Leinster League XC Race in Bunclody

The guys from Racing 795 are a really good bunch so I was looking forward to their Leinster League XC race in Bunclody. It was a race I enjoyed last year with a long fireroad climb and some nice double and technical single track on a really nice sunny day!

This year looked really promising too with lovely weather all week and reports of a dusty, dry course filtered back from the MAD crew who went down for a sneaky practice session on the Saturday before the race! Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and it started to rain on the Saturday evening, lashed all night and into Sunday morning. By the time we arrived in Bunclody the rain had stopped and the rain had started to clear but the ground was very wet!

While I’ve been training all winter it’s been mainly on the road and at the best of times I’m technically pretty inept so I wasn’t much looking forward to a sloppy technical track! Since last year there had been a few new bits added to the course and while they would have been great on a dry day, for me, they were pretty well unrideable in places!



Not a bad start!


I had a tough race and after a reasonable 1^st climb I basically went backwards from there! I found the technical sections a real struggle and never got any sort of a rest – on a wet difficult course when I hit the technical sections, even the downhill ones, my heart rate increases rather than decrease like most people!

I managed to stay ahead of Orla ..... but only for a while!

I wasn't the only one struggling!

I can’t say I enjoyed it much but that was a reflection on me rather than the course! The only consolation was that I managed to stay ahead of PaddyB from MAD who was having an equally bad day. I eventually finished 37^th out of 62 starters so hardly a resounding success but not last either!  We had some great Epic results with a number of people finishing on the podium - including Orla, Simon (x2), Damien and Darragh!

Anyway it’s good to be back racing and I’m looking forward to the start of the NPS series!

My first road race ..... ever!

I’ve been really enjoying the road training spins we’ve been doing over the winter so the obvious thing to do was to try a road race ..... or so I thought anyway!
After consulting with Morty I decided to try the race in Clonard on Saturday 12^th March. It was a straight “out and back” race of 70kms on the old Galway road – from Clonard to Kilbeggan and back! It was a handicap which probably wasn’t ideal but at least the road surface would be ok and I could concentrate on getting used to riding in a big group without worrying about gravelly corners!

When I left home the rain had started but I persuaded myself that the weather would improve as the day went on .... it wouldn’t! An easy 45 minute drive, sign on, change and a gentle warm up. A few of the Epic lads were there so that relaxed me a bit. As an A4, I would be starting first, with the A3s following a couple of minutes later, then A2s and A1s etc.



Me, looking fresh before the start!



We gathered in the local school carpark and everybody except me seemed to know exactly what was going on. One of the organisers gave an inspiring pre-race briefing majoring on "oil covered roundabouts" and possible resultant "carnage" which was not what I needed to hear at that stage! And then to add insult to injury just as we rolled out of the carpark the rain started in earnest and the only time it stopped during the race was when it started to snow instead!!

The early pace was fairly reasonable at about 30-35kms per hour and I had no trouble staying in the bunch, chatting to the guys around me .... this road racing lark is pretty easy! I found the constant change of pace a bit disconcerting .... if the guys at the front slowed down, for a roundabout or something, by the time it filtered down to my end of the bunch we were almost stopping and then we’d have to move quickly to bridge a rapidly opening gap!

After about 15kms the A3s caught us and things got a bit frenetic! The speed picked up and there were people passing everywhere and a lot of “chit chat” going on! I got a bit nervous and I think I must have instinctively slowed and moved towards the back of the bunch but I still felt fine! But as we climbed on a bit of a drag out of a small town called Miltownpass the pace picked up again and all of a sudden myself and a couple of other people were “out the back”! It started with a 5 metre gap, then it was 10 and before I knew where I was I was 50mts adrift! It was only then that I realised what was happening but it was too late - I just couldn’t get back on! I felt like the guy in the Western trying to run after a train and watching it disappear into the distance! I was absolutely disgusted with myself, it’s one thing to be dropped because the pace is too fast but I just wasn’t paying attention and should certainly have been able to hang on for at least a while longer!



.... and then it started to snow!



