Ras Mhaigheo 2018

RowanHarley · 15-02-2018 9:53am

JK.BMC wrote: »

Apart from here, is anybody advising you about bike racing? A real and much debated topic in the country in recent years has been the number of cyclists who enter races with little or no prior experience and the dangers that brings to both the individuals and the other racers.
By all means take up the racing- but only if you have done some proper fast paced group riding with other experienced riders.
And whatever you do, don't go near the Gorey 3-Day as a 16 year old with no prior experience of big bunch racing; that would not be in any body's best interest.
The suggestion to start in A4 seems sensible. And if you reckon you can hang in with A1 riders on Hungry Rock outside Sligo, well more power to you. See how you get on

Ya I've decided to stick to A4 for the first few weeks at least. As for the group racing, I've practiced keeping near riders with club members who raced before and entered some of the club races. Also smoothened my up and over technique. I'll give the markievicz cup a go and see how I go. If I can keep up and do well, I'll consider moving to A3, but in the meantime, I've contacted back CI and told them that choosing A4 was deliberate.

JK.BMC · 15-02-2018 10:16am

RowanHarley wrote: »

Ya I've decided to stick to A4 for the first few weeks at least. As for the group racing, I've practiced keeping near riders with club members who raced before and entered some of the club races. Also smoothened my up and over technique. I'll give the markievicz cup a go and see how I go. If I can keep up and do well, I'll consider moving to A3, but in the meantime, I've contacted back CI and told them that choosing A4 was deliberate.

Best of luck.

PS- practice how to sprint. Seriously. It will bring success

RowanHarley · 15-02-2018 10:55am

JK.BMC wrote: »

Best of luck.

PS- practice how to sprint. Seriously. It will bring success

I've practiced it a bit but I'm not really much of a sprinter. I struggle to pass 50km/h. I'm more into climbing though tbh

Esroh · 15-02-2018 1:06pm

RowanHarley wrote: »

I've practiced it a bit but I'm not really much of a sprinter. I struggle to pass 50km/h. I'm more into climbing though tbh

As you can see from the replies .Races that have serious climbs are limited so you need to develop your weaknesses.
Unless you are winning Solo you need a sprint.
If there is 1 decent hill on a circuit you need to be able to ride comfortably within the bunch to get there.You need to develop your power to follow the ebb and flow of the bunch surges on all terrain
You cannot beat racing experience and race fitness.
It's not always the fastest or strongest that wins. It's the rider who makes the smartest use of their talents on a given day.
A race like Ras Mhaigheo on a good wide rolling road with lots of drags would be a good place to start.
Connaght Bunches are never as big as those in other provinces.

JK.BMC · 15-02-2018 1:47pm

Esroh wrote: »

As you can see from the replies .Races that have serious climbs are limited so you need to develop your weaknesses.
Unless you are winning Solo you need a sprint.
If there is 1 decent hill on a circuit you need to be able to ride comfortably within the bunch to get there.You need to develop your power to follow the ebb and flow of the bunch surges on all terrain
You cannot beat racing experience and race fitness.
It's not always the fastest or strongest that wins. It's the rider who makes the smartest use of their talents on a given day.
A race like Ras Mhaigheo on a good wide rolling road with lots of drags would be a good place to start.
Connaght Bunches are never as big as those in other provinces.

This is an excellent piece of advice and any new/young rider needs to take this seriously on board; also, any cycling club with young riders surely has a responsibility to ensure they are adequately prepared for racing.
And on top of all this, the racing in the west is undoubtedly a good starting point, probably safer and probably far more varied than in the bigger races in Leinster.

RowanHarley · 15-02-2018 2:08pm

Ya might get out today and do some sprint practice. I wonder why they don't use ireland's mountain ranges more often... There's plenty of category 3/4 climbs down in Slieve Blooms and I'm sure it's the same with many of the mountain ranges around Ireland

Weepsie · 15-02-2018 2:27pm

RowanHarley wrote: »

Ya might get out today and do some sprint practice. I wonder why they don't use ireland's mountain ranges more often... There's plenty of category 3/4 climbs down in Slieve Blooms and I'm sure it's the same with many of the mountain ranges around Ireland

Logistical and support reasons I imagine.

elchupanebrey · 15-02-2018 5:26pm

RowanHarley wrote: »

JK.BMC wrote: »

Best of luck.

