Des Hanlon 24.3.13

I'm going to this in Carlow tomorrow, anyone else going / want to share a lift?

Sorry Colm, I'm working tomorrow. Went to the Swords GP today, but punctured on the last lap. Niall and Morty were in the A1/2 race but I'm not sure how they finished. Tomorrow should be drier. Good luck , it's a good race.

Best of luck Colm have fun !

cheers lads, cant sit in the house any longer holding my ribs together so time to get out into the antartic!
bad luck with the puncture John, I thought you were promoted to A2 with all your recent success..

Des Hanlon 24.3.13

Good luck ribs !!

be careful..a race was cancelled yesterday in Sligo by the Commissar because of the behaviour of the A4s and A3s..

Des Hanlon 24.3.13

I did the A4 in the Lucan GP yesterday, the commissare had lots to say about behaviour and sticking to the correct side of the road and it worked, its the best behaved bunch of 74 A4 riders to date.... Mind you we had the by now obligatory crash inside the last 3km, apparently out of nowhere some lad swerved and took down a few others, a lad from limerick broke his nose and finger, another lad broke an expensive looking bike.

I rode around in the bunch for the first few laps thinking it was sure to end up a sprint so why be bothered, but then on the last lap plan went out the window, saw 2 lads up the road and went to join them, made it across just as one of them blew up, so it was myself and the other lad in a hopeless 2 man break for 14km, a tough spot, we just buried ourselves knowing the chances were slim of staying away, but hoping we might be joined by more. A small group tried to ride across to us but failed with only one lad making it and he was knackered by the time he got to us, we eventually slowed too much into the wind and the bunch caught us inside the last 3km, so bunch sprint it was, I had recovered alright, but not good enough to really compete, ended up just behind the points position somewhere.

For those riders strong enough to finish in the low points or just behind, why they don't ride for a break I don't know, if a good break of 7 or 8 sticks it increases the chance of them getting a good finishing place so much, but guys prefer to leave it to the lottery that is the sprint and also take their chances in the relatively unsafe bunch. Must try and talk a few lads into a decent break next time.

I'd try to get a group together and break from the gun, you could probably stay away with 8-10 lads....

I hope to do the Race next Sunday DOK, we should see how many of us there are and see how we go.
Any word he Colm got on today?

Apparently a break of 8-9 riders got away and he finished in the bunch having tried to bridge across but not making it! His race was well over 100kms!!

I rode around in the bunch for the first few laps thinking it was sure to end up a sprint so why be bothered this is why no one wants to to try and give it a go, not picking on you DOK, but that's the thinking behind a lot of riders in the A4/A3 bunch along with a lot of them not being fit enough to be able to ride in a break for a prolonged period of time, road racing is like a game of chess, it can't be explained in a sentence, but an example why didn't you ease up let the group trying to bridge up to you to get on, two guys 40kph doing a turn of 1mins, tire quickly, not much recovery, 8 guys can hold 40kph all day, the bunch can go faster as guys take quicker turns at higher speeds, but it can stall going from 48kph to 34kph, while your ride at a steady 40kph and maybe you could have stayed away. Anyway its experience really and you will learn every race you do, again if your around Naas any Wed night come out, ask Max its a good spin fast and controlled. By the way that was me calling you yesterday I was at the side of the car getting change as you were cycling passed. John didn't see you yesterday would of being good to catch up. My race, I'm not fit so its all about boxing clever, saving energy and hiding from the wind which I did in the main bunch, Niall finish in the main bunch as well, he was in great form and happy to finish his first A1/A2 in 10 years as he put it.

Yeah do the Naas spin, and if you do you can collect me on the way over, I won't have my car this week so I won't make it otherwise!

anybody seriously considering road racing should be doing Mortys Wednesday night session , just because I dont road race now, doesnt mean i dont understand or respect it, I'm here a long time and I've seen it all. I don't road race because if I had the time I would do BMX or Dh or Mountaineering..its just not something I'm interested in. However I feel very strongly that the only way to be a good roadie is to become one. Same as being a good MTBer..commit to one or the other , dabbling is only a cod in my opinion.

Well, back in dublin after a great race in Carlow. I did the A3, 2 laps of a very lumpy course, couple of nice climbs, 114k in all for the A3s. Pace was good all through and a group of 10 got away on the climb at end of first lap, bit of inexperience caught me out as was in middle of the bunch and didnt even know they were gone until they were 30secs up the road. I tried unsuccessfully to get across to them on 2 occassions but both times could only get one other guy to go with me which proved pointless into numerous climbs and strong winds. The lead group ended up over 1 and a half minutes ahead I think. I stayed at the front of the chasing group for the remaining 35k and came home happy enough. Only my second A3 race so lots of lessons learned for next time out. Met Richie Felle down there and didnt see any other mtbers around. See you all soon

Des Hanlon 24.3.13

Well done Colm, shame you missed the breaks.

