What if....

... I had taken a recovery day yesterday.
... I had ridden a TT bike.
... I had worn a TT helmet.
... I had not drank from my bottle 3 times.
... I had put my head down 2cm more.
... I had tucked my braid into my skinsuit.
... I had not worn my non aero mtb gloves.
... I had dug that little bit deeper.
... I had not eased off before the finish because I thought I was already at the finish.
... I had not been caught behind a lorry.

These are all the excuses that I could come up with for why I didn't win today, in my first ever proper TT (I've done a few uphill and very short ones, but none that was longer than 10min). This is what happened: The weekend came up and I am down for a 3 hour ride. I've trained every day since Tuesday (see Strava), with Thursday a bit lighter (only 1 hour endurance on the turbo trainer due to rain), but I was slowly getting tired. I needed a motivation to keep going hard. In the absence of a road race nearby I went to do the next best thing, the 10-mile TT organized by Sorrento in Kilpeddar, only about an hour by bike from my place. On Friday evening I tried out Ryan's Merida TT bike to see if I could use it, but it's a bit too big and I felt a 15min spin on it was not long enough to get used to it, and the riding a total of about 3hours on an ill-fitting TT bike seemed not the best idea, so I decided to use my own road bike instead. Unfortunately Ryan also had his TT helmet with him in the Portaferry 3 day - only to find out that no TT equipment was allowed.

Anyhow, on an amazingly beautiful and summery warm Saturday morning (if Ireland was just always like this in the summer!) Cait and I made our way to Kilpeddar Village, where the TT was being held. Going towards Bray from Enniskerry you could barely believe you were in Ireland, with views of the glistening sea below, deep green forests and beautiful views. Summer is here! (at least for today).

Cadel Evans riding into the yellow jersey in today's individual TT of the TdF

The course was basically 7km southwards on the N11, turning via 2 roundabouts either side of the tunnel and returning northwards for the remaining 9km on the N11 back to Kilpeddar village. There was a record of 24min to be beaten, to be rewarded with a bonus of 150Euro sponsored by the Women's Commission for the person who breaks the previous record (24min flat), on top of the winner's prize money, but that was fairly far back in my mind, because I was pretty tired and this was just meant to be motivation to put in some hard training. But I had a good start and got myself into a good rhythm. My Garmin told me I was good on time for matching the record time (probably went out too hard). I could see my minute girl, in the distance. I was fine going into the first roundabout of the turning point, but unfortunately for me, a lorry had just pulled in in front of me from the next entry and I got stuck behind this lorry between the two roundabouts. I was happy when the lorry went straight at the 2nd roundabout and I could speed up again leaving it at the 3rd exit. I had lost some time, but my minute girl was still in my sight and I chased her, and I eventually caught her. I caught another few of the earlier started girls and when I looked again, I was STILL pretty much on time for matching the record. I left the N11 for the final km to the finish and went hard. I saw the people and thought I was done, easing off, when I realized that these were just spectators and that the finish line was another hundred meters or so in front, digging in deep again. When I looked at my Garmin, I knew it would come down to a matter of seconds if I had broken the previous record or not. I had not expected that. And the worst of it all was that I knew I had left some seconds on the road.

In the end my time was 24min and 1 second and 42 hundredth of a second. The winning time was 23 min, 59 sec and 78 hundredth of a second (with full TT gear), a difference of 1.54 seconds.......

....... between me ...... (Photo by Paddy Doran)

...... and the winner Sandra Fitzgerald (Photo by Paddy Doran).

That's less than 2 flippin' seconds between about 200 Euro and me..... Argh! What if.... (refer to excuses above). 1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi. That's it.

But I learned my lesson. You should always give it your best, even if you don't expect to do well and even if you're tired. Or I could just buy myself some speed (TT bike, helmet, aero wheels, gloves).

Anyhow, my priority is next week where I'm off to the Olympic Test Event, competing against the World's best Olympic hopefuls. That is what I am focusing on, that is where I want to give it my best. Roll it on!

Oh, and mountain bikers can be good time trialists too (see Cadel Evans - he got himself into the yellow jersey in today's Tour de France individual TT!). Well done Cuddles, it's about time we're being taken seriously!

Full results on women's cycling.

