Chancing it at the CX Champs

I had just signed up to the CX Champs. I have no real CX experience or racing fitness, let alone a CX bike. But I thought I'd chance it anyway.

Step 1: Get CX bike.

Ryan has a CX bike. Not exactly the right fit (XL!), the cranks and bottom bracket need changing, the stem needs changing, wheels need to be set up with suitable cassette and CX tires. Ryan's in Gran Canaria. Mel has no idea of bottom brackets or cranks, or crank removal tools. 3hours of YouTube, manuals, rummaging in the bike room for the right tools and a few skype calls for remote mechanical advice from Ryan and I had a bike. Still a bit big (I can barely stand flat on the ground when standing over the top tube), but I got a working CX bike (and a proud Mel for having learned how to change cranks and BBs!). Done!

(I had also send out a tweet and some very kind people offered me their bikes (thanks guys!) on short notice, so I even had a 2nd bike, the correct size, which I picked up the night before the champs from Liam).

Step 2: Lean CX skills.

I took out Ryan's bike into Marley Park for an hour the day before the race and practiced hopping on and off and carrying the bike. Done!

Step 3: Race

It was a typical miserable Irish winter's day. Grey and wet and cold.

I just about managed to get in a practice lap before the course was closed. I had not arranged for a helper (until the night before I thought I would only have one bike) and the bike wash was busy, so I couldn't clean the bike before the race. My plan was to leave Ryan's bike in the tech zone and ride Liam's bike first. A good few women lined up and we were set off with the Vets and the juniors. My biggest competition was Fran Meehan, who was well prepared and well supported and had raced the CX league this winter. Our race was 5 laps. My mtb skills helped a lot on the technical corners and I was going hard, so I was leading for the first half of the race, but Fran was never far behind me. Then my bike got so clogged up I needed a bike change. Fran had just overtaken me before the tech zone and gotten a swift bike change herself from her helper. I went into the tech zone, but they had reorgnized the bikes and I couldn't see Ryan's bike at first. I lost time locating Ryan's bike, putting Liam's bike out of harms way and retrieving Ryan's bike from behind other bikes and changing over my Garmin. By the time I got going again, Fran had disappeared. I tried to make up the time, but it was tough going on the deteriorating ground. The racing effort also slowly took its toll on me and I was getting tired. Ryan's bike clogged up in no time on the grassy muddy ground and I had to stop a few times just freeing the crank and wheels of grass and mud. I felt I was fighting against the bike as much as against the ground, while Fran was increasing her gap. I knew in the last lap that I wouldn't be able to catch her again and saw no woman behind me, so I took it a bit easier on the last lap, rolling in for a good 2nd place.

Reflection:
Having a support person in the tech zone is a must. I wish I could have had another bike change for the last lap. Fran rode a good race. I had no idea what to expect, but I'm happy with the result considering the minimal preparation and my current form. And it's a good sign for the increasing level of competition in women's racing that I can't just turn up to a race like this and win.

OLH 17:45

OLH - only riders in Northern California commonly know the meaning of those three letters. OLH stands for Old La Honda, the most popular climb on Strava. Nearly 5000 Strava members have ridden this segment over 33,000 times, and over 500 of them are female. It's pretty cool then that both my husband and I are currently holding the male and female Strava records on this climb.

Climbing Tunitas

Here are some of its statistics:

Distance: 4.9km
Avg Grade: 8.1%
Elevation difference: 395m
Climb Category: 2

The first time I went up this climb was in 2010, when I visited California for the first time to get in a good block of winter training. Ryan convinced me to go for the QOM on OLH and on one of my last days over there I went for it. All I can remember was that it was very painful. My time was 19:24, I beat the record.

Then, last year, a Swedish ultra-cyclist (Catherina Berge) took the crown from me, improving the QOM by a full 20 seconds to 19:04. I was over in California again in 2011, but couldn't get myself into the right frame of mind to try to regain the crown (it hurts, you know!).

