Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 21: Golden Ball. Last round of the season.

Long Story Short

• Finished 11th.
• First to the base of Pine Forest climb.
• Tried an attack on the run in.
• BBQ was great.

Strava

View the ride on Strava: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 21: Golden Balls. 11th. Really enjoyed the season.

For the FlyBys Replay, I enabled the following front group finishers;

• Myslef, started with Limit,
• Paul, started with Semi-Limit,
• Sean, started with Semi-Scratch,
• Eric, started with Scratch.

Short Story Long

Build-Up

After being shown, in no uncertain terms, that I was not able to compete on the steep gradients the previous week, I was keen to make amends. After seeing the initial route, I was feeling pretty confident of a good showing. There were only four sections I would classify as steep. On Greg's Saturday Spin, we went over the Featherbeds. I went very hard there and got a good preview of what it was like to scale and descend with fatigue.

Sunday and Monday were spent recovering from a hangover. The only thing I could do was watch Hugh Jackman and Robot movies. Real Steel was on a par with Ricky Hatton's tactics for one-dimensionalism. Chappie was top notch. I polished off the latest audiobook Thriller, "The Girl on the Train". Which I happened across when I was looking for the fourth book in the Millennium Saga.

Tuesday, I went for a recon of the initial route. I didn't enjoy the climb out of the elbow. But the rest of the parcours was really enjoyable. I set a lot of PR's on the climb to Glencree and some second best times for the ascent and descent of the Featherbeds. When I got home, I put in an order for the newly restocked Canyon CX bike. Canyon have a dubious reputation for shipping, so I'll cancel the order if the Giant Store give me my three requirements for a bike; 11-32T, 44cm handlebars and 170mm Shimano crankset. But clearly Giant's Contact function on their website is a Social Experiment inspired by The Dharma Initiative's The Pearl station.

Wednesday I discovered the Motorsport Manager mobile game. I also discovered that I had a shit ton of ironing that had build up. But these fancies took a back seat to my cake creation. I decided on a Maltesers and Mars bar biscuit cake. The website with the recipe had pictures of a child making the cake. I knew that this was right up my Bakers St. SherLuke Holmes investigated the ingredients from Tesco. They don't stock Rolling Pins. So that was one Cluedo scenario out of the equation. The result of the cake making looked pretty good with some Instagram filters.

A photo posted by Luke GJ Potter (@lukegjpotter) on Aug 19, 2015 at 2:23pm PDT

Pre-Race

Thursday I had a dilemma. Would I go to Enniskerry straight from work, or would I go home and cycle out? I decided to go straight from the office. The traffic from the Luas bridge to my apartment can be harsh. I put my cake in the Office fridge, hoping it would not be raided. A fate endured by my cartons of Almond Milk. Although my latest theft prevention strategy, has seen Almond Milk related crime drop 100%. A few hours of work, couple of Bananas and a Tuna Steampot in a pear tree later, I treated someone to a staredown in the elevator after they admitted looking at my cake in the fridge. I had seen that the route had been changed, this would remove the Devil's Elbow. I was very happy with this change.

I got to Golden Ball at 17:45, put my cake in their fridge and started warming up. I went for an easy warm up ride with Robbie. I got back to sign on, chat and ride to Enniskerry.

Race

Glencree Road

Limit group were released. I noted that four of the nine riders were running Power Meters. Niall and better climber Luke got a gap early. Myself and Dan closed them down slowly. This effort seen three riders go out the back on the lower slopes of the hill. Diarmuid, Dave H and Peadar were gone. We were riding up and overs until the road got harder. Dave M was dropped at this point. Before the road leveled off on the approach to the Featherbeds, I was struggling. The last remaining Dave (he probably prefers David), was losing the wheel in front. I was behind him. I asked myself "What would Garret and Jules do?" I put it in the big ring and got out of the saddle. This moved the stress from the cardio system to the muscular one. I grinded past David and rejoined Dan, Niall and other Luke. We were all out of Dave's at this point. At the hairpin leading onto the Featherbeds, there was four Limit riders left. I checked for the approaching Semi-Limit lads, but couldn't see any of them at that point.

Featherbeds

I hate the Featherbeds. I was Chris Frooming. Head down, on the tops, ensuring I didn't drop out of a Zone 4 effort and admiring my stem. My Featherbed fellows were slowly disappearing from my limited view. I was really struggling here, I had a plan. I had been watching some of the Training Peaks Webinars (be prepared for shitty quality audio and computer illiteracy). They had one about "How to Handle the Pain", the presenter put forward Cognitive Disassociation as one of the methods. I started counting my breaths to ten and restarting. I kept motoring. I looked back and seen the back car with it's hazards flashing. Semi-Limit was coming.

There's a line where it is clear Dublin and Wicklow converge. The road surface changes from a horrible mess to smooth tarmac. This line is my cue to slam it into the big dog, chuck it in the gutter and put myself into the red. There was a cross tailwind up the Featherbeds. My front wheel was getting light. The wind was tugging the deep section. I positioned myself on the nose of the saddle, jammed my right shoulder into the bars. With most of my weight over the front wheel and the wheel not moving, I was in full control. I looked back I had distanced the Semi-Limit car.

I looked forward, two out of three Limit riders were shitting themselves on the windy descent. I reeled in Niall and Dan very quickly. As good as one Luke is at going upwards, the other Luke's forte is descending like a stone. I loved this chase. Neither of us were sitting on the top tube, it was too windy. I closed a bit of the gap on the first corner into the tree line. I didn't brake, I used a really good line though it. I braced myself for a cross wind at the exposed gateway. Dropped three gears for the next corner, again I didn't brake. I pedalled hard out of the corner and spun out before the Viewing point. I dropped more gears before braking hard. Luke was very close now. I should've dropped two more gears, as I struggled to pedal out of the second hairpin. Luke gained time here. I got over the gear and started building speed again. Two oblivious idiots, were riding side by side on the descent to the tight turn at the bridge. Who the hell rides two abreast downhill? I had to hamper my entry line and speed as I passed them before the corner. I didn't want to leave the pass until after the corner, incase they shit themselves on the bend. After this corner there's lots of places that look like they are the entrance to the Pine forest climb. I don't know if Luke was waiting for this to appear and was going slow. I finally passed him about 500 meters before the turn to the uphill. Nothing quite like risking life and limb for Club League points.

Pine Forest

I wanted to roll onto the Pine Forest climb with lots of speed. I would struggle here. But there was a car, who's indicators weren't being operated. I had to slow. I communicated my urgent desire for them to speed up. They moved into the carpark of the hill walk and I passed. For the second time in a month, I was leading a bike race. As with the last time, this evaporated. As Luke reclaimed the lead. I was going hard up the hill and was mostly ignoring the riders passing me. I just wanted to get over the hill. Luke's chain dropped and I passed him again. But within thirty seconds he was in front of me. Garett, Sean, Stephen B, Dan, Niall, Colin and Robbie also passed me on the hill.