PS- practice how to sprint. Seriously. It will bring success

I've practiced it a bit but I'm not really much of a sprinter. I struggle to pass 50km/h. I'm more into climbing though tbh

If you can hold 49kmph for like a minute you would be grand alsoðŸ™ˆ seriously though a lot of A4 races come down to a sprint with potentially 100 lads. No place for the faint hearted. A1/2 and some A3 races even on the same courses generally have a breakaway deciding the win which makes the sprint safer, if not any easier!

I'll be interested in your progress and will probably be in Sligo trying to chase you down so good luck on the Hungry Rock ðŸ–’

RowanHarley · 15-02-2018 5:45pm

elchupanebrey wrote: »

If you can hold 49kmph for like a minute you would be grand also&#55357;&#56904; seriously though a lot of A4 races come down to a sprint with potentially 100 lads. No place for the faint hearted. A1/2 and some A3 races even on the same courses generally have a breakaway deciding the win which makes the sprint safer, if not any easier!

I'll be interested in your progress and will probably be in Sligo trying to chase you down so good luck on the Hungry Rock &#55357;&#56722;

I'm just hoping I haven't overestimated myself. The only races I did last year were club races on a 12 kg steel bike from the 1980s. Now that I've got full carbon, I'm able to fly up hills. Ya I've got until my first race to choose between A3 and A4 so I'm gping to bring it up on our Sunday club spin. We're going down to loughrea to do a route with 800m of climbing. It'll be a good gauge on how my climbing is going along.

elchupanebrey · 15-02-2018 5:50pm

RowanHarley wrote: »

elchupanebrey wrote: »

If you can hold 49kmph for like a minute you would be grand also�� seriously though a lot of A4 races come down to a sprint with potentially 100 lads. No place for the faint hearted. A1/2 and some A3 races even on the same courses generally have a breakaway deciding the win which makes the sprint safer, if not any easier!

I'll be interested in your progress and will probably be in Sligo trying to chase you down so good luck on the Hungry Rock ��

I'm just hoping I haven't overestimated myself. The only races I did last year were club races on a 12 kg steel bike from the 1980s. Now that I've got full carbon, I'm able to fly up hills. Ya I've got until my first race to choose between A3 and A4 so I'm gping to bring it up on our Sunday club spin. We're going down to loughrea to do a route with 800m of climbing. It'll be a good gauge on how my climbing is going along.

The only way you will find out is to try. And keep going back for more if you do find it harder than expected. It might not get much easier but you will manage better the more racing you do

RowanHarley · 15-02-2018 5:55pm

elchupanebrey wrote: »

The only way you will find out is to try. And keep going back for more if you do find it harder than expected. It might not get much easier but you will manage better the more racing you do

Ya I've always been into the racing aspects of sports. Raced in swimming and running beforehand so I'm not new to the racing background. But then again, cycling is a much different sport, as there are more factors affecting your chances of winning. I've just been waiting all year to get into this racing! Any idea how many people show up for the markievicz cup? Also, is it just register on the day or do I register on CI?

elchupanebrey · 15-02-2018 6:03pm

Yeah register on the day in Colooney. Usually about 70 show up. A good mix of all categories

Farloo · 23-03-2018 3:29pm

Would anyone have a Strava profile for the TT course by any chance?!

thekooman · 23-03-2018 3:39pm

Farloo wrote: »

Would anyone have a Strava profile for the TT course by any chance?!

https://www.strava.com/segments/3425871
thats the hill segment

first 1.5-2k is on rolling road into that.

Raymzor · 25-03-2018 9:48pm

Top marks to Westport CC for running a great event. They even arranged nice weather.

thekooman · 26-03-2018 11:29am

top marks to the Covies... great organisation, great weather, great sandwiches yesterday! :-)
big thanks to marshalls as well.

tough out racing yday on the way back from Kylemore... nearly blew but just hung on in the bunch. legs were shot after that!

yop · 26-03-2018 12:29pm

Thanks lads, it was cracking weather and thankfully it went off well.
Busy weekend, but my hands were nearly falling off me Sat evening doing the timing counts at the start! The TT hill was a nice finish, not sure if ye got to see the view at at!!!

Any comments negative pass them on please.

fondriest · 26-03-2018 12:46pm

Cracking weekend of racing . That section back in to Leenaun yesterday was brutal but enjoyable.
Great organisation and I’ll be back next year .

