Right, it is seldom that the stars align so perfectly in cycling,
so when they do, it's all about making the most of it. Ryan and I had actually
joked around on a ride at Christmas when I was doing some "motor
pacing" behind Ryan about how we would pull something
like this off should the opportunity ever arise. We did not think that we would
get this opportunity so soon in this year's Ballinrobe 2-day stage race:
First off, the Ballinrobe 2-day is a handicapped stage race with 3
stages in the beautiful west of Ireland, just north of Galway.
Stage 1: hilly 80km loop
Stage 2: 7km flat TT
Stage 3: flat-ish 120km (8 x 15km loop)
The special circumstance allowing for this opportunity is that the
Ballinrobe 2day combines both men's and women's racing by giving the women a
headstart over the Cat 1/2/3 men. So on stage 1 the women got a 10min headstart
over the Cat 3 men/Juniors who got another 3min headstart over the Cat 1/2 men.
As a Cat 2 rider I got the choice to either start with the Cat 1/2
men or with the women. I actually thought my legs needed it a bit of an easier start today,
so I decided to start with the women.
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| Hanging on for dear life! |
From the gun, the 10 women formed an efficient and fast pace
line. It was great to see how everyone was working together, with everyone
doing their fair share of work at the front. This pace line was only interrupted
at the first intermediate sprint which became a drag race between Amy and me
and which Amy won and on the first KOM, which I took ahead of Amy. Shortly
after the descent from the first KOM we started climbing again, this time up
the major climb of the day, the 1st cat Lally's Mountain at around 30km.
Playing off my mtb background, I increased the speed on the climb, making it
harder for the girls to hang on, with Amy staying on my wheel the longest. I
decided to keep the pace up over the climb and was rewarded by a beautiful view
of Lough Mask on the other side. The descent was technical and I was happy to
be able to take it at my own speed. I kept looking back, but couldn't see any of
the women behind me. I wasn't sure if it would be better to conserve my energy
and wait for the girls to catch back up or to keep going hard. I decided that I
would keep going hard to try and take as many KOM points as possible before being
caught by the men, since this was the day where most KOM points were available.
So I kept going in TT style, taking one KOM after another. I got word during this time that Amy
and Dalia were only 30sec behind me and the men a further 2min back. I took the
last KOM and was still not caught, so I kept going anyway. Then, just after the
descent from the last KOM I looked back and who did I see? My husband Ryan!!!
And more importantly, Ryan by himself without anyone in sight behind. When he
passed me he just said: "Get on my wheel and do not leave it!". And
that is what I did.
 |
| 25km "leadout" by Ryan |
Thankfully the last 25km were mostly flat, so I could stick to
Ryan's wheel (mind you, going behind Ryan on the flat is like motor pacing
behind a motor bike!!!). The only time I went to the front during the next 25km
was to take the next intermediate sprint. Ryan was on his limit and I was on
mine and I counted down the km to the finish. The closer we came to the finish,
the more time Ryan put into the chasing peloton. With 10km to go I knew that we
would make it without being caught. Finally, 200m from the line it was my turn
again to take up first position and I crossed the finish line with both arms in the air! With that I now
lead all classifications: GC (yellow jersey), sprint (green jersey) and climb
(polka dot), a first in Irish cycling history in a men's and women's combined race.
 |
| WIN!!! |
To be fair, this was quite a unique situation, and the
circumstances all played in my favour for this to be possible: the course being
hilly for the first 50km and then flat for the last 30km, the tailwind in the
2nd part of the race, the women working together well before the big climb, the
large handicap and the fact that it was Ryan who broke away from the remnants
of the men's peloton and bridged across to me. There is no doubt that Ryan, who
was able to drop all of the men could have easily dropped me too, but he made
sure I stayed on his wheel and didn't contest me in the sprints (thanks
honey!!! women's cycling owes you one!). He also knew that he would take yellow
from me after tomorrows morning TT.
 |
| Suffering in the TT |
The TT went OK with Ryan winning and taking yellow from me and I
only lost about a minute, so I was still 2nd on GC and started the afternoon's
stage in virtual yellow with only a 3min head start over the A3/Juniors and
another 2min over the A1/A2s, which I felt was too little over the much longer
course (pay back for me taking all the jerseys in stage 1??? ;)). It was great
though when they presented the jerseys: Ryan got to wear yellow, I got green
and Amy who was next in line on the KOM competition got to wear polka dot - all
jerseys worn by family and friends :)
 |
| We got ALL the jerseys (Mel, Ryan, Amy) |
The last stage the women didn't work as well together and we
didn't get a good pace line going. Amy went for the sprint very early, so I got
on her wheel and got a great lead out to take the first sprint ahead of her.
Then, just before the first KOM we got caught by some of the A3s and the speed
went up. The A3s had worked hard trying to stay ahead of the A1/2s. The speed
was really high with the A3s and I don't remember which lap it was, but a group
broke away at the front, just ahead of me. I was tired from my effort the day
before and just couldn't hold on to their wheel and had to let them go.
Surprisingly they got a really big gap quickly and kept increasing their lead.
What I had not been aware off was that there were some A1/A2s in that break
that had previously bridged across to our group and they were working very hard
and well together pulling out such a large lead. By the time the rest of the
A1/2s caught up to us, they were long gone and had about 4min 30 on us. Ryan
being in yellow the onus was on Ryan to try and pull as much time back as
possible, putting in another superhuman effort. Unfortunately it wasn't enough,
and he eventually lost yellow by 5seconds, finishing 2nd on GC. But together with
my 7th place overall and having kept both the KOM and sprint jerseys, this was
a very successful weekend for team husband and wife and women's cycling in Ireland :)
Certainly, the stage 1 victory created some media attention (see
links below). However, while I was going to my limits to pull off stage 1 with
Ryan's help, what is more commendable is that several of the women were able to
stick with the chasing A1/2/3/junior group on stage 1 and that many women were
able to stay with the peloton on stage 3, as the pace was very fast at times.
It bodes well for the future of women's cycling in Ireland!!!
- http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/magestic-mel-spath-rewrites-the-rules-with-stage-win-and-yellow-in-ballinrobe-two-day/
- http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/up-and-running-balinrobe-twoday-cycle-race-29500925.html
- http://www.chainreactionhub.com/latest-news/983-could-the-ladies-rewrite-the-rules