So there I was, 20kms into a 70kms race and I was all on my own with plenty of time to consider my stupidity! And then to add insult to injury it started to sleet and snow. The next 50kms was pretty grim but I pushed on as hard as I could. The A1s and A2s came past and I tried to stay with them but I just couldn’t get up to their speed.



Here I am breaking off the front of the A1s and A2s!!



Towards the end of the race I really got bitterly cold and nearly dropped my water-bottle because my hands were so cold! Still, I finished in a little over 2 hours at an average speed of 33kms per hour, which I was well pleased with, considering I’d been on my own for most of the race. I was absolutely shattered and my legs ached like never before! Can’t say I really enjoyed the experience but I’m fairly sure the next one will be easier and there definitely will be a next time ....

Bellinter House – Highly Recommended

We’ve been to Bellinter House before and really enjoyed it, so to celebrate my “big” birthday Tracey treated us to another visit there on Saturday night. Bellinter is a quirky sort of place and if ever the expression “Shabby Chique” was apt then it applies here. The staff are really relaxed and it’s a great place to sit around on comfy chairs, drink a pint (or two) and chat or read a book! The hotel is owned by the same people who own Eden in Dublin and have another branch of the restaurant in the hotel, so great food is guaranteed too!

Bellinter is situated on the banks of the Boyne close to Navan, County Meath so conscious of missing a Sunday mountain bike spin and knowing that there would be a lot of food and drink involved I decided to salve my conscience by cycling down and back! I reckoned it was about 65kms from home so pretty manageable. Tracey drove down in the car with all the gear ..... well it was my birthday!!

The trip down was a “doddle” - Saturday was a really nice day, sun shining and no wind! I left home at about 12.45pm and was at the hotel by 3pm. 61kms, 2hs 12 min and an average of 28kms per hour, I was flying! We’d booked a room in the “Stable Block” so I was able to wheel my bike into the sitting room and forget about it!

Quick shower, soup and sambos, newspapers and a couple of pints! So relaxing! Well earned “nap”, pre-dinner drinks, fantastic food with a bottle of wine and a night cap, I know I’m getting old but that really works for me!!!

The trip home was another story altogether! Sunday morning was wet and I had a stiff headwind the whole way home – the spin was a bit of a grind! Amazing the difference the wind makes, my average speed dropped by about 4kms per hour and it was just hard work.  I’d love to have had some company to share the load. To add insult to injury when I got back to Dublin I decided to cycle straight downs the quays, across the East Link and out along the coast road. The tide was in and huge waves were breaking over the road – I got soaked! I met a “proper roadie” going across the toll bridge and we cycled out together as far as Shankill, he was heading down to Arklow and back ..... I didn’t envy him!

Anyway, we had a really nice night away and I got two decent spins in ...... happy days!



Heading home .... just before the rain started!



Biking Blitz - Sunday February 6th

The first race of the new season was held on Sunday last in Ballinastoe. It was the 1^st of a three race series around the Irish Trail Centres and was organized by Niall Davis. Niall is one of the good guys so I was keen to turn up and support the event.

I always feel that it’s really important to be very careful about diet and nutrition in the 24 hours leading up to a race so on Saturday evening I went to the Blue Light to watch Ireland play Italy in the Six Nations. Six large bottles of Bulmers was followed by an Indian from The Bombay Pantry ….. surely the diet of champions? Personally I think that there should be a Cycling Ireland rule regarding the proximity of mtb races to International rugby matches!

Sunday morning was very windy and the weather wasn’t great either!! Feeling a little delicate I headed to Ballinastoe! When I got there the wind was howling and it was raining on and off …. hardly inspiring! Parking was down in the Golf Club but thankfully Stewart had his van in the paddock and let me leave my gear there for the day. Despite the conditions there was a huge crowd at sign on and the Red Bull DJ was doing his best to get everybody going. I love the buzz before a race and it’s always great to catch up with people you haven’t seen for a while.

After a half lap warm up I was beginning to feel better and was looking forward to the racing! The first climb in Ballinastoe is always horrible and Sundays race was no exception, Jackson and Stevo quickly passed me, I tried to stay with them but not for long! We followed the usual Ballinastoe route and the track was riding well despite the conditions. The wind at the top of the mountain was incredible, where you start to drop downhill as you come out of the forest we had to pedal really hard just to go forward! The rocky sections on the way down were also wet and very slippy – I had a couple of major “dabs” (ie. falls) on them!

