The last event of the club season would be an event I was due to do well in. I like hills strangely enough but I suppose all the training on them does that. But being a TT is would just be me against the clock to determine what could be done to get up the hill.

At 3.5km, the hill isn’t exactly the worlds longest. And will a flattish section and a small descent at the beginning, the overall time would be quickish, probably comparable to the Boards TT up Howth last week.

Warming up

Reading anything about warmups tells you that the shorter the event, the more of a warmup you need to do. When I started cycling, it was mainly sportives that I did. Long sportives that we would cycle to a from. Averaging 200km plus would be normal for the day. Nothing says warm up like a 2 hour cycle to an event.

But this left me slightly out of wack this year with different events. La Marmotte for instance had a 1km cycle to the start, if even, but then is was a 175km cycle so a warm up wasn’t too necessary. With the races, it was always a case of try to do as much as possible and then hold on let what happens happen.

For a sub 10 minute all out effort, I would need to be warm. 15 minutes riding around didn’t do enough so it was on with the gillet and a quick run up the hill to get properly warm. In hind sight, perhaps doing a near TT effort for a warm up was probably not the best of ideas.

The Moment of Truth

My stomach decided it wasn’t going to co-operate as usual coming up to the event with the last 10 minutes of the warm spent in quite a bit of pain. Someday I’ll get it sorted, honest, the doctors just need to identify what is causing it. Luckily, the standing around just before the off seemed to let it settle.

I lined up and experienced being held for the first time. Honestly it is a strange experience and I really thought I was going to fall off.

5, 4, 3, 2 ,1, go...

And off I went. Immediately there was a problem as the low sun meant I couldn’t read my Garmin. So much for trying to limit my power at the start so I would fall apart as usual midway. It was near 2 minutes in before the screen became visible but with a flatish start before the slight descent, it was all out.

Once the hill started up, I settled in and kept just below threshold. Enough to feel the burn in the background, but not enough to actually burn. It is times like these that I really should be watching my power, and someday I will learn to.

At the 2km mark, the inevitable happened. As usual I dropped off a little before recovering. Luckily it was helped by someone as the side cheering us on. Honestly, the best part of the league has been constant support for everyone. Getting cheered on really feels great. One of my greatest memories in cycling still remains finishing the 2009 Wicklow 200, arriving back into UCD to the claps and cheers just before the line. What a way to complete a day.

The last km of the climb before the turn went on longer than I thought. Watching the time clock up on the Garmin really made me feel like I was going much too slow. But seeing that Marshall at the turn made me push harder and again the cheers and shouts. Up out of the saddle and pushing hard as possible on the steep uphill to the finish. All the time, trying not to lose much speed as I clicked through the gears.

And across the line.

The Result

I stopped the clock at 7:44 something on my Garmin. Close enough that the second screen said 7:45. David who had gone before me had timed himself and said he got 7:45 which meant I was in contention. And he pointed out the line was the first cone, not the one I had stopped at, so a few seconds off my time. But seeing some of the others come across the finish makes you wonder just how fast you have been.

Javan Nulty was in a TT helmet and warmed up on a turbo. He looked very fast coming across the line. And with a time of 6:59, he was fast. Full results available on the Swords CC website. But when all was said and done, I ended 3rd with a official time of 7:40. Only beaten by Javan, the visitor champion, and Henry who came second overall in the league. Not a bad result.

But I’m not happy with it. I should have been faster. I could have been. I guess it can be put down to inexperience. Yes I’m getting better. I’m not as strong as I was for the Marmotte, but that is the cost of periodisation. The goal is the manage the efforts full on without the drop in the middle.

The Stats

Distance: 3.58km
Time: 7:45 (Garmin – Official Time 7:40)
Avg Speed: 27.7km/h
Calories: 171
Avg Power: 382watts
Normalised Power: 370watts (first time I’ve seen this lower than the average)

Little late on the report but mainly as my Garmin decided to do a hard reset on the way back from the race, almost loosing all my stats. I have been able to rebuild them using the laps folder but come on Garmin, get your act together.

Anyway for this race I slightly worried being in group 3 and it being quite flat. I even offered to Marshall but was told there was enough people already. This left me choosing a goal of just to hang on and finishing in the group.

So the race began and it began fast. It was hard work just to stay with the wheels on the up and overs. Even the slight incline on the back half required some pressure to say up there. But we got there and kept pushing along until lap 2 when we caught group 2. Pace eased up a tiny bit and we were caught on lap 3.  I can’t remember when group 1 was caught, I think it was just before the second last corner on the last lap, but were were all bunched up for the finish.

It got hairy along the end. Spread across the whole road with the usual pushing and shoving. More than one person wasn’t happy in the group and I got shouted at for pushing back when he tried to force me on to the grass. Honestly. Grow up.

For the final, I did as I have done in the last few races. That is, go too fast too quick. Something I really do have to work on.

The Stats

Distance: 40.56km
Time: 1:01:34
Avg Speed: 39.52km/h
Calories: 1075
Avg Power: 291watts
Normalised Power: 329watts

My first open race. My first introduction to real speed. Real racing. And it got off to a great start. Almost missing the A4 group going off while getting stuck behind some A3 guys waiting. Luckily the race was neutralised out of the village allowing us to catch back on the group before the speed went up. Not a good way to begin.

