Round 5 of the Munster League brought the club to Killarney and the second running of K-Cross, hosted by Killarney Cycling Club. After last weeks successful weekend the riders were looking to push on and try to grab their respective podium positions in the league. Ger, Russell, and Richie made the trip down, and all were in the A race. The race set up was top notch. The club but up their gazebo alongside the many others along the start finish straight. The club's set up this year is one of the best and having a warm and dry place to warm up serves as perfect preparation for a race (as well as looking seriously pro.....). It was a very cold but dry day, and conditions were almost perfect for CX. The course had been well bedded in and was holding up well to the previous nights rain. A few practice laps of the course showed that Killarney had done a serious job of creating a top notch CX lap. A spiral, a bridge, a run up, and a section of technical forestry (along with a VERY slippery descent), meant that this course had a bit of everything and would test both fitness and skills to the max. After a warm up to rival the pros, Richie, Russell, and Ger lined up on the grid. Richie was once again on the front row with Russell just behind, and Ger another couple of rows back. Casting aside their jackets and fancy new warm up tights (thanks to John Dempsey), they were ready for action. As usual they rocketed off the start, and it was John Dempsey of Carrick got the "hole shot", and took an early lead. Richie had a solid start, but at the first chicane he took out a post and dropped back to 6th. Russell was sitting pretty in the top 10, and Ger was only a couple of places back, riding solidly in the top 20. Going through the spiral on the first lap was a sight to behold. 40 riders going round and a round, in opposite directions was dizzying for both the spectators and riders alike. Out of the spiral, they sped towards the bridge. Up and over they went and down into a sweeping lefthander, where a few riders came to grief (but luckily none of the Barrs). After a few hairpins, a chicane, and the customary set of barriers, they dropped into the forest, kicking up the dirt and leaves as they went. This section required a calm head and good bike control (although both have a habit of going missing when going flat out). A couple of drop ins had to be negotiated, with the penalty for going wide being a long slide down a leafy bank. These were only a taster for possibly the best/insane/frightening feature of this lap. A sharp, steep, off camber right hand bend led to a steep straight, but super slippy descent (aka descent of doom) that finished with a tight left hand hairpin. A crowd had built up here, and the noises they made let everyone know who negotiated this section well, or who became a cropper. A straight section through the forest led to a left hander, and up onto a climb which was nearly ridable, but much faster to run. After the remount, and a short section of forestry, the riders came onto the gravel road, and back up to the muddy start/finish straight. It was on the run up, on the first lap that Richie clawed back up to the group fighting for 3rd, along with the usual suspects of John Dempsey and Mark Shannon. Simon Ryan was also in the group and was one to watch after his storming performance in Aghada. In order to move into 3rd in the league, Richie had to finish ahead of John and Trevor Woods. Luckily for Richie, Trevor wasn't anywhere to be seen. After riding with Mark and John for the second lap, Richie pushed on up the run up and only Mark went with him. Mark stuck to his wheel like glue until the forestry section, where Richie opened a small gap, after Mark made a small mistake on descent of doom. Determined to to take advantage, he pushed on and the gap grew lap after lap. The gap to first and second was insurmountable. Matt Slattery simply had an awesome ride and blew everyone away. Richie Maes also had a strong ride, and was looking to get one back on Richie after losing the battle the previous week. He did so in convincing fashion, but a second podium finish in as many weeks, meant that Richie jumped up to 3rd overall in the League. Russell also had a solid race. He found his rhythm and was riding strongly. Despite a fall on the "descent of doom", he was holding his own and battling with Paul Birchill and his old foe John "The Pizza Cutter" Crowley. After changing to a clean bike halfway round, Russell was hoping to claw back John, and move up in the m40 league. For the last few laps, Russell began to struggle, and instead of trying to catch John, he now had to focus on not being caught from behind. Luckily, he held on to 3rd m40 in the race (still finishing an impressive 14th), and has moved into the final podium spot in the league with one race to go. However, Russell was questioning his form, after going backwards in the latter part of the race. He had put it down to a bad day, but after the race he discovered that he had broken a spoke in the rear wheel of his spare bike, which meant he was riding with the rear brake half on for the final part of the race. Ger also had a solid race and is making great improvements week on week. IT's hard to believe his first CX race was at the end of September, and that he is now finishing comfortably in the top 20 of the A race in the Munster League. He was battling hard with Andrew O'Callaghan from DeRonde for the first part of the race, and he proved to be the stronger of the two on the day, pushing on alone in the latter part of the race. Big thanks to Killarney Cycling Club for the event they out on today. They left no stone unturned, and the beers on the finish line should be compulsory in every race. This weeks local bike shop sponsor was The Little Big Bikeshop in Killarney (www.thelittlebigbikeshop.com) and the race was also supported by the Killarney Brewing Company, Killarney Park Hotel, and The Ross Hotel (so next time you're in Killarney give them a visit!) As usual thanks to John Dempsey and Verge for the ongoing sponsorship of the league. The final round of the league takes place next week in Upperchurch Drombane and you can enter by clicking this link: fs27.formsite.com/Udcccx/form1/index.html While first and second in the league are decided, the battle is still on for 3rd, with Richie hoping to repeat his results of the previous 2 weeks to maintain his current position. There is also a savage battle on between 2nd and 3rd for the m40 league which will be decided in next weeks race. This has been a great league so far and the scene is set for one final battle. Hon the Barrs!
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October 2017
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