Continue reading »]]>                                                                       Keith Fox – The Ras Interview

Ras Number 4 for Physifox

Next week Shannonside Cycling Club member Keith Fox will ride his fourth Ras. The Ras is Ireland’s toughest road cycling stage race with many full time professional riders and teams from the continent competing. Keith is a full time physiotherapist with his own practice called Action Physio but he is also the Physio for the Connacht Senior Rugby team and this involves being out of the country almost every second week throughout the European rugby season. Keith is riding the Ras as a guest rider with the Black Rose club from Galway.

So Keith, when did your training start for the 2012 Ras?

I started training last November to be ready to tackle the Ras. Being away with Connacht Rugby so often made fitting in the mileage and high quality training very challenging in itself. I tended to try and get my big mileage done in the weeks when I was based in Ireland. I usually had my bike shipped away with the Connacht team equipment for away games and then did my best to get some shorter high quality, high intensity sessions done during my down time there. Every spare second is spent planning how I can fit my training in around my day job. I use my indoor turbo trainer to keep my training levels up when I have to in the winter.

How much training did you do in preparation for an event as tough as the Ras?

I tend to focus on hours rather than kilometres initially so in November I would be focussed on doing anything from eight to twelve hours training. By January/February this would increase to somewhere between twenty and thirty hours. Winter training involves cold weather and riding in the dark with lights on the bike. Colm Cassidy from the UCD club and myself often got lost in mystery places! Training gets a bit easier to tackle when the racing season starts as I have something to look forward to and I can gauge my physical progress in a competitive setting. I enjoy turning up for the Midland Interclub League (MIL) and the domestic open races.

What are your hopes for the 2012 Ras?

Survival is always the first goal every day. Because there are so many full time professionals riding in the Ras the standard is very high. There are county team and rider category prizes each day and overall prizes at this level. Myself and the other Black Rose team members will have aspirations of maybe making an attempt at some of these prizes if we are feeling strong. Even to get points for the county classification will be tough but all going well it is not beyond our team and the individuals in it. Stages 3 and 7 are probably the ones most suited to me for a bit of action up the front of the race. I will be happy to survive the hills in Donegal later in the week and finish in the bunch. Worst case scenario I will be glad to make the time limit if I have an off day.

What previous experiences have you of the Ras?

This is my fourth start in the Ras. I finished my first three races so I hope to notch up number four this year. By the way, Colm Bracken is riding in our team and he has finished the Ras a record twenty five times. His experience was invaluable to us last year in the Black Rose team. My first Ras was the hardest physical challenge I ever experienced. Riding in a bunch of 180 experienced riders while going through the narrow Irish towns was nerve wrecking but I learned to cope. The first year I would slip out the back of the bunch in such situations and I became adept at riding through the cavalcade to get back into the bunch. I found myself sprinting a lot to get back into the safety of the peloton but it served as good experience. I can sum up my first Ras in one word, ‘Pain’. My second one was tough but I was in the same team as Philip Lavery and he was a big help to me. I got through it without as much torture as my first Ras. Last year was my third time to enter and my experience gave me an edge but I suppose when you are a part-time cyclist competing with full time professionals it will always be extremely hard riding for a full eight days.

What do you think will be toughest stage of this year’s race?

Most people are focussed on the hills in Donegal later in the week but personally I feel stage two from Kilkenny to Gort will be murder. It is early in the week and the general classification will not have settled down. There are a few tough climbs and the pro teams will be itching to open up the race on day two on an undulating route. We are almost guaranteed crosswinds at some stage and that will cause echelons and possibly multiple splits. Surviving this stage will be a good achievement and I will be glad to get over the hills.

How do you recover after a stage of the Ras?

I take a recovery drink immediately after I finish the stage and start replenishing my fluid levels. I like to have a can of coke to get some sugar into my system quickly, not everybody does this. We will put on some warm clothes and then ride to the hotel from the finish to flush the legs out and cool down. Next I will have a few sandwiches to continue the recovery process and then go to bed for a sleep. Before dinner we also have a massage. Usually the person in the team highest in the general classification gets their massage first until we are all looked after. Sometimes we swap around on a rota. Dinner comes next and this is where I get to refuel for the next day I estimate that I burn between 5,000 and 6,000 calories on a stage so replacing the energy stores is very important. After dinner it is back to bed and I will eat some dark chocolate to help my recovery and sometimes use a night recovery drink.

