caitelliott.co.uk » Think Bike

Ballinrobe 2 Day road race

Cait — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:33:07 +0000

I was selected to ride for the Irish Road Development Team at the weekend in the Ballinrobe 2 day in Galway – a race I did last year and really enjoyed.

Saturday Stage 1 – 82km, 5 KOH primes
This was the most hilly part of the race so my best chance to do well. The race was a mixture of categories A1-A3 with a handicapped start so the women were off first. How much of an advantage this was I’m not sure since it meant a small group of us working fairly hard until we were caught by the larger men’s bunch after 25km. We were caught on a dodgy narrow lane descent and with the guys coming screaming past at breakneck speed it was hard to jump in. We soon hit the 3rd KOH of the day (the first that I would class as a hill!) and by the top I’d worked my way clear of most of the girls. The next climb was bigger again, still short enough to hammer fast but fairly steep, and at the top I realised the bunch had split and I was in the second half. As the climb eased off before the descent the guys around me stopped pushing with only one person keen to go on, shouting at people to work since the gap was only a few seconds and could still be closed. Nobody seemed to react so I squeezed up the inside and joined the guy to push the pace at the front – also thinking it would put me at the front for the descent which is where I usually struggle to keep up! My descending must have improved as I led down the hill and since the gap was still tantalisingly close to the main bunch we continued to ride hard trying to catch on. Eventually our group was whittled down to 5 of us and we worked well together to minimise time loss from from the group ahead. From the few glimpses I caught I think we rode through some pretty spectacular Conemmara mountain scenery but I was too busy to notice much.

photo credit: Conor Mckeown

Just as I thought I’d succeeded in gaining time on the other girls, a bigger group caught us from behind, one of whom was Sandra Fitzgerald also riding for the Irish dev team. Dammit, advantage lost. We were both pushing the pace at the front and approaching the finish sprinted for the line with Sandra getting half a wheel on me as I went far too early. Our group lost about 4 minutes to the leaders but Sandra and I shared the award for the most combative riders of the stage!

Sunday Stage 2a – 7km Time Trial
A lovely way to wake up with 10 minutes of pain. I lost time starting in the wrong gear and felt half asleep for the first half, when I saw the 1km to go sign I suddenly though shit I better start riding and got into the zone but it was a bit late. Finished in 10.49, losing 51 seconds to Sandra who was first of the women – of the faster ones I was the only one not on a TT bike though. Half a minute faster than last year at least.

photo credit: Paddy Doran

Sunday Stage 2b – 4 laps of 20km, 2 KOH
Another handicapped stage but this time the course was much flatter, you needed a spirit level to find where the King of the Hill primes were! We got in a lap before getting caught by the A3 bunch who were really drilling the pace. I spent a good bit of time near the front as we worked doing up and overs to hold off the chasing A1/2 bunch (which we succeeded in doing) but averaging over 40kmph for the day meant it was fairly hard at times. I would have needed to get into a break to make up the 50 seconds I lost in the TT but it wasn’t going to happen, the course was too flat. 10km from the end it started pissing down to the extent where we had axle deep river crossings on the road, water spraying everywhere, sketchy corners – I was in my element! With a few km to go I got up at the front with 4 or 5 of us pushing the pace on but somehow in the last km 100s of riders appeared from nowhere and I was swallowed up as everyone sprinted for the line. More mountains please! Finished 19th on the stage, 45th overall and 2nd female.

Cash prizes make road racing tempting, pro weekend – enjoyable too, if only I could have a parallel life I would do more of them (report on IrishCycling here). Thanks to Western lakes CC for a very well run race and the Irish Development Team for the support over the weekend.

Irish xc National Championships – Kilruddery

Cait — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:33:13 +0000

photo credit: Andrew Lowry

This year’s National Championships run by Robin Seymour and Team Worc really showed Ireland’s potential as a world class mountain biking venue. The race took place at Killrudery Estate in Wicklow, a place that is normally off limits to bikes, with the Little Sugarloaf mountain forming a spectacular backdrop. The course was incredible, full of tight twisty singletrack through the woods, wall rides, technical rocky sections, and since we managed to escape the worst of the rain it was almost bone dry and even dusty. The atmosphere, familiar friendly faces and hassle free travelling makes racing in Ireland one of the most enjoyable experiences ever.

