Kilmessan GP. Sunday, March 26th

rayquinn1

The second edition of the Kilmessan GP, promoted by Skane Wheelers CC, takes place next Sunday the 26th of March in Kilmessan, Co. Meath.
A challenging 19km route with someone to suit everyone!
Sign-on opens at 8:30am in FP Maguires pub in Kilmessan village with underage racing starting at 9:30am and senior racing starting at 11:00am.

Strava link to route
https://www.strava.com/routes/4284808

More details to be found on Skane Wheelers Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/Kilmessancyclingclub

Miklos

Will the senior racing be run incrementally from 11? So A4 would be setting off around 11.15?

Cheers.

rayquinn1

Thats right - senior races will start incrementally from 11am, with the A4's being the last out.

boysinblack

Anyone racing Sunday? Course meant to be lumpy enough?

Sarz91

boysinblack wrote: »

Anyone racing Sunday? Course meant to be lumpy enough?

Yeah supposed to be. Seems the course is pretty lumpy enough but nothing major. Mostly drags I think aside from the finish which is about 5-6% for 3 or so minutes, can't remember the distance. With the being mother's day I may have an issue.

The left before the finish looks tight enough and with the quarry just up the road it may make for a pretty sketchy finish.

Harrybelafonte

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057719866/1/#post102982995

Beasty

Threads merged

jimm

The junction in Dunsany should be interesting with the IVCA race coming into it from the Dunshaughlin direction :eek:. Thankfully, it's a little offset so not a true crossroads. Cooperation required from both sets of marshals.

Raymzor

Sarz91 wrote: »

Yeah supposed to be. Seems the course is pretty lumpy enough but nothing major. Mostly drags I think aside from the finish which is about 5-6% for 3 or so minutes, can't remember the distance. With the being mother's day I may have an issue.

The left before the finish looks tight enough and with the quarry just up the road it may make for a pretty sketchy finish.

I did this race last year. It was very safe. The last turn is far enough from the finish its not an issue. The race was decided with a very tough uphill sprint.

Raymzor

jimm wrote: »

The junction in Dunsany should be interesting with the IVCA race coming into it from the Dunshaughlin direction :eek:. Thankfully, it's a little offset so not a true crossroads. Cooperation required from both sets of marshals.

You are correct that the two junctions are staggered. the races will not cross paths. the vets race starts at 9am.

Sarz91

Good race today. A lot of crashes within the first few kms of the A4 race with some serious looking injuries. The ambulance was more or less there for the entire race. Hope everyone's alright.

Was in the break and stayed away with two others until the last 100 or so meters. Managed to hang on and only got pipped at the line by a pretty small margin for first place.

happyhappy

Sarz91 wrote: »

Good race today. A lot of crashes within the first few kms of the A4 race with some serious looking injuries. The ambulance was more or less there for the entire race. Hope everyone's alright.

Was in the break and stayed away with two others until the last 100 or so meters. Managed to hang on and only got pipped at the line by a pretty small margin for first place.

Congrats on the result, am I right saying you are upgraded?? I missed today and to be honest I'm half glad. Any idea what caused all the crashes? A club mate who raced today said he thinks it was incoming traffic approaching the race that squeezed the bunch and caused some of the crashes. He didn't see any motos with the bunch but isn't sure.

Sarz91

happyhappy wrote: »

Congrats on the result, am I right saying you are upgraded?? I missed today and to be honest I'm half glad. Any idea what caused all the crashes? A club mate who raced today said he thinks it was incoming traffic approaching the race that squeezed the bunch and caused some of the crashes. He didn't see any motos with the bunch but isn't sure.

No one was calling out obstacles or vehicles up the front of the bunch so some lads only saw the obstacle last second. I don't know what happened the first crash I just say a UCD rider down in the middle of the road.

The main crash, in which close to half the field was involved (not everyone came down but you know what I mean) was due to an oncoming car. Nothing to do with the driver or anything like that. Nothing was called out, some lads say it last second and tried to squeeze where there was no room. Ended in a massive pileup with some grim injuries from what I heard. Some lad ended up with a dislocated elbow apparently. Just about managed to avoid the crash myself and had to chase on for a bit.