Most races have their own character, how would you describe the Ras?

The Ras is special probably as there is a good mixture of full time professionals and part time local riders. The first 50k of the day is usually torture until maybe a break gets away. The pros are often happy to sit up a little when a break goes but the county teams fighting for county team GC honours will also want to get in a break so the bunch has another reason to ride hard. This ends up hurting the pros too! Essentially there is very little soft pedalling in the Ras.

What is it like racing alongside the professional continental teams?

In my first Ras they could be intimidating. You need to get used to different languages and a higher level of aggression. Once you get used to the pushing and elbows you realise that these guys can be pushed around too. The secret is to not show them too much respect. The pros often end up out the back struggling too at times and this proves how hard the Ras is and I suppose that’s what the continental teams come here for every year.

What will you do after the 2012 Ras Keith?

I will go on a week’s holiday and maybe even have a beer or two. I can’t remember the last time I had a drink! In terms of recovery I didn’t feel like I was fresh and recovered last year until July. I would like to race in the National Championship and maybe the Suir Valley Three Day race later in the season.

We hope to be able to do a quick interview with Keith every evening after each stage and post it up on the SSCC website. Best of luck next week Keith ya hard man!!

Stage 1 – Dunboyne to Kilkenny – May 20th, 2012 – 147K

Stage 2 – Kilkenny to Gort – May 21st, 2012 – 158K

Stage 3 – Gort to Westport – May 22nd, 2012 – 145K

Stage 4 – Westport to Bundoran – May 23rd, 2012 – 135K

Stage 5 – Bundoran to Buncrana – May 24th, 2012 – 149K

Stage 6 – Buncrana to KiIlybegs – May 25th, 2012 – 134K

Stage 7 – Donegal Town to Cootehill – May 26th, 2012 – 161K

Stage 8 – Cootehill to Skerries – May 27th, 2012 – 139K

Continue reading »]]> Shay Elliott Memorial Race – Physifox Report

Physifox closing down the Breakaway

The report below is from our top man Physifox (Keith Fox) who rode in the Shay Elliott memorial Race last weekend. The Shay Elliott is one of the toughest 1 day races on the Irish Calendar. Physifox is the only A1 rider in SSCC, so he is kind of good He is also preparing dilligently for the 60th edition of The Ras (8 days of torture to you and me and that will be just reading the reports, never mind doing it!!)  Over to Physifox . . . .

Shay Elliot Report

 The ‘Elliot’ historically has been the most prestigious one day race in Ireland outside of the national championships. It is 140k through the Wicklow mountains, with the race usually decided on the unrelenting gradient of Glenmalure.

The race leaves Bray heading south along the N11. In the past, this section has had a notable tailwind and speeds have been relentless. This year, the race battled into a stiff head wind along the main road. Despite the head wind, speeds were high and attacks were fast and furious.

The break hovered about a minute for long periods with most counter attacks closed down by the Node 4 Giordana guys. I had a couple of attacks in the mid section of the race. The group split a couple of times, with chasing groups getting organised, but nothing stuck.

Physifox - 'Ras' Here I Come

With the break still holding at about a minute on the approach to Glenmalure, it looked like fireworks on the slopes again. Climbing has never been my strong point, so I knew I was in for some serious discomfort! This was not helped by a near crash about 2k before the climb. The save caused a strain in my calf, which I cant say affected my race but may be a concern for the Ras next week.

The slopes of Glenamalure had Ryan Sherlock and Mark Dowling put the hammer down as usual. Pressure up front from Lavery caused Shaw and Mullen to come back. Armstrong had abandoned somewhere back the road. This left Lavery out front with 30k to the finish and Sherlock chasing with a Node 4 rider in tow. The next group had Colm Cassidy chaing hard. I think I was in the following group about a minute back.

Lavery put in a savage ride to stay away alone to the finish, with Sherlock getting pipped for second by Node 4’s Mark Frend. Colm came home  a brilliant sixth. 

All in all, good preparation for next week’s Ras, if anything can prepare you for that!

Best of luck in ‘The Ras’ Physifox from all in SSCC.

