Successful Start To 'Gorey 3 Day' Training

Author: neil o'connor [mailto: ]
Date: 28 January 2008 18:55
Subject: RE: Cycling Lucan: Gorey 3 Day.

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Saturday (Jan 26th) saw 9 riders line up outside Stagg Cycles for a training session aimed at getting riders ready for the racing season and more specifically to assess fitness and willingness of riders considering the Gorey 3 day race this Easter.

The planned route was relatively short, however a series of interval sessions were to be included so the intensity would make up for the lack of miles.

We headed north towards Rathoath and then out to Skryne. The fact that I picked up two punctures interrupted the group somewhat, credit has to go to John Ennis for having a spare rim tape in his saddle bag which he happily donated to my front wheel.

Despite these distractions we still managed two 10 minute 'up and over' sessions of (very)high intensity.

The intervals and rest periods brought us to within striking distance of the hill at Skryne where we played the game of chasing Frank Billings (Bronze Medal in National Hill Climb 07) up the hill.

What we did was give Frank a small gap from the group and an instruction not to get caught... Frank was happy to oblige.

Following the Skryne hill we re-grouped and rode across the Boyne valley to Tara where we gave Daniel Kirwan the same task, i.e. Don't get caught !. I had forgotten how long the Hill of Tara is from the small road up the back of the Hill, by the time we all made it to the top we were truly exhausted.... I was truly shattered !

At that point we pulled in for coffee in the café at the top and discussed some of the team riding requirements that the new S2 group and S3 group will need over the forthcoming season.

The plan is for the two team groups to operate with greater tactical awareness and team support than we have practiced in the past.

Following this brief stop we resumed on the road to Kilmessan and back via Grange cross on the Dunboyne Trim road.

Here we lined out and did a few minutes of 'sprintervals'. This exercise worked well with the group really sticking together and it didn't take long for us to hit Batterstown.

From there on we rode up and overs back into Lucan.Judging by the state of my legs that afternoon we'd had a pretty tough session and I think that everyone who had been on the session felt the strain on Sunday morning.

We plan to hold a similar session in February, I would advise riders wishing to ride the Gorey to join one of these sessions, it will give you a very good idea of what level you are at with your training.

Now we can wait until the first few races to see if the tactical talk made and difference !