Hammond Memorial races - May 8th

I went up that direction last weekend for a recce. Would have preferred 4 laps too (had a race strategy all worked out too ). The hill is a more consistent drag than the one in Stamullen, i.e. there's no false flats once it starts properly. Road surface is very poor in places, not so much potholes, just the surface is breaking up. Descent could be tricky too if it's wet.

The Crunch wrote: »

After finishing their laps each race will turn back for a 2.5k dash to the finish line on the Filterbeds.

Is that on the bridge over the lake?

Cheers guys. That was just a little preview of the sprint at the end . It's a work in progress.

Thanks to Orwell firstly for putting on superb race. Even with all the marshalls keeping us safe, they still have the strength to have riders going well in all categories. Great show!

Conditions today were not as bad as many of us feared - the rain held off & it was bright & warm throughout, though the wind was still a factor. I think it may have changed direction during the race, as it felt like we'd a headwind going out to the circuit & again on the return to the finish line. Anyone who stuck their nose out on the road to Ashford weren't getting very far.

A few lads got away though on the first time out the N11 but by the time we got to the main drag the bunch was more or less back together. A Stevens Cyclogical rider (Darragh Zaidan maybe?) rode at the front going up the first time & though the pace was strong, i was surprised later to discover that the bunch had split, with about 25-30 of us opening a gap on the rest. We stayed away until the second time up the hill, when a few guys attacked (Diarmuid & Pat from Orwell to the fore as usual:) as well as honkjelly who rode really strongly today in what i think was his first A3 race). I tagged on & helped drive the break up the rest of the hill.

At the top there was about 8-9 of us who had gotten clear of the bunch of 25-30, & though we tried to work together, we found it hard to maintain a steady pace & we were caught again just after turning off the N11. At the base of the hill for the third time, i attacked from the front. Looked around after a bit to see honkjelly on my wheel, kept up the pace & eventually I was clear. Rode as hard as i could up the rest of the way. Headwind & rough road surface making it a tougher climb again. At the top, the road flattened for a bit before descending & this was almost as tough as the climb. More exposure to the wind here made it really difficult to keep the pace up.

Eventually out on to Roundwood-Ashford road. Got out of the saddle a few times to try & power over the uppy bits, but the right calf cramped. Sat back down til I got to the tight left turn before the finish. At that stage, i knew I had it. Even though I didn't need to, I wanted to see if i could still sprint at the end of a tough race, so that's where the preview came from :rolleyes:. With the road surface kinda dodgy here too, i was bouncing all over the road, so sat back down pretty quickly. nearly lost control of the bike coming up to the line as I sat up for the finish.

Diarmuid & Pat got third & fourth. well done also to jimbo who picked up second in the A4 race & is only a point away from A3 now, another man to watch when he gets upgraded!