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For the first time ever, we abandoned the paint buckets and marked the routes with luminous stickers with direction arrows printed on them. This process required a minimim of 4 people and about 6 hours of effort. Feedback is welcome from riders on the utility of this system on the day. After the briefing and opional cup of tea and figrolls, the faster or longer route riders set off NW for Knckroughery, soon followed by the large remaining group. Each group had a van and motorcycle escorts which were all to prove invaluable during the day. Flash will report on the second group as he escorted them throughout their 65k spin.

I left after the final group and had to chase on to the ‘AB’ s. This wasn’t as straightforward as I thought as there were many needs in the C group on the way. Eventually, with a little help from The Panda and Hoogie, I reached the AB’s at Lecarrow. This looked 60-strong as they battled their way against a crosswind. At the woods, we turned into the teeth of the galeforce wind and the damage began. There were one’s and two’s all over the place. The next left, as always, revealed the daunting vista of Skrine or Moydow or whatever it’s called and the damagec ontinued as we gained altitude.

After that, I presume we went over Flash’s imaginary hills and arrived at the first watering station. We were anxious that this station would mainly serve the C’s who were following and in fairness to all, most riders took very little of the goodies at this point (many thanks to Scisorshands and Marco for seting up and manning this station). We did, however, regroup here, waiting for the Buckley’s van, which followed the AB group, to come in with the last rider, or so we presumed. Before the race, The Taoiseach and GKnox agreed to be rider-marshalls with the AB’s. Somehow, Gknox was behind the van now helping stragglers so we took off without him, thinking the van’s arrival meant all were in.

After that, it was full tilt; a SSCC ToH tradition. The immediate descent to Athleague is steep and potholed. Add to that our speed and a really scary SW wind and it was helter skelter for a while. I backed off on the descent as I was losing control of the front end. Many others said afterwards that that descent was treacherous due to the wind. We all survived anyway and single-filed it through Athleague. More headwind then and more damage. The hill out of Four Roads caused more splits as did the series of hills across to Dysart.

A ging for the Dysart sign has been a longstanding tradition in this tour (and most SSCC spins). It didn’t happen today; maybe because of the headwind but more likely because there were only 3 SSCC riders left in this whitled down front group; Gael, Taoiseach and Woof. This was a 21-man bunch, all riding strongly into a full-on headwind. That hill after the Teachmaconnell turn and a few clicks before Ballinasloe caused disarray with even experienced riders unable to hold a tidy formation.

Still, we survived all those forces of nature and arrived at the marina in Ballinasloe where or trusty team of caterers were waiting with warm smiles and drinks, muffins (thanks Aisling), sambos, cake, bananas, biscuits and juice. A special note of thanks here to all the ladies who organised, prepared and doled out this food, before, during and after the various spins. Seamus Buckley and others were all business-like here and once they got the food, were anxious to tackle the final 60k through Banagher. Woof wasn’t ready at all to go with them, what with trying to contact the van, get info on a reported Slam-on crash, and determine how many more were still coming in so that the ladies would know when to down tools at the foodstop.

The outcome of all this was that the ‘long route’ group were gone 15 mins when Woof and AN other were ready to leave. Meanwhile, the majority of riders, many tired from the huge headwinds, opted to scream back along the Ballinasloe Athlone road for home. Maybe only 15 did the 140k route. We two knew we could never catch them. We looked at the motorbike marshalls and they looked at us – ehhhh, can I ask a favour lads? The next 20 minutes were spent with Woof hanging out of Marty’s bike and AN other hanging out of Austin’s.

When I say ‘bike’, I mean big animal motorbike. We each took a handful of motorcyclist reflective jacket and the boys took off. We already knew that one hand on the handlebars was dodgy with the high winds; there had been several near misses already. Now we were doing 50kph, holding onto Suzuki Bandits, with a speed-amplified, howling crosswind and a less than ideal road surface.

It seemed like we would never see the group ahead as our right arms became significantly longer than our lefts which were jaded from keeping bike control. I was sure we’d see them struggling up Redmont Hill but we only saw Robbie Dunne, well behind the others. It was one of those great comical moments in cycling to go by him at 50kph, uphill, into wind, and he swinging all over the road. Imaging his point of view! Dropped, alone, headwind, and that goes by. And then, while he digested that, another duo goes by in the same fashion.

