A3 2019

Charleville 2 Day

Stage 1

Sheer numbers had me a little anxious here with 159 registered beforehand as its a flatish stage on narrow roads. Straight from the get go the pace was high and i was little anxious as i'd never raced in these numbers with no recent race my legs were hanging off pretty early on. I ended up too far back because of this but was nevewr in danger of being dropped so after the first lap or so i started to feel a little more comfortable but unable to make my way forward to be near the pointy end. Eventually on the third lap i got near the pointy end but there was a break up the road and the work wa sleft to Lucan to pull this back for John Priest. At 5km to go i had a real nic spot but a brief hesitation meant it was gone just as quick so just rolled in with the main bunch feeling happy & fresh after the body eventually woke up.The break hung on and our group came in 36 secs down on GC.

Headed home for a nights sleep feeling good with the TT & hill stage to come.

Stage 2

The TT is a flat 6.3 km which if i had bothered to organise a TT bike i would have cracked a decent time in hindsight. The road bike had no clip on bars so it was just brute power to get the best possible time.

6.3km @ 40.7 avg & 398 avg watts or 4.2 ish watts/kg gave me a time of 9.01. The team i was guesting on reckoned i'd have taken another 20-30 secs off that with a TT bike. That will be something to work on for next year as a sub 8.30 is well within reach for me i reckon.
9.01 was 58/125 which wasn't so bad though i suspect at least 30 lads just rode down the raod to preserve effort for the later stage.

Stage 3

This stage i was warned off and honestly i was pretty nervy beforehand as i'm no climber though i can survive well once not at the front. I was determined not to be so far back early doors here so made every effort to be further up even though it was as normal full gas from the get go. In a blink of an eye we were 40km in with the legs feeling okay. Soon we met the turn for Ballyhoura for the main climb which felt okay early on but it soon split so my effort was being managed to get to the top. I settled in a good group that crested together then on the descent i was dropped as i'd never been down there. I had been advised that if i was dropped a good TT effort should get me back on after it. I made up that distance to my group, settled in then the group set about getting back to the main bunch. The junction was made after the final big TT effort for 1km by myself so settled in once again waiting for the second lap.

At the start of the second time up i was told everyone was still together but i had my doubts. The group slowly spilt on the climb again but this time my effort was all about survival. About halfway up i started to feel some faint hints of cramp which wasn't ideal so dropped to the small ring to try ease them out before it got worse. In what seemed like an age we got to the top in a small group but as expected the bunch was well gone so now it was just a full gas chase to the line. The cramps were like a dull headache but as we went on the chase the y got worse so had to mange efforts and miss turns to survive, our group had a few strong A2 there so it was a soft pace. We rode strong in between cars & traffic, taking risks at times but we were determined to finsh well. The group seemed to have a sprint so i pulled out to open up but my right leg near locked up with cramp and so my race was done.

The aftermath of the cramp was horrific, it hurt badly for ages with legs muscles almost seizing up, body shakes the whole lot!! I was empty of fluid and fuel it seems. As the racing had been full gas i had neglected to drink my bottles so this was my punishment. Eventually after some coke, jelly babies,a litre of electrolytes they subsided. Lessons learned for the Nationals next week so need to organise a bottle carrier at the feed zone somehow.

The end classification for me was 43rd down 2m 57 on GC, i'd have been chuffed with this beforehand, overall a very good weekend.

Stuff i learned at C2D 2019:

Kanturk have riders over the age of 18.
I can TT pretty good so need to get a basic TT set up.
My climbing is decent especially when using a 28 block.
It's nice to be nice when riders are suffering around you but talking to them isn't apparently.
Consume more fluids to avoid cramps.
Tea & sandwiches for riders are frowned upon by race organisers.
Chasing on between cars is exciting & scary as **** especially downhill.
I also need a prep race beforehand next year.

Thanks to Cram Cycle for the push on here to enter the event & to the team mates over the weekend, made feel welcome as a guest in their team.

Roll on C2D 2020!!!!

M40 Nationals

This event was never my plan but after encouragement from my coach i decided to undertake this huge event. I was extremely nervous beforehand as the filed was pretty heavy with A1 & A2 riders of a far higher level than me. The mind knew there was a long day ahead in the saddle.

The first 35km were hell, too far back due to the pace which meant i was close to being shelled on each drag. Effort was high to maintain contact with the bunch though 20 or so riders weren't so lucky,average speed to this stage as near 43km/hr. The thoughts of a 4hr round trip for 35km drove me to hang on for dear life.
Laps 3-4 were slightly easier but still max effort until i moved a little further up once my legs came round, confidence that i could last the full distance was increasing now, a lowly A3 hanging on with strong A1 & A2 riders over a challenging stuff, mad craic.

Last lap was mental, break caught, legs good, lets try for a medal here sham....pace high, lads mad for a galllop,jumping all over the road, unreal stuff. I had a geat postion 4 km out but a crash distracted me so lost it so had to fly up the last hill to try get a decent finishing position, just outside the top 20 which i felt was a savage result for me.

135km @ 41.4 avg & 1360m of up.