Ciaran has kindly written a report for the club website on Belgium so that saves me some typing. What follows are an example of his incoherent ramblings that I am forced to listen to at stage races around the country all season.
Three UCD riders made a week long trip to Belgium last week to try their hand at their Kermesse racing. Ciaran O Conluain was, as always, riding for UCD whilst Colm Cassidy and Anthony Walsh were honoured to be riding for both their college and their provence, Leinster.In the races they faced some of Belgiums top teams including riders for Omega-Pharma and Topsport. They also raced against many Irish riders based over there and the An Post boys Bennett and Lavery. Friend of UCD Eoghan “Galloper” also joined in the action and all the riders were cheered on by people who would cover the entire course at times such was the populartity of the racing there.
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The races were all approx 120km in length with laps varying from 5-9km. This meant you would get very used to the circuit and if one part of it didnt suit then it was always going to be a difficult day. One of the courses had 5 cobbled sections while another had a 140m ascending on each of the 11 laps (same as Howth each lap!). The main differences from Irish racing was the speed coming in and out of corners which showed that technique is a vital skill here. Also the lineouts out of the corners and the very narrow roads used meant it was often impossible to move up through the bunch and if you got caught in a bad spot then it was going to be a short day in the saddle. The weather was also very mixed with rain in almost every race.
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Richmond Premier Calender
I was part of the Lenister squad for the Richmond GP last weekend. The Richmond was the last race of premier calender season and would decide this years overall victor. The premier calender races are always a bit special. They have a great atmosphere about them. The Eurosport cameras and cycling media hang about the start looking to get some snaps of home town heros. This time around Russ Downing from Team Sky seemed to be getting a disproportionate amount of press.
The weekend didn't get off to get greatest of starts for me. I turned up at Dublin Port fashionably late. It turns out fashionably late isn't the best idea when you are using transport on a strict timetable. I scurried from one ferry terminal to the other in the hope of a solution to my missed boat. I managed to get a sailing with a different operator thirty minutes later but arrived in Hollyhead before the rest of the squad as I got the faster boat. One nil Walsh! I bumped into some of the Cycling Ireland staff who were headed to Denmark for the World Para-Cycling champs on the boat. They took the piss out of me something fierce for missing the early boat.
A long drive down to the race hotel. I couldn't wait to just crash out on my bed. You have to be kidding me - sharing a double bed. The glamour of cycling. We (me and James Davenport) made the best of a bad situation and had a decent nights sleep. I was the big spoon, in case you were wondering.
The race itself was very hilly. Probably the most undulating course I have ridden this season but it was nonetheless a top class, well designed race. Narrow roads, plenty of corners and climb after climb were the salient features of the parcours. The famed 'Butter Tub' climb came early in the race. It was about 5km long with an average gradient of ten per cent and it sucked as much as you'd imagine.
I missed a vital split with about thirty kilometers to go when a twenty five man group slipped off the front - never to be seen again. The race winner was Andy Tennat from Rapha Condor.
I sprinted up the final cobbled climb to the finish as part of a much depleted main bunch and exhaled a sigh of relief. It had been a long testing day and an even longer season. It's time to put the feet up for a few weeks and re-charge the batteries. It's been one hell of a season. From Kilmallock to Milwaukee and back!
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