Ben McKenna Memorial Race - A3 Race Report

Big Ambitions!

I had big ambitions for the Ben McKenna memorial race this weekend. I had decided to treat this as my first big target race since moving up to A3, more to see how I could perform when I put the best preparation possible into effect and what I was capable of. Having consulted our in-house pro rider Andrew Stanley about how to best prepare for a race in the week leading up to it, I was feeling confident, fresh and strong on the day of the race. I was feeling particularly de-stressed because my brother, Simon, had agreed to drive me to the race and watch. Simon isn’t the biggest fan of watching live cycling as I once dragged him along to watch the Vuelta a España when we were on holidays in Biarritz. As he describes it, “You just stand around for 2 hours in 40 degree heat on the side of a mountain, then the peloton whizzes by and that’s it!” It was amazing I managed to convince him to come out to our race!

Getting ready to race

The course consisted of 4 laps of a hilly 19.5km circuit. It was considered hilly because of the final hill up to the line, at 2.5km with a 4% average gradient, it would be substantial for someone of my stature… Within the hill, there were a few significant ramps where the gradient kicked up for a few 100m, requiring a standing effort and an expression of pain. Other than the hill the course was relatively flat and easy for me to deal with. I knew that in the finale that I wouldn’t be able to feature as the mountain goats would come to the fore and simply ride away from me on the hill. I had decided to go for a different goal: try and win the combativity award, which is awarded to the most aggressive rider of the day. This would require much attacking by me and trying to instigate breakaways from the peloton for the majority of the race. I had set my eyes on this prize earlier on in the week and was feeling both mentally and physically ready for the challenge. The weather had been showery that morning but by the time the race was starting, the showers had gone and the sky was clearing up.

I was riding with Bennett Thomson and we had discussed many tactics before agreeing on one. The race started on the finish line, so at the very top of the hill before rolling out and shooting down the descent. We had agreed that when we were arriving into the bottom of the climb on the 1^st lap, we would attack and hope that the 2 of us could work together get a gap and then work our way up the climb, maybe bringing a few guys across with us and try to hold a gap over the peloton. How naïve we were!

Bennett and myself ready to race!

When the peloton rolled out, Bennett and I were initially in bad positions, starting near the back of the group, which would result in extra effort being made by us to get to the front of the bunch. By the bottom of the decent before the flat section of the course, I had managed to get to the front of the bunch and was ready to win that combativity award. So I decided to immediately to attack, throwing our pre-discussed tactics out the window in the process! With numerous Juniors in the bunch, the aggression was very high, as they were all vying for selections into development squads. This meant I had some riders to work with as we all tried to get something going. I couldn’t believe the strength of some of the Juniors, riders who were half my size were easily keeping up with me or simply powering away from me, unbelievable stuff!

This continued until the base of the hill. Bennett popped up on my shoulder and our pre-race tactics were ago. We drilled it into the bottom of the hill, and then everything went wrong. We simply couldn’t hold onto the pace we had set and then everyone else starting creeping past us. I lost Bennett and proceed to withdraw into the world of suffering that is climbing at your limit. It said that to be a pro cyclist you need to be able to suffer with the best and then suffer some more. I never participated in a sport that requires so much consistent pain in order to succeed. And even if you get fitter and stronger, you just go faster and the pain is still there. I often ask myself why I’m doing this when you’re struggling up a climb and hating every moment, and yet I find myself coming back for more. I could just about see the skinny Juniors attacking off the front of the peloton as I proceeded to slip down the bunch till I was dangling of the back of the group. I really gave everything just to hang on by the skin of my teeth.

This effort really affected me mentally. This was only the first of 4 ascents up the hill and I barely hung on. How was I going to hang on and make it to the end? Was I having a bad day? Was my fitness up to the standard of A3? I also knew that there was now no way I could win the combativity award. Going over the top of the climb the whole peloton was lined out in front of me. I knew if I could get back into bunch I could shelter and rest until the next ascent. On the descent down to the flat section of the circuit, I really had to floor it just to get back onto the bunch, reaching speeds of 70kmh, thrilling stuff! I didn’t know what happened to Bennett as I was too focussed on my own situation to think about him. After a few km and with a few other riders, we managed to get back onto the bunch. I stayed sheltered in the bunch for a while and recovered from the horrible effort of the climb. I found that in no time, I was feeling good once again, both physically and mentally, and willing to do some work on the front. I was told a group of 6-7 riders had gone up the road on the climb and had a gap on the main peloton. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to do anything on the climb when we arrived to it, so I decided to use the flat section of the course as some practice for other races.

