Ras na mBan part 2

Friday 13th, unlucky for some as they say and I was just hoping that this wouldn't ring true!  The morning was the team time trial (TTT) and I'd had this niggling fear of getting dropped that I was trying my best to shake off.  By the time we lined up on the start line my head was in a much more focused and positive place and I was determined to do my best for the team and last the distance!  The main aim for the TTT was to get Amy in the County jersey and limit the time that the Irish National team could potentially put into everyone.  Mission accomplished!  We finished second, just 30 seconds down on the Irish National Team and Amy had taken the County jersey.  It was a very slick performance from Team DID considering we had never ridden a TTT together before, everyone stayed together and we just had this trust in each other, happy days!

Boosted by the morning's performance, I was quite looking forward to the evening's circuit race, which was 10 laps of a 4.2 km circuit.  Peter said to me after the race that it was like a light had been switched on in my head and what had happened to cause this?  My answer: it wasn't a crit!  When I thought back on the race though, I think I'd just said to myself why not have a go and see where I matched up to the strong riders.  So when it came to the 3 sprint primes I just sort of went on instinct and had a wee go at mixing it up.  I didn't take top honours in any of the primes, but finished the race with a big cheesy grin and was even happier that Hannah had taken 2 of the 3 primes plus the stage win!

So 4 stages down, 2 to go.  I always struggle to get to sleep after racing at night and this was compounded the night before stage 5 as I went to sleep (or rather tried to get to sleep) with the plan for the next day whizzing through my head.  As we rolled out for the short neutralised section, my head was pretty buzzing with what I was about to do.  So as soon as the flag dropped I attacked.  From the gun.  If every day is a school day then this was certainly up there on the learning curve!  I jumped out of the saddle and sprinted off the front, giving it max effort for as long as I could and not looking back.  After a minute or so I saw that another rider had come with me and shortly after we were joined by my team mate Kirsten, which was also in the plan.  I was really happy to see Kirsten and then a fourth rider joined our wee breakaway group.  The next part of the plan was to scoop up as many of the 4 QoM primes as possible and in doing so protect the QoM jersey for Hannah.  The first QoM prime was only 11 km into the race, a cat 3 climb and I managed to take the 5 points for first over the top.  All through the breakaway we were receiving regular time checks from the comm and as we started the second climb, a cat 1, our lead had stretched to just over a minute and the team cars had been called up.  This couldn't have come at a better time as Kirsten was having troubles with her gears and our mechanic Ken got in on the excitement by hanging out the car window to make some adjustments.  All I was thinking about as we continued up the climb was getting over the top first and bagging the 15 points.  I was made to work for it but the sprint was worth it as I crossed the line first and took my QoM tally to 20 points for the day.  Our game was soon to be up as the chasing peloton were closing the gap and only 4 km from the third QoM prime we were caught.  Looking back to see the peloton bearing down on you is quite an ominous sight, but after being away in the break for half the race it was quite nice to seek shelter in the bunch.  I was pretty disappointed that we didn't quite manage to stay away for the third QoM, but ah well we tried!  The finish was up a short sharp climb, which then levelled off about 200m or so from the line.  I learnt a harsh lesson in those last 200m when in my ultimate "wisdom", I decided to change up into the big ring to sprint for the line.  No prizes for guessing what happened, so it made for quite a frustrating finish having to stop to put my chain back on.  However the fact that our plan had worked and being in the breakaway sort of outweighed the disappointment of such a mediocre finish.  I definitely pedalled out of my comfort zone that day!

Me and my breakaway companions.  It was pretty scenic, not that I was looking at the view!  (Photo courtesy of Black Umbrella Productions).

