Racing

With only one race to go in this seasons calendar (Sean Sharkey next Sunday) it’s time to reflect on the CX season.

Image Credit: SportsPhoto Ireland

What a venue, what a course. Thank you Greenmount Cycling Academy for treating us to a spectacular weekend. It was a privilege to get to race in Limerick on Saturday and watch the amazing talent on display all weekend.

It is such a treat to be able to practice and race on a UCI World Cup course as a u14 rider. Similar to last year, the day before the main event there would be support races for the u14, u16 youths as well as junior, senior, masters and women riders. The course had everything from long fast straights, twisty technical sections, barriers, a long sand section, steep climbs and tricky descents. Around the course was the impressive start / finish gantry, a number of fan zones, large LED screens and an impressive podium.

Cuchulainn Cycling Club were hosting this years Leinster Time Trial and Road Race Championships. I raced both the TT and road race last year so knew the course quite well. This year would be different as the road race would have an additional two laps.

The weekend started with the long drive from Dublin to Kanturk. The weather on the drive down suggested it was going to be a warm weekend 🌞. The day before the race we drove the stage one and two route so that we would have more time on race day. We discussed race tactics and how I might animate the race the following day with the focus on what I could learn rather than the result. After a tiring day of travelling it was time to unload the car. We took all of our things into the hotel, brought our suitcases and my bike up to the room before we finally had time to relax. I had my pre-race dinner and hit the room early for a refreshing sleep.

It was the last round of The Bog Trials and that can only mean one thing, burgers. As usual I had a nice long sleep on the way down to the race. When I awoke I was surprised to see the sun was shining. As was becoming tradition, we stopped to get some doughnuts on the way which we share with the other riders. I was a little worried that they were going to melt (or worse still be eaten by Josh). I used the rest of the journey to catch up on some reading.