For the geeky: for the 24min and 1 sec:

- Average Heartrate: 171pbm
- Average Power: 290Watts (way below my threshold of 305-310Watts)
- 2 sec over 24min is 0.14%

Irish National Champs Race - Killruddery

For the first time since I race in the Elite category, I was going to be in the country when the Irish National Champs were on - all previous years I would have been in Germany on that day, racing in the German Champs (as you race in the national champs of your nationality), but the German champs were ran in June, which I missed due to a shoulder injury acquired at the pre-ride for the Offenburg World Cup the week before the German Nationals.

Photo by Vc Glendale

To be eligible for a National Champs title, you have to have had that nationality from the start of the year. I have received Irish citizenship only a few weeks ago, so although I am now Irish, I would not yet be eligible for the title this year. Nonetheless I was allowed to take part in the race as a non-contender. It would also make for an interesting show-down between Cait, who was last year's national champ and I. She's been nipping at my ankles for the last few weeks now and beaten me in a couple of club races and some of my Strava records, so I was excited to measure myself against her in a proper race situation.

Photo by Cieran Maunsell

I was happy I was allowed to take part, because the race was organized by Team WORC in one of my favourite race venues, Killruddery, which is private land, so it's off-limits to mtbers outside the event. The course was great, almost all of it twisty, windy singletrack, featuring a fun bombhole and the "tombstone" drop (although this was taken out of the course later on). After a short grassy start you entered never-ending tight singletrack, so on pre-ride day I made sure to learn the corners well. The tight, twisty singletrack is something that suits Cait, but there was very little climb in the course and the flat suits me. So no advantage either way.

Photo by Cieran Maunsell

On race day there was an awful wind and a few spits of rain before 5 Elite ladies and a Junior lined up at the start for a total of 4 laps. I must have missed the 30sec warning and was about to grab my bottle again for one last sip when we were told "Go! Go now!". Until I got going, Claire had sprinted off into the front, followed by Cait, Ciara and then me. I overtook Ciara before entering the singletrack and then stuck to Cait's wheel. The speed was comfortable and I was enjoying myself. On one of the short climb sections both Cait and I overtook Claire. A few times Cait managed to open a small gap, especially when I messed up on some of the technical rocky sections, but I made sure I didn't loose her out of my view too much.

Photo by Cieran Maunsell

In the second lap then I caught back up to her on the twisty singletrack section and was pondering where it would be a good idea to attack, deciding that probably on the fireroad to the tombstone forest or the short climb within the tombstone forest would be a good idea. But just as I was pondering that, Cait dropped her chain and had to stop to put it back on. I didn't hesitate and took my chances, overtook her and went full gas to open up a gap. Whenever I looked back, I could see Cait behind me, about the same distance as I had been behind her in the 1st lap. In the 3rd lap the gap increased, and I took the last two laps a little easier, keeping an eye out for Cait behind me, ready to speed up again if needs be, but she didn't catch back up.

So I won the race, but as I'm not eligible for the National Champs title this year, it went to Cait, who came in just a minute behind me. Next year! ;)

l-r: Ciara MacManus, Cait Elliott and Orla McClean (Photo by Cieran Maunsell)

Thanks to the officials allowing me to race, thanks to Team WORC to have put together such a nice challenging course, to Stew for his help on the day and to all my sponsors, particularly Cycleways, ZipVit and KCNC for their loyalty and ongoing support.

Full results available here.

British Mountain Bike Series Round 4, Margam Park, UK

The female Irish Elite (Irish National Champ Cait Elliott and I (yes, I'm Irish now!)) contingent arrived on a Friday night in Wales to cold and wet conditions (i.e. summer in Wales... it's like summer in Ireland).

The pre-ride on Saturday wasn't any better. Bathed in clouds and mist, with a constant drizzle, Cait and I pre-rode the challenging Margam Park course.

It became pretty clear that this was going to be a tough course: There was lots of tough climbing in it, about 250m per lap, and the wet conditions paired with the riders transformed the course into a muddy, slippery affair. The climbs were unrelenting and the descents were slippery, cut up and rutty chutes, and the lap finished with a drag through a boggy grass field. But we were promised sunshine and 24 degrees on Sunday that might dry the course out a little bit, although it was hard to hang onto that belief with the 13 degrees and miserable weather on Saturday and no signs of improvement.

