Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 10: Ballymore Eustace CP

Long Story Short

• Many PowerHouses from Semi-Limit were Marshaling.
• 40 Riders signed on, groups in order of ascending ability were released at 3 minute intervals.
• 10 Limit rider started, I made the selection after 2km.
• Scott went up the road after 6km, and went on to win by 2 minutes.
• Our 5 man group was caught by Semi-Limit after 22km.
• I was dropped by Semi-Limit after 26.5km.
• I didn't try to hang on the back of Scratch after they passed me.
• I edged Ronan out by a bike length after our little sprint finish, he didn't know we were still racing...

View the Ride on Strava: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 10: Ballymore Eustace. Thought I had enough sliding room on the climb on the last lap... I didn't.
Read the Club's Report: Gaps galore for Gilchrist and McArdle.

Short Story Long

Build up

After a rain hampered last weekend, I went out on Tuesday evening, but didn't perform very well. I didn't get to get out on Wednesday, due to work. I was feeling OK about the approaching race during the day. I had viewed some of the course on Street View, mainly the two corners sharp corners. I had more or less ignored the elevation profile.

After not having the power meter on my race bike last week, I was looking forward to getting some good data captured this week. Dave in Joe Daly's ordered me in a Shimano HollowTech II crank arm removal tool, which had a handle and cost a whopping €4.

I started eating at 16:55, A John West Tuna SteamPot, a Banana and a handful of Trail mix from Tesco. At 17:20, I started my other pre-race ritual; shedding a few KG. I got dressed and drove down to Blessington at 17:50 and arrived at 18:16. Almost one hour early for the race.

Pre-Race

I unloaded my bike, pumped up the tyres and got my stuff out of my bag. I went through my warm up routine of loosening up and static stretches. I exchanged a few words with Diarmuid, he crashed last week. He was doing fine and had found his Garmin. This was good news. Diarmuid was marshaling this week. Ann was also marshaling for the second week in a row, she regaled with her crash story. She's preparing for a strong showing at the nationals. She is off the bike for two weeks and in-search of a new front wheel.

I had a strawberry Nutri-Grain bar and a Banana in my jersey pockets. I had half the Nutri-Grain bar. We went down to sign on. Myself and Stephen went for a short warm up ride. This turned out to be a preview of the finish. I took a slash and cycled back to the starting area. I put my Saddle Bag into my car and ate my Banana at the start line.

Only forty riders signing on, there was a large requirement for marshals on this course. It was decided that the three faster groups would be chasing the Limit group down at three minute intervals.

Race

Lap One - Making the Limit Selection

The start was neutralised, until around the second roundabout. Three of us were held up by oncoming cars, but we caught back on really soon. The turn onto the second roundabout was a bit tricky, due to the island on the exit. There was two ramps in the road. Then we went around a corner and a steep hill appeared. The Limit group splintered on this. Three riders couldn't stay with the other seven. I was a bit behind on the descent, so I sat on the top tube and barrelled onto the front of the group.

At the bottom of the hill, there was a hard turn. This was well marshaled. After the turn, there was a long drag. Scott too off up the road. Barry couldn't hold onto the group. So we were five; Younger Luke, Ronan, Niall, Sean and myself. We let Scott go up the road and started working together.

Lap Two - Getting Caught Working

We were working very well. On the second time up the climb, Niall went backwards. Then he caught up again. The same thing happened to Ronan in the second half of the climb. On the next climb out of the sharp corner at Ballymore, Young Luke took a big turn on the front. When I came past him I joked "Come on do some work".

I think Niall was having some trouble with his gears, and he went backwards on that climb. I looked behind and seen the lead car for the Semi-Limit group. Then the car overtook us. This signalled that Semi-Limit were hot on our tails. Semi-Limit made the catch. I kept working, and taking turns on the front. I was in a decent position for the two roundabouts.

Lap Three - Dropped Twice

I was at the front of the group going into the climb. I thought I would have enough sliding room, but I did not. I was dropped on the first part of the climb. I had nothing to respond with. Riders were just shooting up by me.

It was a very lonely lap after that. I kept a look over my shoulder for the Scratch groups. They arrived during the climb out of Ballymore. I just moved aside and let them pass. So I was dropped by the Scratch groups.

Finish

Scott, who took off on the first lap, won the race by over two minutes. Scott got promoted to Semi-Limit for his fantastic performance.

Semi-Limit sprinted it out for the rest of the places. Stephen got third and got promoted to Semi-Scratch.

I picked up Ronan on the way to the end. I told him he could finish first, but I am nothing if not cunning. I skunked him on the uphill finish. He didn't seem me on the charge until it was too late.

The image below showed the situation as Semi-Limit finished. Brian's Scratch group was close, but not close to cause trouble. I also put myself, Niall and Aideen on the Strava FlyBy. I wanted to see how Niall got on and Aideen is the only person I know about from Semi-Scratch.

Situation on the road as Semi-Limit finished

Post Race

I had a chat with Sean and Ronan about how their race went after I was dropped. Sean was in with a shot of a placing. Younger Luke was in flying form, he was at the sharp end on the climb I was dropped on. I congratulated Stephen on his 3rd place. I rode back to the car with Sean and Stephen.

On the forum, they were looking for feedback on the course. I liked the course, it had a mix of everything. I highlighted that with a climb so early in the race, some people nights were over very fast.

What was Learned

Preparation and Racecraft

• Checking out the unknown corners on Google Street View was a smart thing to do.
• Not examining the elevation profile of the route was silly, I had no idea where the climbs were.
• Maybe politely asking other riders to work is the best way to go about it. After my abuse of Romano last week.

Power Data and Training Input

• For the punchier climb, I need to be able to average 300W for 2:20 mins. I can imagine these intervals being enjoyable.
• For the longer climb out of Ballymore, I need to be able to average 230W for 5 mins, which I should be well able to do, as I've held 233W for 20 mins.

For the next two weeks, I'll ignore the top end training and focus on the longer efforts. I'm not going to be challenging for a likely sprint at Mondello next week and I'd like to aim for a good result in the Time Trial the following week. I'll make plans to ride hard around the lake in Brittas after work, as the office is pretty close to the lake.