Irish Veteran Cyclists Association race results for season 2001
Tuesday 28th August - 26 mile CP, Batterstown
1. Henry Whelan |
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Henry, Pat and Kevin crossing the line to take first, second and third places. |
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Hugh Byrnes report of
The last of the evening road races was a 26 mile CP in Batterstown
over the same course that was used for the Vets/U23 & Junior
National Championships last Sunday. The shortness of the race being
forced on us by lack of daylight despite the summery weather. Using
this course for DMS races still makes for good racing but when its a
CP it just means its faster!
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Up & over all the draggy bits with all those lighter lads forcing the pace and we came across casualty no2. Robbie Norgrove was in the ditch with a leg injury sustained by crashing due to a stray dog. He still looked in good spirits and was being attended to by Paddy Byrne. Two-thirds of the way round the first lap and we were caught by faster riders (incl Frances who had remounted) ant the pace went up again. Now I was...hanging off the back, where every badly taken bend or corner is punished by extra effort to hang on. Six or seven miles of this and eventually the elastic broke. Catch your breath, keep going, and watch out for the scratch lads coming. Who am I kidding they went by like a train. A few shouts of encouragement from clubmates and a 'ho ho ho' from one rider, upon finding last sundays winner on his own. One thing I always find strange is that the scratch lads always seem to be operating in slow motion as they pass and disappear into the sunset. There never seems to be anything frantic about their application of power to their pedals. Smooth and fast. Ah well, turn around and catch the finish. |
A group of 5 riders just manage to stay clear of the pack, with
the master sprinter himsef, Henry Whelan taking the victory. He was
just one bike lenght clear of Pat Troy and Kevin Simms who had
the misfortune to puncture last Sunday. Dick O'Brien placed 4th with
Oliver Bright 5th. PS A Tale of Two Puctures: Kevin puctured during last Sundays race but his rival for the Sunday league, Mick Tynan only punctured when his bike was actually hanging on the bike rack after the race!!
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