FBD Insurance Ras 2010

Magilla Gorilla

Some pictures from Sunday, more if you want them.

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

Don't what the most appearances is, but Shay O'Hanlon must be up there with 23, and a whole host of Ras records

AFAIK David Peelo was riding his 24th this year.

Magilla Gorilla

Oh, all right then...

ryan_sherlock

garminguy wrote: »

was this your first ras ryan?

Yeah, first proper stage race - didn't really take road racing very seriously until a few weeks ago (because of doing the ras). Road riding and racing has been a significant part of my training for a couple of years though - so I'm not totally new to it all.

killalanerr

gabo is the man with the most not sure how many but will find out,and if you count his time as n/s 1 we are back to the time when god was a boy

RobFowl

A few pics of bikes and scenes from the RAS (quality not great.
New Planet X bike especially nice looking




Winners bike



Chris Newton at Kilcullen start

RobFowl

My kit (Part of it any way)


The worst driver on the race


One of the (8+) reasons I was swinging last Wed

bcmf

whats the story with the stem on the P-X bike. It has a drop that even Cadel Evans couldnt pull off

RobFowl

KTM rider getting dropped over a climb



Team Sproket/Maggy Backsted's team car

Beasty

I was half-expecting a picture of the finger when scrolling through your pictures Rob - thankfully it's not there!

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

I was half-expecting a picture of the finger when scrolling through your pictures Rob - thankfully it's not there!

killalanerr has a good one of me down the ditch at that scene but we have an unwritten policy on the RAS that gruesome or pics of very serious injuries are not published.

PS It's a sign of how busy it was that I've so few.....

killalanerr

RobFowl wrote: »

killalanerr has a good one of me down the ditch at that scene but we have an unwritten policy on the RAS that gruesome or pics of very serious injuries are not published.

PS It's a sign of how busy it was that I've so few.....

sure didnt i spend most of the week in the ditch with you didnt take any of that scene
and your right that diver is pure nuts :rolleyes:

first one is of rob doing cpr on a front wheel
2nd posing for the press
3rd actually doing a bit of work

good work you were outstanding

RobFowl

killalanerr wrote: »

sure didnt i spend most of the week in the ditch with you didnt take any of that scene
and your right that diver is pure nuts :rolleyes:

first one is of rob doing cpr on a front wheel
2nd posing for the press
3rd actually doing a bit of work

good work you were outstanding

Banter all aside the RAS to me expouses all that is good about Irish sport. Great competition, dedicated organisers and sponsors and a group of volunteers who are literally second to none.

The riders who finish especially true amateurs are literally Gods among men (an over used phrase but here applicable)

I am biased but having worked on the RAS and TOI there is literally no comparison.

ryan_sherlock

shaungil wrote: »

But I'd have thought that in that situation if you were looking at a power meter you'de be thinking that you're well over where you should be when in fact your body can do more than you'll ever realise.

Sorry to pull this back up but I thought I would mention it.

During races (unless it is a time trial) I do not use a powermeter as an input into how I perform. In road/mtb, you do what you do... If you are in a solo break, you may use it to keep you from going over the top but in general, in races, I do not use the data as a feedback loop (I don't cover the number though - sometimes it is nice to see what is going on).

However, in training I use it a lot as a carrot (or stick) to hit the right zones, to illicit the correct training and to know what I'm doing. It tells you EXACTLY how you are performing (assuming correct calibration).

Also, why it is very useful in races - it tells you what actually happened. When you droped that wheel (doesn't happen to me - but hypothetically :P) what where you doing, what happened in the previous 3 minutes... Did you make a huge effort a few minutes ago that are only now paying for and despite less power being needed, you just can't generate it?

It was interesting to see selective climbs in the RAS - where I set up the break in day 4 or hung on in Wicklow... They were not steady at all - first 1-2 minutes, flat out, then 'recovering' at (well above) Threshold, with the last 30 seconds flat out again. Not exactly what a person would do normally when tackling a climb (if they want to climb it fast).

These are some of the reasons PMs are really really useful - most PROs use them for a reason, they don't always race on them but almost always train on them

After the race - when you did push further that you thought possible, you can now recallibrate what you should try to be hitting in training! Now there is a painfully viscious circle.

Esroh

@Ryan
Out of interest. How have you felt this week. And did you loose any weight

Slideshowbob

Esroh wrote: »

@Ryan
Out of interest. How have you felt this week. And did you loose any weight

and are u on the leinster team for the halfords crits?

ryan_sherlock

Out of interest. How have you felt this week. And did you loose any weight

I felt really good on Monday and Tuesday, then had sore calves on Wednesday (DOMS?). Normal training on Thursday/Friday, recovery on Saturday and then an MTB race yesterday, recovery again toay. Body felt fine but wasn't very mentally motivated for yesterdays race - I rode around with a smile on my face for 5 laps and then upped the pace for the final one.

Power figures where good in training Thursday/Friday.

Lose weight - ha, I put on weight! about 700-1000g

I don't tend to lose weight while racing heavily - if I want to lose weight it is during training. Super high intensity stuff makes me hungry and I would rather put on a little weight and have fully recovered glycogen stores than lose a little fat but perform sub 100%. Gaining half a kilo, while annoying on the Shay Elliot climb is annoying, but a hell of a lot better than bonking on the Wicklow Gap

Slideshowbob wrote: »

and are u on the leinster team for the halfords crits?

Never got a call about that - would love to be doing it! Mel is doing the female one around Dublin before the mens. The only thing against it for me is it is probably reasonably dangerous and I have European XCM Champs the following weekend.

Slideshowbob

Any news from crash investigation?

RS- hows the recovery? any sponsorship offers?

ryan_sherlock

Slideshowbob wrote: »

RS- hows the recovery? any sponsorship offers?

Recovery was good - was a little unmotivated mentally for a XC race the following week and had one session I called quits on early but other than that - good.

Power has gone up - guessing in the order of 5% or so (That is a LOT onto your FTP for an elite rider mid season). I wish I had a RAS about a month before the RAS!

Mel and I already have great sponsors in relation to MTB - riding full time (without the full time additional job) would be great and something I want to do. Will see what happens.

ryan_sherlock

As expected - Alexander Wetterhall (MTBer turned roadie, turned RAS winner) signs for Cervelo Test Team as a stagiare...

http://www.cervelo.com/en_us/news-blog/article/wetterhall-and-teklehaymanot-join-cervelo-testteam-as-stagiaires/2440/

If ever there was a pro team I would love to ride for... I love their ethos.