To win the National Champion title you have to be Irish, but this year’s race was made more interesting as we acquired a stray German (Mel Spath!) who was able to compete but not eligible to win the Irish jersey. Winning the jersey was my main priority but I was also looking forward to the additional task of trying to win the race overall.

photo credit: Cieran Maunsell

As we set off across the start field Junior Claire Oakely (WXC UK) shot off like a bullet and led for the first part of the course. I jumped into second before we hit the singletrack, concentrating on riding smoothly on the tight corners rather than getting sucked into chasing Claire. I eventually got ahead on a climb and saw Mel (Cycleways) not far behind. Despite the course having very little climbing, there were several short but steep power climbs which are normally not too my liking at all, but I was feeling strangely strong on them – the feeling of good power in your legs as you jump out of the saddle to attack a steep section is hard to beat! In fact the first lap was amazing, everything was so smooth and I felt like I was only cruising but seemed to be flying pulling a bit of a gap on Mel, great. The last part of the lap was flat and fast though and I knew that was where I was in danger of losing time to Mel and sure enough she wasn’t far behind. I lost a few seconds stopping at the feedzone to straighten my saddle which had been driving me crazy since I knocked it into a funny angle early in the lap, but stayed in the lead.

photo credit: VC Glendale

Although on first look the course didn’t seem hugely technical it took a lot of skill to ride smoothly and carry speed through the corners to save wasting effort. There were however a few tricky rocky sections mostly positioned at the top of the steep climbs to catch you at your tiredest. On one of these I dabbed and somehow spun my bike 360 degrees (luckily jumping off in time!) giving Mel a bit more chance to close the gap. Back on and re-composed I was having a great time, flying down the bomb hole at full pelt, skidding around dusty corners and hammering the little kickers. Then on the final wooded singletrack of the lap I dropped my chain and when I hopped off to put it back on Mel jumped in front. Bad timing too as it was just before the flat fast section. She had 20 seconds on me but I held on so that it wasn’t increased as we went into lap 3, though I lost another few seconds with more seat straightening at the tech zone.

photo credit: St John Walsh

For most of the next lap she was just in front and the cheers of encouragement from spectators telling me there was only 30 seconds gap helped to keep fighting. The gap increased a bit more on the flat section towards the end of the lap so that although not far ahead Mel was mostly out of sight. I went into the final lap hoping to give it one last shot at closing the gap but looking back I’m not sure how committed I was to this idea – I was riding hard but I should have been utterly burying myself and didn’t for some reason. In the end I was a minute back and felt like the race was too short and there should have been another lap – frustrating, maybe I could have gone harder on the last lap (easier said with hindsight) and without all my faff stops it could have been different.

photo credit: VC Glendale

Fantastic race, great course, great atmosphere and organisation. 2nd in the race but a consolation prize of my 4th National Champion jersey makes things a little bit better (results here). A get out of jail free card but I’ll have to get my finger out and step up a gear if I want it again next year since Mel will fully turned Irish by then and eligible for the jersey! training started this morning.

photo credit: Cieran Maunsell

A huge thank you to Team Worc and everyone involved in course building and race organisiation. Kilruddery is one of the best race venues in the world and it was a super professional event. Thanks to the Think Bike support crew for the pro tech zone assistance and pre-race bike tuning. Thanks to Stewart Carr and Carrie for miracle massages over the last few weeks, nearly there! Also thanks to all the spectators out on the course, most of the time I had no idea who it was shouting my name but the cheers of encouragement make so much difference.

photo credit Martin Grimley

Next up: Lining up with the world’s best at theOlympic Test event at Hadleigh Farm in 2 weeks!

photo credit: Chainreaction cycles

photo credit: MikeArmstrong

photo credit: Cieran Maunsell

Leinster Road Championships, Bunclody, Co. Wexford

Cait — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:37:48 +0000

The Leinster road championships was held in Bunclody on Sunday and with 3 laps of a rolling 26km circuit, it seemed like a good opportunity for some training and speed work. There was no separate women’s race and Mel and I were the only females lining up in A3.

