When i closed the door of my house in Belfast it just started to drizzle. Perfect conditions for a road race on a Tuesday night…
I cycled the 20k to the start just outside of Lisburn at a place called Maze. Also know for the infamous H-Blocks. But they were far away from the actual race venue just beside the scenic Down Royal (Horse) Racecourse.
Every week the local cycling clubs Phoenix CC and Maryland Wheelers have club races lined up. On the Saturday spin the lads from Phoenix CC invited me to race and after a short thought i gave them my heads up! A good decision after todays race. It was pure fun.
The weather and the roads were rough but that didnt bother me at all. It was more motivation then anything else. To stay in the pack, draft, cover breaks or get droped was a new but very exiting expierence.
We had to race 3 loops on backroads protected by marshals on all junctions but NOT closed for traffic. It was not busy but sometimes very close for some guys. Overall i complettly enjoyed it and the 42k just flew by.
I finished at the back of the main pack. When the group further increased the tempo just 6k from the finish line i could not respond anymore. A pure cycling race is different but exiting. Ill be back on the roads around Belfast for some serious midweek racing. Trully adictive!
Then it was 20k home on the bike. In drizzling rain…