Pulling the peloton along

Having mentally recovered, I decided to be aggressive once again, as there was nothing to lose from it. So I hit the front again and attacked before being reeled back in. This continued until the second ascent of the hill. I tried to be near the front again so that I could slip down through the bunch as they crawl past around me. I once again entered to the pain cave and just rode and rode. I was feeling slightly better this climb, but it hurt nonetheless. Again, by the time we made it over the top, the bunch was strung out and I was dangling off the back. I managed to once again get back onto the bunch on the descent and recover surprisingly well. Once I was recovered I made my up to the top of the peloton again and continued to attack and pull the peloton. I should have been keeping my powder dry for the efforts up the hill but I thought what’s the point if I’m just going to be spat out the back anyway? So I attacked and drove on the flat section of the course to see what I was capable of and how far I could push myself. I once again led the bunch into the base of the hill so I would have some space to slide down the peloton as we climbed up the hill. This ascent was the worst of the day as I was feeling the efforts I’d been putting in on the flats and I had to dig deep to survive this one.

I got a stich near the top of the climb which felt like an exploded kidney! With me dangling off the back again and having a searing pain in my side, I was close to calling it quits. I was also overheating as the sun had decided to come out and I was wearing a base layer which, at the start line, had seemed like a good idea, but was now a poor choice. I again found the mental strength to push on and not give up, probably due to my pride. So I bombed it down the descent and got back onto the tail of the peloton. I was surprised again by my recovery as I was feeling ready to attack again. I knew that on the next ascent up the hill I would blow up, so I decided to give everything up to the bottom of the climb before peeling off and working my way to the top. So I gave a really big attack and had a gap for a while but eventually the peloton caught back on to me, why couldn’t they just let me go?! I knew then that attacks wouldn’t work so I decided to work for the good of the peloton and try to catch the breakaway by giving my all to the base of the climb. We could still see the breakaway around 30 seconds up the road. So I got into my aero position and put everything I had into bridging the gap. I’m sure some riders were confused at my actions but I might as well be nice before I blow up. So at the bottom of the climb I peeled off having down what I could and proceeded to lightly cycle up the climb, which was much more enjoyable for me! (It turns out the group of riders in front of us were dropped riders from the A1/A2 race, which started before us, so all my effort was for nothing!)

Reaching the finish line at a cruise!

When I got to the finish line Simon was waiting for me with a look of confusion: “Where were you?!” I explained what had happened and my actions and he seemed to understand. I was thoroughly f**cked from the days effort. In hindsight, I should have seen that the hill would have been too much for me to handle in a race and that I should be targeting flatter races with smaller more numerous climbs which I could handle. I learnt a lot about my mental capacity and recuperation while discovering that I had encouraging recovery abilities after serious efforts. The fact I could hold on to a peloton on the hill also gives me encouragement for the future. If I can lose some more weight, maybe I could be attacking on the climbs.

Bennett had exploded on the first ascent of the hill but continued to complete the course with a small group of riders, coming in 5 minutes after me. In fairness, he had cycled out to the race and had to cycle home unfortunately. Simon’s car is minuscule and could barely fit me and my bike!

I’ll take a rest for the upcoming week as I’ve been racing for the last four weeks and could do with an extended break. I also have some serious exams coming up which require studying so it might be a while before I’m back writing race reports. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and comments on these write ups, I didn’t know I had it in me.

Please check back in a couple of weeks!

Reasonably satisfied with my race.

Technical Information:

Bike: 
Canyon Aeroad CF 7.0 Di2

Clothing:

 Base layer
Jersey
Bibs
Waterproof Shoe Covers
‘Lucky’ Bandana
Sunglasses 
Mitts

Special thanks to my brother for the lift out, taking photos and being around to help out.

