My first real CX race

After my excursion into track cycling had come to such a sudden end and I was not going to be going to Newport to another track camp, I was eager to do something else that weekend. Ryan was doing 2 CX races, one in Corkagh Park in Dublin and one in Moira, Ulster and I so wanted to do one too! The problem is that I don't have a track bike (my college stipend doesn't extend to biking equipment....), but Morty was so nice to lend me his bike for the Sunday race in Moira.

I watched the end of the Saturday CX race in Corkagh Park (Ryan came 3rd!) under blue skies and was hoping for the same weather and a dry course in Moira, for starters. I was not disappointed, on another blue skied day (is this really Ireland) Ryan and I made our way up to Moira and signed up for the senior race. Although the sky was blue and the sun was beaming down, the course in the park was surprisingly muddy and slippery. But no problem for Ryan's Schwalbe tires that I was using on Morty's bike. After two practice laps I was ready to go.


The advice I was given was basically to go full out from the start, and so I did. We had 9 laps to go and after about 3 laps I felt I was running out of steam, but I kept the pressure on. After my 4th lap I was lapped by a flying Roger Aiken, so I knew Ryan couldn't be far either. But he never came along - Ryan had snapped his rear mech! Either way I knew it could be tight to not be lapped TWICE, so I kept the pressure on, really enjoying sliding around the slippery corners and cutting through ankle deep mud and grass. I came down once in a slight off-camber corner, but it was more of a comical moment rather than a real crash at my slow speed. I had fun catching all the people that came into my sight and made up more and more places each lap. Unfortunately I kept loosing a few places again each time I came to the boards and my very non-elegant technique of getting over them cost me dearly, so that I had to chase back on and overtake those people each time again. In the end I had worked my way up from 25th position in my first lap to 16th in my last. Not bad for my first CX race!

Thanks to Morty for giving me a lend of his nice CX bike!

Full results are online here.

Reports on www.UlsterCyclocross.com and www.Stickybottle.com.

British Mountain Bike Series Round 5, Newnham Park, Plympton, Plymouth, UK

The last Round of the British Series was held in Newnham Park, near Plymouth, and is one of my favourites of the series. I've raced here a number of times, as part of the series and as part of the Bontrager 24/12 and I've never been disappointed with the course. This year Jay and Maddie Horten pulled out all the stops and created the best course I've ridden so far there and in the whole series this year.

Taking out the notorious grassy climb and replacing it with short sharp climbs and tons of rooty singletrack, combined with a new steep, technical and very slippery, slidery descent, plus the existing swoopy fast descents really made the course a winner for me. Every painful climb was rewarded with a great challenging or fun descent, I really really loved the course.

After the 5-day stage race the week before and relaxing the training and eating regime slightly over the last while and my head already in off-season, I wasn't sure how my legs would respond in the race. Thankfully I didn't need to worry too much, as I was leading the series and had pretty much bagged the title, bar some unlikely scenarios.

British Series podium: l-r: Maddie Horton (4th), Melanie Spath (2nd), Annie Last (1st), Lee Craigie (3rd), Cait Elliott (5th) (photo courtesy of Bob Bogdan Williams)

The weather was nice and at race start I lined up next to Annie Last, British national champ and silver-medalist in the U23 World Champs. We went off and let Annie set the pace, which was fairly relaxed at the start. The group in sight of each other for the first lap, and I settled into 3rd position after Annie Last and Lee Craigie. While Annie pulled away at the front and slowly got out of sight, I was battling with Lee. In the 2nd out of 4 laps I tried to get ahead of Lee on the climb, but she caught me again on the off-camber descent (I defo need to work on those this winter!). Then, on the 3rd lap I attacked on the short climb before the long technical and slippery descent. But Lee wasn't giving up and I could see her closing in on me again on the last steep climb in the lap. I kept the fire lit for the last lap and stayed clear until the finish, bagging a 2nd place behind Annie and sealing my overall series win. What a great way to end the season!



Full results are available on timelaps.co.uk and a report is up on britishCycling.co.uk.

Thanks to Conor for the support in the feedzone.

2011 An Post Ras na mBan

I am primarily a mountain biker who does a bit of road racing. But there is one road race a year that I make sure I am around for and in good form, the women's only international stage race "Ras na mBan".