Pace did stay easy enough through the first lap although it did take some time before the pace line properly started and go settled. First time up the hill, another rider from another club moved to the front and looked like he was trying to pull out a gap. Being near the front I sat on his wheel and let the group behind pull up. We did loose a few during this ascent too, and I learnt after that quite a few burnt off on this lap.

Going on my experience last Wednesday, as soon as we were over the last hill I moved right the way to the front and took a wide line to go around at speed. This placed me second back from the front at the beginning meaning I was hanging on right the way down through the fast section. 1 Down, 2 and a half to go.

Lap 2

For this lap the pace went up quite a bit, at least subjectively. We pulled time out on the A3 group too during the lap so I guess things were really faster. The pace line worked quite well with most people taking turns although it did accordion a bit during the fast sections. For the second time up the hill I stayed near the back and sat in a much a possible. I knew it wouldn’t break apart this time so better to conserve energy. With a repeat of the last lap at the top, I rounded the corner at speed and held on down to the village.

Lap 3

During the third lap, things slowed down quite a bit. I’m not totally sure why but  at some point people stopped working and the line strung out, but not at a slow enough speed that you could safely move from the middle of the line to the front to take a turn.

On the hill I sat near the middle but close enough to the front to see where people were. Same again over the top and around the corner where the pace went up a bit. Took some effort to stay on wheels although I was about 5th back. The gap did grow a lot more than I wanted during the descent and once again confirms I need a standard chainset for next season.
Once again things slowed after leaving the village on our last lap, but this time they really slowed, enough to let the A3 catch us.

Attacks started quickly now. People going quick and fast but without any real presence. When nearing the end of the road, three guys got away. Then a forth went. It looked like they were going to hold it and stay away until the corner so I went and sprinted up. Mistake number one. Gap was only maybe 5 seconds off at this point however we were chased down by the corner and the group bunched during the first little hill around the corner.

After coming around the little descent, I moved near the front and ended up right on the front. Even with slowing down, people weren’t coming around. It took about 30/40 seconds before someone pulled up beside me on my right but not past. Mistake number two. Leading the group up the hill isn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done and I was about to pay for it.

It stayed this way until just after the crossroads when the first real attack started. Try as I might, I didn’t have the pace to stay with them however they soon started burning out. Another one went and again I was near the back of it. As it started slowing again, I got boxed in near the left hand side of the road. Mistake number three. Somehow I managed to slow and go all the way across the road to the right and sprint up clear of those who had just burnt out. However I still maybe 20 odd back at this point. And having to sprint across the road to get space didn’t help. Too little to late, or too much to late.

When the last attack when, I’d used too much to really sprint to stay on them. I did hold a decent pace and passed a few riders in the last two hundred metres, but not as many as I should have. Each person ahead that burnt out was enough to let me go by without upping my pace.

The Overall

Finished maybe top 15 although I should have done better had I raced smarter. Lessons learnt. It now marks two races were I blew apart on the hills. All my training for the Marmotte has paid some dividends in making me strong on the hills, but I really don’t have it when the sprints go. Something to work on for the winter.

The Stats

Distance: 72.54km
Time: 1:57:13
Avg Speed: 37.1km/h
Calories: 1726
Avg Power: 246watts
Normalised Power: 288watts

Rolling up to this race, I was in two minds as to whether I wanted to start in group 3 or not. My warm up didn’t go well and my legs felt weak. Overall not helped by another return of the stomach cramps. The decision was made for me when I signed on and was told it’d be group 3. Oh well, it’d make good practice for the Open Race at the weekend. I’ll sit in and try to hold on as long as I could.

The race did prove to be fast. Most people took turns and the place line really did move along. Up the hill was organised too and at a handy enough pace. What did kill me was the descent. I’ve known I’m not fast on flats but the extra speed on the descent really caused some problems.

During the first drop down, I hung on. It took quite a bit of effort but I stayed with everyone. The next time around was different. For some reason one of the guys upped the pace. *Clunk*, *Clunk*, “Ok lets get back on”. *Click*. “Oh crap, I’m out of gears!”. And as much as I tried, for the next 1.5km I was 5-10m behind the group working as hard as I could to stay as close as I could.

I had always thought it’d be a flat course that convinced me to switch my compact for a standard chainset, but there above was the moment. The values are double normalised remember, both by Garmin and Sporttracks. Speed was above 60km/h on the display and I spinning like roadrunner. It was only when it flattened out that I regained contact.

We rolled though the village and regrouped properly. As we rolled along out the road, I started taking a drink and decided I just need to hold on past the main road and I’ll be fine. Suddenly the same guy from the main road sprinted again. I’d be dropped!

I tried to get back on and started speeding up. As I started making up the distance everyone started stopping. The mistake of all mistakes. I’d gotten the finish line wrong. Oh well, lesson learnt.

The Stats:

Distance: 43.73km
Time: 1:10:31
Avg Speed: 37.2km/h
Calories: 1186
Avg Power: 288watts
Normalised Power: 302watts