DirkVoodoo · 26-03-2018 12:53pm

My first stage race in about 7 years I think, second road race of the season. I was a little on edge leading into it, but thanks to some great team mates and great organisation by Covey, it was a fantastic weekend.

For anyone coming back to this next year:

Positives:

Well organised
Well marshalled
Supportive locals
The views, my God, the views!
Good courses

Negatives (short list):

The 20 euro deposit for numbers/chips caught a few of us out

I will definitely be back next year, hopefully with a few more watts in my legs, I just wanted to finish, but I'm not sure I'll keep road racing if it's just a case of "finishing in a bunch" every time, life is too short and I'd prefer the challenge of XC. Or maybe triathlon.

yop · 26-03-2018 1:12pm

Thanks for the feedback.

The 20 euro deposit is to cover us for chips that aren't returned. We have around 3 now which weren't returned and we have to pay the timing chip guys for those out of that within a few days if they dont appear.

I had thought all weekend we had put up about that 20 euro deposit on the website, but looking here, I can't see it, so that is an oversight on our part, so apologise about that.

Fair play for coming and doing it, ya even as a local who is from there the TT was held, I think we got one of the best days in a long time.

Raymzor · 26-03-2018 2:01pm

yop wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback.

The 20 euro deposit is to cover us for chips that aren't returned. We have around 3 now which weren't returned and we have to pay the timing chip guys for those out of that within a few days if they dont appear.

I had thought all weekend we had put up about that 20 euro deposit on the website, but looking here, I can't see it, so that is an oversight on our part, so apologise about that.

Fair play for coming and doing it, ya even as a local who is from there the TT was held, I think we got one of the best days in a long time.

Weather extraordinary after the rough and extended winter we had. Roughly How many signed on Saturday?

I forgot to admire the view after the TT!

yop · 26-03-2018 2:34pm

Raymzor wrote: »

Weather extraordinary after the rough and extended winter we had. Roughly How many signed on Saturday?

I forgot to admire the view after the TT!

We had 130 numbers on the road, but we had missing numbers. So it looks around 110 give or take a few.

Had 60 on the road for the A4

wirelessdude01 · 26-03-2018 2:36pm

yop wrote:

We had 130 numbers on the road, but we had missing numbers. So it looks around 110 give or take a few.

yop wrote:

Had 60 on the road for the A4

How does this compare to other years?

Most races are finding numbers down this year compared to previous years.

yop · 26-03-2018 3:05pm

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

How does this compare to other years?

Most races are finding numbers down this year compared to previous years.

We had 113 on the road last year. So the same again. With an extra race in the country it wasn't a bad return in fairness.

Its has to be down the race director

:p

coach22 · 26-03-2018 3:07pm

great race and really enjoyed it. Seen a good few photographers at it. Is there a link to any of their photos?

Chips Lovell · 26-03-2018 3:10pm

If you can get the same numbers as last year, but on the same weekend as the Des Hanlon, there ain't too much wrong.

yop · 26-03-2018 4:34pm

coach22 wrote: »

great race and really enjoyed it. Seen a good few photographers at it. Is there a link to any of their photos?

The lads will upload them all during the week. If you keep an eye on our club Facetalk page we will link to them.

yop · 26-03-2018 4:35pm

On the deposit for the chips and race numbers, if anyone has suggestions or experience of how its done at the other races please let me know.

Also if the option was to get them back down at the registration point at the soccer club or in the hotel, which is the choice?

We want to keep improving year on year.

Farloo · 26-03-2018 5:40pm

Excellent weekends racing and very well organised, fair play!

DirkVoodoo · 26-03-2018 7:00pm

yop wrote: »

On the deposit for the chips and race numbers, if anyone has suggestions or experience of how its done at the other races please let me know.

Also if the option was to get them back down at the registration point at the soccer club or in the hotel, which is the choice?

We want to keep improving year on year.

It was a minor criticism and yes it was just that there was no notice and i had no cash on me.

I would prefer to hand my numbers back at the sign on area, everyone is parked there and it's just easier. As it was we went back to our hotel to drop bikes off and i had forgot my frame number. Thankfully the girl doing the numbers met me down at our hotel after and gave me back my deposit.

That's all I'd change though!

Ras Mhaigheo 2018

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