As part of my training building up to the start of the mountain bike season in a few weeks time I’m scheduled to do a few road races. So rather than make the most of dry trails, amazing blue sky and sunshine on the mtb, I headed to the Cycleways Cup in Navan with Richie to find out what all the fuss is about. We couldn’t believe the number of people, the team cars, sponsors and pro bikes – you don’t get that at a mountain bike race here. I was in the A3 category, the second group off. I don’t know how many started exactly but I’d say well over 100.
The start is very different to mtb, the huge bunch just sets off and the pace doesn’t pick up for a few minutes. Unfortunately I started towards the back and the road was so jammed full of bikes it was impossible to move up, I had to concentrate hard as there are only millimetres between each wheel so you need your wits about you. The pace was fairly fast but nothing too crazy, a few little accelerations out of corners or up small hills where you have to work hard, but then it tails off and you can recover. We cruised along for a while and then all of a sudden the group was split and I found myself in the second pack having missed the break – how did that happen?! Lesson number one, get near to the front at the start or very soon afterwards.
the bunch!
I was riding along in a group of maybe 15 or 20 but every so often I’d look around and realise we’d lost a few, or else we’d pick up more people dropped from the front pack. After a while it settled down so we were a group of 8 or 9 working together. There were a couple of more experienced guys bossing people around, telling you off for going too fast at the front, not keeping the flow going and that sort of thing. I definitely felt like an inexperienced mountain biker at a road race and it took a while to learn how it all works (I wasn’t the only one, there were Worc and Rocky Mountain riders getting shouted at more than me!).
The group got smaller with a load of people dropping out at the end of the first lap, but then we were caught from behind by the A4 pack and it was like a new race. This time I had a bit more of an idea of the tactics and what was going on, and got in a position towards the front half of the bunch. The pace wasn’t too hard at all, slower than the beginning, so as we approached the last few km I was watching out for a break, determined to be part of it this time. A couple of people tried to make a dash but were quickly reeled in, so in the end we more or less cruised all the way in until the finish was in close sights, then there was a big mad sprint to get there first. That was actually the most enjoyable part of the whole thing, I made up a load of places and crossed the line about 6th in the group. Picture here.
So an experience of inexperience I think! I have to say I’d chose mountain biking first any day, the buzzing feeling after the race wasn’t there at all. It’s so much more about tactics and timing rather than pushing your own limits and technical skills. In fact I felt really fresh at the end, but maybe that would have been different if I stuck to the A3 group. I probably will do more for the training and to prove to myself that I can make the break, but I really, really can’t wait for the mountain bike season to start! 3 weeks to go…