Now a tradition, I came over to the US again in November 2012. I had just submitted my PhD thesis two weeks before travelling. I had been three months off the bike to get the thesis finished before my submission deadline. I had become fat and unfit. And sick. I had been on a whirlwind trip involving four flights, a wedding in London, a gala dinner back in Dublin before taking an early morning flight back to London for a connecting long-haul to SFO, very little sleep and a bad cold before collapsing on a bed after arriving in California. I was determined to get my training in and suffered through it. I wasn't lucky with tropical storms making training very wet outside when I was just back in health and a 24hour stomach bug flooring me yet again. Finally, in the last week of my 3 week stay good health and good weather coincided and I could enjoy a super week of riding.

Still fat and only a little fitter, trying to regain my OLH crown this year was not really on my radar. I was also riding quite a lot in the last 2 days before we were due to fly back home (about 9 hours), so I just thought "another time". Instead I thought I might try to break the HWY 9 record - a rather long and shallow drag with the help of Ryan's draft. But then Ryan just said the night before we were due to fly: "Mel, you're not doing HWY9 tomorrow, you're doing Old la honda." And as soon as he had put that little voice in my head that I may actually be able to break the record, my mind was set. I had a good nights sleep and thought about OLH, visualizing the pain I'd have to endure to get up it. I have learned a lot the last few weeks about pain and suffering, not in an injury sense, but in a training sense (more on that in a future blog post), and was ready to take the suffering a record attempt would surely bring.

Tired, but happy

As soon as I opened my eyes the next morning I was focussed and in the zone. I had breakfast, got ready and rode to the base of OLH, doing my usual pre-race warm-up. The weather was beautiful and warm and the wind conditions favourable. I met Ryan at the bottom of the hill and purged my pockets and my bike of all unnecessary weight, leaving my bottles, saddle bag and extra clothing at the bottom of the hill. Ryan was going to be my pacer. Before we went off, he asked me if I wanted him to go conservatively or for a good time - I said as long as I see an 18 something, even 18:59, I'd be happy. And so we went off. Went off very, very easy. That easy that I was getting a bit worried after a couple of minutes: "Ryan, are you OK?" I asked, because I didn't think we were going fast enough to break the record, I didn't feel any pain! He just told me to trust him. And so we went on, slowly. I had prepared myself for all this sufferage, but none of it had manifested so far. About 9min and halfway into the climb, Ryan started to speed up. Finally a bit of pain! Now I was getting a bit more confident that I might be able to make it. But I didn't want to be distracted and only concentrated on Ryan's rear wheel. Slowly the pain was seeping into my body, but it was still very manageable. Slowly Ryan upped his pace, more and more the closer we came to the top. I was finally in a state of acceptable suffering and concentrated on being able to bear it. The meters went by and the speed kept going up and up and up. And before long we entered the last couple hundred meters and I flew past the mailboxes, just able to remember to stop my Garmin. 17:45! No way!

Got the Fred Tattoo to prove it!

I looked at my HR profile after and could see I went really high. I could not believe that I was able to go so hard and that I only needed to suffer really for the second half of the climb. Ryan later said he paced me on a really negative split, which seemed to work really well. I love being in the zone!

I was very happy with that time, especially considering my condition and recent time off the bike. Statistical estimates suggest that drafting counts for roughly 10-15 seconds. But what I think was the real advantage to having Ryan there was his pacing. It takes a lot of confidence and constraint to go into a record attempt with such a negatively paced split.

I just noticed that there's a new 2nd place on this segment - nice to see more riders testing themselves on this climb (and I'm glad Ryan paced me for a faster time than an 18:59)!

National Hill Climb Champs ad

3rd National Title!

Alright, my supervisor rather have me writing on me thesis, but I thought I'd owe you a bit of an update.

A few weeks ago I looked at the deadline for my PhD - 31st of October with Deans Grace, and at the events I was hoping to do - Ras na mBan and World Championships, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma. I really really wanted to do the Ras na mBan and my selection to be on the Irish National Team with some very strong riders around me was pretty sure and I would have loved to get up that final step on that podium (I came 2nd last year). I love the race, I love Kerry, it was this race that got me into road cycling in the first place. Then the worlds - I had a pretty good case to be selected for the TT and road world championships this year and what an honour it would have been to represent my country at such a big event. But then there is also reality, which consists of my PhD funding running out for sure at the end of September and the pressure of getting my thesis finished before October 31st so that a) it will finally be finished and b) I don't have to pay fees for yet another year. For four years I have tried to combine both cycling and PhDing, and I am proud of what I have achieved in both, but it has always been a compromise on both parts and I was feeling eternally guilty on not giving either the focus it deserved. I knew with the pressure on in my PhD and such big events like the Ras and the Worlds I would not have been able to commit enough time and effort to both at the same time to put in a satisfactory performance. I sat down and did a lot of deep thinking and came to the conclusion that for me and my mind it would be best to get the PhD out of the way now so that I will be able to start the next cycling season without that weight on my shoulders and my mind.