This year the format has increased to 6 races in 5 days (from 4 races in 3 days), to celebrate 25 years of women's stage racing in Ireland. More than 50 riders from as far as the USA had signed up for it this year. I had the honour to be riding for the Womenscycling.ie team, a very strong team as it turned out that had all the bases covered.

Our team!

Day 1: Molls Gap (57.4km)

This stage always acts as a great test of legs and opens them up well for the next days to come. There was less attacks this year, but nonetheless the bunch broke up over Molls Gap with 18 riders in the front bunch sprinting for the line. I'm proud of my pocket rocket sprinter teammate to take the sprint.

Day 2: Valentia Island (90km)

I knew this stage from the Ras Mumhan earlier this year. Two good climbs and a lot of dead, windy and exposed roads. My strong teammate time trial specialist broke up the bunch over the first climb, but the bunch stalled at the bottom, so it all came back together. There were attacks all the way up the 2nd climb on Valentia Island and my pain threshold was really being tested when Olivia Dillon attacked over the top of the climb. I started to chase her, accompanied by 3 more strong riders and it took us a good while to reel her back in. We only got back to her after we had long gotten off Valentia Island. The breakaway bunch worked together and increased the lead all the way back to the finish, where I managed to place 3rd. There was now 5 riders well ahead of the rest of the field in general classification.

Day 3: Healy Pass (80.5km)

My favourite new stage, 3 big and a small hill. I was meant to take it easy. I think I took it a bit too easy at the start and was too far back when the bunch started to fracture on the windy roads down the first descent. I worked my way back up to the front and went over the top of the legendary Healy Pass just after the leaders. The technical descent was savage and I chased and chased and chased and found myself eventually with the same 3 riders +1 as yesterday, trying to chase down Olivia Dillon and Linda Ringlever. Just when we were close to them Olivia attacked Linda. When we caught Linda, none of us were in the mood of putting in a chase effort and so the time gap to Olivia kept growing, giving her a safe lead over the rest of us.

Day 4: AM: Gortagowan Circuit (66km)

One of my other favourite stages in this race: 4 laps of a tough little energy sucking circuit, including a potholed windy and tight climb. I tried to control the speed at the front as much as possible in each lap, as our plan was to give our pocket rocket sprinter another chance for a stage win. Only for she was boxed in she would have had it in her, having to be happy with 3rd. On the other hand, a gap opened in front of me, so I sprinted too and got 5th place.

Day 4: PM: Time Trial (3.1km)

Well, I made a few rookie mistakes (for example starting in the small ring....) and was not at all happy with my performance afterwards, thinking I had completely embarrassed myself. But Ryan's super skinsuit, shoecovers, aero wheel and pointy helmet must have made up for my mistakes so that I still managed to come a surprising 3rd, moving myself up into 2nd on GC with a lead of 12 seconds. My time trial champ teammate won it with a 4 second lead over 2nd and me.

Day 5: Coomaciste (93.5km)

The last stage was all about making sure I stayed with the front people and followed any dangerous attacks. Nobody worried too much when several people low on GC got away at the front and the bunch was enjoying a leisurely pace. Until we found out that the gap had grown to over 4min! Then even Olivia was getting worried and the Irish team and my team were made to work in front to reduce the time gap. Linda, 12sec down on GC on me attacked towards the top of the hill, but I made sure she didn't get far. My team mates did an absolutely fantastic job, killing themselves in front to bring the breakaway back eventually, sacrificing their own chances for a stage win. The bunch stayed together so that I maintained my 2nd place overall, my best result in the Ras na mBan so far. Next year I'm gonna get that leader's jersey!


Better support than in the men's Ras!

My team really did an amazing job, especially on the last day and I am grateful for it. You might not believe it, but I actually had the easiest ride that day, staying out of the wind and using up my teammates' strength to keep me protected and bring back the break. Thanks to the Pocket Rocket sprinter for sacrificing her chances for winning the sprint, thanks to the TT champ for sacrificing a possible solo breakaway, thanks to world champ pilot for a super domestique ride to the bottom of the mountain, congrats also to our newest rider for riding such a strong race, thanks to our mechanic for reading my wishes from my eyes and giving my bike more love than it has ever experienced, thanks to our manager for keeping us happy before, during and after the race, and thanks to the magic hands on my tired legs and knot in my back.