As I crested the hill, I tried hard to chase on, and gained a bit of ground. As the road flattened out, Eric and Stephen R passed me. I jumped on their train. The group in front was held up by a van. We caught on. We overtook the van and everyone else jumped on. Garret was most surprised to see me, as he wasn't aware of my Comic Book Villain tendency to not stay dead for long. Stephen and Colin were way up the road. They were going to battle it out for the win. The group did some up and overs, I was at the back. I asked myself "What would Ken O'Neill do?"

I attacked from the back. I got a bit of a gap. I thought that they start looking at each other. Eric closed me down. I wasn't happy. I gave him my best Matt Brammier; "Come on then Eric";

He didn't respond... for a few seconds. Then he attacked. Eric is really strong, he was the only Scratch rider in the front group. But closing the handicap and making this attack was possibly too much to ask. He was followed and swamped for the finish line. The line appeared out of nowhere. I counted the riders who were in front of me, I was 11th. Not a bad way to end the season.

Post-Race

To celebrate the end of the season, there was a BBQ in the Golden Ball pub in Kilternan. The pub was really nice inside and had a great view of the mountains. The BBQ was free, and I had a burger, sausage and a chicken. Sorry animals, I was hungry and it smelt nice. A very well organised event by Ann. Aparently my cake went down pretty well.

There was some left over and I brought it into the office the next day. I cut it a bit smaller and offered it to my team mates. They looked relieved at not having to smell a John West Tuna Steampot for another seven months.

What Was Learned

• Bike racing is only as serious as you take it.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 20: Hill Climb Championships

Long Story Short

• Got a time of 2:17.99
• 11th out of 14 in Limit.
• 53rd out of 63 Overall.
• There was a great turnout from Leisure and Youth riders. A nice intro into Club League life.

Strava

What I recorded of the ride: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 20: Hill Climb: 2:17. Limit:11/14 Overall:53/63 (forgot to press start).

Here's the VeloViewer interactive profile of the climb.

Short Story Long

A short report, because it was a short race and because I did shit.

Build-Up

As part of Garret's Tuesday Night Hills group, we went out to get a look at the Devil's Elbow the previous week. The following Tuesday Night Hills group was targeted at repetitions of the Devil's Elbow. I did four reps, my fastest time being 2:28. Although that was with 2 water bottles and a saddle bag. I determined my starting gear. Although I didn't experiment with riding the whole thing in the saddle. I would start out of the saddle sit down after the second bend and try to hold 300 Watts.

I cleaned my bike on Wednesday, using WD-40 and Fairy Liquid. I reckon I got about 3g of dirt off the bike. I probably should've gotten a haircut too.

I also deleted any non-essential files off my Garmin. I didn't want it to get heavier the more it stored. My day job is as a Software Engineer. Me believing that files stored on a Garmin would make is heavier is not the craziest belief in the world. People (warm blooded mammals), who wear coats in Winter and have been to Dublin Zoo, still believe that St. Patrick banished the snakes (cold blooded reptiles) from Ireland.

Pre-Race

As this race was on the South Side and I could ride out to it, I went home after work and got ready there. Ate my Tuna Steampot and Banana. I only had one Banana. I had some performance anxiety, which served to raise my W/Kg. The bear who invented Charmin, you the real MVP!

I rode out and met Dave at Joe's. We rode together. I put in some efforts on the rises along the way. When I got out there I took off everything that added weight; Bottles, Saddle bag, phone, keys, arm warmers and food. I didn't even wear a heart rate monitor. I also opted for light weight ankle socks, over my preferred longer heavier ones.

Race

About 10 mins before my start I headed down to the starting area. There was already a crowd amassing. I found a nice gateway, as I didn't want another TT hampered by a full bladder. This gateway had a great view. Upon my return, Dave was getting ready to be started. He was getting banter from Garret about his respective sibling rivalry.

Ann's turn was coming up. But she wasn't anywhere to be found. Fortunately for her, the clock was messed up. After a lengthy process of trying to contact Dave Mc, the clocks were resynced. Ann showed up and was started.

James and Niall opted not to be held at the start. It worked out well for James. Niall struggled to clip in and lost some time there. Dan flew up the hill in the saddle.

I was next. I moved over. I clipped in and prepared the Garmin, putting it onto the field to display 3 second power. I completely forgot to press start, as I used the ride button. With 30 seconds left, I was held. The pole was to my left, and my more powerful front break was to my right. The time was counted down and I was started with a little push. I went up the hill out of the saddle and got back in the saddle after the second corner. On the corners I was riding as close to the outside line as possible, to make them as flat as possible. It was then I noticed that my Garmin wasn't started. I tried to hold 300W for the remainder. I held 306W. I was breathing deeply through my agape mouth.

Post-Race

I'm not great a the steep stuff, I didn't need a Hill Climb to tell me that. But now I know I'm hopeless.

We hung around the finish line for the riders to finish. Many of us coughing up the midgets that we had swallowed, myself included. I had excess water, so I offered it to those who were more African in their water levels. Then went to Johnny Foxes to look at the times on Dave Mc's sheet.

Some family scores were settled. Daragh claimed the Connolly Cup from his "younger, older looking" brother, Garret. The gap was 6.9 seconds. Dave left with the bragging rights in the Hendron household. He beat his sister, Orla, 4.3 seconds.

The full results are available on the Orwell Forum.

Limit top 6 + myself

 1. Kevin Sammon       1:41.51
 2. Dan Coulcher      1:51.99 + 10.48
 3. James O'Callaghan 1:57.15 + 15.64
 4. David Claes       2:01.18 + 19.67
=5. Niall Kieran      2:04.88 + 23.37
=5. Stephen Heary     2:04.88 + 23.37
----
11. Chubby Luke       2:17.99 + 36.48

What Was Learned

• Don't go on Caramel Digestives binges.
• You can't finish 3rd in all the Time Trials.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 19: Team Time Trial

Long Story Short

• I hitched my waggon to the Horan train,
• The team of Helen, Breda, Ann and myself, all Limit riders, had a ten minute handicap,
• Team Horan-Potter recorded a 51:30, the adjusted time with the handicap was 41:30,
• We placed third, twenty seconds behind the first place team,
• After eating healthy in the run-up, we pigged out afterwards.

Strava

View the TTT on Strava: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 19: Team Time Trial avec les trios Horans: 3rd.
See Also: Ann's TTT and Breda's Team TT.

View the replay on Strava Flybys. I've enabled:

• Brian Mc; his team won, they didn't catch us,
• Sean; his team finished second, they passed us,
• Myself; we finished third, two successive weeks of not being the token ginger,
• Stephen B: his team finished fourth, they passed us,
• Stephen R: his team finished fifth, they also passed us,
• Dan; he lead the under-age team, we passed them, they finished eighth with two Vets, an U-16 and an U-14 rider.

