Last Sunday saw the start of my race season.. Arch rivals Newry wheelers had their annual John haldane memorial race, a 50 mile 5 lap affair of the warrenpoint carriageway.

The Race was handicapped with the a3’s off 4 minutes ahead of A2’s & A1’s.. I was in the latter group.. The carraigeway in my view tends to suit the group in front because they can see the chasing pack..

Because the race is only a stones throw away (17 mile) myself and ‘de Don’ met up and spun up the the race start. Mental preparation started once we hit the road. A talented sportsman I was surely getting some sound advice.

I had a race plan in my head.. Plan was, no towing the group and leave something in the legs for the final 10k..simple! I did all the above but still didn’t catch the A3’s.. Our group just didn’t work consistently and for the first time in my short cycling career I didn’t drive the group on like I would of last year. The group had plenty of strong riders to close the gap but many were shy to meet the headwind.. Cuchulainn didnt fall shy and worked well..Myles Mcbikepure has now adopted the CCC colours for the 2011 race season and promises to be fit for 2nd of April.. 😉 He also promises to bin his surf tights.. I did my fair share and true to my plan I gave a dig the last 10k and got away with John madden of curren race team in my draft. Myself and John worked well down the final stretch with a good tailwind. Needless to say it was a little too late.

I was happy with the outcome, sometimes the results don’t go to plan but performances do..I’ll build and learn once again for the next race and hopefully get the result.
The ride home with ‘de Don’ was even faster than the race.. With the buzz and Adrenaline still in his legs ‘de Don’ set the pace at no less than 300 watts..hopefully he can get up to a2 cat and give me a lead out sometime this season..