I have one more race behind me, this was my third race of this season. Today the ThinkBike.ie racing squad (Cait Elliott, Richie Felle, Adrian McLeavey and myself) travelled to race the Leinster League Round 1. The race was hosted by Racing 795 at the same location as last year, in Bunclody, Co. Wexford. After a not too long drive we got there in time, picked up our racing numbers and timing chip and we were ready for our practice lap. We have done only one lap before the race just to see what should we expect...this lap was very useful indeed.
But let's see the course now: one lap was 4.4 km long and because I have entered to Senior 3 category I've had to do 3 laps today. The race started with a long (1 km) climb straight away. I personally loved that because I could get settled into my own pace before we hit the first decend of the race. I started the race pretty far back in the field so I found this climb very useful.
I have to say: this course was one of the most difficult but the most fun to ride as well for long time. The rain at night turned all the decends into super technical and slippery. All the downhill sections were steep and they were full of rocks and roots. We had to get through three main sections of downhills in each lap. Two of them were in the forest while the last one was opened. It defenitely took all my skills to ride them fast and safe in the same time. Sometimes I felt I have no control over the bike it was so slippery. After the race I've heard they caused serious trouble for many riders but personally I say: they were brilliant, very challenging!
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| One of the tricky bit |
I felt great after the start but I didn't have any exact idea about my position because I started to catch up with the back of the Senior 2 field. After I started to overtake them the two categories got mixed up quickly. All I could do is keep an eye out for their numbers to see are they in my group or not.
After I have completed the 3 laps and I crossed the finish line I got the good news: I came 4th in my category. I am very happy with this result because my goal for the day was to finish in the top 5.
The race was successful for the ThinkBike.ie squad, we came home with a 1st, a 2nd and a 4th place. Well done!
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| The graph of my 3 laps race |
Distance: 13.4 km (3 laps)
Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Result: 4th out of 50 (results are
here)
The organizers did everything they could to ensure the race is going all right. Thank you very much for all the marshalls and everybody from Racing 795 for the great race. Special thanks for the tea and coffe and also for the soup after the race!
Also a BIG thank you for my friend Csaba for the excellent cheering, for the photos and for all the help! Great stuff!
This race was perfect indication of my form for myself for the upcoming events and I am really looking forward for the next race. I hope I can improve my performance.
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Decending
Starting the second long climb (photo: Peter C) |
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| Crossing the bridge |
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Close to the finish
Crossing the finish line (photo: Racing 795) |
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| After the race |
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| Soup party with Cait & Richie - Congartulations for both of you! |
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| With Adrian before the race |
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| The view from the carpark |
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