Post by barryvankellett on Apr 29, 2013 0:19:21 GMT 1
600miles of driving, the lumpiest excuse for a mattress ever, the coldest showers ever, getting locked out of my room, spilling tubeless sealant on the room floor, losing an end cap of my rear wheel somewhere between John Shanks farm yard and Killarney... sounds like a weekend from hell.
But a 2nd place and a bit of BBQ Venison in a bap afterwards made it well worth the spin.
Race went well, I was gridded after the Mayo result so was on the front row, had a decent start off the line and was 4th at the first corner in the grass field. Had made it through to 2nd spot about 100 yards on from there after taking note of Ronnies elbows out style on thursday, decided to just gun it as hard as I could and had taken the lead before leaving the field area into the woods.
First two laps were at warp speed but the fancied local Killarney CC rider who had stuffed me in Mayo was holding on tight to my wheel for all he was worth. I slowed down a little worried that I would blow on the third lap as I was a long way past my comfort zone, and also hoping he may take up the pacing for a lap. I was worried he was just cruising and would smash me at the finish line.
He didn't want to come through so I gave it a few digs on that lap and he had to work hard to close the gaps so I decided to persist with a series of mini attacks to try and lose him somewhere. Unfortunately these were also tiring me out and I made a right mess of an easy wee ledge drop in and put myself over the bars. There was no room for him to pass so I was able to jump back on and not worry about it, but alas my chain had come off in the fall and he shot off.
Disillusioned and now riding like a right plonker, The pressure was on to catch up. I made up a little time but trying so hard leads to mistakes and he was holding his lead. Much to my dismay, on the final lap a guy came storming past me out of nowhere leaving me chugging in 3rd now. Thankfully I managed to catch up to him on the descents as he had put in a huge effort to close the gap to us earlier, and thanks to the course designers for sticking in a nice steep long climb near the end which allowed me to attack and finally make 2nd spot safe.
Missed out on the win by 12 seconds, but sure 2nd will do.
Better than my poor brother who did all the driving, and punctured on lap 1 of his race. 12 hours driving for 15 minutes of racing!
Here's me and me aul Killarney mate trying to buzz my tyre
902665_3023548564193_1806034106_o by barry_kellett99, on Flickr
But a 2nd place and a bit of BBQ Venison in a bap afterwards made it well worth the spin.
Race went well, I was gridded after the Mayo result so was on the front row, had a decent start off the line and was 4th at the first corner in the grass field. Had made it through to 2nd spot about 100 yards on from there after taking note of Ronnies elbows out style on thursday, decided to just gun it as hard as I could and had taken the lead before leaving the field area into the woods.
First two laps were at warp speed but the fancied local Killarney CC rider who had stuffed me in Mayo was holding on tight to my wheel for all he was worth. I slowed down a little worried that I would blow on the third lap as I was a long way past my comfort zone, and also hoping he may take up the pacing for a lap. I was worried he was just cruising and would smash me at the finish line.
He didn't want to come through so I gave it a few digs on that lap and he had to work hard to close the gaps so I decided to persist with a series of mini attacks to try and lose him somewhere. Unfortunately these were also tiring me out and I made a right mess of an easy wee ledge drop in and put myself over the bars. There was no room for him to pass so I was able to jump back on and not worry about it, but alas my chain had come off in the fall and he shot off.
Disillusioned and now riding like a right plonker, The pressure was on to catch up. I made up a little time but trying so hard leads to mistakes and he was holding his lead. Much to my dismay, on the final lap a guy came storming past me out of nowhere leaving me chugging in 3rd now. Thankfully I managed to catch up to him on the descents as he had put in a huge effort to close the gap to us earlier, and thanks to the course designers for sticking in a nice steep long climb near the end which allowed me to attack and finally make 2nd spot safe.
Missed out on the win by 12 seconds, but sure 2nd will do.
Better than my poor brother who did all the driving, and punctured on lap 1 of his race. 12 hours driving for 15 minutes of racing!
Here's me and me aul Killarney mate trying to buzz my tyre
902665_3023548564193_1806034106_o by barry_kellett99, on Flickr