There apparently was another up the climb to the finish on the second lap. I was in the break and didn't see it but I think it was a touch of wheels and a few lads went down.

There was Moto Marshall ahead and at intermittent stages a Marshall would shoot by us so I don't think it had anything to do with that. I think it was the number of riders. With one day licenses still available couples with the good weather it seemed as if everyone was out.

sullzz

Joke of a race ..... messy bunch , i got caught behind the 3rd crash on the hill , a lad got out of his saddle and changed gears while throwing his bike back into the riders behind , my race was over then as i burned too many matches earlier on chasing back on after the other crashes .
Well done on your 2nd place and upgrade Sarz91 , nice to chat during the race .

Sarz91

sullzz wrote: »

Joke of a race ..... messy bunch , i got caught behind the 3rd crash on the hill , a lad got out of his saddle and changed gears while throwing his bike back into the riders behind , my race was over then as i burned too many matches earlier on chasing back on after the other crashes .
Well done on your 2nd place and upgrade Sarz91 , nice to chat during the race .

Sorry to hear about your race. We were just chatting about staying rubber side up when the crash took place. I'll know to keep my mouth shut next time. Did the lad from Lucan you were riding for get the point he needed? Tried getting something going with him earlier in the day but got chased down.

Derrydingle

Very messy race in the a4 I think the start should of been started in the town, starting it on a down hill with bends is crazy with that amount of riders

sullzz

Sarz91 wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your race. We were just chatting about staying rubber side up when the crash took place. I'll know to keep my mouth shut next time. Did the lad from Lucan you were riding for get the point he needed? Tried getting something going with him earlier in the day but got chased down.

Nah , he came in 10th or 11th i think .

InTheAttic

happyhappy wrote: »

Congrats on the result, am I right saying you are upgraded?? I missed today and to be honest I'm half glad. Any idea what caused all the crashes? A club mate who raced today said he thinks it was incoming traffic approaching the race that squeezed the bunch and caused some of the crashes. He didn't see any motos with the bunch but isn't sure.

I was there. 3 crashes on the first lap. I saw the first one where the fella went down on his own. The second crash, there were a few strung across the road. Heard the bray wheelers fella had a broken eye socket, collar bone and ribs. Wish him and anyone else involved a speedy recovery. 3rd crash on the first lap was up the drag to the start line. There was lots... and lots... and lots of braking today. People cutting across while cornering etc. I get the sense that bike handling skills are poor in A4. That aside, really enjoyed the race. Cracking day!

InTheAttic

Sarz91 wrote: »

No one was calling out obstacles or vehicles up the front of the bunch so some lads only saw the obstacle last second. I don't know what happened the first crash I just say a UCD rider down in the middle of the road.

The main crash, in which close to half the field was involved (not everyone came down but you know what I mean) was due to an oncoming car. Nothing to do with the driver or anything like that. Nothing was called out, some lads say it last second and tried to squeeze where there was no room. Ended in a massive pileup with some grim injuries from what I heard. Some lad ended up with a dislocated elbow apparently. Just about managed to avoid the crash myself and had to chase on for a bit.

There apparently was another up the climb to the finish on the second lap. I was in the break and didn't see it but I think it was a touch of wheels and a few lads went down.

There was Moto Marshall ahead and at intermittent stages a Marshall would shoot by us so I don't think it had anything to do with that. I think it was the number of riders. With one day licenses still available couples with the good weather it seemed as if everyone was out.

Lads were calling. I heard them, I was there. I called every obstacle I saw. But it seems the calls didn't make their way all down the line. At one point the moto marshall was telling riders to stop crossing the centre line. It was all over the place. Safest place was the break it seems!

Borderfox

I heard a few negative reports from some of the people in the same horse yard as myself, pulled over to a stop when the peloton was approaching but a lot of riders on the wrong side of the road and she got a lot of abuse from same riders as they passed.

koutoubia

I am gonna say something about the behaviour of riders in the higher groups.


