National Hillclimb Championship - race report

I just completed my first ever hillclimb race this evening. The event was the prestigous National Hillclimb Championship on Kilmashogue Lane. Steep and savage climb indeed and for surprise a big enough field (60 riders) lined up on the event.

My hillclimb bike: Trek Madone 4.5 with Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels and some minor weight reduction

When I seen the start list for the first time I got surprised and qiuet excited 'cause my name was the very first on the start list. I was the first rider to take off and give my best on the climb. 

The start list with my name on the top as a first to take off

We got to the St. Columba's College in time and after the quick registration I was getting ready for the race. My start was at 7:01 pm so after I got changed I went to get warmed up properly. It was necessery before I hit the steepest bits along the way. Lucky enough the heavy rain stopped and the road even started to dry up so the weather was in our favour tonight. :)

At the start: ready to go!

Go! Go! Go!

Off I went, started the race

I started with pretty high pace but I had to realize quickly: if I try to force this for long I could get into trouble shortly. So I settled into slightly more manageable speed and kept going towards the top. I was going very close to my limit but luckily I could stay "fresh" until I got to the steepest sector just before the finish. At that point I did not see anything else but my hands on the handlebar and maybe about 2-3 m of the road ahead of me. I heard the spectators were shouting and cheering me up which was a huge boost to keep up the effort! I heard my name so many times, I couldn't believe it! It was fantastic feeling! :)

Giving my 100% to get a good time (photo by Dave Harnett)

Head down, just keep going! (photo by Dave Harnett)

On the steepest bit the spectators gave me a huge boost (photo by Csaba Horváth)

I got to the top and crossed the finish line. Checked my computer and the time was 9 minutes and 15 seconds on the screen. I was very happy with the time since my goal was to get it under 10 minutes.  I am also very happy to achieve the 3rd best time on the last steep bit registered on Strava.

Tired but happy chat with the lads (photo by Csaba Horváth)

I have finished 30th in Senior category 2 minutes 13 seconds down compare to the winner. I am happy with it now because I did give all I have today and I know my form wouldn't get much better than this at the moment. My effort was enough to get the 30th place but the new Personal Best time makes things a bit sweeter for me.

Just chillin' out after the race :)   (photo by Csaba Horváth)

I'd like to say thank you to everyone from the ThinkBike.ie CC,  and to all the friends for the fantastic cheering, without them it would have been more difficult. Also a big thank you to Marcin who gave me his wheels for today to shave some weight off my bike.

My overall impression is fantastic on this event. I really enjoyed to race there today and I was happy to compete against some of Ireland's top road racers and hillclimb specialists. The winner time is absolutelly incredible, 7:03! That is different dimension indeed, and doesn't look like I will be able rise to this kind of challenge any time soon! :)