So I took the hard decision to withdraw from the selection pool for the Ras na mBan National Team and the World Championships - for those who wondered why I am not on the selected teams (oh, and I am not pregnant and whatever other rumours went around!)

Anyhow, so I've been chaptering and paragraphing and tabling and graphing on my thesis and very little pedalling on my bike since. I managed to squeeze in a couple of rides here and there (sure, there's no point in sitting in front of your computer being unproductive if you can get out for a ride and come back refreshed!), but it's completely unstructured and fun only.

Anyhow, Ryan was always raving about the National Marathon Champs race in Ballyhoura. He was planning to do it, but got a call last week to replace a sick rider on very short notice to ride the Tour de Piemont in the Pyrenees. He was very sad to not to be defending his title in Ballyhoura, so I thought I'll do it and try to keep the title in the family. My gamble was that I would hopefully have enough fitness left after 3 weeks without proper training and that Ciara McManus, last years champion would still be tired from her Breck Epic adventure. Anyhow, doing the marathon champs would also be a nice break from the thesis writing.

Anyhow, Alan and I made our way down to Ballyhoura, where 75km of fireroads and single-track awaited us. The weather was pleasant too when we lined up for the mass start. When the gun went off, Ciara and I tried to stay with the faster men. I was wary not to go too fast at the start, as I didn't want to blow up later on, but also didn't want to be stuck behind slower men on the twisty and flowy single track sections. I assumed position as first woman, and settled into a good rhythm quickly enough. With the course so twisty, it was hard to see how much of a gap you had, so I kept riding a good tempo, looking back frequently to see if I could see Ciara in case I had to put the pressure on. The course rode amazing, especially on my Specialized S-Works 29er. The bigger wheels and the full-suspension were the perfect choice for this course. I don't get to Ballyhoura often, so it was a lot of fun bombing down those single-track sections. I nearly lost it a few times and managed to drop into a ditch on a hidden switch-back section, but apart from that I had no issues. The course was marked perfectly - thanks to Team Ballyhoura - I was impressed how they could fit 75km into such a compact area. Everything went well, my bike worked perfectly and I loved the race, flying along the single-track (I decided to take it easy on the climbs and put in the effort on the descents instead :)).

The first 65km flew by and were a blast, but the last 10km were tough. I think my body knew it was close to home and everything started hurting, my hands, my back, my neck, my legs and my arms. I'm not used to those distances off-road any more (I must have gone soft - in 2009 I did the XC race on Saturdays and a 100km XC marathon race on Sundays for the complete British Series in the UK)! I thought that last climb was never going to end, but then it was mostly downhill, hurrah! I finished in first place after 4hours and 8min, having loved every second of it, my 3rd national title this year. Unfortunately there were only 5 Irish starters in the Elite womens' category, so I don't get a jersey and Orla won't get a medal for her superb 3rd place, especially considering her much more eventful ride! Well done also Ciara for 2nd.

Anyhow, I really really enjoyed the race and it was great to finish off a fantastic year with such a great race and another national title. Thanks again to Team Ballyhoura for putting on this great event - it was such fun and well organized and deserved more entries than it had. Thanks to Alan for superb support as usual and thanks to my sponsors, Cycleways, ZipVit, Schwalbe and KCNC for their loyal support.

Will update post with results, links etc. later.

Right, back to the serious thesis writing now!

Irish National MTB Champs 2012

This year was the first year I was going to be eligible for the title of Irish MTB National Champ. I won the race last year, but because I didn't yet have an Irish license I was not able to get the jersey, which went to my main competitor Cait Elliott.