Lucan GP - 22/3/2014

Having been upgraded last week after my victory, I started the Lucan GP in the A3 peloton today. I was nervous again as I wasn’t sure of the standard in bunch in terms of pace, maneuvering around the group, and tactics.  I decided to use this race in a similar way to my first race of the season, be aggressive and see where I stand in the A3 peloton.  Patrick Smith and Dermot Cooney were also racing in the A3 bunch and amongst us, it was agreed that I would try and get into breakaways while they would shelter and save energy in the bunch for the final kick to the line.

The course today was 3 laps of 18km circuit after a 5km lead in, totaling 60km. The circuit was relatively flat with only one considerably drag 6km from the finish. The day was very cold, around 5°C with a stiff and blustery wind, and scattered showers. All the ingredients for some epic racing! Having done a lot of cycling in Belgium, and having a large frame, these deteriorating conditions didn’t really bother me, as was evident from the clothing I was wearing. Only a base layer and shoe covers while everyone was thoroughly wrapped up! I immediately regretted my clothing choice because as we were rolling out, a particularly heavy shower decided to smother the peloton in it’s icy grip, drenching me to the bone. I decided that the only reasonable response to this was to warm up by trying to get a break going and started to make my way up the side of the bunch.

Exposed skin was a bad idea!

A few riders in the bunch had the same idea so I found myself working well with them, everyone willing to drive the pace to try and get the break away. For the 5km lead into the circuit around 6 of us kept trying to get away but the peloton were having none of it and constantly shut us down. Once we got onto the circuit, we rode the final straight to the finish line, which was very wide, smooth, clear of potholes, and with a stiff tail wind. This would make for an extremely fast paced finale. We continued to try and form a break for the entirety of the first lap, every time we tried to go, we hung off the front for a few kilometers before being brought back. I was particularly reluctant to let a break go up the rode without me in it, as I thought that if they got up the road the peloton would be unwilling to work together to bring it back and with it a chance for victory, similar to my victory last week.

After completing one lap in this manner, I had a good idea of the layout of the circuit and where would be good spots to attack and try something out. After the drag in the lap, the 6km to the line were rolling wide-open roads with some crosswinds. This suited my style of riding down to the ground. I’m not too good at climbing, due to the bulk, and I’m not too good at sprinting, more from lack of experience than ability. But what I am good at is putting power down on flats, riding just shy of my limit and holding it for long amounts of time. I thought this is where I’d go on the last lap and see if I could hold off the peloton to the line.

Patrick leading the peloton up the drag

Crossing the line to start our 2^nd lap, a relatively serious effort was made to form a breakaway with 3 riders going up the road. I liked the look of it and thought the riders looked strong so I bridged the gap. This was where I was struggling on the day; I would get half way across the gap easily enough and then really suffer to close the second half of the gap. I knew then my plan to ride away from the bunch at the end of the race wouldn’t happen today! I should have stayed sheltered in the bunch to save energy but I’d rather try and give it a shot then sit in the peloton all day to most likely not place in a bunch sprint.

So I made it across to the 3 riders despite the suffering. One of the three riders was a junior from Lucan CRC who had been really aggressive all day and was eager to try and get something going, very promising for someone so young. So the four of us started to work well together and get a bit of a gap. I love the fluidity of a group that works well together, everyone coming through and doing there turn on the front before another rider coming around. This effort stuck for the majority of the 2^nd lap and we were only caught on the drag.

Once we were reabsorbed, I stayed near the front of the group for the 6km before we started our last lap. There was a corner around 1.5km from the finish line and on this corner I lost the wheel in front of me, that is to say the rider in front of me took a better line giving him a few bike lengths in front of me. Due to the already high pace I really fought to gain back the ground I had lost. Once I had made it back up and the bunch eased up, I rider came up beside me, clearly a veteran as he looked wise beyond his years, and told me “One of the most important rules of cycling is to never let the wheel go!” how right he was! Starting the last lap everyone was still all together with no one up the road. I decided to hide in the peloton for a while and recover a bit if I could. I started talking to Patrick, before he stole the remainder of my sports drink, about the plan for the finale. I said I’d keep trying to get away from the peloton as it played to my strengths while Patrick and Dermot would work on the sprint if it came to that. With that sorted I returned to the front when we were starting the drag for the last time, hoping to launch my bit for glory on it or near the top. Once I got near the front I saw two riders had opened up a significant gap with another rider between the two riders and us. Typical, I go back into the peloton for a few kilometers and that’s when the break manages to stick!

