NPS Round 1 Roundup

The first round of the NPS was held by Killarney CC in low and behold, Killarney! Myself and Fergal took the trusty van down very early on Saturday morning. We left Dublin at 8:00 and arrived at the track with tools and a plan to extend the course singletrack. After about an hour of scoping the track out, we found a couple of places where it could be improved. The work was actually fine and after a few hours, myself and the three lads had almost doubled the existing singletrack!

With this over, I got changed and went for a quick practice lap with Oisin. The course consisted of a long muddy climb, a fire road sprint, another long climb and then a mixture of singletrack/fireroad descending to the start. Although the track didn't really suit me (I prefer the more techincal ones as my fitness is never up to much) I was looking forward to a good race. We packed up our gear and headed into Killarney town to watch Ireland win the Grand Slam! Whata match!! Got some food in a local resuturaunt before heading back to the hostel for some much needed sleep. We were greeted to some great weather the next morning. Felt great to be able sit around in shorts and a jersey and be warm! Big change from the last few races last year where I was wearing jackets and thermal tights!

The race started at 1.30 at a decent pace. I got myself into first place after passing one of the lads who hammered off at the start. I quickly went about passing as many people from masters as I could. Think this was one of my mistakes- went too hard too early. I stayed in first until my chain jumped into the spokes in a singletrack section near the end of the lap. I got it sorted and contiuned on. This put me third place I think. The next couple of laps went without incident and I was feeling fairly strong. My chain went into my spokes a couple of times but it was never that big of a deal. On the climb of the 4th lap I began to 'hit the wall' Just had absolutely no power in my legs, started cramping and lower back pain started getting to me. I nearly collapsed going up the climb on lap 5 (the last one) and lost a couple of places here.

So in the end I rolled to the finish in 6th place. Not a complete disaster but off where I wanted to be. So what can I take away from the first race of the season?

Good points:
My tech ability is good I think. Will do ok in a tech race
I had good power for the first few laps, if I can keep this up I will do better
The new bike is PERFECT!

Bad points:
My endurance is next to non extistant
After going to an osteopath, I have been told that my left hamstring is much shorter than my right which is twisting my pelvis. This is causing the bad lower back pain in races. Will have to get this sorted...
I'm still cramping up too easily. Think I'll start taking deoralite the night before racing or something

Congratulations to Killarney CC for putting on a great event. The drive was rough though. Only thing keeping myself and Fergal going was Ciara and her horn pipe on Mid FM!