At the top of the hill we ‘let go’ and asked Marty to go back for Robbie. We chased on and soon saw our quarry. Like most ‘on the rivet’ chases, it ended up that we turned a corner and there were the boys waiting up (so we could have relaxed). Robbie arrived very soon after and now we had a nice group for the final 40k.

We finally had a tailwind, and nice warm sunshine. This was the most enjoyable part of the tour for me. We probably averaged near 40kph and everyone was strong. Two motorbikes did a marvellous job at junctions and we just flew theough without ever having to check right or left.

Immediately after Ballinahown, Gael gave it a lash. I was next in line and he had us under pressure (me anyway). I thought, the best way to stop this is make one last dig, get around him and slow it down. This I did but an attack launched behind then and I had little answer. Conor Brady of Tullamore (and of a recent win in the MIL) bolted away and Robbie and a Donamon rider (or was it Gary Bracken?) latched on, almost. The ging had started with 7k to go… perfect.

Auld lads Woof and Seamie Buckley chased with one other fellow who never came through. We managed to keep the gap within 30 secs but we were unable to close. Ahead, Conor discarded his two c0-attackers and was riding alone. Could he keep it up for 4 more clicks? The Taoiseach must have decided behind to ride tempo to the finish and ‘let them off’. Seamus and Woof drove hard into the headwind after the Birr turn but the breakaway group was unassailable. Conor did indeed stay clear to be the first finisher of the 140k group; an impressive ride.

We learned afterwards that Slam-on had been caught with a gust of wind and fell. David Dolan of ATC rode over him and fell too. Adrian sustained some nasty road rash but he was able to ride on to Ballinasoe before taking a lift back in the WoofWagon. Could be worse Adrian, any crash you walk away from is not too bad. Tragically, only a few miles from our food stop in Ballinasloe, a cyclist in his 50′s was killed that same afternoon. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

A final note of thanks. Many people gave genuine offers of help for this tour. Thanks to all, we had a successful day. Apologies (and remind me) if I left anyone out but sincere thanks to

Ann, Ruth, Anthony, Sarah, Aisling, and Eilish and her daughter for the food organisation; to rider-marshalls John Bruton, Flash and Gerry Naughton; route planners and signage Mark Rohan, Gordon, Brian; foodstop 1 Ciaran and Mark Vaughan; drivers - Des, Panda, Sarah; AIT caretaker – Charlie; Maps etc – Darren; Marina access – Michael McKiernan; Motorcyclists – Marty Kilkenny, Austin and the third man; vehicles – Pat and Seamus Buckley; sign-on – Donal Sullivan and Des who kindly stepped in unplanned when someone else didn’t arrive, which was entirely due to a WoofWoopsie. Of course, there were many tasks prior to the event too and thanks to those on the committee who helped with all those duties.

Some photos from Ciaran here (Thanks Ciaran)

Some stats: 116 riders, 26% were SSCC members, many new and thrilled to tackle the 65k route and Moydow. Clubs that sent large cohorts – Donamon (14); Tullamore (13); Kilteevan (9); ATC (7).  Many thanks to all who helped and participated.

Continue reading »]]> Hi All,

Due to strong demand for the exciting new 2012 kit there is a second and final gear order going in soon. This is the last opportunity to buy club gear. Gear can be ordered online only through the link on this website. Only paid up members of the club are allowed to buy gear. The order system will open up for one week only from 10am Monday the 14th of May until 12am Midnight Sunday the 20th of May. No further orders will be taken after this as we all have better things to be doing like cycling in it .

Click on the top right hand side entitled “Club Gear 2012″

Or Here:

http://www.shannonsidecc.com/wordpress/?page_id=4262

Continue reading »]]> Tuesday Spin 9-5-12

The Tuesday Spin saw seven people turn up for a great session. The recent NW wind was prevailing again but we were a little bit bored with the Ballymahon – Ballymore route. We opted to ride towards Roscommon and we ended up doing the 65km route that will be used this Sunday as the short route on the Tour of the Heartlands. That of course meant scaling Skryne Hill

Tinman, Goldfinger, DSchlack, Slam On, Brian N, Mick M and Flash were the protagonists on this occasion. The banter was good on the way to Roscommon and Slam On was having a good night as he stayed in the bunch right up to Skryne Hill even if he was not too sure what county he was actually in!! Skryne  Hill caught us like a sneaky Mike Tyson uppercut and was just as damaging. The surface of Skryne is very smooth nowadays but there are 25kph speed limit signs all the way up the hill??? Flash warned everyone to stay legal on the ascent Interestingly, Goldfinger knew in advance about the 25kph speed limit signs, the SSCC Secret Training police have been alerted!!