Sunday, 6:50am and we got up for breakfast. One look outside the window and it was the same grey wet day weather as the day before. Subdued we ate our breakfast, feeling disappointed to have had that hope for good weather, then packed our stuff and then - you wouldn't believe it, the sky suddenly turned blue and the sun came out of nowhere and shone onto us in full force, bringing a big smile onto our faces :)

14 Elite women lined up at the start, again with a guest appearance of CX pro Nikki Harris. I knew from the start that I was going to have a good race. My heart rate in my warm up went up easily and it was high standing at the start line (this happens when I'm nervous and I'm usually nervous when I know I have a chance to do well). The gun was shot and I had a good start, racing up the first fireroad climb in 2nd or 3rd position. While Nikki opened up a gap from the start, Lee was 2nd into the singletrack climb and I was third, being closely followed by Cait. Nikki steadily pulled away from us chasers and I stayed on Lee's wheel until Lee slipped on the muddy ground. I took my chances and overtook her to get into 2nd place and didn't look back. I could still catch glimpses of Nikki ahead of me, and kept the pace up. I could still see her going up the first singletrack climb in the 2nd lap, but that was the last I saw of her. I knew I had to be careful on the climbs on this hot day not to blow, so I settled into my pace, taking it steady on the climbs and staying focused on the super slippery descents.

Actually, the descents were so much fun, it was like mud-surfing down on two wheels, always on the edge of control and always arriving with such a big "I can't believe I made it down upright"-grin at the bottom. At least the fun of these descent took some of the pain out of the climbs, especially the last long soul-breaker of a climb to the top of the hill with the sun burning down at 30 degrees only to think you've made it to the top arriving to a false flat and into a head wind (at least it was a little respite from the heat - yes, heat, heat! in Wales!).

I was super enjoying myself, thinking I only have to keep up this speed and I'll have 2nd place safe, when the mud had clogged up my gears so much that all my low gears started skipping in the 2nd last lap. It got so bad in the last lap that I had to walk some of the climbs because none of my lower gears were working any more and I got a fright when I looked down and saw Lee Craigie appearing on the bottom of one of the climbs. I ran as fast as I could and descended like a mad-woman and the next climb I looked back I could still see her at about the same distance. I knew if I was just able to get to the top of the last climb ahead of her, then I will be fine. But try that after 1h and 45min of racing, with no low gears! It took me every mental capacity to make myself believe that I can make it to the top without getting off the bike and running (and thus loosing time). I was imagining a big bungee was pulling me up at the top while I ground my lowest working gear. Exhausted I arrived at the top and glanced back - no one in sight. I knew I had 2nd place bagged then. Now it was just about not making any stupid mistake on the last long and fun singletrack descent all the way down back to the finish.

This was one of the best races I have had in the UK Series this year. I felt good, felt like my training was catching again and I was getting back into form. The course was great, a real mountain bike racing course that required fitness and skill to succeed. And the weather was so good that you could barely believe we were in Wales.

This 2nd place means that I'm still leading the British Series with a comfortable enough lead over 2nd place :)

Cait also had a fantastic race, coming in third just a couple of minutes behind me. Robin also secured a respectable 2nd place in the men's Elite event, only loosing out to Oli Beckinsale, so it was a very successful weekend for the Irish contingent!

Results can be downloaded from Timelaps.co.uk.

Thanks to Mike for organisatory help and for feed-zone support. Thanks to Mark and Charlotte for coming to support the race. Thanks also to the guy who helped me untangle my chain before the start of the race!

British Mountain Bike Series Round 3, Wasing Park, UK

(l-r): Mel Alexander, Maddie Horton, Nikki Harris, Mel Spath, Cait Elliott
(photo credit: Cait Elliott)

I wasn't so sure how this race would go, still trying to make up for lost form due to inconsistent training because of sickness and my shoulder injury. I had ventured out for the first time on the mountain bike on the Tuesday the week before since the injury but it was a big mistake and I only hurt my shoulder again, starting back at square one with healing. Sticking to the road bike for the rest of the week I was getting quite concerned with how little it had improved by then, but painkillers and a lot of Arnica cream showed a huge improvement a few days later. I still had to be super careful of sudden movements with my arm, but at least it was getting better.

I knew from last year that the course in Wasing would be fairly safe, no big rocky descents or too rooty sections and should be a walk in the park in the dry. My pre-ride on Saturday on a beautiful sunny day went very well. The course was even a little easier than last year and consisted mostly of a mix of nice flowy forested singletrack with interspersed bits of fireroad. It was fairly flat, and so there would be very little time to recover once the race went underway....

