From Brendan Kennedy, our member in Ireland.

2007 Season

2 December, Swords CC Xmas race.

"I rode a 30 mile RR today, in a gale force wind & driving,lashing bloody rain. It was very,very hard just to keep going. With the weather being the way it was, it would have been tempting to climb off after the 1st lap. However, the event was run on a H/Cap basis & I was off in the 3rd group,(6 groups total) over a 3 lap 10 mile circuit, starting & finishing on the bloody climb (Warrenstown). Anyway to cut to the chase (pardon the pun) setting off there was 12/15 approx riders in my group, with 3 more groups behind as follows (2nd cats),(1st Cats) & then a smallish group containing some elites & 4 pros at home for the xmas break. Anyway by the end of lap 1 our group was down to 4 riders (Myself, P Halpin, J Lally, A Sheppard). This is how the race continued until the last 7 or so miles, P Halpin punctured, & this left just the 3 of us to try and hang on to the finish without getting caught by the groups chasing from behind. With only 5 miles to go A Sheppard attacked & I jumped with him and then I heard a BLING,BLING (S..t was my reply) I broke 2 spokes in my front wheel. (so much for carbon deep section rims with radial spoking), J Lally got up to Sheppard, and within the last 2 miles 2 riders caught me, went by me & then got up to the front 2, of Lally & Sheppard. The 1st 4 places came from these,& with just the climb up to the finish a small group of about 7 riders caught me, & I wobbled in to finish 12th (sorry I didn't get in the top 6 places for the club). But the best news was that " the elites/Pros did not close on us at all throughout the race" I heard afterwards that they lost time each lap on the 4 of us up front. Not bad for 48 years old eh. But on summary I was more than pleased with my day, & my performance. I still have some work to do, but that is a good thing, it leaves room for improvement between now & March 08."

20 May, Miltown, Co. Kildare. 4 laps of a 12mile circuit RR.

"It wasn't a great day at the office for me this week-end, I must say. I was in the semi scratch group, with the scratch group 4 mins behind us.
There were 4 groups ahead, with the limit group (1st Group) given a 15 min time advantage over us. The group immediately ahead had been given 7 mins & with the distance of 70k over a very difficult and demanding course it was going to be a hard day's racing. This circuit is run on the roads at the back of the Curragh Race Course, & it is where the Newbridge Grand Prix is held for Elite riders every June. The 1st stage of the FBD Insurance Ras, came over this circuit this afternoon (after our event this morning) & the 1st prime of the day was on part of this course. The lap distance is slightly less than 12 miles around with at least 8 miles of hard undulating climbs. This is one of the most difficult courses in the Leinster region (nobody likes riding it).
However, we set off at a very fast pace, (28 riders in our group) (I was riding a 53 x 14/13) just to keep in with the group. After only 2 miles we entered the 1st climb a long, niggly, sh..ty road of a climb that goes on for about 3/4 mile, (this entailed a very quick gear change, (53 x 17) and by the time we had got to the top 4 riders had been dropped from the group (a savage amount of speed, I was hanging on in the middle of the group at this point) & this was only after 3-4 miles approx). The real 2 big climbs had still to come on the back of the course(1 of which is that steep it has a Radio mast at the summit) & goes up for about 1. 5 miles. We were chasing hard & only making very small in roads to getting the group ahead back, & because of this we shed a few more riders leaving our group down to about (17 riders) & this was before the big climb & we had not even done 1 lap yet. At the start of lap 2 we had only pulled back 30 secs on the group ahead, & very few riders in our group were willing to come up front and try to drive us along,I would have to say" out of the remaining 17 or so in the group only 8/9 were doing their bit". I seemed to be doing a little bit more than I should have, & I was to suffer for my efforts on the last lap. (keep reading). Lap 2 was no different than the 1st, losing riders along the way so the engine was getting smaller(riders doing the work at the front), but the train was still swinging at the back (riders sitting on, doing NOWT (If you get my drift), but by the time we reached the top of the big climb for the 2nd time & with about 3-4 miles to start of the 3rd lap we had the group ahead in sight. We caught them 2 miles into the start of lap 3, & at this point there was a bit of a stall in the race, so I took advantage of this (should have stayed where I was) & made a move, hoping to bring a couple of riders with me (no one came with me)(SEE PHOTO) . I felt that if 3/4 of us had got clear on lap 3 there was a very good chance we could stay away to the finish, as the scratch group where still 3+ mins down with only the last lap of 12 miles to go.Lap 4 started & I continued alone for about 4-5 miles, but not getting more than 500 yards from the group, I was hoping I could get over the climb before getting caught, (NOT TO BE) they had caught me just at the bottom of this 1.5 mile climb, and as they did, there was an attack, BANG<BANG<BANG I went straight out the back of this group of about 12 remaining riders & with only about 3-4 miles to the finish I was caught between the two groups (my original group & a chasing scratch group, which I was told at the top of the climb that they where only 45 secs behind me) The scratch groups last lap was a fanstastic bit of riding, they had pulled back over 2 mins+ in the last 12 miles or so. Well yes," you've guessed it" I was caught by them before the finish & only just managed to hang on at the back to the line.(SEE PHOTO) (Sorry Lads & Lasses).I feel I did to much driving on the front early on & paid for it towards the end. I feel If I had not rode so hard I may have been able to stay away & get the win. (You think I would know better).
But my philosophy is" it is better to have tried & lost than never have tried at all". "

