Club Spin Report 24th November

By Colm Tobin

The club spin was to depart from the Phoenix Park this morning with the plan to head in the direction of Enfield for a change of scenery. With this in mind I set off from Ashbourne slightly later than usual, in the presence of a light fog, and hints of frost on the sides of the road to remind me that it was in fact a cold winters morning. By the time I reached the meeting point, the fog had lifted and the frost had melted off the roads, thankfully. There was a real buzz about the park this morning, with 3 groups readying themselves in the carpark at the Popes Cross. I toyed with the idea of joining the triathlon group, but was reminded that I could kiss not only my Tiernans membership, but also my credibility goodbye, so much for that idea!

Eamon claimed the victims for the third group, and we waited for the the 1st and 2nd group to roll out before we got moving. Shortly after we started we were subject to a minor mechanical issue that Brendan set straight. By then, the group had disappeared, and after a minor detour, we rejoined the remainder of the 9 man strong bunch. Once regrouped, we then headed in the direction of Summerhill, and on to Enfield, taking the opportunity to up the effort a little with some ‘big ring’ up and overs, or at least everyone else was in the big ring, I was in my only ring… It was along here that we saw a brave countryman cutting a ~15ft tall hedge from the comfort of a JCB shovel. If health and safety spotted that he’d have gotten a gold star! From Enfield, Eamon took us down a very nice road that I believe is new territory for St. Tiernans CC spins, thanks Eamon! From here we made our way back towards Kilcock, Maynooth and Leixlip, again taking the opportunity to do another set of big ring up and overs. Once we passed through Lucan and were on the home straight, roughly half the group upped the pace and disappeared into the distance, shelling out men, one by one. I struggled to push my 44-16 up the hill at the anglers rest, but found the breakaway group sitting patiently at the crest. We headed in the direction of Chapelizod, with members dropping off one by one to take their fastest route home. I hung a left along the quays and headed back in the direction of home. I was happy to make it home in one piece with 135km clocked up, just on time to catch Ireland flattening Argentina! Good spin in nice, fresh conditions!