I was so hoping for the beautiful weather to hold up for the race on Sunday, but unfortunately it was drizzling when we got up and raining properly by the time our race was started. 13 women braved the conditions in the Elite women's category, including CX ace Nikki Harris. The race was started, but I felt as if my legs were made out of concrete. The long hours of back to base building endurance riding the week before were taking their toll.... Anyhow, I knew I wouldn't have the punch, so I didn't panic and just rode along steadily. Apart from Nikki Harris pulling away from the start, the race stayed together closely for the first lap and I came through the feedzone in 5th position, but there was only 20 seconds difference between 2nd and 7th place, so all was still possible.

There was still 5 laps to go, but the rain was slowly starting to give the course a slippery cover and I had to stay super focused to avoid any slips or crashes to not risk hurting my shoulder again. With Nikki Harris out in front, Maddie, Cait and Gabby were still in sight and Mel Alexander was not far off behind me either. Slowly I worked my way up into 4th place behind Cait, while Maddie managed to pull away from our little chase group. Then Mel Alexander attacked and overtook both me and Cait. I knew she was in good form, so I couldn't let her go and started to chase her. I stayed on her wheel for a while, and finally managed to overtake her into 3rd place in the penultimate lap. I stayed focused and increased my gap over Mel, hoping to be able to catch up to Maddie too, but the gap to Maddie was too big, so I rode a conservative last lap to finish in 3rd.

Despite the horrible wet day I had a good race, and I was happy with the result, considering the lack of current form. Good start into my come-back!

Thanks to Mike for tech-support and to Rob for feed-zone support.

Full results on Timelaps here.

Report on IrishCycling here.

Rás Dhun na nGall

After sickness and injury I thought: what better training than some hard racing? This weekend the German National Cross Country Championships were on, but my shoulder wasn't healing as fast as I had hoped and I knew that I wouldn't be able to be competitive offroad. So I found a great alternative: a hilly road stage race in Donegal, the Rás Dhun na nGall, put on my the Four Masters Cycling Club. I actually think Ryan talked me into it (it's a nice hilly race!) and Cait got convinced too and so Cait and I both ventured up to Donegal for a weekend of stage racing. My shoulder was still bad and I have only been able to go out on the road bike in the week before (thanks Stew for a really windy spin over the Sally Gap!), so at least in road racing I'll get in the intensity I need now.

The Donegal Race is a 3-day stage race with 4 stages, one of them a short TT. All the stages were basically loops around race central Ardara (apart from the TT), making logistics very easy.

Stage 1: (Friday, 3rd June at 7:30pm) - 52km.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/31752062

Finishing with the bunch in stage 1 (photo by Marian Lamb)

There were 9 women signed up and we got a 5min head start over the bunch of about 130men. We were riding easy until the men caught us at about 45min into the stage and then it was just a matter of trying to stick with the men's bunch and try to not get shelled when they sped up to react to attackes. Only Heather Wilson (Irish Road Champ 2009) and I managed to stick with them until the finish. My shoulder held up well. So far so good :)

Time: 1h 24min, Norm Power: 256 Watts, TSS: 100.3, IF: 0.852

Heather and I after stage 1 - both of us finished with the bunch (photo by Marian Lamb)

Cycling Ulster report, pictures and full results of stage 1 can be found here.

Stage 2: (Saturday, 4th June from 9am) - 5km TT

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/31752258

The spectacular scenery of the TT course did not make the suffering less! (photo by Marian Lamb)

We were started off in order of race number. My number was 8, so I was off 8 minutes past nine. Anybody who knows me knows that I am not into early morning sports if I can avoid it. Especially not after a late race the night before. Cait (number 9) and I stayed in bed as long as we could and rode over to the course. I didn't have enough time for a recce and it was pretty cold at the start. Heather was my minute girl and I could see her ahead of me up the climb. At one stage I thought I was getting closer to her, but then the course steepened up (around 15% at times!) and I think it was just imagination. I finished with 8min 13 secs, 13 secs slower than Heather and 7 secs faster than Cait (3rd place). Not bad for an early morning uphill TT with too high gears, but also a reminder that I am not in peak form at the moment.

I stole Ryan's skin suit for the TT.... (photo by Marian Lamb)

Time: 8min 13sec, Norm Power: 318 Watts, TSS: 15, IF: 1.061

Cycling Ulster report, pictures and full results of stage 2 can be found here.