Myself and a clubmate went to the finish of the A4 race after our vets race.
After we had a chat with some other clubmates we drove on ....make a safe
u-turn well down the road.
Drove back towrds the finish when what I am guessing was the A1/A2 lead car came around a bend.
We pulled in on the correct side of the road and as much off the road as possible. The group came around a fast blind bend on the wrong side of the road and very very narrowly avoided hitting us! We got abuse shouted from us from the pack EVEN though we were in the right.
Had we not stopped it would have been carnage!
Riders need to cop on and riders who really should know better!

Beasty

We get similar stories every season. How some have not sussed out that their behaviour is jeopardising the future of the sport in Ireland is beyond me. The vets have certainly got their act together with real sanctions for racers going over the wrong side of the road. It seems to me that some open racers think they have some kind of right to race on open roads oblivious to the fact they risk screwing it up for everyone

Borderfox

To me it's a simple choice, sanction the riders over the white line or carry on till something catastrophic happens.

I know which choice I would make

Daroxtar

Beasty wrote: »

We get similar stories every season. How some have not sussed out that their behaviour is jeopardising the future of the sport in Ireland is beyond me. The vets have certainly got their act together with real sanctions for racers going over the wrong side of the road. It seems to me that some open racers think they have some kind of right to race on open roads oblivious to the fact they risk screwing it up for everyone

Am I right in thinking that the Vets have to do some kind of safety course before they are allowed race? Maybe something like that needs to be brought into the CI events. Theory test before getting the license

Sarz91

Daroxtar wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that the Vets have to do some kind of safety course before they are allowed race? Maybe something like that needs to be brought into the CI events. Theory test before getting the license

Or something like in the US where you're CAT 5 until you complete 5 or 10 races. A lot of these races are "clinics" held by higher CAT riders.

While this might limit the crashes in the race it won't deal with the piss poor attitude a lot of riders seem to have when it comes to racing.

Beasty

Daroxtar wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that the Vets have to do some kind of safety course before they are allowed race? Maybe something like that needs to be brought into the CI events. Theory test before getting the license

They have marshal briefings each year ahead of racing which everyone is required to attend. They have been using CI Commissaires in recent years as part of their briefing. They emphasise the importance of being on public roads and subject to road traffic legislation, including white lines and the importance of not going over unbroken ones. It's pretty much 2 or 3 abreast in vets races (or was in the ones I've been involved in over recent years) until the final sprint when they tend to ensure there is no oncoming traffic (or if there is appropriate warnings will be given with whistles to be blown if there is any danger)

jimbobaloobob

Beasty wrote: »

We get similar stories every season. How some have not sussed out that their behaviour is jeopardising the future of the sport in Ireland is beyond me. The vets have certainly got their act together with real sanctions for racers going over the wrong side of the road. It seems to me that some open racers think they have some kind of right to race on open roads oblivious to the fact they risk screwing it up for everyone

I think the behaviour of some cyclists comes down to the explosion of clubs and cyclists of recent years. For many years there was big history behind some of the clubs in Ireland and still is, with that came a hierarchy of etiquette both for club spins, races and anytime you wore the jersey. Now there are alot of people only in clubs for their own financial benefit as its cheaper than racing unattached and possibly discount on the gear also this i feel has played a big part in the negative behaviour you experience and hear about on the racing and sportif scene in the country at present.

ht9zni1gs28crp

Cant really call it a joke of a race, highly unfair to, especially to Skane wheelers who I think run a brilliant ship there.....its bike racing. Lot of negative racing to be fair, if your gonna surf around in a bunch every race waiting for everyone else to drag you to the line for a sprint then crashes are very likely to occur all around you in every category not just A4. The sun brought a lot of first timers out possibly as up until now the A4 bunch has seen the best handling I think up until now.

Sarz struck out at the right time on the last lap as soon as the two man break was caught......With just under two laps hovering at 30secs max was tough with just two. I bridged over to your man as soon as i hear the big crash early in the first lap and got the hell out of there. I honestly thought a few more would bridge across to us. Kudos to the Stamullen man, we put our heart and soul into it!