Members of the teams that finished sixth and seventh didn't show up on the Flybys selection.

Short Story Long

Prepare yourself for lots of lists.

Build-Up

I knew the Team Time Trial was coming up. I wanted to take part, but I didn't know who else was really interested in taking part. I knew I wanted a Limit team, so we'd get the maximum handicap and we'd be evenly matched. I used the new matchmaking app, "TTT Tinder". I gave these girls a swipe. I won't comment on the direction that I swiped the Murnanes. A few cheesy chat-up lines later and I had a team.

Please ignore the "83".

I rode out to Blessington on the Bank Holiday Monday. I did a recon of the route. This gave me an insight into the pacing strategy to employ on the full run. I broke the route into six segments based on the terrain;

1. 0 - 3km - The start is downhill, and flat until over the first bridge.
2. 3 - 5km - There's three ramps. There's lots of flat after these ramps. So we can go hard over them. As long as we're together after the 3rd one. I went Z5 power over these.
3. 5 - 10km - Long flat section until over the second bridge.
4. 10 - 22km - The hard work begins. There's eight steep hills in quick succession. This includes the gravel section (14-16.4km) that Killian was talking about on the forum. I went Z4.5 Power over these.
5. 22 - 25km - After these hills, there's a long flat section.
6. 25 - 28km - There's the ramp near the end, but it's not steep. It ends with the white shed with the red roof and the T-Junction sign. Followed by a small descent and a little drag to the finish. Again I went Z4.5 Power over this.

I didn't go so far as to print out stem markers, but I used a simple format to remember where I was. "3 up, 5 down, 10 up, 22 down". This corresponded to the kilometer and the terrain change.

I researched some Team Time Trial tips. They included the usual basic common sense things, ride in a line, pace from the outset. They recommended keeping communication to one or two word commands. Another small tip was to drink at the back of the train.

Based on my recon I set pace goals for the six segments. I didn't look at the times from the previous years. For the first two flat sections, I wanted to average 37kmh. For the last flat sections I wanted to average 40kmh. For the first three climbs I set a Wattage goal in my Zone 5/VO2 Max, we would be able to recover on the flat. For the rest of the climbs I wanted to pace in the middle of my Zone 4/Threshold.

We agreed, ...well I went "Luke Jong-Un" on it...;

• To take 30 second turns on the front, unless you were suffering. This would give 90 seconds rest.
• To keep the group together until after the eight climbs. This would allow us to have full fire power for the proposed 40kmh sections.
• On "Up and Over" and the call to switch the leader. Make the call, check for traffic and pull off.
• On "On" as the command to signal that the rider was back in the slipstream. So we could raise the speed without the rider having to make a sprint effort.
• On "Off" as the command to signal that we were down a rider. This would keep the group together.
• That on the sections where we planned to aim for 40kmh to do 30 seconds on the front, or until they are not able to 40kmh, which ever came first.

I had my Garmin set to display;

• Power Zone - For Pacing on the Hills,
• Cadence - Just for my own gear selection,
• Lap Time - To know when my 30 seconds was up,
• Lap Distance - For the markers of the distance I had highlighted,
• Current Speed - For Pacing on the Flat.

Helen suggested that we not use the TT bars. This was the correct decision. The course was too technical and required too many gear changes outweighing the aerodynamic benefits on offer.

Pre-Race

I woke up Thursday morning and I knew that I didn't have the form that I had the two previous weeks. Especially the imperious, Pegasus-like, flame grilled strength in my quadriceps that lead me to fourth after working like ...whatever is the politically correct personification of the modern standard of hard labour... distant relative of a North Korean defector.

I wasn't confident of making it through the eleven kilometer hilly section. I had witnessed half of my team (and everyone else) destroy me on the steep pitches (Conor Pass, Dunloe, Molls Gap and Ballaghbeama) in the TKAS. Basically I didn't want to be Nico Roche.

After a few consecutive hours of converting Oxygen into Carbon Dioxide, cumulating in a Tuna Steampot and a pair of bananas being scoffed, I arrived in Manor KillBuzz. I hadn't been reading the Kilbride Chronicle since they increased their subscription price. My knowledge on the relationship between bike racers and residents was based on the first Sally Gap race. I had no sooner exited my automobile than some lady recklessly parked her car in front of mine and get on her phone. "This is some Twin Peaks, Wayward Pine type shit" I thought. After a few minutes of talking on the phone and glancing at me, she reversed away. "She's probably asking her cohorts to pick up some Kidney beans for the Lukie Con Carne" I'm not one for smoking the wacky tobaccy, so this paranoia was real. More motorists passed whilst slowly passing and they were on their phones too. Turns out there was a speed ramp that I couldn't see. There was also a large traffic jam on the main route, so these people were probably calling for directions. With Bebo just being released in Wicklow last week, I figured Google Maps was a few years away yet.

Other notble pre-race meals: Ann and Helen had tea and sandwiches, Breda had Couscous al a Chicken.

Ann arrived at the community centre and I located Helen. With bidons empty and possibly a child's life ruined, we used a back road to practice some "through and offs" on our way to the sign on. Ann noticed that the person second in The Horan Express should make an effort to keep their wheel to the inside of the person in front. This would remove most of the element of risk of the leader pulling to the outside. I can't quickly tell my left from my right, so I use inside and outside.

We signed on, and tried to play mind games with the opposition. I used to be a master at the mind games, although I may have lost my touch. Some say Daragh hasn't been the same since the Ericsson tag rugby derby of 2013. But the mind games may have backfired as you can see from the picture below, where I've developed "The RÁS Stare", before the club league TTT. But is wasn't as serious a case as Eugéne's RÁS Stare from the W200. I ate my Trek FlapJack.

Half of my team needed to answer the call of nature just as we were told to roll out to Blessington. So we were a bit pushed on the ride over. We continued the TTT drills on the way over. This was to give Breda a feel for the format as she had missed the ride from Kilbride.

When we arrived, our two-minute-team had just departed. I could've sworn I was in a World Cup Cyclocross start grid. The girls' took off their jackets and handed them to Jen, the Van Der Haar-ns. I consumed a Caffeine gel, Orange flavour. It needed a Frank Seymour-esque monologue to describe how horrible it was. But there wasn't time for that, Red. Eddie gave the countdown...

Race

... and Ann and Breda had already gapped myself and Helen. I had a bout of Matt Stephens-itis, struggling to clip in. We caught up pretty quickly. The turns started and were very smooth. I was at the front going into the first corner. I moved out to assertively hold the lane from the car approaching behind. I wanted a really good line through the corner. I knew that there wasn't gravel on the inside or outside, so the line was going to be easy. As I got through, I pulled off the front. My teammates didn't need the accordion effect.