For the first lap I played it sensibly, reminding myself what bunch riding was like and tucking in for most of the time. It was a nice course with some small draggy climbs and a pretty quick descents, but there didn’t seem much chance for anyone to break away – there were guys trying all the time but never looking too threatening.

photo credit: Liam Ruth, Slaney CC

On lap 2 I got up towards the front, left my brain on the side of the road and when a load of attacks started I jumped in on the action. One second pedalling along comfortably and then someone suddenly puts the hammer down and its all go at full gas. They kept piling on one after another with barely chance to recover from the burning legs at the end of each effort. I was happy to feel well able to stick to the guys in the attacks but it was a shame that they were reeled in each time – probably an obvious waste of effort to go with them in the first place but I was there for training and it would have been boring otherwise!

Into lap 3 I got swallowed up by the bunch and questioning the logic behind my earlier efforts I tucked in a bit to conserve energy, hoping I had enough left for some more hard efforts towards the finish. The race winner somehow snuck away out the front but coming up towards the finish it was clearly going to be an uphill sprint for the final positions. I was positioned way too far back in the bunch with Mel just beside me. As the speed increased I was on the inside and totally boxed in but with 7-800m to go half a gap opened in front of me so I got my elbows out and went hard to get as far up as I could. 200m full gas, uh oh can I keep this up? 100m? shit it can’t be that far! Had to turn off the pain-feeling part of my brain and managed to keep going to cross the line. An enjoyable race, even pretty exciting at times. Thanks to Think Bike for the fast race machine. A hot and dusty spin up 3 rock when I got home reminded me where my loyalties are!

Trek Madone review

Cait — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:41:04 +0000

At the beginning of the winter I acquired a Trek Madone 5.9 road bike from the good guys in Think Bike shop in Rathmines. The difference riding a nice bike makes is unbelievable, in fact it’s a bit too nice, I shouldn’t enjoy riding it as much as I do but at least it made me do road training when I was supposed to over the winter!

The carbon frame is incredibly stiff and it feels like every ounce of energy put into pedalling goes towards propelling you forward, but its also quite forgiving on bumpy Irish roads. The super light weight means it flies up the hills and after a proper bike fitting in ThinkBike workshop it feels like the bike wants to accelerate out of every corner or kicker climb.

I’ve only had one chance to test it in a race so far but it performed very well, it gave me so much more control than my old bike so that I felt really confident riding at speed in the bunch. More racing to come if I ever get a free weekend. Overall a highly recommended bike.
so light its hard to keep the wheels on the ground

Rás Dhun na nGall

Cait — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:41:20 +0000

Another weekend another adventure, this time 3 days of road racing in Ardara at the Ras Donegal. Mel and I loaded up the car and drove through a day of rare scorching heat in Ireland on Friday afternoon to find the 1% of the country that was covered in cloud. After seeing a physio during the week my lack of recent form was put down to knots in my calf muscles to be solved by massage and ice baths. The problem was still there but I was told racing shouldn’t do more harm so thought I might as well do it for training.

Stage 1

photo credit: Darragh Maloney

We began on Friday evening with a 60km hilly loop, and with a separate women’s category we had a slightly ridiculous situation of 8 of us setting off 5 minutes in front of the men’s bunch of 140 riders. We coasted along for a while, and with nobody willing to assert themselves on the race it was a case of waiting for the tsunami of the men’s race to catch us. Eventually they did and as soon as one of the girls said ‘I’m going’, we all jumped in. Thank god, I was getting bored and it was suddenly into high pace, close wheeled, rubber smelling bunch racing. With attack after attack going at the front it was tough going at times, and having survived for a while I suddenly found myself badly positioned towards the back on one of the descents, not having done a road race this season I’d forgotten that descents are way harder than climbs and as the bunch slowly pulled away from me my legs couldn’t respond so I was left in no man’s land.

photo credit: Darragh Maloney

I chased for a while but had to give in, riding for 20km alone where I spent a lot of the time questioning what I was doing and making myself suffer through painfully sore calf muscles so that by the end of the day I’d almost decided to quit the race that evening. I always see road races as a chance to prove myself against roadies but my legs felt terrible so there was no hope of that and to be riding way below my abilities was no fun at all.

I was caught from behind by another bunch as we approached the finish making life a lots easier, and since there were a few women in it I resolved to using the race as a bit of tactical practice for bunch finishes. As the pace picked up in the final km’s I got into a good position towards the front and started to sprint towards the finish. Unfortunately there was chaos around the finish line in the village with cars everywhere and I had to jam on the brakes and start again as a car blocked my line. In the end one of the other girls got half a wheel on me and I ended up 4th. It would have been a good race but with legs the way they were and confidence low I didn’t enjoy it much.