Suffice to say being active at the front you only hear of crashes behind you.

harringtonp

Borderfox wrote: »

To me it's a simple choice, sanction the riders over the white line or carry on till something catastrophic happens.

I know which choice I would make

You'll never get the behaviour you desire through sanctions unless there is a limit on numbers as well. The unfortunate reality is that in most races somebody who judiously stays on their own side of the road will end up swinging of the back of the bunch all day.

BTW there wasn't a single crash in Westport all weekend.

InTheAttic

Daroxtar wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that the Vets have to do some kind of safety course before they are allowed race? Maybe something like that needs to be brought into the CI events. Theory test before getting the license

There is a presentation before the season starts. There's also a personal assessment (mate of mine did his in phoenix park) to see which category you go into. But that assessment is not the same as riding in a bunch at high speed.

Also, I thought 1-day-open-racing-licenses had been done away with last year?

Sarz91

InTheAttic wrote: »

There is a presentation before the season starts. There's also a personal assessment (mate of mine did his in phoenix park) to see which category you go into. But that assessment is not the same as riding in a bunch at high speed.

Also, I thought 1-day-open-racing-licenses had been done away with last year?

No I think 1 day licenses are still available up until the end of April.

InTheAttic

Sarz91 wrote: »

No I think 1 day licenses are still available up until the end of April.

Is that the same every year, where 1-day licenses are only available for the first few weeks of the season?

Sarz91

InTheAttic wrote: »

Is that the same every year, where 1-day licenses are only available for the first few weeks of the season?

It's the same the past two years. I'm not sure about previous years but I believe they were available all season at the discretion of the race day organisers. As still is the case. I'm not 100% on that though so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Derrydingle

InTheAttic wrote:

Also, I thought 1-day-open-racing-licenses had been done away with last year?

They should be. Anyone who really wants to race have a full racing licence not just someone fancy giving it a go cos they watched it on eurosport last week. Also races should be limited to 100 reg on line that way no one is turned away that morning

Glass Prison 1214

Sarz91 wrote: »

No one was calling out obstacles or vehicles up the front of the bunch so some lads only saw the obstacle last second. I don't know what happened the first crash I just say a UCD rider down in the middle of the road.

The main crash, in which close to half the field was involved (not everyone came down but you know what I mean) was due to an oncoming car. Nothing to do with the driver or anything like that. Nothing was called out, some lads say it last second and tried to squeeze where there was no room. Ended in a massive pileup with some grim injuries from what I heard. Some lad ended up with a dislocated elbow apparently. Just about managed to avoid the crash myself and had to chase on for a bit.

There apparently was another up the climb to the finish on the second lap. I was in the break and didn't see it but I think it was a touch of wheels and a few lads went down.

There was Moto Marshall ahead and at intermittent stages a Marshall would shoot by us so I don't think it had anything to do with that. I think it was the number of riders. With one day licenses still available couples with the good weather it seemed as if everyone was out.

I am the UCD rider that crashed. I hit a bump in the road on the downhill section and it caused my hands to bounce off the handlebars for a split second and I went down. The bump wasn't very noticeable so it wasn't the fault of the riders in front of me, it was just one of those things.

Thankfully I didn't take anyone down with me, which was a minor miracle because I was in the centre of the road.

Glass Prison 1214

Weepsie wrote: »

You won the most important race of the weekend too.

Thats for sure

It partially makes up for the damage I did to myself and my stuff in the crash.

DKmac

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

I am the UCD rider that crashed. I hit a bump in the road on the downhill section and it caused my hands to bounce off the handlebars for a split second and I went down. The bump wasn't very noticeable so it wasn't the fault of the riders in front of me, it was just one of those things.

Thankfully I didn't take anyone down with me, which was a minor miracle because I was in the centre of the road.

Hands in the drops, should sort that out for ye.

dragratchet

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

I am the UCD rider that crashed. I hit a bump in the road on the downhill section and it caused my hands to bounce off the handlebars for a split second and I went down. The bump wasn't very noticeable so it wasn't the fault of the riders in front of me, it was just one of those things.

Thankfully I didn't take anyone down with me, which was a minor miracle because I was in the centre of the road.