The Elite Women's start - photo by Gareth Gibbons

This year though, for various reasons, my focus had changed more to road cycling and my mountain bike started gathering dust. But when the TT and road champs were finally dusted, I took out my new machine for the first time (a Specialized Epic 29er, courtesy of Cycleways). I had 4 weeks to get reacquainted with mountain biking and get used to my new bike. And I loved it! I thought that I had turned roadie, just like Ryan, but getting out and about into the "wilderness" of Wicklow, it was so refreshing to be able to switch from the clean and ordered road biking to some messy muddy mountain biking for some raw fun, away from cars and in the pure beauty of nature. I loved it. My skill level returned almost immediately, and my new bike road fantastically. Having talked to some other converts, there seems to be agreement that the biggest difference of riding a 29er is on bumby, rooty, technical terrain, where the bigger wheels just flatten the course out for you. I took the machine out on some of the EPIC club races, to see how it fares on such a tight technical course and no problem there either, in fact, the size helped it getting around those switch backs better. I was ready to return and claim the title, for real this time!

On XTC, photo by Gareth Gibbons

This year, the MTB Champs was hanging in a balance for a long time, with nobody willing or able to carry it out, until Robin Seymour from WORC picked up the pieces again and decided to put it on in Djouce forest. And what a course it was - a typical "Robinesque" course, with plenty of virgin steep off-camber rooty single-track.
Then, my biggest competitor and my biggest motivator, Cait Elliott was going to be missing from the champs, getting over an injury that has kept her from racing all this year. Nonetheless, 9 women lined up at the start of my race on an unusually hot and windy Sunday in a field across from the Powerscourt waterfalls - full marks for scenery!

We went off and I took the bull at its horns and went to the front from the start. Unfortunately we were set off behind all the other category men, so soon enough we caught on to their tail and and then it was just a question of how many men can you overtake on the fireroad sections before being stuck behind the next men on the technical and tight singletrack. I made it round the 4 laps quickest of all of the women without any major incidents, so for the first time I won the national mtb champs for real! And was selected for anti-doping control, again.....my 3rd time in 5 weeks!

Elite Women's podium: Ciara McManus 2nd, Mel Spath 1st, Claire Oakley 3rd (Photo by Conor Graham)

So what do I take from this. Well, I still love mountain biking. I love riding around the mountains, the forest trails, conquering tricky parts, the adrenaline of doing a difficult drop or flying over a rooty section without falling off. The fun and the craic of going out with a group and play around the forest trails, racing each other up the hills and down rooty descents. The hilarious comic moments you get in mtbing that you rarely get anywhere else. The thick cover of mud after a wet spin, the down-to-nature rawness of it all.

So what will it be? Road racing complemented by mtb training or mtb racing complemented by road training..... The way things are, I think it'll be the first option, but that's a whole new blog post.....

Full results and report available on StickyBottle.

Thanks to Aine Conneff for perfect pit support as usual. Thanks also to my sponsors, especially

• Cycleways for the amazing new Specialized Epic 29er, making up fabulously for the lack of extended skills training
• Schwalbe for providing the right underfooting with a choice of great 29er tires
• KCNC for super light and high-quality finishing kit
• Zipvit for fulfilling the serious Elite athlete's nutritional needs, especially on a hot sunny day like this - I used the ZipVit extreme Energy drink this time to make up for the salt lost in the buckets of sweat!

Mullingar 2-day

This was the first time that I did the Mullingar 2-day stage race. Ryan really enjoyed the race last year and convinced me to do it this year too, especially since they put on a completely separate women's race.