Losing the wheel, bad mistake!

I hit the front at the bottom of the climb and tried to drive the pace in order to break up the peloton and maybe drag a few strong riders with me over the top that could help me chase down the riders up the road. While I was able to put in some decent efforts to try and get away from the peloton, I couldn’t hold those efforts and keep them going to try and open a gap over the bunch. As I said earlier, I wasn’t feeling the best. This continued until the last corner before the final straight. Going into the last corner I was third in line, a perfect position with the finish only 1.5km away. One of the other riders up the front of the bunch was the junior Lucan CRC rider from earlier in the day showing great form. Despite the 3 riders still up the road, who had the victory in the bag, the main bunch was still treating this as a full-on sprint. The pace from the last corner to the line was phenomenal, around 55-60kmh, which really gets the adrenaline going!

I was consistently near the front of the peloton for the final push but unfortunately I made some silly mistakes, which occurred from lack of sprint experience and forward thinking. I had decided to come up the left hand side of the road in the finale as I was already on that side of the bunch but also due to the curve in the road. I was in a hard shoulder with cat eyes on the dashed line. Now when you’re cycling at 60kmh, the last thing you want to do is ride over cat eyes as they give you quite a jolt! So while the bunch was surging up the right of the road, I was bunched in on the left unwilling to dash across the cat eyes in the hope of fully opening my sprint. So all I could do was keep pushing in the hard shoulder, finishing somewhere in the top 20 riders. Patrick or Dermot were unable to place as well. Patrick is still transforming into what will be a beastly sprinter so is still trying to improve his endurance. The fact he led the peloton up the drag on the first lap shows he is well on the way. Dermot had had a particularly tough leg session in the gym earlier in the week and was feeling the effects of it!

While I was happy about my performance today, there were some silly mistakes I made. I was satisfied with my aggression, having tried my luck in many breakaway efforts and constantly attacking. I was confident I can keep up with the pace of the A3 bunch after my upgrade from A4 and that my fitness and form was sufficient for the A3 standard. I realised I was too eager from the gun trying to get into a breakaway; I should have stayed hidden in the peloton for the first two laps before trying something. But for my first race in the A3 bunch I was content with my performance.

I’m still getting used to the mentality of cycling. I used to play rugby before turning to the light that is cycling, for 13 years in fact. It was the only sport I can say I took seriously. In rugby, you win or lose (ok you can draw, but that rarely happens). You can have a terrible game but the team plays well and you win, or you can play brilliantly and the team still loses. In cycling, you lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, lose or you win. If you have a bad day, that’s it, there’s no chance of victory as there’s no team to carry you through. You can have teammates around you but they can’t physically carry you. You can be on the top of your game and still be outfoxed at the line by a more tactically savvy rider. So many things can snatch your victory away from you: mechanicals, punctures, crashes and many more. Rugby mentality is far more simplistic. Obviously there are certain aspects of rugby that require strong mental strength, but I find myself analysing and thinking more about my performance in cycling races then I ever did after a rugby game.

After my victory last week, I find myself craving the euphoria of victory again, which probably exacerbated my feeling of disappointment immediately after the race. But having had time to think about it, I’ve taken a lot of experience from the Lucan GP that will make me a better and more rounded rider. While my season goal is now to upgrade to A2, I now realise it may take a few more races before that happens but my confidence is growing race by race!

Dermot showing off his flair!

Boyne GP - 16/3/2014

My second race of the year was the Boyne GP up in Slane, Co. Meath. After the Newbridge GP race the week before, the nerves were a bit delayed this week, only kicking in as I waited for the roll out to begin. The course this week was 5 laps of a lumpy and short 12km circuit with around 135 meters of climbing every lap. Not exactly ideal for my large frame!