Results, reports and pictures can all be found on www.rasnamban.com.

Roll on Ras na mBan 2012!

3 wins in 3 races in 3 days!

Well, last weekend was a very successful weekend, racing-wise. Here is a short run-down of the events:

Friday: Irish Hill Climb Championships

It's not really an official championships for us women, only for men, but we can do it anyway. My husband Ryan won the title last year, so he was under pressure to defend his title (here's his report on how it went). I thought I'd give him some company, seeing that this time the course was literally around the corner from us, not in the furthest parts of the country as the last three years. The climb was a 2.3km stretch up Kilmashogue Lane, starting off softly, but becoming bloody steep before giving some respite on a false flat before turning into a horribly steep wall before flattening out again at the top. I never really go higher than the Kilmashogue car park in training, it's just too steep!

The evening of the hill climb was lovely after the rain had vanished and a huge crowd was out on the climb (thanks to all our friends who came out and cheered - it felt like an Irish Alpe d'Huez in parts and added a great atmosphere to the event! I even saw a "Go Mel" written on the road!!!). I went too hard at the start (even with my powermeter), averaging over 380W for the first 3min, then died a slow death on the flat part, trying to recover somewhat, then really suffered on the "wall" and the last flatter bit to the finish. Then I collapsed into a heap. It took me 9min and 8secs to cover the climb - first girl by over a minute and a half. My overall wattage was only 326W, a sign of my bad pacing. I believe I could break the 9min if I paced myself better.

Results here.

Fist one done!

Photo courtesy of Max Power

Saturday: Lakeland GP in Enniskillen/Last Round of the Women's League Race

After a very unrestful night - I was way too wired after the coffee, caffeinated ZipVit Gel and Hill Climb race adrenaline to be able to sleep. I actually got back up at 1am to do some computer programming until 3am, then lied back down, tossing and turning and waiting for dawn. Ryan and I had to get up early to leave for Enniskillen anyway, so the wait wasn't too long.

The race was a 70km mostly flat lollipop loop, with a 5km drag around the 35km turn-around mark.We girls were sent off with the over 50 men. I was tired and happy to sit in (I actually didn't really have a plan and decided to play this race by ear, seeing how I feel). The pace was steady and I followed any attacks, but nothing stuck and it was into a headwind anyway. Once on the drag a few of the men attacked. I wasn't that concerned, but decided to up the pace a bit and see what happens. The next time I turned around, only Sandra Fitzgerald was on my wheel and we had a sizeable gap! I kept up the speed and dragged us up the incline. Once over the top we worked together - I knew Sandra to be a good time trialist, so it was good to have her with me. We had a gap of over 1.5min after the climb, so it was about keeping up the speed, in case the bunch got themselves organized on the descent and flat towards the finish. At about 5km to go, just when I was thinking of how to play the finish - I didn't know if Sandra would be a good sprinter or not - Sandra punctured. So I soloed easily into the finish. Sandra was able to get a quick wheel-change and held off the bunch for 2nd place.

2 out of 2, I'm on a roll!

Results and report on www.cyclingulster.com and www.womenscycling.ie.

Podium pic

Sunday: Lakeland Warrior 100km MTB Race

When you're tired from racing and it's raining and you still got to do more training, there's nothing better than another race. So Ryan and I decided to do the first installment of the 100km Lakeland Warrior 100km MTB race, organized by www.26extreme.com. The race was mostly on forest roads, so great for a tired mind and a great test of endurance. I tried to stick with the lead group of men, but I was still feeling yesterday's race in the legs, so dropped back after about 5km after which I was mostly on my own until the finish. At 50km we popped out at a beautiful viewpoint over what looked like hobbit land with lots of lakes and wild landscape - I wish I had had my camera with me!

I had a great endurance session and finished in 4h 33min, just half an hour behind Ryan, who won the race. I was 6th overall. This is defo one I'd go back to! Results here.

So I'm one up on the win-count on Ryan this weekend - hehe!

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!