Stage 1: 71km, 2 laps of an out and back lollipop loop
22 ladies had turned up to this race, and I knew the Irish Development Team were looking to impress as this race was part of their selection race for the Irish team for the Ras na mBan in September. The weather was a little bit damp and we had some good wind. The course was lumpy but did not contain any selective hills. Early on, a few riders were let get away, including a very strong Anne Dalton from the Irish Dev Team. I was hoping for some of the stronger people to get away early and then bridge across to them. I decided to wait until we got to a more crosswindy section before starting my attacks and tried one attack after another, but was chased down every time. I attacked some more and tried to keep the pace high, hoping to fracture some of the bunch but nobody was coming through to help to establish a break. We eventually caught all the breakaways bar Anne. Eventually, after yet another attack and high-speed line out, the elastic snapped and 5 of us broke off the front, setting off in pursuit of Anne, who had been riding hard and had amassed over a minute lead on us. Unlucky for us, we also had Amy in our group, Anne's teammate, so she got a free ride across to Anne, who we eventually caught before the first lap was over. Then, the whole breakaway group worked well together in pursuit of increasing the gap to the peloton. In the end Anne, Amy and I were sharing the brunt of the work to keep up the pace and only about 1km to go the games started. I went for my sprint a little early, thinking the finish line would be at the top of the hill, and saw Amy pulling by me from the corner of my eye, but there was no line at the top of the hill - it was actually a bit further down the hill on the other side! So I decided to tag onto Amy's wheel, and when the finish line appeared Amy got the sprint ahead of me. She's got some sprint that girl! Mental note to self: make sure you know exactly where the finish line is before you start the race!

Top 5 overall (photo by Caroline Martinez)

Stage 2: 3.3km uphill/flat TT
There was lots of discussion and speculation of which bike would be the better one to use on this short TT: a road bike or a TT bike. Looking at the profile beforehand, I had settled for the road bike, as the course was so short and about half of it was climb and the other half pretty flat. We had a great tail wind too. I went full gas from the start and kept going hard, finishing with a time of 5min 21 secs, which would have put me into joint 2nd in the A4 mens racing. But the more important thing was that I had created a gap of 31 seconds to the next rider down the list.

Stage 3: 51km fairly flat loop with a couple of short drags
Without teammates myself and two strong riders in the Irish Development Team only just over half a minute behind me on GC, I knew I was in a dangerous situation. All I needed to do was to watch these two and the other three who were within a minute of me on GC to protect my lead, but Anne and Amy are two strong riders on a mission and Amy would be the freshest of all of us having been able to sit in yesterday in the chase group that chased down her teammate. I knew they'd probably try and tire me out with attacks and for one of them to get away to make up the time between them and me. And I was not disappointed. As soon as we hit the first hill, Amy started attacking, followed by Anne, followed by Amy, followed by Anne, ..... The attacks kept coming and coming but I made sure I stayed on their wheels. This went on for about three quarters of the race, with either Anne or Amy attacking and both of them keeping the pace high in front. Then, a few of the other people started attacking, but we chased down anyone close to us on GC. Not far from the finish, a group of less dangerous people attacked and were let go. None of the people high up on GC were willing to chase and for me the GC overall was more important than the stage. Some of the people lower on GC started chasing, afraid of dropping places in the overall and we tagged along. Eventually we caught all the girls but one, Monica Marconi, who had gotten away from the breakaway herself to win the stage and put a gap of 20secs on the rest of us. Amy Brice and Anne Dalton from the Irish Development team put in another great sprint after having ridden hard all day, taking 2nd and 3rd of the stage and I rolled over the line in 7th happy to have kept my 1st overall place in GC.

Ryan also had a great weekend of racing, winning the A1/A2 race, so it was success all around in the Spath/Sherlock household :)

L to R: Dermot Hogan, Chairman Lakeside Wheelers, Ryan Sherlock, Melanie Spath and Race Director Joe Duffy. - Photo by J Duffy

Thanks to Mullingar for their excellent and safe race organization and spoiling us with a big feed of sandwiches, cake and cookies they put on for us after each stage. I'll definitely put this one on my calendar again for next year!

Report from IrishCycling.com here.
Report from Stickybottle.com here and here.

Strava files:
Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3.

Irish National Road Race Championships

Part 2!

Winning the Irish National Champs Road Race (photo by Barry from IrishCylingPhotos.com)

Irish National Road Race Champs:
After my silver medal at the National TT Champs, I had already achieved my aim and could go into the road race relaxed. I still consider road racing a bit more of a lottery, you not only have to be fit and strong, but you also have to be able to take the right decision at the right time, making use of opportunities as they arise. I guess with experience you become better at recognizing and using these opportunities, but I am not kidding myself, I know I still have a lot to learn on that side when surrounded by seasoned professionals.