Stage 3: (Saturday, 4th June at 2:30pm) - 82km

This time round we got a 10min head start ahead of the guys. We rode well together until the men's bunch caught us. I managed to stay with the guys in front of the bunch for a short while but dropped back on some of those scary 70kph fast descents. A few times I was able to make it back up into the safety of the bunch, but then, on the descent between two consecutive hills the elastic snapped and I did not have the power to make it back on. I really suffered and tried to hang on to Cait, who was riding very strong and who was hanging on to the wheel in front, but who also had to let go eventually; only Heather was able to hang on until the end. I did see a group forming from another few dropped riders in front and a handful of single riders in between, so I used the singletons as steps in a ladder to get to that chase group. It was hard chasing, but eventually I made it and was able to stay with them until the finish line in Ardara. I lost over 6min to Heather, but finished ahead of Cait in 2nd place again.

Happy riding in the women's race (photo by Marian Lamb)

Time: 2hour 31min, Norm Power: 237 Watts, TSS: 157, IF: 0.789

Cycling Ulster report, pictures and full results of stage 3 can be found here.

Stage 4: (Sunday, 5th June at 12pm) - 98km

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/34418884

In the morning we were greeted with lashing rain. Non-stop rain. No indication of any clearing up. I put on arm-warmers, knee warmers, shoe covers, a base layer, two jerseys and a rain jacket for the race - that's Donegal summer for you..... It was freezing again at the start. We got about 15min head start and Cait and I drove the pace at the start, reducing the women's bunch to 5 women. The 5 of us worked together well, keeping a good pace. At some stage I got so cold that I had to stop and let the women go to put on my rain jacket that I had so confidently taken off after the start- I couldn't do it on the bike, as I had frozen rigid and lost all feeling of my fingers.

Still riding on (photo by Marian Lamb)

We held off the men till about 60km into the race. The men's bunch had been split into lots of little groups by that stage and when the lead break passed we chased hard to catch on. Again Heather was the only one who was able to stick with the lead group. Both Cait and I had no matches left for their pace. More and more groups passed, but most were too fast when they passed. Eventually a group passed whose pace was more to my liking and I caught on and from then on it was easy riding to the start of the last tough climb. As every other stage, I finished 2nd behind Heather, 8min down on this stage and 15min min down on overall GC. Thanks, Darragh, for the lift back down!

Suffering through atrocious weather conditions and tough roads (photo by Marian Lamb)

Time: 3hour 17min, Norm Power: 226 Watts, TSS: 185, IF: 0.752

Cycling Ulster report, pictures and full results of stage 4 can be found here.

Although the weather was atrocious on Sunday and driving back was a bit like swimming through a monsoon I really enjoyed the race. I really did notice the recent lack of consistent training due to illness and injury, but hope that this is the start of some good consistent training for the 2nd half of the season, aiming for a good result in the two European World Cups in August.

Proud as punch for 2nd place (photo by Marian Lamb)

Have a look at Cait's account of the race for comparison :)

Dalby & Offenburg World Cups

The Dalby and Offenburg World Cups were on consecutive weekends and I had planned to be well prepared for them. I love both the course in Dalby and in Offenburg - I had raced 3 races on the Dalby course so far and Offenburg is my favourite World Cup course! While Dalby is flowy singletrack interspersed with technical sections, Offenburg is challenging almost all of the way and contains some scary drops and descents.

Anyhow, unfortunately it doesn't always go to plan. After I had done the Ras Mumhan in April, I had a recovery week, but I never really felt I was recovering properly, I didn't seem to get my strength back.

After that recovery week I did an Irish NPS in Davagh Forest, which turned out to be a fantastic event: lovely venue (although as remote as it gets - how did they even find this place???), fantastic course - just the right mix of single-track and fireroad, great weather and all the works to make it a great event overall (bouncy castle for the kids, a great layout of post-race food and tea etc.). The only thing that was missing was my competition. Cait was out of the country and Ciara was commissairing. Non-the-less I had a good race: I set off with the Senior 1 men and had a good battle with one of them for a few laps until I steered into the only boggy hole of the otherwise bone-dry course and muddied up my bike so much that my chain got stuck and I had to stop to clean some of the mud away, leaving me to chase, but by then he was gone out of my view and I rode a more steady last lap.

