An Post Ras na mBan 2014

ragazzo

Sr. Assumpta wrote: »

Right so, let's be having you....

sign-on 2pm - 3:15pm, stage start, at The Inn at Dromoland, at 5pm, forecast is good, roads are out, bring it on (kinda sad I'm only going to be in a car for it this year.... as distinct from last year, when the rain outside left me wanting to pick up all the poor riders at the back and put them into the car!)

Good luck to all riders racing this year. Hopefully it will be as exciting as ever!

on_the_nickel

Hell of a result from Fiona Meade today.

http://www.irishcyclingphotos.com/?p=39468

fat bloke

Any photos?

dfdream

I took a few as the race passed near home.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.868482809829329.1073741849.157206044290346&type=1

fat bloke wrote: »

Any photos?

NamelessPhil

Well 20 minutes down on GC as expected. I'll contest for the lanterne rouge. The Wild Atlantic Way is our jaunt for tomorrow.

Peterx

NamelessPhil wrote: »

Well 20 minutes down on GC as expected. I'll contest for the lanterne rouge. The Wild Atlantic Way is our jaunt for tomorrow.

Best of luck today. I love the team designation for the team.

JOE - Dublin Joe Daly Cycle

NamelessPhil

It would be better if we had a team car and a manager present as well. We are resourceful women though, and the other teams and the organisers are assisting us.

fat bloke

Taylor Wiles (right) is fairly ripping up the roads of North, South and East Clare!



It's one thing to bring your girlfriend to your home race, it's another thing altogether when she starts threatening your title defence!!:eek::)

onimpulse

Great to see a domestic rider ripping it up down in Clare - Fiona Meade has the points jersey as well as being the leading Irish rider going into the final stage. Great stage win yesterday evening too!

Beasty

Today's result and GC here

Good luck to everyone heading into the final stage tomorrow

buffalo

buffalo

Brilliant race so far, helped by the cracking weather. Doing support is exhausting, but massive respect to the riders who tackled some horrible climbs yesterday and kept pace with the pros, or rode their own race to complete 100km+.

Joint 2nd in the table quiz was entirely down to the boundless knowledge of NamelessPhil!

Don't want to go back to reality, but at the same time, can't wait for a day off!

Beasty

Final stage and GC here

Congratulations to Tayler Wiles on winning the overall, mountains and points competitions, as well as to everyone, particularly the county riders who were prepared to give this a go. Another step in the right direction for women's cycling in Ireland, and hopefully this will be built on further in future years

And buffalo - one for you (think there may be a glimpse of Robfowl in a former existence in this one!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84gmKIKTk40

NamelessPhil

I finished the race and I wasn't last. I managed to stay ahead of the broomwagon all the way round yesterday. Thanks to Orwell Wheelers and Towers Cycling Club for the moral support and assistance. I couldn't have got home without you.

QueensGael

Well done lady! Some accomplishment being able to get around that circuit at that speed, congrats on being a Rás finisher

ford2600

QueensGael wrote: »

Well done lady! Some accomplishment being able to get around that circuit at that speed, congrats on being a Rás finisher

She would be even faster if her training wasn't nearly all audax rides!

Tough cookie to do audax and racing together

NamelessPhil

Ah, it'll be a great base for winter training. I've no speed in the legs and the last day I knew I was going to be off the back from the start so I just used it as a solo training ride. As someone on the Rás said a couple of years ago, "A break of 80 women went up the road and I couldn't catch them."

I didn't get faster as the days went on just remained at the same level. I need more speed and better bunch positioning but given the standard there's no way I was ever going to be competitive. It was still a great opportunity to take part.

smurphy29

I made it down for the weekend to catch some of the specatcle and cheer from the sidelines. My OH was riding her first Ras, for Team Orwell.

I can only commend the organisers on what is an incredible race. The riders probably almost don't see what a huge 'thing' it is, but when you're standing by the roadside you witness the garda cars, the lead vehicles, the huge tail of team cars, it's an awesome spectacle.

It's hard to comprehend the sheer level of organisation to put on such an event, both as a whole and within each team. The routes and the scenery are also really awesome. And the racing is incredibly hard, the pros make it look so easy. The county riders have it incredibly tough, the routes are that bit harder and longer than anything they race in the domestic calendar, and that's before you throw in the foreign teams. Chapeau to the lot of them.

fat bloke

smurphy29 wrote: »

I can only commend the organisers on what is an incredible race.
It's hard to comprehend the sheer level of organisation to put on such an event.