When I woke up that day, my legs were feeling pretty heavy. A combination of numerous work shifts (5 hours of bar work takes a surprising amount out of your legs) and doing my track accreditation the day before the race making my legs feel like lead. But I had committed to the race and decided to see what would happen.

Patrick Smith and Dermot Cooney were riding the A3 race, which took place after the A4 race had finished, which meant that I had two soigneurs/photographers/mechanics/directors for my race. I felt like quite the pro having cameras snapping away at me and a car following me! Patrick even gave advice and told me to stay away from the front of the peloton and conserve my energy in the bunch for the final uphill drag to the line. Yes sir!

The race begun after we were told by the race directors that with the Ladies race starting after the A4’s, we would have to be aggressive in order to avoid being caught by them. There was no neutral roll out this week, things kick off right from the gun. Within a few hundred meters, the peloton was flying at around 45km/h and we were all strung out. One guy had a pinch flat right in front of me, but thankfully because of his handling skills, he kept things under control and didn’t take me out, which is always nice. Eventually the bunch hit the first little hill and everyone came together, calming down a bit. A few riders tried to break free in order to form the breakaway of the day but none of these efforts were sticking with the riders being sucked back into the peloton. Finally, one rider from the Dundalk Cycling Club made a decent effort on a downhill section gaining around 50 meters. Because my legs were feeling heavy, I thought that there’d be no way I could hold on to the bunch all day on such a hilly route. So decided to bridge across to the Dundalk rider and see what we could do. Shooting around the peloton on the downhill section slipped into my aero tuck, which I had been practicing a lot in training spins, and caught the Dundalk rider and shouting “Will we try something?!” before passing him out. Once I had reached the bottom of the decent, I looked around and saw the Dundalk rider had been caught by the peloton and it was just me on my own out in front. So I thought to myself ‘Feck it, let’s just go for it and see what happens’. At this stage we had covered 5km of 62km, so it wasn’t wise at all to go for a solo breakaway in substantially blustery conditions. But all I could think of were examples of magnificent solo breakaway by the pros and the glorious legends formed by them, so I drove on. For 8km I had around a 200 meter advantage over the peloton. I kept thinking that it was just like being out on a solo training spin putting in an effort with no one around to see it. Eventually I heeded the words of my director and pulled up knowing it was a doomed effort from the start, as so many breakaways are, and that I should let the peloton reabsorb me.

Bid for solo breakaway glory.

The peloton caught up with me just before the finish line on the 1^st lap. I slotted in near the front of the group and just sat in for the next lap, with nothing eventful happening. Around half way through the 2^nd lap, we came across what turned out to be a horrific crash from the Ladies’ race, with three girls hospitalised and some mangled faces (thankfully there were no serious injurys). It didn’t do much for the confidence in the A4 peloton as we slowly passed the crash scene. Once the peloton was through the crash scene, thing started to heat up once again, with a duo of riders heading up the road. They looked to be working well together which is an indicator that it could stick. I liked the look of the two riders and bridged across to add my firepower to the effort, just as we were crossing the finish line of the 2^nd lap. The two riders, one from Dublin Wheelers called Edward Brennan and the other was another rider from Dundalk Cycling Club called Alan Bingham, were happy to work together and so we formed the breakaway of the day, getting around a 30-40 second gap on the peloton. We worked well together, each taking our turn in the wind and sheltering the others. Alan was initially buggered and just hanging on to Edward and me, but eventually started putting in some big turns on the front. I was bigger than the other two, which resulted in more work being done by me! But I was happy to be out in front and working hard. It’s a nice feeling being in the breakaway, I can’t really explain it. You feel like you’re the centre of attention, as you’re not hiding in a bunch, and you’re technically the virtual leaders of the race.