Lined up in Dalby on my new S-Works Epic (photo by Mr.&Mrs. Elliott)

The week after the NPS I still wasn't feeling great and power just wasn't there. Then I started getting a bad throat ache and cough. I didn't take it too serious (sure it's just a bit of a sore throat, right?), but it was getting worse with a painful chesty cough that seemed to worsen as the days went on. I should have taken more care of myself then, but only went to the doctor when it was a full-blown serious chest infection. In the end I was off the bike for 9 days, with 2 days trying to turn my legs on the turbo, but anything over low endurance was too painful for breathing. Not great preparation for two of the most important races of the year. I started back into training on the Monday before the World Cups, with the lungs still not at full capacity. Only on Thursday, in the Epic club race my legs seemed to come round somewhat, which moved the decision dial towards going to Dalby.

Riding some of the raised trails in Dalby (photo by Mr.&Mrs. Elliott)

I had a bad start in Dalby, being slowed down by a crash in the frantic pace just after the start and so had a bad position at the queue that formed into the single track. The pace was slow for the first lap until the racers started to separate out towards the end of the first lap. My aim was just to ride the course well and finish unlapped and I kept my pace steady. I was a bit too timid on the descents and lost a bit of time, but I felt I lost most time on the long steep climb, just not feeling able to dig deep. In the end I finished 57th on the same lap as the winner, just inside the points, and a place down from last year. Staying in the same hotel as world cup winner Julie Bresset didn't make me go any faster.

Results and report are up on cyclingnews here.

Hotly pursuited by US racer Krista Park (Photo by Mr.&Mrs. Elliott)

I was hoping that my form was picking up again after Dalby, with my lungs improving by the day and looked forward to the Offenburg World Cup. I met up with Cait and Carla from WXC racing for a training ride on the course on Saturday morning. I was feeling fairly good and enjoyed the buzz of trying to follow the world champs training on the course. While the course rode very well, some of the roots were still slightly slippery from the rain in the night and I had a bad run into the famous Wolfsdrop descent, missing the only safe line down and crashed. I was able to roll off (years of martial arts experience paying off eventually!) and didn't get hurt, but I was a bit more nervous when we came to the same descent the 2nd time round. Trying to avoid the root I hit the first time round I cycled again straight into it and crashed again. Unfortunately my martial arts skills didn't help this time to take the impact and I got some nice cuts and bruises on my knee and elbow and hurt my shoulder. As the cuts were quite deep I got medical attention, but fortunately didn't need any stitches. But a while later my shoulder really started to hurt and I had to abandon any thought of more training. I was hoping a bit of rest and Arnica cream would do the trick, but I could barely lift my arm in the evening, making taking clothes on and off a real challenge.

Cait recorded me crashing the first time round - this one was not the one that did the damage....

The next morning I took some pain killers, hoping that would help, but they only made me feel whoozy and didn't do anything against the pain. I still picked up my timing chip and tried to do a warm-up, but when I realized how bad I was I couldn't kid myself longer and reluctantly turned back the timing chip before the start. There was no way I could have raced in that state. And so I had to be happy to be a bystander for once in a world cup.

I'm just hoping that that'll be the end of the string of bad luck and that I can get in some consistent training again.

2011 Kerry Group Ras Mumhan

This is the 2nd year in a row that I'm doing the 4-day "Kerry Group Ras Mumhan" stage race. This is also the 2nd year in a row that I'm the only female taking part in a 160 rider strong peloton. Why am I the only female? Well, most of the riders are A1 or A2 riders, the stages are long (over 100km every day, nearly 500km in total) and tough, with lots of hills. So why am I doing it? Well, I like Kerry, it has beautiful countryside, and is one of my most favorite places in Ireland. I also think it's great training, trying to stick with 160 strong male riders. It's also very safe racing - all the riders who do this race know how to ride their bike and there is very little shouting and nervous jostling going on - it seems more controlled in a way. Finally, the stages are great, they are hard and they have climbs in them, so it suits me and the peloton tends to break up into smaller, more manageable groups. I don't like mass bunch sprints.

Anyhow, this year, in contrast to last year, we had fantastic weather. I've been told more than once by some wise old Kerry men that a bank holiday Easter weekend with nice weather is as rare as a Dutch man winning the Ras Mumhan ;) And nice it was - sunny blue skies - together with the rugged Kerry countryside and coastline - heaven! Nothing of that constant rain and gale force winds from last year, great!

