At the weekend I’d agreed to go to Connemara with my Dad, planning to bring my road bike and make the most of a rare race-free weekend. Just before setting off on Friday night I thought I’d have a quick look on the net to find some nice training routes, only to discover there was a 2 day race starting down the road from where we were heading. So much for no racing, I couldn’t resist! Tired legs from an intensive week, and a total lack of preparation weren’t ideal but I thought it’d be good experience. Unfortunately none of the UCD lads were racing either as it would have been useful to have help and advice from team mates!
Stage 1 – 85km ‘hilly’ race
We started on Saturday afternoon with a scenic race around the lakes and mountains of Mayo, which included 5 ‘King of the Mountain’ climbs. The race was handicapped so I was off with the A3s in the 2nd group, with one other girl, Sarah Piner of Mullingar. Overall there were a load of top Irish riders as well as several teams over from the UK. The pace was fine but I spent the first while concentrating hard and trying to get used to riding in a big fast group again. Sarah was up towards the front so I had my eye on her, and as we hit the first couple of climbs (using the word in a loose sense, I’d barely call them hills, they were over before you notice them!) I was able to move up a bit.
Riding in a peloton is quite an experience, the sound of purring carbon wheels (not from my bike!), the screeching of brakes, the smell of sweat, the stink of burning rubber, all happening at high speeds with only centimetres between the wheels of each rider as you hurtle along narrow, windy country roads. It takes a lot of concentration and although we were surrounded by spectacular views, I didn’t get much chance to appreciate them!
Around halfway through we hit the one real climb of the day, not massive but around 100m vertical gain and several minutes. I put my head down with Sarah on my wheel, but my legs weren’t feeling the freshest – a bit like someone pouring concrete into them as we went up! Comparatively I was doing ok but on a better day I could have made up more time. Somewhere along the climb and a fast, windy, slightly scary descent off the other side, we lost touch with the group. I don’t know how they managed to descend so fast! Hitting over 65 km/h was quite enough for me and I couldn’t pedal to go any faster anyway.
After that there were 5 or 6 of us working together along undulating roads to the finish. With a smaller group it was a lot less stressful, with more time to look up at the scenery and relax a bit. We were with a couple of A2 riders who ensured we kept a decent pace didn’t lose too much time on the main group. Approaching the end I got myself ready for a sprint with Sarah since we were competing for the ladies prize. 500m to go, ok, tucked in behind the front guy. 300m, get ready. 200m, GO! Out of the saddle, legs burning, pulling all kinds of funny faces. Haven’t quite got the timing right for these things though, Sarah set off first and I couldn’t get back so she finished a bike length ahead. I was 65th in the GC, 7 minutes off the winners.
After the race I couldn’t totally abandon plans for the weekend so rather than getting off my feet and resting I spent the evening trying to be sociable and traipsing around Galway city – not exactly ideal for recovery!
Stage 2 – 8km Time Trial
Sunday morning I arrived bright and early to see almost everyone else preparing their turbo-trainers, TT bikes and aero helmets. Uh oh, what am I doing here?! I’d never done a proper time trial and had no idea how long it would take. Someone told me 10-11 minutes so I guessed the pace would have to be pretty much flat out. A bit of super effective Sportique warmup cream and spin around the road left my legs feeling better than expected after the effort the day before and I was ready for off.
3, 2, 1, Go! I put my head down and pedalled. The course was more or less flat but with quite a nasty wind. I was a bit conservative at the start, still half asleep and unsure about pacing, so was surprised how quickly I got to a sign saying 3km to go. From there I upped it, putting in all the effort I could, and focusing on the finish line. I finished in 11:22, losing about 40 seconds to Sarah, dropping a couple of spots in the GC, and leaving me a bit of work to do in the afternoon. Could have been better but not too bad for a first time and without the proper bike for it.
Stage 3 – 86km road race
After a couple of hours for some food and coffee it was back on the bikes for the final stage, two laps of a fairly flat 44km loop on wider, faster roads than the previous day. It was a windy day so staying within the shelter of the group was important. I knew if I could get up towards the front it would make life much easier, but although getting there was manageable, staying there was another thing. Each time I made the effort to move up, I was quickly sucked to the back, finding myself having to work hard and struggle to cling on. Need to practice holding a wheel in the bunch! When the pace was steady my legs were fine but as I kept having to put in efforts to hold on I was beginning to tire.
Just before the end of the first lap we rounded a corner and the pace shot up. I was more or less and the back at the time and no matter how hard I pedalled it was as if I was being pulled backwards and the bunch shot on ahead. I tried a couple of sprint to get back but my legs were gone and it wasn’t happening. One last chance as the A1s came whirring by at a savage pace and I buried myself to try and follow but after a few minutes I was gone again.
3 of us rode the final 50km together, but with only 2 of us doing the work. Without the shelter of a big peloton it was really hard work, there seemed to be a strong headwind no matter which way we turned and I’m sure there were more hills the second time around! The route was a bit boring and there was definitely more suffering than enjoyment. With 25km to go one of the guys dropped off and I was out by myself on the windiest part of the course until the finish. Then with a few hundred metres to go, the guy who had refused to take his turn at the front all day decided to attack me, the cheek of him! I had to dig deep to find some extra energy and hold him off.
So messing up the last stage meant I lost ten minutes to Sarah and loads of positions overall. Report and photos on irishcycling.com Ah well, it was good experience and some good milage to train for more important races later in the year. I’d be interested to try again with fresher legs and proper preparation. Stage racing seems more fun than the one day road races, and although it’s no mountain biking, it did leave me with a strange desire to go back and do more. Oh dear.