Our run over the first bridge lead to the three climbs. We gapped Breda a bit on the second one, which was longer than the other two. We slowed a bit and we were all together on the next flat section. Ann kept upping the pace too soon on this flat section, but that ironed itself out. We had Dan's team in sight, but another team had us in their crosshairs. The team of Hammond/Kinch/Maher/Barry/Hendron passed us on the outside around the bend. The pass was a bit tight for my liking. Especially as they forced us into the inside line the whole way round. A twitch from any one of the eight of us and it was game over. But it went by without a hitch.

Pretty soon after the corner we were onto the section of eight climbs. We passed Dan's team. They had splintered into two equal sized groups. At one stage we were in the middle of them. Breda was having some trouble on the hills. I was determined to keep her in the train. She was recovering the ground on the descents. I was climbing pretty well, as were Ann and Helen. I was aware of a dodgy corner approaching. I communicated this, I asked for a lot of space to be given to allow braking. This was granted. Aisling and Siobhan were marshalling here and did a good job of keeping it clear. There was also a guy taking photos here, but I havn't been able to track them down I tracked him down.

The next obstacle was the gravel section from 14.1km to 16.4km. I made the others aware of this. They let me go first. I had ridden it a few days before. There was a tight corner at the start. Again I called for space between the riders. Most of this section was downhill and I lit it up. I got myself a decent sized gap on my charges. I did some of the pulling on the gravelled climb, relinquishing to Helen, as I used the sliding room to Breda to recover.

I was counting down the climb, I thought that this would help. I also thought that this would result in being told to STFU. Although as Oxygen debt set in, the odds of being told-off decreased. We were passed by both Team Rowan/Williams/Holland/Moore/Boyd and the Swift-Murnanes in quick succession. Both teams were down to three riders. We were about to make the run for home. Breda took her last turn as we upped the pace to 40kmh. The Murnanes Swiftly disappeared down the road, although we kept Rowan/Williams/Holland in view for a short time.

We approached the last climb, with three of us left, we had to stick together. The time would count at the third rider. I was getting pretty stressed, as I wanted to power to the finish, like the previous week, but my legs were heavy. The finish line came pretty soon.

Post-Race

51:30 minus the 10:00 handicap, which gave us a time of 41:30. After watching the way that two other of the other teams sailed by us, I was not very confident of a placing. I also believed that there was only points for the top three teams.

We discovered that we each had different strengths and weaknesses;

• Helen: Tears uphill, fears Gravel.
• Breda: Likes going down, doesn't like coming back up.
• Ann: Strong on the flat, not as strong going down.
• Luke: Strong on Gravel, has a weakness for Caramel biscuits/squares/drizzle sponge cake.

Pacing Review

The initial pace goals for the TTT were decently accurate.

The dark grey is the gravel section. Click the image to make it bigger.

I packed up and went into Blessington to get petrol. There was Police checkpoint checking for tax, insurance and NCT at the Industrial Estate. I wished them a good evening, they were not so confident in everyone else having their documents in order.

So there I was in the chipper, and I get a message from Eugéne. He was congratulating me on my exploits. I was pretty hungry, so I wasn't in the best form. I wasn't the only one getting my chub on with my Cheeseburger and Chips.

Sorry cow :'(

Helen was going to town on a Pizza, Oatcakes and Brazil nuts.

Breda was being healthy with some Banana Bread and Green Smoothie.

I checked the results, we were twenty seconds off first place. Twenty seconds is still a decent effort to overhaul, as the target was not static. The low-light of the night was discovering that the hot water was not on. I took my character-building shower and slept.

What Was Learned

• Team Time Trials are something very different.
• The recon ride provided very valuable input.
• The handicap system made the TTT very interesting.
• I still can't believe the John West Tuna Steampots are not on the UCI banned substance list.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 18: Green Sheds CP.

Long Story Short

• I finished 4th,
• I lead out the Sprint,
• I did loads of work in the group, especially approaching the end,
• Four groups on the road,
• Limit group just stayed away,
• Looks like the handicaps were 6:30, 1:00, 2:30 between the groups.

Strava

View the ride on Strava: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 18: Green Sheds CP. 4th after leading the last km.

View the Flybys Replay of the Race. I've enabled;

• Myself, started with Limit Group, finished 4th, not the token Ginger for once,
• Eoin, started with Semi-Limit, finished with the second group,
• Jules, started with Semi-Scratch, finished with the third group,
• Eric, started with Scratch, finished with the second group.

Short Story Long

Build-up

I recovered from my bout of Gastroenteritis on Monday evening. It was risky to have my first bit of Sushi for lunch on Monday, but it all worked out. Doctors would later say that that Gastroenteritis would've killed a normal man. I signed something about donating my body to science.

On Monday in Tesco, I must've looked like sick puppy as I tried to puzzle out the Dried Mango and get the best one. I took it easy in the build up, with an easy ride on the Tuesday and some Pre-Race efforts on the Wednesday.

My goals for this race were, as always, to finish with the front group.

Pre-Race

I had a series of work meetings before the race. I had 30 mins between the meetings, so I got changed and fed in this time. I ate the usual John West Tuna Steam Pot.

In the last meeting, I was staring out the window, I seen a collection of rabbits, with a fox chasing them. The fox didn't catch any of the rabbits. If you've read the books behind the Game of Thrones TV series, or watched Arrested Development a second time, you'll understand foreboding.

I was on the way up to Black Bull at 17:04. Surprisingly, there wasn't a crash at exit 6 on the M50. I was up there at 17:40. I ate the two bananas. Put on the rest of my kit and started the warm up. I went to the start and there was a bit of chat. I consumed a caffeine gel. There was enough Limit riders, nine, to allow a Limit only group, which would be chased by the other three groups.

Race

Out to Circuit

We set out behind the lead car and motorcycle outrider. On the first ramp, at the end of the lay-by, I noticed that my Limit compatriots were all out of the saddle. I was in the small ring spinning fast. I went from last to first in those few meters. All, but one of us, were doing work in this section. James was attending his first race. He picked up the idea of the pace line pretty quickly. Damien, at the back, was on the receiving end of a short burst of expletives from me the first time he didn't come through. I was particularly annoyed, as I though his wheel over lapping mine from the side that I was going to move onto. This would require me to wait for him to move, then close the large gap to the next guy in front.

I was pretty happy at the make-up of the group, lots of honest workers in there. Younger Luke was there too, after his crash at the Junior Tour.

The last time we raced this circuit, I was very upset at the guys not working. This time I decided to just let it go. They race their race and I'll race mine. One thing that I noticed from the Limit group, was the lack of the "last man" calls. Contrast this to Semi-Limit, where you can hear the calls well before it's relevant to you.

We went around the roundabout, there wasn't any massive accelerations, so the pack remained together. We crested the three rises that punctuate the finishing parcours.