We all attacked the climb with Tinman, Goldfinger, Flash and DSchlack cresting together. Of course Flash was concerned for everyone and asked for a cease fire for the others (always beg for mercy for someone else when your own balls are bust, eyes bloodshot and tongue licking the front wheel!!). No mercy was forthcoming so we hammered over the following two drags after Skryne itself. The ceasefire was called at the crossroads but not before Tinman was nearly devoured by Lassie!! Tinman must have sent the Lassie dog a rant by email

When Slam On had rejoined us we opened up a nice bit of up and over work all the way back to Monksland. Of course the obligatory ging happened at St. Josephs FC. There are about 18 signs on that stretch of road so who the hell knows where the finish is?? I suppose everyone gets to claim some kind of victory here but last night Tinman and Goldfinger were strongest with Flash and DSchlack close behind.

We came back through town to avoid the ByPass but the average clocked by Flash on the Garmin was 32.6kph for the first 62km. That is a decent training spin and it would be great to get bigger numbers turning up for these sessions. There will proabaly be a Thursday spin as there is no MIL this week. However we have to launch our main gear sponsorship with PlanetX at their shop at 6pm on Thursday with a photo shoot for the papers so all are welcome to attend that first. We could meet at PlanetX in Blyry Industrial Estate and pull out from there at 6.30pm.

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Bo is ready to Mow Down Mountains

An Post Tour of Sligo 6-5-12

The Tour of Sligo had everything this year. Good weather, a strong SSCC contingent, good food again, mechanicals, crashes and some good old fashioned road drilling particularly in the last 40k. Flash and Bo drove up together and spent most of the day in the company of The Taoiseach, DC, Adrian L and Mick Murray. Scissorhands and the Bionic Man went all anti social and didn’t avail of the food stops so we are not too sure how they did. The first 15-20k was fast enough for a tour (average 33kph) but the first climb sorted out a few pretenders!!

When I said above that the food was good, well, that pasta didn’t agree with DC and Adrian L actually. There was also a big contingent of SSCC C Specials who did the 100k option. As always I’m sure The Panda will provide us with a comprehensive update on their exploits which I will post up as soon as it is available. We did hear that Yvonne had a mechanical problem, Bandana was home and hosed but phone signals prevented him from going to the rescue. According to Barbie, Ash & Co. the problem was solved by the ToS support vans, hopefully this is the case as the Ox Mountains are cold at night in early May   Bandana himself was nursing a knee injury on the 100k option but he suffered a broken chain so all was not plain sailing there either.

Most of the SSCC group opted to stay with the front riders but as the first two climbs arrived things became a little strung out. After the second climb Flash was descending fast after The Taoiseach and Scissorhands. He veered left to avoid a bit of broken road at 60kph and could not readjust in time and ended up going over the handlebars. The guardian angels were definitely with Flash yesterday as he landed on the softest ground in Sligo. Flash had that ‘time pause’ moment in mid air when the following went through his mid: Sh1t this is going to hurt, did I renew that VHI cover?, is there room on that sofa with Foamface?, which collar bone will I break?, please don’t let me damage my beautiful face!! Anyway my lucky escape left me with just strained calf & quad muscles but nothing too severe so I was able to get moving again and finish the day strongly. The bike seemed to be ok too.

