Irishrich
Über Member
- Location
- Northern Ireland
The race set off at 9.30am with a larger than expected turnout as some old hands turned up without telling anyone, making the competition even tougher. The 3 groups each had 9-10 riders with group 1 supposedly new racers but I soon found out most were experienced club riders who never did much racing. I was only one of two new club members so I was in a field of experienced racers and riders. Option 1 was the favoured one as our group kept a very good pace and there was no way anyone could break away on their own, in fact we dropped 3 riders after the 2nd lap of the course to leave us with 6 until the end of lap 3. Group 2 set off 3.5 minutes after us and group 3 a further minute after them so we weren't given much of a head start. Group 3 caught group 2 after half a lap but didn't reach us until half way through lap 4 which was the final lap. (This was 20 miles into a 23 mile race).
I admit that the high pace through 20 miles and some very sharp climbs took its toll on my inexperienced legs and I dropped off the back of our group 2 miles from the finishing line. I'm proud of matching them and beating many group 2 riders in the race but was a little gutted I couldnt keep with the group for the full 23 miles. I finished 15th out of 29 but I feel good as I learnt so much about racing and know where I can improve next time so gradually I will get better. Here's the strava link to my race: http://www.strava.com/activities/87232385
If you analyse it you can see that the sharp climbs on laps 3 and 4 really start getting slow as my legs were in agony but I still kept up the pace on the flat. It wasn't a flat course so I'm happy with my 20mph average.
I admit that the high pace through 20 miles and some very sharp climbs took its toll on my inexperienced legs and I dropped off the back of our group 2 miles from the finishing line. I'm proud of matching them and beating many group 2 riders in the race but was a little gutted I couldnt keep with the group for the full 23 miles. I finished 15th out of 29 but I feel good as I learnt so much about racing and know where I can improve next time so gradually I will get better. Here's the strava link to my race: http://www.strava.com/activities/87232385
If you analyse it you can see that the sharp climbs on laps 3 and 4 really start getting slow as my legs were in agony but I still kept up the pace on the flat. It wasn't a flat course so I'm happy with my 20mph average.