Lap One

We kept it together well through the next roundabouts. After the two, where we take the first exit, I seen Dave's face. He looked like he was in a pretty bad way. Would he make it to the finish? When I got to the back I noticed that our passenger wasn't there. I presumed that he had been dropped through the roundabouts. But I was wrong, he was now taking turns. All nine of us were working. To quote Greg Roberts, AKA Bucky, from TheNewBoston; "Pretty Stinking Awesome".

We kept it very tidy through the next roundabout too. Diarmuid shot off the front at the next turn. I followed, but he was just creating space behind him for the other guys and girl. Grouppo Compacto for the long run to the last roundabout of the course. This run has a few rises in it. I was gapping everyone else on these rises. I was feeling insanely strong at this stage. We finished the lap without any problems.

Lap Two

Final lap, and no sign of the other groups. Diarmuid wanted to skyrocket the pace to avoid capture. This dissipated rapidly, as he was out by himself. Nothing major happened until the run to the final roundabout. Only one minor incident, where one person didn't accelerate over the crest of the hill and I almost touched wheels with him. I was giving encouragement by informing the other guy and girl that we were "kicking ass". My only concerns were the sweat and fluid seeping from my nose. This was trickling into my mouth. I regretted shaving the night before, as my mustache (or sorry excuse for one) would've stopped some of this.

As soon as we had exited the second last corner, people started sitting on. It was only myself, Helen, James and Diarmuid working hard. I was feeling super strong and was getting really excited. I was filling in every gap, taking two to three turns. I didn't want us to be caught. Again, I was gapping the shit out of everyone else on the drags. I didn't want to maintain the gap, as I needed the other to work with me.

Finish

I eased up to take a drink out of my bottle. All the other passed me, they knew the roundabout was coming up. Damien was trying to talk tactics with Helen. "No Fucking Tactics" I bellowed. My head was full of thought of winning. So I was pretty antsy to be with Diarmuid as we approached the roundabout. I was no where near his wheel. I slowed down, to get on the outside of the group. Then I smashed it to get with them. There was no gap to slide into, so I maintained my effort around the outside of the roundabout. The image below shows the finish.

I flew past all the others, my pinkies gripping the top of the hoods. The adrenaline was pumping now, I couldn't feel or hear anything. I wasn't really thinking. My legs were turning at 144rpm. I grabbed the drops and started shifting. I was also looking under to see what wheels were there. I could only see Diarmuid. If I took him to the line, he would beat me. But he had worked hard, so he would deserve it. If I stopped and we all started looking at each other, Johnny Scratch would catch us.

After cresting the first ride, Diarmuid passed me out, I took shelter behind him. I was really confident of my ability to ride them all off the wheel. My recent history of gapping them on the short drags would attest to this.

The second crest and I could just about see the people standing at the finish. I had tunnel vision at this point. I was going to win, pure and simple. On the descent, I drew level with Diarmuid. I mentally prepared myself to turn myself inside-out. At the bottom of the hill, I let out a little groan and as I mashed hard on the pedals. I kicked hard to try to get a gap and kept the pace as high as I could. I stayed seated in the saddle, as my sprinting is not great. This was like the last minute of a 20 minute interval on the Turbo, where I would be keeping my power from dropping.

100 meters to go, no one passing me. 50 meters to go, still no one. This was in the bag. 15 meters to go, I seen a wheel fly by me in my peripheral vision. "Fuck", seeing that it was Damien, who hadn't done so much work, I gestured my displeasure. I also eased up, James and Diarmuid also went past. 4th position.

Post Race

Dave had finished 5th, continuing his family's tradition of placing. Peadar had finished 6th. It would've been nice to see Helen get some points for the amount of work she put in, but alas bike racing is a harsh mistress.

I pulled in before where the rest of the group were patting each other on the back. I wanted to mourn my lost victory. After my moments of reflection, I noticed that my heart was pounding hard in my chest. I was a bit scared, but I could feel my left arm. The other group finished pretty soon afterwards.

I congratulated Damien on his race and went to claim my place. The video for the finish showed how tight James and Diarmuid were. James claimed second place on his first race. This was the first time Limit had stayed away since the first race in Brittas.

We had a nice ride back to the cars, I did some stretches so I wouldn't be stiff in the morning. On the drive home, I had the Dried Mango. It was really good, I nearly creamed my paints. I cooked the Tesco Sweet Potato fries to perfection for dinner. I was pretty gutted that I didn't win, but 4th place in a road race was still really good. So I was happy with my evening's adventures.

I'm pretty sure that I avoided an upgrade to Semi-Limit.

What Was Learned

• Don't get excited at guys not working,
• Don't gesture when you've been passed in the Sprint,
• Improve my sprinting. Mainly my transition from going hard in the saddle to a full gas sprint.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 17: Mondello Crit 1 hour + 2 laps. Club Road Race Championship.

Long Story Short

• Had Gastroenteritis for two and a half days before the race,
• Not many people turned up, so it was Limit and Semi-Limit being chased by Scratch and Semi-Scratch,
• Did a fair bit of work,
• All the years of playing F1 games on the Playstation and Gamecube really payed off through two of the corners,
• Made an idiotic sprint before the catch,
• Lasted 58 minutes before getting dropped,
• Seen the finish,
• Well done to Conor and Helen, for winning their respective categories.

View the race on Strava: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 17: Mondello 1hr+2laps. Limits vs. Scratches. Dropped after 58mins.

Strava Flybys Replay

The Strava Flybys Replay.

I enabled;

• Myself, for obvious reasons (token ginger),
• Eoin, as he started with the combined Limits groups and finished with the main group,
• Vladis, as he started with the combined Scratch groups and finished third.

Short Story Long

Build-up

Went to Kerry at the weekend, reckon I picked up some bacteria infection from a Chicken Pizza, Water or some Horse Shit on the Gap of Dunloe. Tallaght, Tuesday 21st of July, at 14:00, I was sitting at my desk contemplating the fate of the fly that was in my car in Tralee which I transported to Dublin, where was he now? Then I noticed that my stomach was in extreme distress. It was rock solid and really bloated. I was visiting the bathroom every 30 minutes. My commute home is 29 minutes, so this might be problematic, if some idiot decided to crash on the M50. Made it home just in time. Tried to go out for some pre-race efforts the next evening, stomach felt fine until I got to the garage on the Dublin side of Enniskerry.

A couple more nights and days where I wondered if Joy Division had written "Day of the Lords" about me; "...Nights full of bloodsport and pain... Where will it end?". Unable to eat much food, sleep long or trust a fart, this was now my reality. Just like every kid who stepped on a land mine and lived to face the hospital bills, what had I done to deserve this? I went to the chemist the next day and got some Pro-Biotics to combat the bacteria. I was also told to "eat small meals". The Yoga pose "Wind Remover", probably has some fancy name, came in really handy, thanks Sinead :P

Pre-Race

So there I was lying on the couch, bike looking sad on the balcony. What would, my childhood hero, Bill Cosby do?

