It’s been a few weeks since I last did sum blogging but now that I’m lying in my bed head cold frying my brains and my second ras behind me I suppose it’s no better time to update this thing.
Since last writing I took part in the Fbd Ras, I had great ambitions of providing some updates every evening after the stage's but due to mass fatigue and eating being the only thing on my mind I ended up pulling the plug on that idea. After the Ras last year I was 100% under the view that I would never ride such a painful suffer fest again, but time heals all wounds and 1 year later there I was getting Ras-ified once again, I’ll give a quick day by day review on my ras and then what I have on the cards for the coming period.
Day 1
Dunboyne - Dundalk: The time had finally come it was the beginning of the Ras, For a change this year I was on the Irish Development squad the lads I was racing with were sound out and were well motivated to put in some aggressive, and impressive rides over the coming 8 stages. As per usual the ras took off like a bullet from a gun, slane hill being the first challenge, after cresting that the bunch split and a massive effort was needed in order for me to make the crossing, the next Cat 2 climb to long women’s grave was tough and with the intense heat my legs were cramping like bad things, after a rapid decent and an aggressive ride to the finish in the main bunch I was happy with the performance. I lay on the side of the street in Dundalk with the only thing that was going through my mind being that I had 7 more stages of this hell left. The B&B was close by and dinner that night was enjoyable, our manager’s words for the following day were fairly simple.... "Up the road with ye and blow your lights".
Day 2
Dundalk - Carrick on Shannon: The day kicked off at a steady pace as we made our way across the width of the country to Carrick in Leitrim, the racing was highly aggressive attacks forcing the pace on consistently, The days major climb was fast splitting the bunch in an attempt to close down the break which was up the road, but unfortunately on the decent the Spanish team who had been pushing the pace came face to face with an Isuzu super trooper and its bull bars on a blind bend putting them all out of action. The day’s stage was cancelled and neutralized to the finish. upon crossing the line myself and my brother who also was riding with the western edge team were greeted by my mum, she gave me deorilites for my cramps and a bit of TLC to keep my spirits up.
Day 3
Carrick - Oughterard: After yesterdays crash one would have thought racing would have been relaxed and controlled but it was the exact opposite, a day of line outs would have been a good explanation, put yourself on a bike at 40+mph the only thought in your head is to hold the wheel I front of you and then "BANG" you cycle straight into a pot hole, fulcrum zeros knackered tyres flat, this usually wouldn’t stress me but with the days first Cat2 climb just 1km away I was forced to ride myself inside out to make contact with the bunch once more as the days route passed over the tough climbs of mamm cross and ended up splitting the bunch in two, due to the effort of chasing back on myself and a group of about 20 others rode up and over for 25km into a strong head wind in an attempt to limit our losses finishing in the back group a few minutes behind which wasn’t to bad for such a tough day. David o Loughlin a mayo man from the Sean Kelly an post team took the honours into oughterard hammering the competition into the ground.
Day 4
Oughterard - Tipp Town: The day began even faster than the previous I can’t even remember going from Galway to gort we were travelling that fast, line outs on the wrong side of the road weaving in and out of cars pulled into the verge I was praying for the line outs to end, as we passed though gort the road in bits the pace was frantic I didn’t even have time to take a gawk at sum Brazilians. It was to be the day that I would first come off the bike, 25km from home riding side by side with a Japanese rider, I witnessed cyclists hitting the deck in front of me in an attempt to avoid it I felt the Japs arm link my own and in we went into the pile, by the time I managed to scramble to my feet the bunch was gone all I could do was role in with a grupetto and try to limit my losses. When I crossed the line I was confronted by a ras official it was Drug test time, I was brought to the local swimming pool where the testing facility was set up I completed the procedure and got out of there happy to once again get into the shower and out of my paper thin shorts.
Since last writing I took part in the Fbd Ras, I had great ambitions of providing some updates every evening after the stage's but due to mass fatigue and eating being the only thing on my mind I ended up pulling the plug on that idea. After the Ras last year I was 100% under the view that I would never ride such a painful suffer fest again, but time heals all wounds and 1 year later there I was getting Ras-ified once again, I’ll give a quick day by day review on my ras and then what I have on the cards for the coming period.