Stage 1: Good Friday April 22nd. “The Slide through Sliabh Luachra”, 105km and 3 climbs

A nice stage, very hilly, hard roads. Riders were dropped left right and center from the start. After about 40min of hanging in there I was hit by the same fate with a few others and first we were two, then three, then more and more so that in the end we had mopped up enough riders to have become a sizeable groupetto with a nice chaingang going until the finish. Happy days! (except that I was shattered already after this stage...).

Stage position: 19th last of 147 finishers, 2.29'57"

Stage results here, GC here.

Kamil Pasek from Black Rose Racing and me proud at the Conor Pass Finish

Stage 2. Easter Saturday April 23rd. The “Dance around Dingle”( “Damhsa an Daingean”), 130 km and 4 climbs, finish on top of Conor Pass, the only Category 1 Climb of the entire race.

Again the speed was superhigh from the start, and I tried to to hang in there. After a river crossing early on in the race the bunch started to line out and split. At about 15km into the race and going around a corner down the hill we were greeted by a big bunch pile up that took up the whole width of the road. There were bikes and bodies everywhere! Having arrived after the crash had happened, we were lucky and could pick our way slowly through the bikes and bodies. I tried to hang on to the group that came through around me, but they were going that little bit too fast. Not to worry, a slightly more comfortably speeded group came through a few min later and this was the group I stayed with. We were going well until we got lost. A quick discussion with the commissaire and a solution was found and we were rerouted in a way that meant we hadn't actually lost much time (except maybe from the faffing around and from people loosing motivation because we had gotten lost). This group didn't work that great together and I did a bit too much work in front on the way to the bottom of the Conor Pass climb, so that I had to let some of the group go faster up the hill. Nonetheless I pushed hard and was very proud of myself at the finish :)

Stage position: 26th last of 136 finishers, in 3.45'22"
Stage results here, GC here.

Proud of my husband's 2nd place in today's stage! Except he missed the prize presentation too!

Stage 3. Easter Sunday April 24th. “ The Waltz around Waterville”, 142km route, same as last year, 6 climbs.

This year the start to this stage was slightly slower and I was able to hang in with the bunch until the first king of the hills. I even got over the top in not too bad a position, but unfortunately I lost the next wheel in the line out and had to chase hard to catch back on. I wasn't the first person to get dropped, in fact, a whole load of people were still behind me. Up the next climb I was joined by 2 or 3 other guys and we all chased hard for about 20min or so to catch on to the next bigger group that we had in sight. A last little push and we were on. This group tried to get a chain gang going, but there were some that didn't want to participate, upsetting the pattern, so that in the end there were two strong guys that motorbiked us most of the way round. The roads were hard and energy sapping and this was the longest stage with 142km - I was happy when I rolled over the line at last (especially since I had lost one of my bottles and was running low on water....).

Stage position: 14th last of 126 finishers, in 4.08'03"

Stage results here, GC here.

Stage 4. Easter Monday April 25th. “The Puck Fair Polka", 114km stage, 2 laps circuit followed by 10 laps of the town with a cat 4 climb at the line each time.

I knew it wasn't happening even when I got up. This was confirmed when the flag was pulled in after the neutral start and the speed went up crazy. I couldn't hang on at all. There was nothing left. Battery empty. Didn't get charged up last night. Sorry. At least I wasn't the only one not feeling it and eventually two really nice Killorglin lads caught up to me and pulled me around the two big laps. We were not allowed on the small circuit, as the peloton had already completed a lap. Not that I wanted to go around anyway....

Stage position: 14th last of 124 finishers, in 2.58'57" (actual riding time was less, as they added on the time of the circuit laps we didn't do).

Stage results here, final GC here.

And that was my experience of this year's Ras Mumhan, over 13hours of racing in 4 days. I finished much higher up than last year (counting from the last person up: from 3rd last to 16th last), so that's a plus. I also finished with a groupetto every day apart from the last day, so I was happy with that too. I was not happy with how drained I was on the last stage and I am STILL recovering from the race today (it's 5 days later!). But hopefully what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and I'll have some great form come the Dalby and Offenburg World Cups!

Thanks so much to Theo English for his great massages after each stage - they did great things to invigorate my tired legs after each stage.

Thanks also to the race organizers, especially Mary and Michael Concannon for a great course and safe racing.