Zippidy Zoo Zoo, Zoom around on the Biiicycle, then do do doo the Quaaludes.

Suck on them there pearls of wisdom, Plato, you hack. Bill, channelling his inner Freud, was right. I sipped down a slight overdose of the probiotic drink and packed two Caffeine Gels. I got everything ready and ventured to Mondello. I had only eaten 6 slices of toast and a few oven chips during the day.

I was the second person to arrive, I think the other guy saluted me, but I ran straight to the bathroom. Mondello have excellent toilet facilities. I unpacked the bike and went for a slow warmup ride. There was lots of little rabbits on the track. They were very scared of my Pedal Powered Panda. They had no need to be afraid at that stage, I wasn't going to get into Al Pacino mode for another 15 minutes. I went back to the car and went through my stretching routine. Then went to do my warm-up.

I ate the bar and consumed the two caffeine gels. I miscalculated the start time and instead of 10 minutes to recover from the warm-up, I had 40. I avoid the coffee in the office, and I'm pretty susceptible to caffeine. I spun around the carpark, staying close to the bathroom. I aided with Garrett's wheel conundrum, which stumped both he and the good doctor. Only four Limit riders signed on, six Semi-Limit bros. So it was decided to only have two groups. Team Limit would have a four minute head start over Team Scratch. I was feeling pretty confident, buoyed by Team Scratch's Stephen remembering how he was "dropped like a hot spud" at the last running of this circuit.

This was a Club Championship Race, we had enough number for a male race, but one short for the women's race. Which sucked because, spoiler alert, Helen and Aideen were mixing it with the big boys at the end.

Race

Team Limit, I was outside the barrier. Photo by Eugène.

We were off, I thought I was in a great position, but my foot wouldn't clip in. Straight down the back. I chilled out down there for a lap, and let my legs warm up, as they felt a bit wooden after sitting there for 40 minutes. There was a very narrow line taken into the third-last and last corners. I'd position myself on the outside for these and get the best line, where I could pedal as much as possible. As Dick said in the Corkagh Park Racing Intro session, "There should not be any freehubs sounding".

I moved up a bit on the straights, and was in perfect position to execute this plan the next time through that corner. I made up maybe ten positions there and bullied my way on to a wheel, Judah Ben-Hur style. This presented a new problem, as I was on the outside for the third last corner and on the inside for the last one. They were all taking this corner with the "as the crow flies" enthusiasm that I did on the Sega Megadrive 2, Christmas morning 1998. New plan, ping off the front every time through the third last corner and take the widest line through the last corner and hold a great position up the main straight. This pattern would continue for a long time.

Myself and Dan tried a little escape, but I ran out of steam, after tapping out my heart at 184bpm, and took a break down the back. Lots of people were putting in work on the front, notably Romano, Garrett, Eoin and JB. I was taking a few hard turns too. The Caffeine had flooded my senses and I was just riding having fun, completely forgetting my goal to finish with the front group.

Team Scratch, quaking in their aero shoe covers at the thought of reeling in the four minute gap. Photo by Eugène.

We were getting update on the time difference to Scratch group. They were taking about 30 seconds out of us per lap. When it got to 90 seconds, the guy on the Canyon called for the pace to be upped to 40km/h. But that didn't stem flow. We were way past fingers in dykes.

I was calling (read: shouting) for the up-and-overs to continue. My shouting skills were honed through years of helping my Dad on the farm with my brothers. Dan pinged off the front. I followed him, but got caught in nomansland after exploding. Two corners later I heard "on your left". Johnny Scratch was carving through my beloved Team Limit. 54 minutes had elapsed until the catch was made. Now it was squeaky bum time. I was still gassed from the failed bridging attempt to Dan. So I was recovering down the back. I hung in there for one lap, then...

Turn one, I was behind Ciara. Time froze. There was one last adenosine sized drop of caffeine in my system, I used it to deduce that my race was about to end. Going full SherLuke Homes (Robert Downey Jr. version), I noticed that her chain was too far down the block. She would need shift down, but that would require pedal strokes, pedal strokes she didn't have. We were on the inside of the corner, if she pedaled, she would clip the ground and cause a crash. I would need to come up the inside and close the widening gap into a headwind. Time resumed and like an OK-GO music video, the dominoes fell one by one. Game Over.

Sure I chased, and I chased hard. But I ended up exploding all over the track, think Richie Porte in the 2014 Tour De France.

I pulled up beside Ciara, and explained how we were dropped. That she needed to choose the gear to spin the shit out of to exit the corner before coasting into the corner. I gave her a demo and put about 15 meters into her using my Dr. Ferrari inspired method. Then she gave me a tow around the track and I pulled into the pits to retire and watch the finish.

Post-Race

Helen from Aideen and Ciara, Conor from Brian G and Vladis. Photo by Eugène.

My race ended prematurely, so I watched the Sprint finish. Fun times! Then my stomach cramped and I quickly exchanged my footwear, threw the bike in the back of the car and made a beeline for the toilets. Hitler wouldn't have been forced to resign, and move to South America, due to the large gas bill, if he had been in that cubicle with me.

I drove home pretty fast and ate my usual post race pizza. Only remembering at the last bite that the lady in the chemist had told me to "eat small meals", suffice to say then next 12 hours were excruciating. My anus was not this sore since the drive home from the Wicklow 200.

Power Curve-wise, I was no where near any of the numbers I recorded during this year. I spent 13.5 minutes in Z6 and Z7 combined and 25 minutes above Z4, so it was a pretty good workout. Heart rate-wise I spent 52 minutes above Z4.

I was disappointed that I didn't finished with the front group, but with the illness I think it was a fair result. Had I hid in the bunch and not done any work, then got dropped, I'd be pretty upset.

What Was Learned

• Bully my way onto wheels when Johnny Scratch is putting the hammer down,
• Don't race like an idiot,
• Don't eat a full pizza when you have a messed up digestive system.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 15: 25M TT Club Championships

Long Story Short

• Finished with a time of 1:06:29,
• Averaged 36.2km/h and 184 Watts,
• I ranked 3rd out of 12 in the Limit Classification,
• And 26th out of 38 overall.

View the ride on Strava: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 15: 25M TT - 1:06:29. Limit: 3/12. Overall: 26/38.

Short Story Long

Build-up

I got my Specialized Evade from Base2Race. I got the last White size Medium from their suppliers, so I was pretty happy about that. It's pretty good when you're going fast. But when you're going slow, the helmet sits low on the forehead and the sweat builds on the forehead then keeps leaking down your nose and into your mouth. But it keeps your head dry in the wet. I think it will be good in the Autumn and Winter.