Fair play to you for taking the time to comprehend and acknowledge it. It is indeed a massive and year long (and ten years in the making) undertaking for all of the volunteers who voluntarily put their time aside all year to organise and assemble all of the myriad of tiny pieces that together make up the event as a whole, and then take their work holidays to be there for the duration of the event itself, working tirelessly from morning to night so that the riders need only concentrate on putting their best efforts into participating in the racing.
They're not in the pictures or on the podiums but they as deserving of praise and thanks and plaudits as anyone else and are equally wrecked after the week.

Mo cheol sibh.

buffalo

fat bloke wrote: »

They're not in the pictures

I beg to differ! A fine bunch of people altogether!

smurphy29

fat bloke wrote: »

Fair play to you for taking the time to comprehend and acknowledge it. It is indeed a massive and year long (and ten years in the making) undertaking for all of the volunteers who voluntarily put their time aside all year to organise and assemble all of the myriad of tiny pieces that together make up the event as a whole, and then take their work holidays to be there for the duration of the event itself, working tirelessly from morning to night so that the riders need only concentrate on putting their best efforts into participating in the racing.
They're not in the pictures or on the podiums but they as deserving of praise and thanks and plaudits as anyone else and are equally wrecked after the week.

Mo cheol sibh.

I hear you. I gather the feedback from the foreign teams was uniformly positive and it's a race that more and more will want to ride.

Beasty

buffalo wrote: »

I beg to differ! A fine bunch of people altogether!

And certainly a few Boardsies in there;)

Well done to everyone involved in putting this event on

fat bloke

Big news!

Fiona Meade won the points jersey after all. Bit of a miscalculation in the points tally, rectified late last night. Congratulations to Fiona Meade. She had a fabulous race.

http://www.rasnamban.com/news/136-meade-confirmed-as-ndc-points-classification-winner

onimpulse

fat bloke wrote: »

Big news!

Fiona Meade won the points jersey after all. Bit of a miscalculation in the points tally, rectified late last night. Congratulations to Fiona Meade. She had a fabulous race.

http://www.rasnamban.com/news/136-meade-confirmed-as-ndc-points-classification-winner

That's fantastic news. Was thinking she must have been so disappointed on Sunday eve. Delighted for her!

urpaceormine

NamelessPhil wrote: »

I finished the race and I wasn't last. I managed to stay ahead of the broomwagon all the way round yesterday. Thanks to Orwell Wheelers and Towers Cycling Club for the moral support and assistance. I couldn't have got home without you.

What are you on about?'La Lanterne Rouge' is quite a prestigious honour and the broom wagon gives out free mini cans of coke! You totally missed out!!!

On a serious note, I'd like to thank Valerie and all her helpers who gave their time so selflessly to put on such a fantastic, well run event. Our support crew couldn't have been more helpful and professional.I didn't feel at my fittest coming up to the event..possible end of season burn out! In the end I was delighted to get my bike over the finish line on day 5 and will treasure my finishers medal forever. Didn't know whether to laugh or cry when my Ennis based, non cyclist friend texted me to say 'it was so funny that the postman was in front of you helping you block the wind!'.
What an incredible experience!Met some really lovely people and as a newbie racer learned a serious amount about the sport!

jimm

NamelessPhil wrote: »

I finished the race and I wasn't last. I managed to stay ahead of the broomwagon all the way round yesterday. Thanks to Orwell Wheelers and Towers Cycling Club for the moral support and assistance. I couldn't have got home without you.

Congrats on finishing and getting that medal around your neck. We let a few shouts at you from the Towers CC car on the last stage, but you looked comfortable enough (like you were beginning a 400 Audax)!!!!!

It was great how everyone helped each other, hey, we even changed a front wheel for a Luxembourg rider without the slightest nod of thanks! But as our coach said "That's bike racing"

Sr. Assumpta

Her.ie had a daily blog (courtesy of Ronan Fox) account of An Post Ras na mBan 2014, and they also put together a short, but atmospheric video of the final day... am a little bit sad it's all over now...

Enjoy that?
I did

MB Lacey

Fiona Meade 'So we thought we should probably remove the saddlebags and pumps...'


Great video.

Thanks and well done to all involved in Ras na mBan - such a great race to follow.

QueensGael

Loved it when Fiona said she rocked up on an aluminium bike - brought me back to my own Rás debut! There's hope for me yet

fat bloke

That is one cool video.