Des Hanlon Memorial Classic 2015

bwalsh1983 wrote: »

Aquablue is cancelled as a result of this clash, dissapointing as the AB is one of the toughest races also. A different weekend and there would be space for 2 great races rather then one and a trip around another flat rectangle some other week.

Is the Des Hanlon much harder than Aquablue? I'm thinking of going.

Hmmzis wrote: »

Got the pass to go to this one.

Won't be racing it though. It will be my first time as a race mechanic for our ladies team (or any team ever). Will have to do some wheelswapping practice on Saturday, have never had to do that in anger. I understand that punctures are the most common 'mechanical'. What else is reasonably common that could be fixed quickly enough in a race situation?

I’ve never acted as a team mechanic either, so take these suggestions with a pinch of salt as my musings may be very far from the reality of the task:

* With spare wheels, set up the skewers ahead of time. You’ll want to have them opened enough so that the wheel will slot in with no, or minimum, unscrewing of the locking nut needed in the heat of the moment. And, of course you don’t want them opened so much that you lose lots of time tightening them up once the wheel is in place. Front wheel is obviously trickier here because of the lawyers tabs, and the spacing needed might vary a little from bike to bike.

* If you have to deal with a dropped chain your hands are likely to get filthy, obviously. Might be worth carrying several pairs of disposable gloves with you. Personally I like nitrile gloves, they are thin but strong and are better at resisting chemicals than latex - they can be expensive, but they are available from medical supplies for a reasonable price (though the ones I’ve seen from medical supplies are finer and therefore less robust than some).

* Crashes can lead to all sorts of parts being knocked out of position - hoods, handlebars, stem, seatpost - and you might need tools (allen keys, torx keys, screwdrivers) to make the bike usable again in a hurry. Multitools are probably the most convenient option here rather than individual tools.

* And if you are uncomfortable about safely tightening to/around carbon parts by feel alone then a torque wrench(es) may be necessary. You can buy pre-set/non-adjustable torque wrenches so you could carry, for example, a 4Nm one and a 6Nm one. Some of them take interchangeable bits, and these would be the handiest I’d imagine, if you could get hold of some in time.

* Things that might be worth keeping close to hand: electrical tape (for handlebar tape that wants to unwind after crash or “just ‘cos!”, anything non-structural that wants to fall off the bike, etc.), zip ties (for restraining the opposition, and many many other more legal things), light spray lube for just about anything that needs freeing up in a hurry (can I say WD40? ), baby wipes (‘cos as any parent knows, life is never the same again once you’ve discovered baby wipes!).

Hmmzis wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'll pack in some extra tape and some of the gloves I use when working on my bikes. For some reason a dropped chain didn't cross my mind at all.

Instruct the riders that they can only stop on the left hand side of the road for service to avoid accidents. If a rider stops on the right hand side of the road and either the mechanic or rider is crossing a road to change a wheel with race cars and bikes flying by its EXTREMELY dangerous. That's the race rule anyway! but in the heat of the race inexperienced riders will sometimes stop on the right hand side.
Enjoy the race

Amprodude wrote: »

How many hills have we in this ring of torture.

Google Des Hanlon Strava.
A4 seems to have six climbs.
But then there look to be climbs within climbs.
The Inception of races by the looks of things.

Difficult race today. Finished in the bunch but outside the placings.

How many A4's were there today? Was there over 100?

mathie wrote: »

There were about 30 left after the Castlecomer climb.
It shot the field to bits.

There was about 20 for the sprint in the end I'm guessing.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Surely having been there for the start you could have a good guess as to the numbers?

I think he wanted an exact number rather than a guess.

Such a hard race. Was fine over the first two climbs, in the front group but the hammer went down over a flattish section and then the crash happened on that narrow bridge chicane and it I lost a lot of momentum and just couldn't accelerate back on to the wheels. When the lights went out they really went out, and I rode around the lap. Kind of disppointed in myself today that I didn't get in a chase group and see out the race, but the willingness to suffer just drained from me. Maybe I'm too much of a wimp for bike racing. Also found my nerve was not there after crashing too weeks ago. Found the run to Castlecomer to be very nervewracking in that mega-bunch and with the riders ditch to ditch.

I'm not really in favour of points for unplaced A3s on point of principle but I do wonder if we are reaching a tipping point in terms of safety. Out of sheer practicality of reducing the sizes of A3 bunches, which are simply enormous this year and will only get bigger as A4s are promoted, it probably has to be looked at very closely.

buffalo wrote: »

Was mini-mwap taking part in the youth races?

No. From a competitive point of view, football, hurling and soccer are enough for him for now. Just went for an easy spin with him afterwards.

How's the body this morning?

manwithaplan wrote: »

Such a brilliant race. Outclassed by the 5 juniors who escaped the A3 bunch on the first lap but happy to have been at the front of what was left of the bunch over the last climb of the day. All the jousting had come to nothing (other than shelling lots of riders). Unfortunately, there were more at the finish than I would have liked and I was fairly anonymous in the sprint for 6th (and first A3!). I would happily line up and do it again tomorrow.

Am I the only one who had the understanding that there were more up the road than there actually were? Initially we were told 5 were away and then 2/3 were bridging but in reality there were only 4 or so I was told in the car park?

It seemed that with the sheer number of riders in all categories it was hard for the comms to keep track.

Amprodude wrote: »

There was about 20 for the sprint in the end I'm guessing.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Surely having been there for the start you could have a good guess as to the numbers?

Yes there would've been in and around 100 A4's.

A1/A2's looked to be the biggest bunch with A3's not far behind although I was a bit away from them so I may be mistaken.

The women's and junior field was very small at a guess maybe 30 Orwell wheelers had 4 or 5 in that group. Commisseur seemed to be missing for the start of their race which was a bit poor form I guess.

any photos up?

Hopefully some quality gurning caught