Race Day No.1 : Lacey Cup

First race of the 2011 season was today. We left Fermoy at 8.30 this morning and I have to admit I was very keen but also a tad nervous. The weather seemed to be good, the ground was wet but the sun was out and dried most of it up. Thank god. On the way I received a call from the coach - Stephen - just to give me some advice and to share his experience of the race as he got a great 3rd place in 2010. Thanks Steve, if you read this. Anyway when we got down to Tralee it wasn't too busy as sign-on started at 10.30 and thats the time we were there, on time as usual (Bet my teachers would beg to differ)! I signed on and soon enough Denny St. started to fill. We found a parking space for the camper, which can be difficult at times, and I began to prepare for the race which was kicking off at 12.15. At around 12ish I rolled out to the start and had a chat to a few of the lads.

At 12.15 the race started with the A4's first which have a 5min handicap on the A3's and a further minute to the A2's and further minute again to the A1's. When the flag dropped we started to race almost straight away. The Blarney team started to ride for the first kilometre or so until we took a sharp left where Olan Barrett and myself initiated a breakaway. I rode into the corner first and didn't touch the brakes and I'm guessing that's what did all the damage. When Olan rode past me I was expecting to see the green, red and white of Blarney pass but no we had a gap. Couldn't believe it really. Olan & I continued to ride on the real long roads leading up to the first climb at Camp, we were riding pretty hard as they didn't catch us because it's not easy to stay away when a group of 40,50 guys can see you the whole way, although it was never intentional! We caught the A4 group just at the start of Camp and went straight through them although they sat on and we just didn't have the fresh legs to shake them (well most of them anyway, we did try tho). Anyway by the top of the climb we were beginning to tire and at the peak some guys from the A3 group joined with us. A group of maybe 20-30 of us continued to ride and ride along the coastal roads of Inch until eventually at roughly the halfway mark the A1's and A2's after merging together caught us. When they caught us the speed really raised and I was always trying to keep myself in good positions in case of any attacks etc.. And I followed most, especially the ones that the favorites were in (Sean Lacey etc..). The last climb of the day came with roughly 10k to go. It was around 6km in length and was pretty nasty with 70k or so in the legs. Over the top of the climb I was still in the first bunch of around 25-30 riders and the legs were feeling good for the sprint although I never knew it was downhill all the way to the finish! I got caught out big-time here. The twisty roads coming down to the finish were hard to move up on especially when there was cars on the right that had to be avoided! So when the decent stopped we could see the finish and I was in the worst position possible. I was saying a word or two trying to move up but no-one wanted to move and worst of all the guys I was asking to move didn't even contest the sprint. Sickened! I finished about three-quarters way back or so in the bunch. Wasn't too happy at the end but I have to take the positives, I was happy with my overall performance and condition! Well done to Sean Lacey of The Edge who successfully defended his title. Also congrats to recently turned u23's Simon Ryan (3rd) and Stephen Clancy (6th) great friends and great riders!

Stay tuned over the next few days about whats coming up next week. Thanks to everyone for reading.

Eoin