That lad is a clubmate of mine and he'll kill me if he sees this.... he is 60 years old..... No excuses for ye younger lads.... take a leaf out of your elders books...put your necks on the line... give it a shot.. take a risk.. race.. enjoy.

Had a quick chat with him afterwards, was delighted for him. TBH, I'm happy to see any breakaway succeed. Means I'll keep trying :-)

A4 rider

pedro_colnago wrote: »

It wasn't you he was from another cork club that I'm not going to name as he was the only one from that club racing so it wouldn't be fair to say who he was on here

What a moaner . It's called racing for a reason and not a training session . All A4 races are the same . No one is willing to go out and drill it . And if you had the balls why didn't you go out on your own and try to stay away . Buy the way just because some one is on his own from a club dose not mean he was on his own racing .

no1murray

Quigs Snr wrote: »

That lad is a clubmate of mine and he'll kill me if he sees this.... he is 60 years old..... No excuses for ye younger lads.... take a leaf out of your elders books...put your necks on the line... give it a shot.. take a risk.. race.. enjoy.

Hey quigs. The silver fox is a legend. He has a win in him yet.

Half the a4s arnt strong enough to ride sportives let alone race. I tell ya they are some lot to moan.

pedro_colnago

A4 rider wrote: »

What a moaner . It's called racing for a reason and not a training session . All A4 races are the same . No one is willing to go out and drill it . And if you had the balls why didn't you go out on your own and try to stay away . Buy the way just because some one is on his own from a club dose not mean he was on his own racing .

Who? Me moaning? No not at all, I dunno if ur having a go at me or what? I'm just making observations, feel free to disagree but no need to question how I race a race, have u gone on many successful breakaways yourself?

A4 rider

pedro_colnago wrote: »

Who? Me moaning? No not at all, I dunno if ur having a go at me or what? I'm just making observations, feel free to disagree but no need to question how I race a race, have u gone on many successful breakaways yourself?[

To me you seem to be having a go at the riders that were at the front for most of the ride but did not drive the race on . There were at least 40 riders in the race most of the top ten finishers did not show there face until the last lap . Who was right . And yes I agree you and a very small few tried to drive it on but as with all A4 no takers and that's the way it always goes . I am not saying this is right but every rider chooses how he wants to ride for himself .

pedro_colnago

A4 rider wrote: »

pedro_colnago wrote: »

Who? Me moaning? No not at all, I dunno if ur having a go at me or what? I'm just making observations, feel free to disagree but no need to question how I race a race, have u gone on many successful breakaways yourself?[

To me you seem to be having a go at the riders that were at the front for most of the ride but did not drive the race on . There were at least 40 riders in the race most of the top ten finishers did not show there face until the last lap . Who was right . And yes I agree you and a very small few tried to drive it on but as with all A4 no takers and that's the way it always goes . I am not saying this is right but every rider chooses how he wants to ride for himself .

I didn't have a go at anyone dude, i was pointing out that that is the nature of a4 racing, read my post on it, and where do u get off saying I don't have the balls to go on solo breaks? IMO Racing is about tactics as much as putting the hammer down, I dunno I think it's you doing the moaning not me, I am just saying that's the nature of a4 racing feel free to disagree but I think your out of order having a go at me by questioning how I race a race. Ballymore was never going to be a sprint finish with the climbs on it and I say fair play to the lads who placed.

c50

pedro_colnago wrote: »

Who? Me moaning? No not at all, I dunno if ur having a go at me or what? I'm just making observations, feel free to disagree but no need to question how I race a race, have u gone on many successful breakaways yourself?

a4's ranting about successful breakaways. theres not much on this site that sets me into floods of tears and stitched sides.
I replayed the video over and over again of the old waterford lad coming in second place. embarassing given hes twice the average age of the bunch. not to take anything away from him but his race legs have seen much fresher days

pedro_colnago

c50 wrote: »

a4's ranting about successful breakaways. theres not much on this site that sets me into floods of tears and stitched sides.
I replayed the video over and over again of the old waterford lad coming in second place. embarassing given hes twice the average age of the bunch. not to take anything away from him but his race legs have seen much fresher days

Jaysus wept I'm not the one moaning and I'm certainly not the one ranting. I'm saying A4 is what it is, it's to be enjoyed, if a fella doesn't enjoy it then they need to find a different way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but IMO they shouldn't be bitching about it on line after the fact and dont be giving fellas a hard time coz they race their own race whether they win or not. That's my tuppence worth and it's probably worth only tuppence

Juan More Time

I was there. It was an incredible sight to see Eddy Dunbar's audacious long solo breakaway move and Dylan O' Brien taking a fine 2nd place. Both are surely the rising stars of Irish cycling who display physical maturity far beyond their tender years..

fixie fox

Juan More Time wrote: »

I was there. It was an incredible sight to see Eddy Dunbar's audacious long solo breakaway move and Dylan O' Brien taking a fine 2nd place. Both are surely the rising stars of Irish cycling who display physical maturity far beyond their tender years..

Not that incredible any more - more the norm
. Where it was really incredible was at Minane Bridge in early 2013 when he laid down his marker in one of his first races as a junior (and wasn't yet 16 if I remember). Everyone was 'incredible' watching him putting 4 min. into Timmy Barry and Co. At that stage we'd never heard if him.