Stage 2

photo credit: Marrion Lamb

Stage 2 was a 4km uphill time trial early on Saturday morning. My calves were still sore but no worse than the day before so I decided to do the TT and then decide whether to continue the race. As it turned out it went ok and I only lost 7 seconds to Mel and 20 to winner Heather Wilson so I had to keep going – might have won with a skinsuit, overshoes & carbon wheels . 8 minutes 20 seconds of pain up a steep but spectacular mountain road was pretty horrible at the time but within minutes of finishing I was already thinking I quite enjoyed it.

photo credit: Marrion Lamb

Stage 3

photo credit: Marrion Lamb

After breakfast and a lie down it was back for more on Saturday afternoon with an 80km race, and boosted by the TT I went into it feeling a bit more confident. The women set off in front again, sharing the work until the guys came from behind and we jumped into the bunch. Once again attack after attack came in but I seemed to have cracked bunch riding, feeling confident moving up and getting into a good position. We hit a big climb and I started passing riders and felt good, but once again on the decent got dragged towards the back and straight into another fast paced climb I couldn’t hold on and was shelled out the back. Mel was just behind me and we rode hard with a few other riders for a while until my legs suddenly gave in as they sprinted out of a corner so once again I was out alone. The difference in effort required to ride alone rather than in a group is unbelievable, as they coasted along I was suffering yet going far slower. I spent the last 30km catching guys along the road hoping to find someone I could ride with and share the work until the finish but each time I made it to someone ahead they dropped off and I was out alone again. At least it was sunny and I had time to look at the spectacular scenery. Tough day but much better than yesterday and I was now up to 3rd in the GC.

photo credit: Marrion Lamb

Stage 4

photo: Marian Lamb

Woke up to thick black clouds and pissing rain sliding down the window panes as Donegal lived up to childhood memories of wet family holidays. With a slight sense of dread we dragged ourselves out for the final tough 100km. The women set off in front again but we picked up the pace slightly and after the first hill were reduced to a group of 5 riders, managing to hold off the guys for well over an hour. I think there is a screw loose in my head because as the rain and wind drove into our faces and water sprayed up off the road soaking everything, I was in my element having a great time. My legs were finally feeling pretty good and I was enjoying the hilly course.

photo by Marian Lamb

Eventually a breakaway group of 3 guys caught us and Heather, Mel and I jumped on. I put in flat out effort but there pace was nuts and after a while Mel and I lost it. For the next while loads of small groups caught us and we put in effort after effort to cling on to one of them. Its very difficult to judge the point at which you should give in and sit back rather than wasting energy chasing in the hope that you might just have enough energy to cling on and I don’t think I got it right. On the road you simply have to go at the pace of those around you, meaning you often have to go beyond your own limits and the point where you have nothing left to give can catch you out very suddenly.

photo by Marian Lamb

Mel managed to get onto a group giving a slightly easier route to the finish whereas I couldn’t find enough to hold on and once again was out alone. Until then there had been loads of riders on the road but they turned out to be the last so I had another 35km solo with strong headwinds until 2 guys caught me 8km from the end. The finish was a gruelling 4km climb up the Glengesh pass road, which looked like a wall in front of us. By that stage I was running out of energy and with some of the corners feeling near vertical I was regretting my pre-race decision that a small cassette would make me strong, having to heave pedals around to stick with the guys until the end.

photo credit: Marian Lamb

I made eventually made it, finishing 3rd on the stage and in the GC with Mel 2nd and Heather Wilson 1st. Once we finished the cold and wet quickly got to me and it was suddenly freezing. Huge thanks to Darragh for a lifesaving appearance with hot coffee and a lift back for Mel and I, riding down would definitely have resulted in hypothermia! (why is it that every stage race I’ve done has finished this way?!).

photo credit: Marian Lamb

The scenery and spectacular roads made for a great race, hilly stage races are the only way to go for road racing and if it was a few days longer I might have got my legs up to full speed. Hopefully next year more girls will enter. Thank you to Think Bike for the amazingly light and fast Trek Madone, racing on a nice bike is so much more enjoyable!