The TT was held on Thursday night at Patrickswell in Co. Limerick. I was excited to be riding it as I missed the Cork 10 the night before, and because I'd be on my new bike! The course was brilliant, massive main roads and good surface. We had 17.8km which was interesting as I'd never ridden a TT that long in my life before, so I was looking forward to see what kind of time I'd put in.
Turns out I didn't feel as good as I thought I would! I just couldn't get comfortable on the bike, nearly got knocked down twice and lot's of other bad mistakes left me with a 26.03 which is around 41km/h average ! So I reckon a bike fit is in need! Although I rode crap, I still managed to come home with something. A bronze medal from A2 and the Junior TT title!
Now onto the Road Race which was held in Whitechurch, the same course as the Ken O'Keefe Memorial earlier in the season, the only difference being it was run the opposite way! On the few days leading up to the race I was unsure whether I would ride or not, as I might still be a bit tired after Belg! But I said I might as well give it a shot and see how things go. I was looking forward to a good hard race with the 1's and 2's, until I was told Juniors had to race with the 4's which was a definite no no. When I turned up at sign-on, thats what the organisers had in line for us, but with a bit of negotiation I said I was willing to ride for no prize (Junior) just as long as I got to ride with the big boys! Turn's out the organisers changed it and it was the first junior in the main race..
So when everything was sorted it was time to start pedaling. The race was run with 3 categories, with the cat.3's getting a 3min handicap on the cat.1's and 2's. So as I was the only Junior in the 1,2 race it was going to be hard to grab the Junior prize. The first few laps were really fast and very tough! There was a lot of attacks and I managed to be in most of the moves, killing myself in the process.
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| Can you spot the ASFRA? |
We caught up the A3's just going onto the 3rd lap, which was pretty fast! Attacks continued to go and as always I missed the one that stayed! 10 riders had got away and after a few kilometres it was clear what way the rest of the race would go. At this point which was well over half-way into the race, I was feeling quite tired and my earlier efforts were starting to catch up with me!
For the rest of the race I was in the very much fragmented peleton trying to fight off cramp. The last lap up the climb I was in serious pain, and it was game over when I launched my sprint for the finish! After about 5 revolutions, my left leg completely locked up and I was cramping badly! I finishing 2nd Junior.
In conclusion I am pretty happy with the way I was riding for the first half of the race and it was good tarining regardless of the result! The plan now is to rest up for the Junior Tour of Ireland which starts on the 12th of July.
Eoin
PS Congrats to my brother Dion who is now the U14 Munster RR Champ! What a boy
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