‘ Ye Ham Shite ye ‘
Driving towards Woodgreen on Sunday morning the 29th of september didnt feel right. Why?? Its a 100 TT. In twitter land a hash tag would look like #flatout #ballsout #nohiding #saddlesores #saddlemountains !!
Yes to all above but i’m wired funny and I have an undercarriage as hard as the shell on a turtle’s back… and I like this sort of thing.
PREPARATION
Ive changed. Why?? Well- the day before the TT I was on a stag in Blackpool with the ‘boys’ Yes- they gave me an invite I could not refuse and I went along to be amused… Paddypower was giving me a no show but I landed with my dancing shoes.. ‘you’re no fun McCrystal’ ‘You changed’… try having an argument and convincing the man your not when he has no less than 15 pints, god knows how many shots and whos just been sick on the floor in the pub 5 minutes ago right on your toes is not an easy task…and its only 7 O Clock!!!.. yes I think I’ll let him win this one.. Hes right I am no Fun.
What’s to prepare for a 100tt.. very little in fact. It should be approached as a long hard training day. I’ve done it 3 times now and when you try complicating things… things go shit!.simple. I had intended to approach it as a training ride but then I read the my brief .… it said ‘give it socks- GO FOR IT’… I literally (no messing)read that 5 minutes before i started.. I had a new plan. I also received a devastating email from Strava. It told me I had lost my Ravensdale KOH to Jude Sands from Newry. My mind was not in a good place on line ..;-))
THE 100
Wow.. wait for it…. Yeah thats it- 100 done.. collapsed at the line and got an Irish record…ding dong the king is dead.
Seriously though…I’m finding it hard to entertain you writing about a 100 TT but theres not much to write other than after 10 pedal strokes I was at race pace. Straight in-no kissing. I didn’t have a power meter or heart rate monitor.. Everything was on feel. It was on feel alright.. I passed daniel stewart very early and felt it was a mistake but i was able to keep it lit. What i did calculate in my legs and body was my time from the 50 mile tt i did a couple months ago i shouldn’t be far off my 100 pace. I didn’t have a good day at the 50tt, mainly because I had a hard race the night before when Neil Delahaye nearly tore the legs off me. My time at the 50 was 1 hour 47 mins. By knocking back a minute I thought I could achieve an even split or hopeful negative split. And thats what happened. My Support crew were there or rather Pat was. By now we are like Torvill and Dean… no words need to be spoken. Everything at the ready. Dont know what I’d do without him!
I kept even splits and had the legs to lift..yes lift the pace for the final 25. I broke the race down in 25’s always trying to come in under 55 minutes. I’ll be honest.. I wanted to break the record John Madden set last year but taking so much time off it bemused me. It wasnt a fast day I can assure you and the course is no drag strip. Its hard on the mind as well as the body. I took nearly 17 minutes off my own personal best time 3 years ago. I’ll put that down to chipping away over the years and building a stronger engine. It really is as simple as that.
I would like to thank cycling ulster and Ballymoney CC especially Maurice McAlister for the event. Also thanks to thank Bronagh kirk for the snaps!!
Definition of a ‘Ham Shite’…
when one goes as hard as they can in a bike race for 100 miles and can’t sit on a toilet seat for 4 days after.
BMC
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