After 1 lap in the breakaway, we lost Edward. Speaking to him afterwards he said he thought it was a bit too much effort so early on and he’d decided to head back to the bunch and conserve energy. Edward went on to come 3^rd in what was his first competitive race which is a fantastic result for him. Alan and I decided to drive on. Alan was obviously an experienced rider, giving me some nice tips and calming me down as I was probably too excited to be in the breakaway. At one stage I was even ready to call it quits and head back to the bunch but Alan kept me going explaining that no one would be willing to work in the peloton which would inhibit the chase. He was right as we managed to maintain our gap of 30 seconds to halfway through the penultimate lap. Throughout the whole breakaway, Alan and I worked well together. Alan generally taking us up the numerous small climbs and me taking over on the descents and flats. I also followed Alan in the corners as he took much better lines than me. It turns out he was an ex-mountain biker which explained his superb handling skills. With around 20km remaining in the race, we still had a sizable gap and I started to think we could actually make it all the way to the end and I started day dreaming about what winning would be like. Unfortunately, Alan and myself were getting tired.

Alan and myself in the days main breakaway.

Slowly but surely Alan and I were fading. We could see the peloton getting closer and closer. As we were coming up to the finish line to start our final lap, 4 riders bridged across from the peloton which was now around 70 meters behind us. The 4 riders who bridged across to us were much fresher than Alan or me and added a substantial amount of firepower to the breakaway. Alan and I hung on to their coat tails as they drove the pace along. Eventually I felt good again and started to add to the efforts to keep us away to the end. I knew I only needed a 7^th place to be upgraded to the A3 category (as I had points carried from last year), which was a big goal of mine for the season. So was happy to give my all to this group of 6 to keep us going to the end, content with the upgrade. We were all encouraging ourselves and trying to keep driving till the end before we tried to outfox each other for the win. We consistently had a 50 meter gap over the peloton for the duration of our break.

Heading into the penultimate corner before the finish, I was 2^nd in line. The rider who went in first unfortunately lost grip on his back wheel and slid out. I managed to avoid the rider and selfishly didn’t think twice about him and continued driving the pace. With the peloton breathing down our necks, I knew we couldn’t afford to stall for the rider to get back on. I then saw there were 4 of us left. Unfortunately, Alan had also slipped on the penultimate corner and crashed out. The four of us left continued to keep driving. One of the riders in the group refused to do any work which was really hurting the harmony of the group. I kept shouting at him to come through and do some work but he kept refusing saying he was wrecked and couldn’t do anything other than hang on. He looked pretty fresh to me so I thought he was just using us as a free ride to the finish. Thankfully he wasn’t as we soon lost him to the peloton.

After the last corner there was a 3km uphill drag to the finish into a headwind. Everything I didn’t want! But I had come too far to simply give up. With the peloton now within 40 meters, I just put my head down and laid down my BBB power, muttering my mantra over and over: “Endure, endure, endure.”

I don’t recall many details from that last 3km. I have never gone so into red as I did on that drag, reaching 104% of my “maximum” heart rate. I just drove and drove and drove. I could see the finish line up the road and couldn’t even look behind as I knew the bunch was right behind gaining ground.

The final drive to the line.

After what seemed like a lifetime of agony, I made it. As I crossed the line in first place, I let out a primeval roar of ecstasy and happiness. There was no extravagant celebration, only a clenching my fist (I was simply too fucked to do anything else!). It’s ironic, because on our Thursday club spin, we had been discussing what celebrations we’d do if we actually won, coming up with excessively more elaborate celebration. I’ll just have to win another race to try them out! If I’d been caught by the peloton with a few meters left, I would have been devastated after all the effort that I had put in. But winning my first race will keep a smile on my face for a while yet!

The moment of victory!

After receiving hugs from Dermot and Patrick, what I’d achieved started to sink in. I was extremely proud of my performance and what could come of it. Starting the day my legs felt wrecked, but I still managed to essentially stay in the breakaway all day and still have the strength to hold off the peloton on the final drag. These are promising indicators for the upcoming season and only after my second race of the season. As a prize for coming first, I received a crystal wine glass set, which is lovely but unfortunately I don’t drink wine, I’ll just have to start trying!

My next goal is to get into the A2 category but I can’t wait to cycle with some team mates in the A3 category. But for now I’ll enjoy my win, at least I was the happiest barman in work that night!

Special thanks to Patrick Smith and Dermot Cooney for the lift, pictures and support on the day.

The prize giving.