The Evade is not good at forehead sweat dispensation. Dripping into my mouth is was. Could also have to do with the mist though.

A photo posted by Luke GJ Potter (@lukegjpotter) on Jul 1, 2015 at 11:47am PDT

I took a run at the course on the Saturday beforehand. I had planned to do two runs at it, but ended up only doing one, as it was fairly hard going and I just wanted to go home and do some drinking as my buddies from Athlone were up. I also took the opportunity to get a car wash from a guy past Batterstown. But I felt that the practice run was good input into the plan for the day. Keith on Strava, who recorded a sub-60 on the course, said to drill it on the way out and minimise losses on the way back.

I had been using the TT bars a lot in the build-up. Muscle adaptations need time to form to enable going fast in the TT position.

Pre-Race

The posts here, have been very helpful in allowing me to discern what works, and what doesn't in the day of the race.

I weighed in at 68kg that morning. I had been eating well that week, Green Drinks and Vegetarian options at lunch in work. At 16:30, I started eating my regular John West Tuna Steampot and two Bananas. The guys on my team were playing Table Tennis, so no one was having a period about the smell of the food. I watched the end of the Tour de France on CyclingHub, it was the third day in a row that I had to watch the stream in Italian. I got changed into my kit and was on the road at 17:20.

I got up to Black Bull very early, at 17:45. I got everything ready. The main point of today was to avoid the mistakes of the previous 10M TT. Namely not knowing the distance remaining and taking a piss just before my start time. I had a nightmare, regarding pissing time and TT start time, at the 10M TT in the weeks prior.

I created a new page on my Garmin for the TT. It displayed Power Zone, Cadence, Lap Time, Lap Distance and Lap Average Speed. I don't know that the Average Speed reading was doing on there, as average speed means fuck all at the end of the day.

I went for a ride to the train tracks and back to the car. Started my stretching routine. I rode up the road and did five one minute intervals, and then a three and a five minute interval. I got my number and ate a third banana just before the five minute interval. Warm-up on Strava. I didn't notice any wind on the road.

I went back to the car to drop off some stuff. Swap over to my 500ml bottle. I had a Caffeine gel. I antagonised about removing the arm warmers, I ended up doing so, despite the rain. With the helmet, gloves and zipped up jersey, I'd be baking. Plus the rain in the east side of the country is basically just a drizzle. In the 54 weeks I'd lived up here, it's only rained hard twice.

I hadn't seen Barry so far the evening, I wondered if he would not show up. The car was parked under a flight path, and there was a familiar tunneling drone being registered in my eardrums. Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No, it was Barry's disk wheel passing me. Best case scenario, second place for me tonight.

I arrived at the start line with ten minutes to spare. I took this time to take my third slash of the evening, safety in numbers. I had another gel, dried my forehead and I was ready to rock. Younger Luke was released, Diarmuid followed. My minute man didn't show up. I ensured my bike was in the 50-21, so I could drill it off the line. I was much more confident in the guy holding me this week. The fingers on the hand in front of me disappeared.

Race

Outward Leg

I was off. Out of the saddle, I sprinted hard to get my speed up. Very quickly, I was up to 40km/h. I sat in the saddle and got onto the areobars. BEEP! My Garmin was telling me that my power had dipped out of Zone 4. Pedal hard and gear up. I spent a lot of time in the last three cogs at the bottom of the block. My legs didn't go weak, like the last time.

I don't remember all the that much. It felt like three minutes. Lots of my Garmin beeping at me and me shifting gears. I started to wonder when I would see the guys in front of me, and the people on the return leg. At the first roundabout, I didn't slow that much. I stayed in the aerobars and kept pedaling.

On a long straight I caught sight of Diarmuid. The other participants started to appear as they made their way back from Trim. The helmet was not absorbing the sweat anymore, and it was drizzling, which added to the stream of sweat flowing into my right eyeball and mouth. My glasses were starting to fog a bit too. Of the people coming towards me, I could make out Helen's orange lenses and Ann's Yellow-y Neon frames. They had passed their cousin and Ann was about to lay the law down in the sibling rivalry.

Maybe my depth perception was effected, due to the sweat in my right eye, but Diarmuid was getting closer. As we approached the second roundabout, I could see him take an absolute shocker of a line through the 360 degree turn. When I got onto the roundabout, I discovered why his line was so bad. It hadn't rained in Dublin for a long few days, so the surface was really slippery. The marshals were saying "turn". I was 270 degrees around the roundabout and I was shouting "turn, turn, turn". I'm pretty sure that my subconscious was already picking a nice area to land, if I clipped the kerb.

I averaged 39.0km/h on the outward leg.

Return Leg

I pulled the bike around just in time to see Barry entering the roundabout. I shouted "Slow down Barry", hoping that he would listen. I sprinted out of the corner. Diarmuid firmly in my sights. I was now noticing a slight head wind. Barry jetted past me, then he passed Diarmuid quickly after that. After a small battle, where I passed him, and he passed me (whilst riding on the hoods), Diarmuid accepted my advances. I gained two mintues on him.

Next on the radar was Younger Luke. I could see him in the distance. Climbing a hill out of the saddle. He, unlike Diarmuid went quietly. Just before the roundabout. Plus Three minutes. The roundabout was clear again. Luke destroyed me on the Sally Gap race, by about eleven minutes.

I was noticing the kilometers ticking upwards to 40.1km. My under-carriage was going painfully numb, so I got out of the saddle to crest the three bumps on the run from the third roundabout to the line. I was unable to get the power into Z4 for the run from Batterstown to the finish. I passed the dead fox, and tried to keep going hard to the line. I shouted out my number as I crossed the line.

I averaged 34.4km/h on the return leg.

Post Race

There was a gathering  of people on the grassy area beside the line. I rolled over. Everyone was slowly discussing what times they got. Colin, who I was marshaling with last week, rolled over the line very soon after I did. He was very close to catching me.

Stephen coasted over to the grassy area, asking for help to get off his bike. I held him upright. His new Tarmac felt really light. He looked like he needed a priest. Stay away from the light Stephen, I though.

There was some more chat. I recovered pretty quickly from the effort. Evidently I had not gone hard enough. I went back to the car and did some stretching. After the last TT, I didn't stretch. I had a very difficult few hours the next morning.

After looking at the data on Strava, I was not as happy as I might have been. 186 Watts was nowhere near my Z4 starting Wattage (206 W).

The results were posted on the forum, I had finished 3rd of 12 in Limit, and 26th of 38 overall.

1st Roger    1:04:28.05
2nd Barry     + 0:00.74
3rd Luke      + 2:01
4th Stephen H + 2:20
5th Ann       + 3:14
6th Brianne   + 4:04

Barry had beaten me in the 10M TT by 30 seconds, and I had beaten Rodger by 5 seconds. I'm still leading Limit classification by one point from Barry. Sickener for Barry, missing out on first place. But in reality Fergal (Limit 25M TT winner last two years) and Sean (winner of the 10M TT) were missing from the event, so I'm not going on an open top bus tour to celebrate my 3rd place.