I'm going to this in Carlow tomorrow, anyone else going / want to share a lift?

Sorry Colm, I'm working tomorrow. Went to the Swords GP today, but punctured on the last lap. Niall and Morty were in the A1/2 race but I'm not sure how they finished. Tomorrow should be drier. Good luck , it's a good race.

Best of luck Colm have fun !

cheers lads, cant sit in the house any longer holding my ribs together so time to get out into the antartic!
bad luck with the puncture John, I thought you were promoted to A2 with all your recent success..

Des Hanlon 24.3.13

Good luck ribs !!

be careful..a race was cancelled yesterday in Sligo by the Commissar because of the behaviour of the A4s and A3s..

Des Hanlon 24.3.13

I did the A4 in the Lucan GP yesterday, the commissare had lots to say about behaviour and sticking to the correct side of the road and it worked, its the best behaved bunch of 74 A4 riders to date.... Mind you we had the by now obligatory crash inside the last 3km, apparently out of nowhere some lad swerved and took down a few others, a lad from limerick broke his nose and finger, another lad broke an expensive looking bike.

I rode around in the bunch for the first few laps thinking it was sure to end up a sprint so why be bothered, but then on the last lap plan went out the window, saw 2 lads up the road and went to join them, made it across just as one of them blew up, so it was myself and the other lad in a hopeless 2 man break for 14km, a tough spot, we just buried ourselves knowing the chances were slim of staying away, but hoping we might be joined by more. A small group tried to ride across to us but failed with only one lad making it and he was knackered by the time he got to us, we eventually slowed too much into the wind and the bunch caught us inside the last 3km, so bunch sprint it was, I had recovered alright, but not good enough to really compete, ended up just behind the points position somewhere.

For those riders strong enough to finish in the low points or just behind, why they don't ride for a break I don't know, if a good break of 7 or 8 sticks it increases the chance of them getting a good finishing place so much, but guys prefer to leave it to the lottery that is the sprint and also take their chances in the relatively unsafe bunch. Must try and talk a few lads into a decent break next time.

I'd try to get a group together and break from the gun, you could probably stay away with 8-10 lads....

I hope to do the Race next Sunday DOK, we should see how many of us there are and see how we go.
Any word he Colm got on today?

Apparently a break of 8-9 riders got away and he finished in the bunch having tried to bridge across but not making it! His race was well over 100kms!!

I rode around in the bunch for the first few laps thinking it was sure to end up a sprint so why be bothered this is why no one wants to to try and give it a go, not picking on you DOK, but that's the thinking behind a lot of riders in the A4/A3 bunch along with a lot of them not being fit enough to be able to ride in a break for a prolonged period of time, road racing is like a game of chess, it can't be explained in a sentence, but an example why didn't you ease up let the group trying to bridge up to you to get on, two guys 40kph doing a turn of 1mins, tire quickly, not much recovery, 8 guys can hold 40kph all day, the bunch can go faster as guys take quicker turns at higher speeds, but it can stall going from 48kph to 34kph, while your ride at a steady 40kph and maybe you could have stayed away. Anyway its experience really and you will learn every race you do, again if your around Naas any Wed night come out, ask Max its a good spin fast and controlled. By the way that was me calling you yesterday I was at the side of the car getting change as you were cycling passed. John didn't see you yesterday would of being good to catch up. My race, I'm not fit so its all about boxing clever, saving energy and hiding from the wind which I did in the main bunch, Niall finish in the main bunch as well, he was in great form and happy to finish his first A1/A2 in 10 years as he put it.

Yeah do the Naas spin, and if you do you can collect me on the way over, I won't have my car this week so I won't make it otherwise!

anybody seriously considering road racing should be doing Mortys Wednesday night session , just because I dont road race now, doesnt mean i dont understand or respect it, I'm here a long time and I've seen it all. I don't road race because if I had the time I would do BMX or Dh or Mountaineering..its just not something I'm interested in. However I feel very strongly that the only way to be a good roadie is to become one. Same as being a good MTBer..commit to one or the other , dabbling is only a cod in my opinion.

Well, back in dublin after a great race in Carlow. I did the A3, 2 laps of a very lumpy course, couple of nice climbs, 114k in all for the A3s. Pace was good all through and a group of 10 got away on the climb at end of first lap, bit of inexperience caught me out as was in middle of the bunch and didnt even know they were gone until they were 30secs up the road. I tried unsuccessfully to get across to them on 2 occassions but both times could only get one other guy to go with me which proved pointless into numerous climbs and strong winds. The lead group ended up over 1 and a half minutes ahead I think. I stayed at the front of the chasing group for the remaining 35k and came home happy enough. Only my second A3 race so lots of lessons learned for next time out. Met Richie Felle down there and didnt see any other mtbers around. See you all soon

Des Hanlon 24.3.13

Well done Colm, shame you missed the breaks.