At the end of the 1^st lap coming down towards the paddock I heard a “I’m right behind you Lynchey” and looked around to see Paul Barry from IMBRC! Now Paul would normally be well ahead of me by that stage of a race so I was pleased to see him behind but less pleased with the way he was carving into my lead! I managed to get onto the fire road ahead of him and started to pull away again on the 1^st and further again on the 2^nd climb. By the time I started on the downhill singletrack he was nowhere to be seen so I forgot about him!!! Imagine my disgust when, in exactly the same place, as the previous lap I hear “I’m behind you again Lynchey”. I would normally be very good about letting people pass in a race but there was no way Barry was getting through at that stage! I was a half decent front row forward in my day and made myself very wide again on Sunday! I managed to get across the line about 2 metres ahead of him …. Happy Days!



Rudolf, Conor and Stewart apparently had a great dice!



Overall I finished 40^th out of 94 starters in the Senior race so was reasonably pleased! A number of people remarked how well I was climbing but I was as slow as ever on the single track particularly where it was slippery! I finished ahead of a few people who would normally beat me but still feel I’ve got plenty more improvement in me!

Everybody seemed to have had a great days racing and the “all weather” nature of Ballinastoe meant that the whole track was perfectly rideable in very poor conditions. Next race for me is the 795 Leinster League Race ….. bring it on!!



Overall winner "The Greg" shows that even in baggy shorts he's the real deal!



February Targets

This month is probably not going to be great ......!
The Big 50 arrives on the 14th so there are a few things planned with my family and Tracey is taking me away for a nice night in Ballintyre House.
February is also a short month so realisitically 40 hours on the bike and one kilo weight loss would probably be a result!

January Summary

Well, the January targets proved to be a bit "ambitious"!!
I managed forty hours training on the bike instead of the fifty I'd aimed for. On the positive side most of the training sessions were good ones – a mixture of longer sessions on the road and mountain bike and shorter hill interval sessions on the road. I got out 17 times in all and covered about 750kms.

More disappointing was that I only managed to lose one miserable kilo during the month! This despite the fact that I burned over 30000 calories on the bike! The reason for this is simple .... Sweets and Biscuits!

By about 3.00pm every day I have this mad craving for something sweet and I'm afraid I don't do "just say no" very well!

F**k me that was sore ...... and expensive!

Probably not going to make the Epic Savage Spin tomorrow and work was quiet so I thought I'd get a decent spin on the road today. Shankill - Hill of Howth - Shankill seemed like a nice idea so I headed off at about 12.30pm.
Conditions were fairly cold and the roads were damp but nothing to worry about .......! N11, Rock Road, Ringsend, East Link - going nicely, 27-28kms per hour, feeling really good. Heading down the East Wall Road, moved over to turn right onto the Alfie Byrne Road, tipped the bike in and .............I was on the tarmac sliding down the road!
I've no idea what happened, one second I was on the bike the next on the ground! The bike just went from under me - I'm guessing that corner gets a lot of truck traffic and maybe there was diesel mixed in with the water but I didn't get a chance to correct, brake or anything else! I landed on my foot, knee, hip and elbow, at the same time..... bloody sore!
The good news is that my bike hardly got a scratch - scuffed bar tape and 2 tiny scrapes on the right brake lever and the derailleur. Myself and my cycling gear didn't fare so well - road rash for knee, hip and elbow and holes in my overshoes, tights and Assos jacket (boohoo!!)

Ah well... back on the bike and continued out to Howth. The climb from the Sutton side isn't too bad at all, certainly no worse than the Windgates climb we do on a Thursday night! Back down through the village and back towards home. Apart from my little mishap a really nice spin and one I'll definately do again ..... just over 65kms and about 2.5 hours ..... great on a summers evening!

P.S. As an aside - the reason I probably won't make the spin tomorrow is that I'm going to my first girlfriend's 50th tonight! Obviously she was much older than me but God I'm getting on!!!!!!