Day 1
Dunboyne - Dundalk: The time had finally come it was the beginning of the Ras, For a change this year I was on the Irish Development squad the lads I was racing with were sound out and were well motivated to put in some aggressive, and impressive rides over the coming 8 stages. As per usual the ras took off like a bullet from a gun, slane hill being the first challenge, after cresting that the bunch split and a massive effort was needed in order for me to make the crossing, the next Cat 2 climb to long women’s grave was tough and with the intense heat my legs were cramping like bad things, after a rapid decent and an aggressive ride to the finish in the main bunch I was happy with the performance. I lay on the side of the street in Dundalk with the only thing that was going through my mind being that I had 7 more stages of this hell left. The B&B was close by and dinner that night was enjoyable, our manager’s words for the following day were fairly simple.... "Up the road with ye and blow your lights".
Day 2
Dundalk - Carrick on Shannon: The day kicked off at a steady pace as we made our way across the width of the country to Carrick in Leitrim, the racing was highly aggressive attacks forcing the pace on consistently, The days major climb was fast splitting the bunch in an attempt to close down the break which was up the road, but unfortunately on the decent the Spanish team who had been pushing the pace came face to face with an Isuzu super trooper and its bull bars on a blind bend putting them all out of action. The day’s stage was cancelled and neutralized to the finish. upon crossing the line myself and my brother who also was riding with the western edge team were greeted by my mum, she gave me deorilites for my cramps and a bit of TLC to keep my spirits up.
Day 3
Carrick - Oughterard: After yesterdays crash one would have thought racing would have been relaxed and controlled but it was the exact opposite, a day of line outs would have been a good explanation, put yourself on a bike at 40+mph the only thought in your head is to hold the wheel I front of you and then "BANG" you cycle straight into a pot hole, fulcrum zeros knackered tyres flat, this usually wouldn’t stress me but with the days first Cat2 climb just 1km away I was forced to ride myself inside out to make contact with the bunch once more as the days route passed over the tough climbs of mamm cross and ended up splitting the bunch in two, due to the effort of chasing back on myself and a group of about 20 others rode up and over for 25km into a strong head wind in an attempt to limit our losses finishing in the back group a few minutes behind which wasn’t to bad for such a tough day. David o Loughlin a mayo man from the Sean Kelly an post team took the honours into oughterard hammering the competition into the ground.
Day 4
Oughterard - Tipp Town: The day began even faster than the previous I can’t even remember going from Galway to gort we were travelling that fast, line outs on the wrong side of the road weaving in and out of cars pulled into the verge I was praying for the line outs to end, as we passed though gort the road in bits the pace was frantic I didn’t even have time to take a gawk at sum Brazilians. It was to be the day that I would first come off the bike, 25km from home riding side by side with a Japanese rider, I witnessed cyclists hitting the deck in front of me in an attempt to avoid it I felt the Japs arm link my own and in we went into the pile, by the time I managed to scramble to my feet the bunch was gone all I could do was role in with a grupetto and try to limit my losses. When I crossed the line I was confronted by a ras official it was Drug test time, I was brought to the local swimming pool where the testing facility was set up I completed the procedure and got out of there happy to once again get into the shower and out of my paper thin shorts.
Day 5
Tipp Town - Seskin Hill: Disaster.... yea I think that word sums up this day, a puncture after 5 km left me chasing the fast moving peloton, what’s even worse when I made contact with them the biggest smash I’ve been in for a while took place. all I saw was bad cats black sidi's upside down in the air, I locked the brakes I was going in I threw the c50 to the side and slammed my body into the mash of carbon aluminium and flesh, Getting a look Keo pedal in the spine is far from nice and then having to drag your mangled, bleeding and aching body 140km across the roughest back roads and finally up Seskin hill is far from easy. poor Tuminators the "BAD CAT" broke his collar bone which meant all his sacrifice, hard work and effort came to a halt there on the road, I remember stumbling to my feet to see his mangled body attempting to rise from the ground, I rushed to his aid telling him to stay put and the medics would come to him shortly, next I was to see one of the Galway bay riders holding his bike which was smashed in 2 and handle bars broke, mike redden Dublin was walking around delirious asking where was he and were was his bike, the aftermath of the crash was evident in the many individuals that lay motionless tangled in barbed wire fences and lodged in the ditches of the road. Later reports from riders estimated the casualties from the crash to be up in the forties.
Day 6
Seskin Hill - Gorey: with the first of the big Cat 1 climbs being introduced today, people were really battling for positions at the front, from the gun the pace was frantic one line out going up though a town split the bunch in 2 as riders fought for position in the shadows of the up and coming ascents that would soon sort the men from the mice, a western edge rider Chris Coyle came a cropper as he literally fell clean of his bike with exhaustion taking out a sigma sport rider whose back wheel whilst airborne glided by my cheek leaving the faint mark of rubber upon my skin. The climbs were tough and really zapped my legs, they were all built into each other as we scaled the mountainside the first Cat3 caught many by surprise, with fatigued athletes being shelled out the rear of the bunch as the pro teams drove the excessive pace, next we moved onto the Cat 2 which was just as steep and as long, upon completing this we ended up on the side of the Cat1 which entailed a corner so steep that if one got out of the saddle and took their weight off the rear wheel it would simply spin on the gravel, many riders fell from the bikes to the earth at this point as sheer exhaustion brought an end to their stage. Upon reaching the top I was joined by a number of other riders who rode consistently and we managed to finish in the second group on the road.