I know that exact bump from yest, bars nearly went out of my hands as i hit it and about two wheels back i heard a lad go down from it. thought i was out of the woods till i hit the deck myself later in the race

boysinblack

Was involved in the big A4 crash. Not really sure what happened seemed to be a sudden stop to up front because of a jeep anyways it filtered back and I couldn't avoid the guy in front of me and end up breaking my collarbone. Sickening but guess that's racing ...

InTheAttic

boysinblack wrote: »

Was involved in the big A4 crash. Not really sure what happened seemed to be a sudden stop to up front because of a jeep anyways it filtered back and I couldn't avoid the guy in front of me and end up breaking my collarbone. Sickening but guess that's racing ...

Really sorry to hear that dude. Wish you a speedy recovery. Are you the bray wheelers lad who was lying to the left of the road? Bad crash in A3 as well where someone reached for their water bottle, swerved and took a few down. A bad day for a few riders it seems.

Stevieg2009

boysinblack wrote: »

Was involved in the big A4 crash. Not really sure what happened seemed to be a sudden stop to up front because of a jeep anyways it filtered back and I couldn't avoid the guy in front of me and end up breaking my collarbone. Sickening but guess that's racing ...

Sorry to hear that I was a couple of bike lengths behind you managed to avoid it with a quick swerve to the left you hit the ground some whack if it's any consolation there was sweet f-all you could do from what I saw no fault of yours

jalock20

InTheAttic wrote: »

Really sorry to hear that dude. Wish you a speedy recovery. Are you the bray wheelers lad who was lying to the left of the road? Bad crash in A3 as well where someone reached for their water bottle, swerved and took a few down. A bad day for a few riders it seems.

I mean if ya can't reach for a bottle without swerving and bringing riders down, you should probably take a break and practice basic bike handling skills. That is poor.

boysinblack

Stevieg2009 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that I was a couple of bike lengths behind you managed to avoid it with a quick swerve to the left you hit the ground some whack if it's any consolation there was sweet f-all you could do from what I saw no fault of yours

Possibly that wasn't me. Im not the poor bray wheelers guy he looked in a bad way. I was towards the back of the crash and ran over some lad who did a tumble on his bike in front of me. Lucky he was fine though. The parademic told me I was ok after the accident but unfourantely my shoulder was a lot worse than it looked

InTheAttic

boysinblack wrote: »

Possibly that wasn't me. Im not the poor bray wheelers guy he looked in a bad way. I was towards the back of the crash and ran over some lad who did a tumble on his bike in front of me. Lucky he was fine though. The parademic told me I was ok after the accident but unfourantely my shoulder was a lot worse than it looked

I saw you then. You were folded up on top of another lad. I dismounted and ran around yous and saw the bray lad off to the left and he was cut up bad. Someone was shouting "Now is not the place lads" so I don't know if somebody had a go at someone else over the spill. I hope not!

Big Mig

Daroxtar wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that the Vets have to do some kind of safety course before they are allowed race? Maybe something like that needs to be brought into the CI events. Theory test before getting the license

There was a crash in the Vets race on Sunday too!!
I think track accreditation before being let into an open race would help. Its all about observation and being aware of what's going on around you which can only be a good thing in an open race for someone new.

Tenzor07

Crash looked nasty alrite:

***Video deleted

Beasty

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Crash looked nasty alrite:

Whoever recorded that is breaking CI rules and by putting it up on YouTube leaving themselves open to further sanction

Harrybelafonte

On a YouTube account with their f'kin name on it?

Beasty

Recording equipment on racing bikes is banned following some negative publicity arising from people putting such stuff up on social media and internet discussion sites...

EDIT: I know of at least one CI Commissaire with a Boards account

Beasty

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

On a YouTube account with their f'kin name on it?

I was hoping the message would get back to the individual giving them chance to take it down before it gets reported

Beasty

Weepsie wrote: »

Is the fact that there seems to be loads of riders on either side of the road a problem too, considering they're open roads?

That's exactly the sort of stuff people were putting up a couple of years ago which resulted in CI banning cameras