I hooked up with DC who waited up until I was back riding comfortably again, Thank DC!! Soon Mick Murray and Adrian L caught up to us and we met The Taoiseach too. We all regrouped up again at the second food stop but not before we climed up a steep drag ‘the water tower’. After this food stop DC was feeling a bit sick from the pasta so Flash waited for him, DC punctured immediately anyway so we lost ground on Bo, Taoiseach, Mick Murray & Adrian L. We worked well together and DC was very impressive given that he had run 25km the day before

The last food stop saw us all regroup and head for Sligo together. There was one more climb to be attacked about 6k before the finish but for the 30k or so before this we rode a solid pace with DC having a Jerusalem type of ressurection and he pulled us singlehandled for about 8km until The Taoiseach took over some of the duties and did some impressive work. About 5km before the last climb a mystery woman appeared in An Post Kit and came to the front of our group and did a mighty turn and to be fair started taking lads out of the comfort zone. When the final climbing of the day arrived Miss Postie opened a gap with one other rider and was pulling away so Flash (as SSCC Chairman) decided the club pride needed to be protected so he closed the gap and went over the top of the summit first.

W ith about 5k to the finish Flash engaged the big ring and milled it back to IT Sligo. Miss Postie sat on his wheel with about 5 others, she no doubt was admiring his buns and didn’t give up the view until we finished the tour The Flash Garmin read 167km at an average of 30.3kph for the day so that was not a bads days work. All of our group finished strongly. Having burned thousands of calories Flash, DC, Bo and the Bionic Man attacked some Half Pounders and Curry Cheese Chip in Boyle as a reward!!

Overall it was a well organised tour and very well marshalled at all junctions. Flash is counting himself very lucky to have survived his crash having heard the news that a cyclist called Morgan Sparrow from the Usher IRC club lost his life following a crash in a club race last week. Our condolances to his girlfriend, family, team mates and Irish AirCorps colleagues.

C Specials Report by The Panda

Into the West, the Great C-Special Tour of Sligo. Being a slightly fictionalised and expurgated account of our adventures on 6th May!

The C-specials appeared in force. Ash, Barbara, Mary Barrett, Duracell Bunny (Yvonne), Maura, Noreen, Mary Bandana, Peadar and Panda. (Special thanks to Peadar for not leaving me the only male in the group!)

Noreen and Mary Bandana went for the 60k, the rest of us for the 100k. We made careful plans to cycle in a group all the way around. However the best laid schemes of mice and Pandas ‘aft gang agly’ and by Strandhill we were in a pile of different groups.

The climb to the Hungry rock was steep and fun, that summit sign was really welcome. Blast into Coolaney, then a loop around mid-Sligo and back to Coolaney for the food stop. Good food but not enough loos to accomodate everyone.

Ash and co blasted off, Duracell Bunny, Maura and Panda followed. DB hit a hole just outside Coolaney and punctured, fixed that, on to Ballintogher. DB punctured again outside Dromahair, Panda thought she was in front (not very bright animals Pandas!) pushed on and she had to be rescued by the tour support. (Sorry DB)

Nice spin home, though that climb at 90k was a little bit testing. In spite of our mechanical problems it was a really good day.

Link to Scissorshands Pictures from Sligo:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3990911856530.2177459.1392894424&type=1

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The Cat That Got The Cream

MIL 3 – Dysart 3-5-12

MIL 3 in Dysart was another exciting nights racing. As always it was well organised by the Lakeside Wheelers who specialise in race management. In previous years the Dysart race included the Lakeside Wheelers own club race. Luckily the MIL and LW Club race have been separated this year as 98 people signed up the MIL !! We are surely going to break the 100 mark very soon.

C/D race Report

The big numbers signed up for the C group, 42 in total I am told. There were at least 22 in the D group. After the hounds in the A & B groups departed (Darran promoted himself and went B, more on this later as he had a great race), the Ds went off. They were given a 5 minute handicap on the Cs. The general opinion in the C group was that the Ds might not be caught with a 5 minute handicap and a short 24km race to contend with. In fairness The Tank and DSchlack went immediately to the front and 5-6 of the SSCC squad started working. The Mullies and Tullies also worked their backsides off and there can be no complaints about the Big 3 clubs not being honest. The first lap was completed in 40kph which was a sign of the effort by the workers in the bunch and the relatively flat nature of the course.

Lap two saw the first breakaway of the night and this had three riders get about 150m on the peloton. Flash managed to bridge accross to them at the top of the drag so it became four. The break lasted about 2km but the Wheelers did well to ride us down. We were all still together at the start of the third lap and the gap was given as one minute to the Ds so the catch was definitely on. We could see them up the road on the straight stretches of the road. Coming into Castletown Geoghegan for the last time there is a slight drag and Seamus Buckley from the Tullies instigated an attack which was tactically well timed and it opened a little gap for about ten riders. We were also about to catch the Ds so with almost 65 riders coming together there might have been a chance for the front riders to get away. A small slow down to get around the Ds scuppered these plans.

