Picture; Kieran Clancy
Had my first bike race in over a year today and first proper one in about 3 years. The Lacey Cup in Kerry kicked off the road racing season in Ireland in glorious sunshine. Strange to be racing in February, it’s very early. I am using the next few months of bike racing to get a bit of form in my legs, (I have neglected the two wheels in order to find my arms in the pool). I’m doing quick-fix bike training to build some form from racing sort of thing. I can get away with taking that approach to my cycling having had quite a few years and thousands of Kms in the legs.
Picture; Kieran Clancy
Today’s race was a shock to the system but it’s great to be back racing. I loved it. The race went really well for me. My exceptions coming in to the race were non-existent, just roll around, ride hard and see what happens. 4th happened. I rode clever and knew who to watch, I made the initial break on the first climb, and hung on from the rest of the day, four of us got away and I was the passenger in the break. I did very few turns as I just could just about match the speed of the guys. Three of them having ridden for Ireland before. So I took the back seat and enjoyed the views of Kerry until the last climb, where I got spat out out the back as the attack started with 8km remaining.
Picture; Kieran Clancy
The highlight of the day must have been when we came across a farmer who was bringing his sheep out for a little walk, we had a tail wind and are doing about 55kph when next thing the road’s blocked with sheep. thankfully we got through without to much slowing down.
Picture; Kieran Clancy