Women's Championships starting off (photo by Nadia Gativa)

Anyhow, a total of 28 women started the race, with all three TT medallists at the startline too. So I at least knew I needed to watch those two. Then there were girls I raced against during the year, so I knew their strengths and weaknesses, and then there were those that live further away and I have not raced against much or ever, so I decided to keep an eye on those too as there could be a few surprises.

The course was seven laps of a 12.5km loop (total 88km), about 6km of a bumpy/hilly road on the way out along the Suir, over a bridge, then a pretty flat and fast way back to the town along the river with the finish on the middle of the bridge. The weather was blustery with a headwind on the way out and there were some strong showers.

Olivia pushing the pace up the hills (photo by Nadia Gativa)

I was hoping for a hard race and I was not disappointed. The first lap was a bit like a warm-up lap until Orla Hendron started the first attack in style and got into an early breakaway with an ever improving Amy Brice and Roisin Kennedy. Then, Olivia Dillon and Siobhan Horgan started up the fireworks on the hills in the second lap, where we caught the early breakaway. There was a particularly nasty double hill, both pretty steep, before a fast descent down to the river and bridge and the headwind meant that if you got dropped on the climb, it would be hard to get back on on the descent. So while Olivia and Siobhan attacked, I made sure that the damage the attacks created stuck by driving the pace over the crest of the second hill and down to the bridge and around the corner (Ryan kindly allowed me to use his new Leightweight Meilenstein wheels on my Specialized Venge - having used my heavy powertap wheel and a generic front wheel in most other races I could not believe how well the Leightweights ride and corner - it was easier up the hill and I had so much fun descending and cornering, I always went full gas down the hill and into that corner). A few people got dropped every lap, but we didn't get a good rhythm going to stay away in the beginning and more and more of the people we had dropped were able to get back on through the cavalcade. At one stage I attacked and got a gap going around the corners of the far bridge, hoping to have a few strong riders coming across to me, but nobody followed and it was too early for any solo effort, so I sat back up. Then, a few more laps down, with increasing rain, the bunch was whittled down to eight people after the last hill and we got a good enough rhythm going, working well enough together to not be caught again by the main bunch.

Suffering in the rain (Photo by Nadia Gativa)

Then, in the penultimate lap, the pace on the climbs again was ferocious, with a very active Olivia, so that half of our group got dropped, so that it was only four of us left: the three TT medalists Olivia, Siobhan and me and Lydia Boylan, a track sprint specialist that lives in London. That was almost the perfect group - I had hoped to be in a three women breakaway with Siobhan and Olivia; having Lydia in the mix made it even more exciting. Going into the last lap, I thought that there was a chance of the four of us staying together until the end and that it may come down to a sprint. So I had a good look at the finishing area, to be prepared for a sprint if it came to it (I was actually thinking: "What would Fiona do?" - Fiona Meade is an amazing sprinter who has given me advice before on sprinting technique and timing) and decided if it came down to it, the 200m sign would be a good place to go (Fiona said later that that would have been where she would have gone too - so the advice helped!)

Up and over along the river Suir (photo by Nadia Gativa)

I also thought that I would be happy enough if it came down to a sprint, four people is a small enough group to keep an overview of who is doing what, and I thought I should have a good chance of getting at least into the medals (I had plenty of opportunities recently of honing in on my sprint skills against my biggest rival in Irish women's racing, Spaniard Sara Ortiz, who is providing me with a sprint challenge in almost every race!). I also didn't think I could get away from the other girls before that, so my plan was to stay conservative for the last few km, follow whatever move went and hope to still be there with them at the finish.

Crossing the finish line first! (photo by tipperaryphotos.com)

The four of us worked fairly well together into the last lap, with Olivia trying to get away a few times, but we didn't let her go. Olivia attacked with about 3km to go, but we were on her wheel, then she tried again at 1km to go, which is about 600m before the last corner onto the bridge, but again we didn't let her get away. We rode around the left-hand corner onto the wide bridge and the three girls went onto the right side of the road, but I stayed on the left. I had thought that one of the girls would attack out of the corner, with 400m to go and wanted to be on the shorter route, but nobody went and I found myself alone on the left. I kept travelling the same speed, on my side of the road, waiting for one of them to start sprinting to the line, so that I would start too, but when the 200m sign came up and they still hadn't started their sprint, I decided I might as well go myself and sprinted like a possessed mad cow, head bopping, eyes crossing, hoping I can keep it up before someone comes around me. I knew I had won when I crossed the line.