Day 7
Gorey - Killcullen: with the day taking in what were to be 2 of the toughest climbs of this year’s Ras the shay Elliot and the Wicklow gap tension was high as the many fatigued riders braced themselves for the worst, I rode aggressively all day attacking a number of times but at about 75km I managed to get away in a break from the main bunch with a cycleways rider and we built up a solid lead of 2.30 before being joined by about 7 others one of whom was David Brennan from the Western edge Team. Before hitting the climb the pace was high and the Pro riders who had joined the break were doing majority of the work, it was at this stage that I took the opportunity to fuel up, on the bike you can easily burn in excess of 5000+ Kcals during a stage so taking on the correct energy foods is vital to your performance, I hammered in 2 carbo gels, 2 energy bars and a full bottle of carbo fuel. after 25km of riding we were at the foot of the shay Elliot climb, it was steep and long making at hard to hold with my break away companions but I dug in deep and held on till we crested the peak, the main GC contenders closed in on the decent and quite simply rode straight by me on the Wicklow gap, I rode at my own tempo and managed to reach the top of the tough 8km accent just as I was caught by a strong chasing group of riders who had suffered on the previous climbs. We rode the final 25km very fast with people being shelled on the small cat 3's that were to follow the Wicklow gap. Upon crossing the line I was greeted by my mum, sister and brother Declan who had made the journey from the west to watch myself and my brother battle our way across the rugged Irish landscape upon our bikes.
Day 8
Killcullen - Skerries: With it being the final day the Swedish team who's rider was clearly leading the race took it upon themselves to set a fast tempo to keep the bunch under control, we made good time getting to skerries with no crashes or punctures, and the cat 3 climbs on the way proved no obstacle, remembering last year I was shelled from the bunch along with half the race before we even entered the town, but this year as we made our first passage over the Black hills I dug in deep to hold wheels and managed to pull myself over the top on the back of the bunch, the pace coming onto the final 13km loop around skerries was blisteringly quick I had almost admitted defeat as my legs screamed and as he lactic acid flowed, upon hitting the hill for the final time and with about 6km to follow after the only word to explain what happened was a massive explosion, bodies everywhere, but I dug in deep and with the aid of the Comanche, and the eagle we rode like mad dogs to close down the bunch at speeds in excess of 50mph behind team vehicles which had passed us by and just in time as we turned onto the finishing straight, and just like that the 2010 FBD ras was over for another year the atmosphere on the main street of skeeries was electric as families and friends of the riders rushed franticly to give there applause to what had now been crowned the 2010 Men Of The Ras!!!!!!!.
Now with the ras behind me and the fact that I had no problems with my calf injury the road ahead looks good. with me travelling out to Belgium for some serious racing out there on the 8th of June only to come back for the national championships in Sligo and the suir valley at the start of august, things will be tough, but focusing on the here and now, pounds that crept on over the last few months whilst I was bed ridden with my injury must be carved off and no better way than to train myself lean....
Looking back on the past 7months from were I first began my training, I was convinced there was nothing that was going to stand between me and success but it’s clear now that all road have their obstacles.... nothing comes easily but as Ghandi and his dry flip flops said "Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory"
Fuk it I didn’t win!!!
Tipp Town - Seskin Hill: Disaster.... yea I think that word sums up this day, a puncture after 5 km left me chasing the fast moving peloton, what’s even worse when I made contact with them the biggest smash I’ve been in for a while took place. all I saw was bad cats black sidi's upside down in the air, I locked the brakes I was going in I threw the c50 to the side and slammed my body into the mash of carbon aluminium and flesh, Getting a look Keo pedal in the spine is far from nice and then having to drag your mangled, bleeding and aching body 140km across the roughest back roads and finally up Seskin hill is far from easy. poor Tuminators the "BAD CAT" broke his collar bone which meant all his sacrifice, hard work and effort came to a halt there on the road, I remember stumbling to my feet to see his mangled body attempting to rise from the ground, I rushed to his aid telling him to stay put and the medics would come to him shortly, next I was to see one of the Galway bay riders holding his bike which was smashed in 2 and handle bars broke, mike redden Dublin was walking around delirious asking where was he and were was his bike, the aftermath of the crash was evident in the many individuals that lay motionless tangled in barbed wire fences and lodged in the ditches of the road. Later reports from riders estimated the casualties from the crash to be up in the forties.
