Hello. This weekend I was on the go again, a bit closer to home this time - The Kanturk 3-day. Going into the race on Saturday was a tad tiring, especially coming off the Gorey 3-day which finished on Monday. Although it wasn't the hardest race on the calendar, it's by far not the easiest and it takes more than a few days to recover properly before racing again. So let's get to the report:
Stage 1 (100km):
Stage 1, the good ol' Castlemagner circuit where I never seem to get any luck. In 2009 I crashed in one of the selection races for the EYOF and in 2010, while racing for the national team, my whole brake calliper came off on the first 10km. So this year I was hoping I could get through the stage with some bit of luck but, frustratingly I didn't! May I also add, the road surfaces on the circuit were and are absolutely terrible! There was one climb near the end of the lap which made you fell like you were riding Flanders!
The race started off pretty active lot's of attacks and small moves going away. After the first few kilometres I got in a move that was a pretty strong one. But when only 4 or 5 riders are working and roughly 15 in the group we weren't going to get far! We were away for the lap and it was whittled down to 4 just before we were swallowed up, or should I say, I was swallowed up! When the peleton was about 25 metres from catching us I swung to the side and sat in to try save some energy. As soon as this happened the 3 along with some others who joined them got away and this was the main break of the day. Absolutely kicking myself for this mistake! Still can't believe it because I definitely could have stayed with them ! After this there was groups going up the road all day and I was in 8 or 9 out of 10 moves but no, no luck. All the moves I was on got caught and the ones I wasn't in got away! And, the thing I can't understand is, there was people in the moves with me and it was their own - so-called "team-mates" chasing them down. So after trying and trying for most of the race I just sat in the bunch very angry and frustrated at the way the race had panned out. Even now, thinking about it again it really p*sses me off! So the race finished up with the main breakaway finishing @4 minutes ahead and another group @2 minutes on the main group which I finished in. I definitely felt a bit fatigued afterwards after all my efforts in trying to get away throughout the stage. Couldn't wait for the TT!
Stage 2, 8km TT:
Was really excited for the TT this weekend as it was longer and I wanted to see if I could improve! Saturday night I had a thought of not racing Stage 3 but wanted to see how the TT went first. The reason being, I was feeling fatigued and really want to be 100% for next weekend!(Will explain in the next few paragraphs). The TT was the normal 8km course used in the 3-day, which starts at Lombardstown cross and finishes at The Duhallow Lodge. So we left Fermoy nice and early so we had time to get down to Kanturk early to relax and I had time to get a good warm up done before my TT start time. During my TT I felt good and after the finish line I was pretty happy with my performance. I ended up 15th on the stage which I was happy with as my targeted placing was reached, just!
As I mentioned before about next weekend, I am racing in the UK! In England on Saturday and Wales on Sunday. That's why I pulled out of the race this weekend, I want to be in good shape for next Saturday.
So that is my very quick race report on the Kanturk 3-day, well, from the stages I did! Should have another blog up before the weekend so stay tuned! Thanks for reading.
Eoin
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