Dave Walsh's Race Reports

Leinster Road Race Championships Staplestown, Co. Kildare
By Dave Walsh - 29 March 2003, S2 Race

I turned up in Staplestown feeling pretty decent, and not too tired. I had been up and down rakes of hills in counties Antrim and Down over the last few days, and had been a little worried that I'd overdone it.

The circuit for the Leinster Championships was weirdly shaped, an angular figure eight, on twisting roads near Prosperous and Clane. it passed through the same crossroads twice, without actually crossing itself - right-hand turns coming from opposite directions. The circuit was 20km long, and we had four laps to do. The finish was a 500m or so slight drag, with the wind coming in from the right. Nice.

The S1 race went away first, a small enough bunch, with two minutes head start on us. Enough, you would think. Then the larger S2 bunch was away, everyone jostling for position on the narrow winding roads. Up over the first couple of little hills, then a 60kmph straight line descent towards Prosperous, followed by an incredibly acute turn left. This involved slowing down to about 2kmph and riding a wee bit of off-road. Then back up the same ridge we had just descended, with the wind in our faces, as we crossed an exposed piece of bogland. Up to the crossroads, turned right, and lined out through a minefield of vicious potholes. Derek Irwin hit one on the first lap, I think he was amazed not to have blown a tyre or crack a rim.

Another tight left hand junction, and up some draggy rough road, followed by another gravelly left-hander. Finally, a steady draggy hill up to the crossroads, where we turned right for the last 1.5km or so.

I decided to sit tight for a while. The roads were heavy, and with that headwind, there was no point in burning out early. Mind you, I seem to have spent most of the race in the top 20. With all those tight corners, it made sense to be up the front. Still, the second or third time through the bog I was hurting badly, bent over the handlebars, my elbows stuck out like wings.

Early on, a group got away. It included our Ravens teammates Ciaran Farrell and Noel Moloney, as well as Brian Taaffe (Dublin Wheelers) and Shane Prendergast (Naas). Again, I sat tight, got involved in lots of minor tussles, made sure I was ready to go if and when the break returned, or if a another group went away.

Then it got bizarre. On, I think, the second lap, I heard Alane Lane says that the group we could see ahead was the S1 bunch! So where the hell was the S2 break? A chase, of sorts started, but we made sure that a Ravens rider - Nick Keegan, Paul Reid, Geoff Liffey, Derek King, John Dillon or myself were always up in the top few riders.

The group ahead yo-yoed. Up through the bog the third time, they were almost close enough to recognise riders. Then the chase eased, and the gap opened again. Onto the start of the last lap, and I was sitting in 5th or 6th place, when a couple of Cycleways lads started piling on the pressure.

Some other rider up ahead sat up, and a gap opened, with me chasing to get up to, I think, Alan Lane and Martin from Orwell who were in 2nd and third place. I had to chase brutally hard to get the wheel back, over those first two drags. Whoever was on my wheel wasn't about to come round, and who could blame them? Coming onto the second hill, I was having to dig horribly deep, and ended up doing a sprint up to them, followed by lots of wheezing and coughing. I recovered on the bog road, sitting in around 10th or so. Just before the crossroads, the S1 bunch suddenly came back to us, all mixed up with the S2 break. Rounding the corner, someone shouted to 'get the A riders out' or words to that effect. The S1 riders slid to the back, and S2 attacks started going.

To be honest, in the last few miles, even when sitting in third or fourth place, I was so confused that, for all I knew, there could have been another S2 group up the road. Was back in about 20th ATC the bottom of the final hill. Geoff slipped by, announcing a plan to get Paul up for the sprint. On the hill, I spun a gear up towards the front. Was in about 10th at the top, and I heard Derek King urging me to move up more. The top 10 was lined out, and as rode up by the 6th or 7th rider, I got a light jab in the guts from him. I don't handle this kind of thing diplomatically. I retaliated with a vociferous 'f*** off'. He tried it again, said something I couldn't make out. I repeated my earlier retort and rode on, but heard him getting an earful from Derek.

Through the last corner, I slid the back wheel on some gravel, and lost a few places. Fought my way up again by the GAA club, into around 10th. Instead of being in a position to lead out, I was now behind Paul, and boxed in. Several Ravens were up ahead. The sprint started, 500m or so to go. I had to slow down to get around a potential crash on the left, launched myself out around the slowing riders, and after a bunch of riders springing clear. I caught them, but topped out my speed about 20m from the finish, and was passed at the line, by Ravens rider Ciaran Farrell. I slumped over the handlebars, my lungs screaming.

The S1 riders shot through, and I doubled back to find out what the hell was going on. Had there been another group away, or was that it?

There was no one up the road - it had all come down to the bunch sprint. Stagg Lucan's Brendan Whelan won, Ravens rider Paul Reid had got second, bringing home silver medal, while Bray Wheelers Jonathan Cruise had got third. Ciaran Farrell took sixth, and I came seventh, which also gave Ravens CRT the team prize, a gold medal each for Paul, Ciaran and myself.

Well, I was damn pleased. First cycling trophy I've won since I came back to the sport three years ago.

And while I would be inclined to criticise the bizarre merging of the S1 and S2 races, as well as the awful potholes, I have to hand it to Cian Lynch and company - I do like his choice of circuit, they're always interesting, and technically demanding

Bit of an irishcycling.com race reporter's day out too, with Cian organising the race, Ken Moloney getting the bronze in the S3 race, and muggins here going home with a gong.

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