Day 6
Seskin Hill - Gorey: with the first of the big Cat 1 climbs being introduced today, people were really battling for positions at the front, from the gun the pace was frantic one line out going up though a town split the bunch in 2 as riders fought for position in the shadows of the up and coming ascents that would soon sort the men from the mice, a western edge rider Chris Coyle came a cropper as he literally fell clean of his bike with exhaustion taking out a sigma sport rider whose back wheel whilst airborne glided by my cheek leaving the faint mark of rubber upon my skin. The climbs were tough and really zapped my legs, they were all built into each other as we scaled the mountainside the first Cat3 caught many by surprise, with fatigued athletes being shelled out the rear of the bunch as the pro teams drove the excessive pace, next we moved onto the Cat 2 which was just as steep and as long, upon completing this we ended up on the side of the Cat1 which entailed a corner so steep that if one got out of the saddle and took their weight off the rear wheel it would simply spin on the gravel, many riders fell from the bikes to the earth at this point as sheer exhaustion brought an end to their stage. Upon reaching the top I was joined by a number of other riders who rode consistently and we managed to finish in the second group on the road.
Day 7
Gorey - Killcullen: with the day taking in what were to be 2 of the toughest climbs of this year’s Ras the shay Elliot and the Wicklow gap tension was high as the many fatigued riders braced themselves for the worst, I rode aggressively all day attacking a number of times but at about 75km I managed to get away in a break from the main bunch with a cycleways rider and we built up a solid lead of 2.30 before being joined by about 7 others one of whom was David Brennan from the Western edge Team. Before hitting the climb the pace was high and the Pro riders who had joined the break were doing majority of the work, it was at this stage that I took the opportunity to fuel up, on the bike you can easily burn in excess of 5000+ Kcals during a stage so taking on the correct energy foods is vital to your performance, I hammered in 2 carbo gels, 2 energy bars and a full bottle of carbo fuel. after 25km of riding we were at the foot of the shay Elliot climb, it was steep and long making at hard to hold with my break away companions but I dug in deep and held on till we crested the peak, the main GC contenders closed in on the decent and quite simply rode straight by me on the Wicklow gap, I rode at my own tempo and managed to reach the top of the tough 8km accent just as I was caught by a strong chasing group of riders who had suffered on the previous climbs. We rode the final 25km very fast with people being shelled on the small cat 3's that were to follow the Wicklow gap. Upon crossing the line I was greeted by my mum, sister and brother Declan who had made the journey from the west to watch myself and my brother battle our way across the rugged Irish landscape upon our bikes.
Day 8
Killcullen - Skerries: With it being the final day the Swedish team who's rider was clearly leading the race took it upon themselves to set a fast tempo to keep the bunch under control, we made good time getting to skerries with no crashes or punctures, and the cat 3 climbs on the way proved no obstacle, remembering last year I was shelled from the bunch along with half the race before we even entered the town, but this year as we made our first passage over the Black hills I dug in deep to hold wheels and managed to pull myself over the top on the back of the bunch, the pace coming onto the final 13km loop around skerries was blisteringly quick I had almost admitted defeat as my legs screamed and as he lactic acid flowed, upon hitting the hill for the final time and with about 6km to follow after the only word to explain what happened was a massive explosion, bodies everywhere, but I dug in deep and with the aid of the Comanche, and the eagle we rode like mad dogs to close down the bunch at speeds in excess of 50mph behind team vehicles which had passed us by and just in time as we turned onto the finishing straight, and just like that the 2010 FBD ras was over for another year the atmosphere on the main street of skeeries was electric as families and friends of the riders rushed franticly to give there applause to what had now been crowned the 2010 Men Of The Ras!!!!!!!.
Now with the ras behind me and the fact that I had no problems with my calf injury the road ahead looks good. with me travelling out to Belgium for some serious racing out there on the 8th of June only to come back for the national championships in Sligo and the suir valley at the start of august, things will be tough, but focusing on the here and now, pounds that crept on over the last few months whilst I was bed ridden with my injury must be carved off and no better way than to train myself lean....
Looking back on the past 7months from were I first began my training, I was convinced there was nothing that was going to stand between me and success but it’s clear now that all road have their obstacles.... nothing comes easily but as Ghandi and his dry flip flops said "Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory"
Fuk it I didn’t win!!!
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