There were only about 3-4km left at this stage and a mass sprint was inevitable. Staying at the front was paramount as picking your way through 60 plus riders inside the last 500 metres on a narrow road would be impossible. Flash positioned himself but fcuked up big time by thinking the finish line was another 200m up the road. He got third with Eoin O’Donnell gettting 2nd for SSCC. Michael Murray got his first MIL points by claiming 5th, Chapeau Mick!! Oliver Kelly from the Mid Westies got the win while Flash got a shock when he saw Oliver sit up and raise his arms what he thought was 200m premature !! Well done Oliver and personally I am delighted to see the Mid West club get a win.

It is early days yet but the overall lead changed on the night with SSCCs DSchlack taking the overall lead from Joshua Francis who missed the race. Eoin O’Donnell sits in third with Michael Murray and Flash in 8th & 9th respectively. We have a week off next week so we will be back live in Mount Temple in two weeks time. Other notable achievements from SSCC riders came from Andy M & Eamon B who finished in the bunch and had a go at the ging!! Great stuff lads, there may have been other Shanners who did this too. Well done to Darran who jumped to the A/B race and came a serious 6th, great result Darran but can’t you ever finish higher than 6th in any race???

Thank you to Midlands 103 Radio  for giving the league some coverage last Sunday on their sports show. We hope this will become a regular slot that will give the league a good platform to promote itself and the member clubs. Full results, league tables and fixtures can be viewed by visiting the sponsors website by cicking here: http://www.buckleycycles.ie/

A/B Race Report by Darran

Darran pulling well with the Bs

I’ve been considering the move from the C’s to the B’s for a while, and decided that Dysart was as good a place as any to make the leap. After the MIL 2 event in Clara several of us declared our intentions to move up to the B group for the Dysart event. I arrived early and was one of the first SSCC’er to sign on and signed on as a B. Then as the rest of the C’s appeared they all decided to try one more race as a C before moving up a division for the next race, so I was left as the only C to move up a division. That’s when the panic set in……..

I looked around and recognised the SSCC riders in the A group who be chasing me down ……Keith Fox, Tinman, Goldfinger and Bionicman. It was only David Connellan and myself with the B’s and at this stage I thought to myself “What am I doing here?” It was announced that the B’s would go first with a 2 min head start over the A’s over the usual route (4 laps ~35km in total). Off we went and the pace was immediately in excess of 40kph. I thought to myself, If I sit at the back and manage to last two laps I’ll be happy. But then the group started to work together and my plan went out the window, so I changed my mind and decided to do my turn at the front (a first for everything) So this went on for most of the first lap, nearly everybody working together and doing their fair share at the front.

I crossed the line to start lap two feeling alright still, but I thought that maybe this pace was slow for the B’s at any second someone would open up and leave me for dead. The drag out of Dysart came and went again without much trouble and I found myself at the front for the sharp bend at Castletown. I managed to get around it in one piece, maybe took it a bit wide and went over the Manhole on the exit, but no damage done so I kept rolling. The straight from Castletown to the finish was into a slight wind, and not too many people were hitting the front. Gary Bracken and Shane Scally, some LSW’ers and myself were doing more than our fair share at the front. DC told me to that there were only around 5 people doing all the work at the front so not to kill myself. (Good advice), but as I was feeling ok, like an idiot I kept taking my turn at the front and kept the group moving. Again feeling alright into lap three, up the drag again, and it felt easier than the previous times. So at this stage I was thinking I might actually hang on with the group until the A’s catch us, and they weren’t too far behind at this stage. They caught us just after the turn out of Castletown, and flew past us like we were standing still, most of us reacted and managed eventually to jump onto the A’s. At this stage my mind was racing……How long will I hack this pace……what speed will they do over the hills…..what will the finish be like!!!!

Darran only gets 6th place !!!!