I won! (Photo by Nadia Gativa)

I still find it hard to believe that I won. I am very happy that I was given that opportunity and that I was able to see it as such. As I said at the start, it sometimes comes down to just taking the right decision at the right time, recognizing opportunities and making the most of it. It could just as well have been a mistake to be on the left side, because the wind came from the left, so generally, this would have been the "wrong" side to be on. I also didn't get any shelter because I was on my own and would have been too far away to quickly get onto anyone's wheel if they had started sprinting. So it could easily have gone wrong. But at the same time, maybe if they had watched me more closely or if they had been on my wheel I would not have had this chance. Anyone of the four of us were strong enough to win, but fortune was on my side and right timing meant it was me who won in the end :) I am very happy with how everything went and even though the course wasn't possibly as long as it would be on the continent, it was long enough to force a selection, so that the strongest riders were there at the end. And even though I've got no other national road race champs to compare to, but I thought the race was super exciting!

Elite women's podium: Siobhan Horgan (2nd), Mel Spath (1st), Olivia Dillon (3rd) (photo by Nadia Gativa)

As usual, I would not have been able to achieve what I did without the huge amount of help and support that I am getting. First of all I want to thank my husband and coach, for being who you are and for getting me into cycling and always believing in me - my success is your success. Poor him actually had to endure a hissy fit a few days before the champs, when I complained about the training not preparing me well enough for the big day - yes, honey, I'll admit: You were right! And how many people can say they have coached multiple national champions?
Secondly, I want to thank my friend, bike mechanic, masseur, soigneur, organizer and mental supporter Stewart Carr (yes, all in one person!), who tirelessly helps out at races, making sure that I have a world class set up, so that the only thing I need to do is to pedal. He's one of the most valuable people to have around in a race - doesn't matter what happens or breaks, Stew can sort it out.
On top of a world class coach and set up, I am also lucky to have the support of my sponsors who make it possible for me to ride on world class equipment. First and foremost I want to thank Cycleways/Specialized for their ongoing, growing and loyal support. Thank you for providing me with a world class road frame to ride this year - I bet you didn't think it'll be a champions frame by the end of it! Now I just have to make sure that the mountain bike gets the same honour.
I would also like to thank my nutrition sponsor ZipVit for their ongoing support. You play a big part in my success.

ROARRRR!!!! (Photo by Nadia Gativa)

Thank you to my PhD supervisor who has supported me in my cycling endeavors from the start.
Thanks also to all the people in Cycling Ireland who have supported me in the process of declaring to ride for Ireland. I have lived in Ireland for the past twelve years - it is such an honor for me to be able to wear the Irish Champions jersey and I'll wear it with pride both in Ireland and internationally. I may have been born in Germany, but my cycling is 100% Irish born!
I am so overwhelmed by the support of the Irish Cycling community, I have never before felt so many people being happy for me at winning this race - this completely reassures me that my decision to declare for Ireland was right.
Finally, I'd like to thank the race organization and Clonmel CC for putting on such a well organized, great and very safe event. I thoroughly enjoyed the race and I am already looking forward to the Suir Valley 3 day on the August Bank Holiday Weekend, another great event in beautiful countryside.

See, I really only played a small part in it!

My Strava file from the road race champs: http://app.strava.com/activities/11687571

Links:
Live updates:
http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/art_6412.shtml

Reports:
http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/art_6414.shtml
http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/spath-overwhelms-favourites-to-take-womens-road-race-champs/
http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/full-set-of-results-for-womens-national-road-race-championships/

Videos:
http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/art_6416.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT1fIc-Iwys&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlZbtok7Vyo

Photos:
http://www.irishcycling.com/publish/news/art_6421.shtml
http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/set-of-photos-from-the-womens-road-race-championships-in-clonmel/
http://www.irishcyclingphotos.com/?p=2602
http://www.irishcyclingphotos.com/?p=2591
http://tipperaryphotos.com/National-Cycling-Championships-Clonmel-June-21st-24th-2012