DUCT TAPE!
Sunday the 14th of September saw the running of the anual Ulster 100 mile TT Championships, once again hosted by the Ballymoney cycling club.28 Riders descended on the woodgreen course on a calm and sunny September morning. Setting off in good time with Glenn on route to Antrim progress was slowed due to multiple road closures which took the mind of any hint of nerves before the event as we sped through the maze of backroads and farm tracks around glenavey.
Last to sign on as is now somewhat of a tradition would see me take number 28, I was well out of the way of any of the other favourites for the event which was fine I always planned to concentrate on my own effort and I would be out of the way of any distractions of other peoples pacing.
On chatting to a few of the pre race favourites as they got ready to set off Glenn had noticed a number of them had duct taped round the numbers to make them a little more aero, he told me I should do that and if I didn't I would be annoyed if I lost out by a few seconds.
My start was controlled and I settled into the effort quickly. I made good progress through other riders and had passed a few by the First 10 mile mark which was somewhere in the low 21's.
The 100 is a pretty straight forward affair,If ur not thirsty drink, If you don't need a gell have one, If you feel your going too hard you probably are.
When I neared the end of my first bottle I realised the change might not be so straight forward. I had removed the bar tape from the side bars, my sweaty palms on smooth carbon was a recipe for disaster! Approaching Glenn on the hill I nervously gripped the slick side bar as tight as I could as I snatched a bottle from him, success panic over for an hour until the ordeal would have to be repeated!
With the bottle Glenn had attached a zipvit gel to the payload. I squeezed the gloupy muck into my mouth and then spent 30mins trying to suppress the urge to be sick...
At 70 miles we scheduled another reloading of ammunition and provisions, I told Glenn under no circumstances give me the second zipvit gel even the sight of it would cause a projectile vomit reflex!
On the run in to the feedzone i reached down my arm practicaly seized from holding the aero position for so long dispatched with
an empty bottle where my car was parked, just as I threw the bottle a spectator walked over the verge, time slowed down briefly as I willed the airborne bottle to not hit them! My telepathic powers were useless and the bottle hit them square on! I later found the pperson I had hit and apologized.
I picked up my rations for the final hour and the run for home, the time trial was now reaching the business end of things. I picked up Christie on the opposite side of the carriage way and matched his pace with my lift in effort. I was feeling good and was able to squeeze gently on the throttle a little more with each mile ticked off.
Glenn was screaming on encouragement it was a good lift and I responded with more speed. With just 10 miles to go I was flying the last 5 miles passed quickly and I finished super strong.
Looking at my time I was pleased I couldn't recall the record but I knew I was close to it and no matter What I could be happy with How everything went.
We got back to the race HQ news filtering in that Marcus had won with a new Irish records ride, this was always expected from the Commonwealth games man. My time was good enough for the Ulster silver and 3rd by a single second to visiting rider Bryan McCrystal. Wow one second over 100 miles yep should have put some duct tape on the number Glenn and I joked!
Funny some might get a complex over a second I'm looking at it more as the 20 mins I've improved to give Bryan a run for his money. For those not in the cycling know Bryan is one of the strongest domestic riders in Ireland hes had some high profile wins and beat a large number of pros including Dan Martin at this years national champs.
That's it season over. 2x Ulster Champion and medals in the 10 and 100 with 7th in the National champs. Yep I made up for not a single TT Ulster medal last year and then some: ).
Ulster 100 mile TT data http://connect.garmin.com/activity/590353158 well done Marcus Christie who set a new all time 100 TT record today, no shame taking the ulster silver medal to that. Bryan McCrystal coming up to do another great ride also glad he doesn't count in the Ulster results loosing the silver by a second would have been hard to take!to be 1 second slower than Bryan I can sleep ok with that. John Madden a great ride also setting a new vets record. Well done everyone that took part.Great job by Ballymoney Cycling Club, and Gordon Parker and wife. Special thanks to Glenn Dunwoody who helped me get a result today.
Results
Split Times
Photos
Totally rung out at the finish, lifting the pace considerably for the final hour took its toll!
Some pre time trial banter with Joe!
Glen hooked his garmin up to my power meter etc so he was able to see how I was doing through the ride. I wondered how he knew exactly the right time to shout encouragement from the car! Pretty impressive how far the ANT+ signal from the power meter actually travels.
Pushing hard over the finish line
