Race Day 15: Frank O' Rourke Memorial

Hello, today I raced "a part of" the Frank O' Rourke Mem. in Camaross, Co.Wexford. Going into the race I felt good, legs were good, everything was good apart from my sinuses - It was just down to a bit of good luck. I guess it wasn't meant to be today..

The race started alright nothing too fast and no doubt people were attacking from the gun. For a lot of the cross-winded section of the course I was out on my own chasing a lone leader who attacked from kilometre zero. When nobody came across I knew what I was in for, another race where people just chase, then stop, chase, then stop (One of the most frustrating things that can happen in bike racing). When we hit the main road the speed increased due to a tailwind and on the drags it started to line out and being near the front I was hoping for a split, but whenever people get on a split nobody rides properly, everyone just follows the guy who attacked and won't ride around - If your not willing to ride, why follow an attack? or even go near the front?

After the main road we took a U-turn and headed back towards the start/finish. It was like we hit a wall when we went from the tailwind to headwind and everyone started to get bunched up as the speed slowed so much. This is where I started to feel a little uncomfortable as there was a lot of guys coming around which left me stuck tight to the ditch. As soon as I got a little space I attacked again - looked back after a few seconds to see a massive line of riders following, nothing was happening!

Literally a minute or 2 later, after roughly 19km, I heard a bit of arguing going on behind and when I saw this guy flying up and wiping out a couple riders I knew who was being told off! *Smash* - I was in a ditch! Only 3 riders came down and I was lucky enough to be one of them. Lying in the ditch with my head in my hands, I was gutted! I am not hurt, not even a scratch. All I got was a bit of a bang and sore knee. I got away lucky, very lucky! More importantly - my bike, one scratch on my rim and a small tear in the tyre. I think the way I smashed over the bodies and bikes infront of me saved my bike and me, whereas if I hit the brakes I could have been hit from behind which usually causes damage! But hey, however gutted I was - that's racing!

After I got back to the camper, I started to think more and more about the crash. Me being my superstitious self, came up with a solution! My Belgian "SockGuy" socks. When putting them on this morning I started to think about all the bad luck I had while wearing them, punctures, crashes etc.. and now I have another to add to that list! The socks are getting the bin, Fact!

So that wraps up my update of the Frank O' Rourke since there wasn't much to report on for myself, but my brothers and cousin had a good day. Jack was 4th u12, Dion 2nd u14 and David 2nd u16 well done lads. Stay tuned over the next few days for another news round-up!

Eoin