As we passed the finish line they rang the bell for last lap and I snapped back to reality. I was in the back third of the group at this stage and thought to myself it’s probably not the best place to be, so moved up the outside towards the middle of the group. The hill came and I had no trouble with it, actually moving up a few places. At this stage my fear of the A’s was gone and I did a stint at the front coming into Castletown. I still thought that everyone was going to up the pace and I’d be gone. But as the pace increased I just kept following the lead group. I then spotted the finish line and as I still had something left in the legs, I put the bike into a big gear and gave it all. There was a few in front that I had no hope of catching (Stephen Franzoni, Peter Rimmer, John Murray)…. And I was waiting for everyone else to fly past me…..but that never happened. I locked sights on DeeCee in front of me and followed his wheel until I made a break out past him and hit the finishing line. I quickly counted 5 bikes in front of me….. What?? DAMN IT….I was 6th again!!! (I was 6th in Mount Temple and in Clara) But this week I was delighted as it was my first race with the B’s. Turned out I was first home out of SSCC too. DC was 7th overall with the rest of the lad rolling over the line just outside the top 10. Garmin stats for the race shows an average of around 40.5km/h for the B’s.

I’m sitting in 9th position in the A/B league table at the moment, just behind Keith Fox. Never thought I’d ever write that! Can’t wait until MIL 4 in Mount Temple to see if this race was a once off for me or will I manage to keep with the B’s again.

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A pause to regroup in lovely Ardagh

Fourteen or so riders headed straight into the teeth of the strong North wind on a cold but sunny morning. Gary, still determined to continue his leap from C-specials to B, came along as well. It is a big leap unfortunately, exacerbated by the fact that the B’s frequently accompany the A’s, dragging up the speed.

Steep gradients and headwinds saw several struggling by the two hills at Ballykeeran and Glasson. We regrouped in Tobberclare and rode on for Ballymahon. Soon after that town, we divided the group so that some took the easier of two routes to Ardagh in Longford. Zach, Gary and Slam-on took this option but it wasn’t easy either with major drag and the wind.

We went the slightly longer and hillier road to Ardagh hill. The pace went very high for a few minutes but thankfully settled to just ‘fast’. On Ardagh hill several riders were frisky including Scissorshands, The Bionic Man and Bilbo Baggins. Goldfinger was there too with new SSCC member, Brent Binkowski. Woof and others were a bit flat and puffed along behind. The descent is into Ardagh village and our division strategy proved well thought out as we met the others in the village without anyone having to wait.

Woof had a 125k route dialled in for this spin but the wind had people a bit tired and Sharon had to be back so a compromise was gladly agreed. We went further north but only to Edgeworthstown and then we started downwind towards home.
Immediately the speed went up to about 50kph and bodies went out the back. We regrouped at Carrickboy, had tea, and split the group again.

Some went back directly to Athlone but most went east and south to take in Abbeyshrule and Ballymore. By then, the day was very pleasant and it was more or less cycling bliss. I parted from the group at Bally more to take the Moyvoughley route to Mount Temple but I presume life was not easy over the Drumranny hills for the main bunch. 108k at 28.5kph.

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SSCC Gear Available now at Planet X

New SSCC Gear Arrives – Collect at Planet X Shop

The classy new SSCC gear has arrived!! So if you placed an order earlier this year you can collect at the shop of our main sponsor PlanetX in the Blyry Industrial Estate as of tomorrow morning 3-5-12. See directions below.

Click here for directions to PlanetX: http://planetxireland.com/contact-us/

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ToH Long Route

Tour of the Heartlands 2012

The 2012 Tour of the Heartlands will take place on Sunday 13th May. This is a leisure cycle (short event) and sportif cycle (longer event after the split) consisting of three route options – 65 km and 108km and 145 km.
All rides will start from the main campus reception area in Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT), Dublin Road, Athlone at 9.30am. Sign-on for both events will take place from 8.00am-9am. Entry fee is €15 for riders who are members of Cycling Ireland. If you are not a member of Cycling Ireland, 1 day licences will be available for an additional €10.
Support vehicles, water stops and  food stops will be provided on both routes. Changing and shower facilities will be provided at the start/finish (AIT). Food will also be provided at the finish.

The long route (145kms) can be viewed here http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1132138

The middle distance route (108kms) is at http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1132232

The short route (65kms) can be viewed here http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1132217 (all routes subject to possible slight changes if nec).

 For further info email Jim at jimmaguir@gmail.com or call 086-1985956