Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 20: Hill Climb Championships

Long Story Short

• Got a time of 2:17.99
• 11th out of 14 in Limit.
• 53rd out of 63 Overall.
• There was a great turnout from Leisure and Youth riders. A nice intro into Club League life.

Strava

What I recorded of the ride: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 20: Hill Climb: 2:17. Limit:11/14 Overall:53/63 (forgot to press start).

Here's the VeloViewer interactive profile of the climb.

Short Story Long

A short report, because it was a short race and because I did shit.

Build-Up

As part of Garret's Tuesday Night Hills group, we went out to get a look at the Devil's Elbow the previous week. The following Tuesday Night Hills group was targeted at repetitions of the Devil's Elbow. I did four reps, my fastest time being 2:28. Although that was with 2 water bottles and a saddle bag. I determined my starting gear. Although I didn't experiment with riding the whole thing in the saddle. I would start out of the saddle sit down after the second bend and try to hold 300 Watts.

I cleaned my bike on Wednesday, using WD-40 and Fairy Liquid. I reckon I got about 3g of dirt off the bike. I probably should've gotten a haircut too.

I also deleted any non-essential files off my Garmin. I didn't want it to get heavier the more it stored. My day job is as a Software Engineer. Me believing that files stored on a Garmin would make is heavier is not the craziest belief in the world. People (warm blooded mammals), who wear coats in Winter and have been to Dublin Zoo, still believe that St. Patrick banished the snakes (cold blooded reptiles) from Ireland.

Pre-Race

As this race was on the South Side and I could ride out to it, I went home after work and got ready there. Ate my Tuna Steampot and Banana. I only had one Banana. I had some performance anxiety, which served to raise my W/Kg. The bear who invented Charmin, you the real MVP!

I rode out and met Dave at Joe's. We rode together. I put in some efforts on the rises along the way. When I got out there I took off everything that added weight; Bottles, Saddle bag, phone, keys, arm warmers and food. I didn't even wear a heart rate monitor. I also opted for light weight ankle socks, over my preferred longer heavier ones.

Race

About 10 mins before my start I headed down to the starting area. There was already a crowd amassing. I found a nice gateway, as I didn't want another TT hampered by a full bladder. This gateway had a great view. Upon my return, Dave was getting ready to be started. He was getting banter from Garret about his respective sibling rivalry.

Ann's turn was coming up. But she wasn't anywhere to be found. Fortunately for her, the clock was messed up. After a lengthy process of trying to contact Dave Mc, the clocks were resynced. Ann showed up and was started.

James and Niall opted not to be held at the start. It worked out well for James. Niall struggled to clip in and lost some time there. Dan flew up the hill in the saddle.

I was next. I moved over. I clipped in and prepared the Garmin, putting it onto the field to display 3 second power. I completely forgot to press start, as I used the ride button. With 30 seconds left, I was held. The pole was to my left, and my more powerful front break was to my right. The time was counted down and I was started with a little push. I went up the hill out of the saddle and got back in the saddle after the second corner. On the corners I was riding as close to the outside line as possible, to make them as flat as possible. It was then I noticed that my Garmin wasn't started. I tried to hold 300W for the remainder. I held 306W. I was breathing deeply through my agape mouth.

Post-Race

I'm not great a the steep stuff, I didn't need a Hill Climb to tell me that. But now I know I'm hopeless.

We hung around the finish line for the riders to finish. Many of us coughing up the midgets that we had swallowed, myself included. I had excess water, so I offered it to those who were more African in their water levels. Then went to Johnny Foxes to look at the times on Dave Mc's sheet.

Some family scores were settled. Daragh claimed the Connolly Cup from his "younger, older looking" brother, Garret. The gap was 6.9 seconds. Dave left with the bragging rights in the Hendron household. He beat his sister, Orla, 4.3 seconds.

The full results are available on the Orwell Forum.

Limit top 6 + myself

 1. Kevin Sammon       1:41.51
 2. Dan Coulcher      1:51.99 + 10.48
 3. James O'Callaghan 1:57.15 + 15.64
 4. David Claes       2:01.18 + 19.67
=5. Niall Kieran      2:04.88 + 23.37
=5. Stephen Heary     2:04.88 + 23.37
----
11. Chubby Luke       2:17.99 + 36.48

What Was Learned

• Don't go on Caramel Digestives binges.
• You can't finish 3rd in all the Time Trials.