15 May, Boot Inn criterium.

"I rode a 36 mile RR last night 7 laps of a 5 mile circuit in the lashing rain. It was a H/cp event with myself being off in the semi scratch group, and with 5 groups ahead of my group each with 2 mins between each it made for a very fast and hard nights racing, however after only 4 laps we had caught all the groups, & with only the scratch group behind us by under 1 min, we had to keep the pressure up. By the start of the penultimate lap the scratch group had caught us and this swelled the bunch to over 45-50 riders, & with only 6-7 mile left it was vital to get yourself as near to the front as you possibly could, It was pouring down with rain and visibility was terrible. There was a few efforts made within the last 4 mile but no one was getting away, & there was a few nervous moments with alot of switching etc. The finish is a long straight road of about 1.5 miles and the speed shot up as we entered the finishing straight, people where letting wheels go all over the place, so I made my way up into the first 20 riders, so as to stay out of trouble just in case of any crashes (the road was soaking wet & very slippery). With about 350 meters to go the sprint started, & it was eyeballs out, switching & weaving, jostling for the best position, guys letting the wheels go, riders all across the road (you know the story), anyway in a very tight bunch finish I could only manage to get a 15th place (not great) but looking at the amount of riding we had to do to catch the groups and out of a field of about 60-70 riders, that had signed on, its ok I guess.
Best wishes to you all in the club."

13 May, Enfield 25m TT.

"There was no road racing in Dublin this week-end only a 25 mile TT held in Enfield, Co.Kildare. This course is held on the old main Dublin to Kinnegad road, & is a rolling up & down course, not the best road in the world to say the least for a TT. With a North Easterly wind blowing it made it difficult for all the riders as we were travelling in a Westerly direction out to the turn & an Easterly direction back to the finish, so there was no advantage either way. Aprox 56 riders signed on for this event, which in Irish standards is very good for a TT(considering we don't have that many). I was off No.15 & within the 1st 5 miles I had got my minute man & by 14 miles had caught my 2 minute man. (my time checks @ 5miles = 12.11. @ 13miles = 30.21. @ 19miles = 46.06. @ 25 miles = 1.02.28.=(ave spd 24.0847 mph).
so my time of 1.02.28 for the ride is not to bad for me especially at 48 years old, (& when ya take into consideration I HATE TT's) THEY ARE TO BLOODY HARD. I take my hat off to all you guys & lasses that ride them week in - week out. (TT's can be left to all you HARDMEN IN YORKSHIRE).
The winning time was a 57.19. so 5 mins + over me is a big margin. Overall in finished 11th on the day, I guess I'm happy enough with that."

8 May, Batterstown Evg Road Race.

"Here are some photo's of Tues evening Road Race 8 May, 36 mile event. (this is the sprint of the breakaway group of about 18 riders). 75 riders started the event the rest were about 1min.50secs down on us at the finish. "Hope ya like em"

A group of 12 managed to get away on Lap 1 of 3 of a 12 mile circuit and opened up a small advantage of 25 secs, approaching Warrenstown climb (there's that hill again) for the first time 6 riders including myself launched a big effort to get across, by the top of the climb we had closed the gap, & the breakaway group was around 18/19 riders, but still only holding a 25-30 sec advantage. However with the group this big most worked well and the time gap went up by the end of lap 2 to around 1min.15 secs. The race was now down to this group, I felt that the group was still a bit too big and made 2 attempts in the last 8 miles to break it up a bit more, Once going through Dunsany & up Warrenstown for the last time, 4 riders came with me, but when we reached the top of the climb, with a tail wind and a fast moving bunch no one was getting away with only 4 miles to the finish. It came down to a sprint of the 18 breakaway riders and as you can see from the photo's I was there in the mix at the end for 10th spot."

Brendan also reports a rare time trial performance (10 May), the first in three years with an excellent 24.09 over 10 miles, to a winner's time of 23.26. No dual carriageway drag strips here but a rolling narrow lanes country course. Not bad for a roadie.

photos courtesy of D. Blake sports.