I drank another two liters of water and ate a pack of graphes before I went to sleep. My post-race pizza was not on the menu this week.

What was Learned

• I need to lower the nose of my saddle for TT efforts.
• I need to do another FTP test and not be afraid of the numbers being lower than February. British cycling have some training plans on their site that I should follow.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 13: Sally Gap CP

Long Story Short

• Was late to the start, rolled out with Semi-Limit,
• Got shelled, at about 10km, after the catch was made,
• I finished last, of all those who finished. There was a 38 starters and many abandons. So not too shameful.

View the Ride on Strava: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 13: Sally Gap. Luke-terne Rouge, Glad I finished.

Flybys Replay

View the Race Replay on Strava Flybys: Sally Gap Replay. Rewind it to -0:2:20 and press play.
I enabled;

• Myself, as I'm the most important :P,
• Dan, he started with Limit and finished near the front,
• Niall, we had a bit of a battle for last place,
• Eoin, he started with Semi-Limit and finished 5th,
• Jamie, started with Semi-Scratch and finished near the front, and
• Patrick, started with Scratch and finished near the front.

Short Story Long

Build-up

I rocked out for some hill repeats on Tuesday. They were on Mount Seskin, which was not steep. I had a big Paella the night before the race, to get extra Glycogen in my body. I checked the weather and packed only the summer kit. It was going to be cloudy, but warm. In other words, "humid as fuck".

Pre-Race

I started eating in the office at 16:30. Standard pre-race meal of John West Steampot and two Bananas. The smell of the Steampot, is pissing other people in the office off, but I think the aroma is lovely. Maybe I'll eat in the Coffee Area in future. I got changed and left the office at 17:20.

I drove to Blessington and arrived at 18:00. I was the first on there. I started unpacking and getting ready. I signed on for the race. My warm-up was the standard stretching and a ride to Rossborough House. I deduced the wind direction. I did five untidy one minute intervals to warm up. I went back to the car to put my saddle bag in, but I got distracted and forgot to remove the saddle bag.

I ensured that I had my arm warmers (for the descent), Nutri-Grain bar and a caffeine gel in my back pocket. The start line was a littly bit further down the road, so I rolled down. Then I remembered that my saddle bag was still on. I didn't want the extra 750g holding me back. I returned to my car and took off the saddle bag. I rolled back to the start line. I didn't notice that my buddies in Limit had started. Stephen, astride his new Tarmac, said "Luke have you missed your group". "Shite, I'll roll with Semi-Limit". I had half my Nutri-Grain eaten, had not consumed my gel and the whistle blew.

Race

So I rolled with Semi-Limit. I took lots of turns on the front, I missed only one turn. The pace was OK. I wasn't under pressure or anything. My turns aligned nicely with the up hills, so I had plenty of sliding room. I was at the front when I seen the Limit group ahead. They looked splintered. Afterwards, it would emerge that they were not working well together. That would've driven me insane. After the catch was made, at the 10km point. I have no idea what happened, I was shelled on a little rise.

I tried hard to get back on, but it wasn't happening. I resolved to ride to the finish by myself. With marshaling next week and wanting to get some good training in, I would press on. I was hoping to mop up some of the riders who were also shelled. I happened acorss Barry, he said that he was going to turn off at the bridge. Semi-Scratch, Scratch and the Ambulance overtook me. This was expected.

Dave was driving the broom wagon. He picked up Jules, as he had a puncture. I next caught sight of Niall. I set about over taking him. I rode at Sweet-Spot, 200 Watts, until I over took him on the flat. I put some time into him. My next conquest was David. I rode again at 200W, but he was holding the gap. The road was going upwards now. Niall had engaged the turbo. He wizzed past me, I tried to hold his wheel, but the elastic broke. I was gaining ground on David. It started to rain. Dave was driving the broom wagon behind David. As I approached, Jules told me that it was now a race between Niall, David and myself. Niall was motoring up the road at this point. But I pulled alongside David. We talked a bit. Then there was a steep ramp. David abandoned. A Scratch rider blew past me too.

So there I was, last rider on the road. I could see the other lads finishing at the top of the hill. I put the head down and tried to hold 200 Watts again, but this didn't work out for long. Woosh! Crosswind. I was nearly blown in the ditch. This was terrible. Trying to pedal up a steep hill, with a 34-28 (I lost a lot of strength from my injury and work schedule), and having to hold my Deep Section rims. More close encounters with the ditch. I had a choke hold on the hoods. Sweat was running into my eyes. Shame and fear were my feelings. I was making slow progress, holding the white line in the middle of the road, as the wind was blowing me to the left. Kilian was coming down and he gave me some encouragement. When I got to the top, there was not many people left, I was fifteen minutes behind the winners. Eddie, or Dave Mc, clapped me over the line.

I exchanged a few words with Jules, who offered me a ride home. But my car was back in Blessington, 20km away. I wiped the sweat out of my eyes, put on the glasses and arm warmers.

Post-Race

I rolled back to where the car was. It was a nice forty minute ride, I was proud that I didn't abandon. The start of the ride was horrible. I was very afraid that I was going to die in the Wicklow mountains and not be found for ages. The cross winds were insane. I'm an extremely confident descender, but I took it slow going down hill. I had my left leg unclipped from the pedal for added ballast on the right side. I had to slow to a crawl twice.

By the time I got back into tree shelter, I was getting really hungry. I was also worried about not having a saddle bag, in case I got a puncture. I went over a bump on my way back to Blessington and realised that I had half a Nutri-Grain bar in my jersey pocket. After I consumed that, I felt a bit better. I reflected that not many other people get to just chill out and be one with nature, like I was at that moment.

I got back to the car, seen that there was still a three riders hanging around. I had a bit of a talk with Sean about how hard it was. I packed up and ate more bars. I seen Kilian was still there, so I checked that everything was OK, and went home to my pizza. I didn't drink enough water before bed and the next day I was dehydrated as shit and my legs were extremely dead. After chugging four liters of water I could feel them again. When they were sore, I promised myself that I would foam roll that evening, but I didn't. I decided to clean my bikes, which lead to a speed link related almost catastrophe.

I'm marshaling next week, so my main goal is the 25 Mile (40km in new money) Time Trial in two weeks. I have ordered a Specialized Evade helmet to aid my quest for a victory.

What was learned

• I need to get stronger on the steep gradients. More turbo (or grinding up Three Rock) and core strength work needed.
• Being 2kg overweight is not optimal. More high carb, less fat meals needed with higher intensity training.
• The Deep Section front wheel is extremely hard to control in high crosswinds. I went up that climb 2:30 faster two days later when there was no wind.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad