From our race correspondent, Brendan Sidney:
Really good race yesterday in Kilkenny. In the morning the omens looked bad for the weather, but at 9.30 in Kilkenny it was lovely a little grey but no wind. I headed up early for registeration with Fran and Aoife in hot persuit in the Camper.
We got registered, dumped the bikes and retired to the Camper for Tactics/Tea/Bananas/Soup/Crisp sandwiches/Salads and general finger food. After a quick warm up around the beautiful grounds we drew up to the line, psyched and pumped to go.
But wait, we are now informed some chronic blue flue episode has occurred and the Gardai are not in attendence at he roundabouts. The race is delayed by 20 mins. Everyone is still in good spirits and the vibe is still excellent, also the weather is holding fine.
Eventually we are off. The first 5 k through the fabulous grounds are a pleasure(if this is possible) the pack stays quite tight and everyone is within a few minutes of the leaders. The transition was well laid out and clear so they were relatively quick.
The cycle headed straight into a short sharp hill and took a bit out of us but after that the we agreed(post race) the cycle was grand,it was quite flat , the rods perfect and well marshalled. We all got on well and made a good few passes to jump places.
The final run was energy sapping. I thought it would never end and as we re emerged into the castle grounds we were directed to the top of the field and run back down the grass. I had done well and was very happy and had a bit left in the tank(so I guess I should have gone harder). Fran had a fantastic run finish and came in well under our agreed pre race time. The new bike is a revelation he told us. Aoife did fantastic and also finished well despite her nagging knee injury and the initial hill on the cycle. But her final run was strong although she says it wasnt, IT WAS !! Well done.
All in all a fantastic day and very satisfying that we achieved good results. There was even some strangers cheering us on because of the Wexford gear. And of course it always nice to beat Kilkenny at home!!!