One stage to go and the weather gods were not playing ball, with rain and gales to grace us for stage 6.  So its just as well I'm "nae made of sugar" as my boyfriend Paul likes to tell me whenever I train in the rain back home.  The plan for this stage had been to try a carbon copy of the previous day and attack from the gun in the hope that no one would think I'd be silly enough to try that 2 days in a row.  When another rider went off the front I followed, but after a few attempts it soon became clear that I wasn't going to be allowed to get away again.  Things split on the first climb of the day and I found myself losing the wheel in front and watched as a small group rode away up the hill.  I pushed on, picking off a few riders on the climb and as we started the descent there was a group of 7 of us chasing the lead group.  We were all working quite well together, which was a good thing given the brutal headwind that we turned into on the final section of the race.  About 10 km from the finish we caught 2 riders who had dropped off the lead group and I for one couldn't wait for the finish to come, with the effort from the previous day now taking its toll on my legs.  We were closing the gap on the lead group and had it down to 40 seconds at one point, but it wasn't to be.  The pace ramped up as we hit the finish straight and I put in one last effort to sprint for the line and finish 13th in the stage.  I was gutted to hear that Amy had abandoned the race due to illness but had so much respect for her even starting given the way she was feeling!  I won't give too much mention to what has been called my own little post race "diva" moment, but just say thanks to Pamela, Peter and the medical guys for looking after me!  Oh and to Stew for reminding me of my mantra "rule number 5"!!  :)

So to sum up Ras na mBan 2013, it was a blast!  I continued on my cycling learning curve and loved every minute!  To my team mates Amy, Kirsten, Hannah and Vero - you guys are amazing and it was just ace to ride with you and learn from you all!  To our support crew Stew, Pamela, Ken and Peter - thanks so much guys for everything you did for us each and every stage!  We couldn't have done it without all your help, you guys rock!

Until my next blog, cheerio for now.

Jools.

Ras na mBan 2013 Part 1

Well I'm just home from Ennis, Co.Clare, the location of this year's Ras na mBan and what a contrast to last year!  The 2012 Ras was my first ever stage race and wasn't exactly a smooth ride...a snapped chain on stage 4 and food poisoning the night before stage 5 were certainly character building...This year I was guesting for DID Electrical Racing Team, who I guested for in France in the summer.  Stew, our team manager, had put together a really strong team and it was exciting to be racing alongside such quality riders as Amy, Hannah, Kirsten and Veronique.

Stage 1 was a relatively short road race of 64 km, with 2 categorised climbs.  I think a lot of people were pretty nervous going into the race given the sketchy moments in the bunch for the first few kilometres until things settled down a bit.  The first Queen of the Mountains (QOM) prime was a short kicker climb and despite my pre-race plan of what gearing to use I ended up in completely the wrong gear and with the fear of a mechanical from changing gear half way up I was forced to grind up it.  Things stayed together to the next QOM, where I decided to have a go at picking up some points.  The speed ramped up from quite far out so it was a long sprint and I crossed the line in 6th, picking up 1 point for the effort.  This was followed by a counter attack from Team Ireland and a big thanks to Laura from Team Pearl Izumi for shouting at me to get on her wheel so I didn't get dropped.  Coming into the last 10 km, for whatever unknown reason, a girl decided to just ride across my line and her rear mech snapped one of my front spokes.  I continued on for a bit in the vain hope it would be ok but when I dared to look down it was clear that my wheel was completely buckled and I would need to get a change of wheel.  Sticking my arm in the air to warn the riders behind, I rolled to a stop at the side of the road.  Seeing the bunch race on past you so close to the finish is a bit soul destroying, especially on the first stage, but I managed to stay pretty calm and pop out the wheel ready for the spare from Ken our mechanic.  One of the things I learnt in France was how to use the cars in the convoy to slingshot you back up to the bunch.  This was on the day in the Tour Feminine en Limousin when I had decided to play "how many times can I get dropped and get back on" (answers on the back of a postcard please!) so I had a bit of practice.  A wee chase through the cars later and I was back with the bunch, breathing a big sigh of relief that my race wasn't over before it had even got started.  I finished somewhere in the bunch with the same time as the winner (Hannah from DID) and was happy enough given I had burnt a few more matches than I'd have liked in the chase.

Stage 2 was the longest stage of the race at 104km, with three category 2 climbs.  The weather was pretty grim, rain and mist and at times visibility was very poor.  As we had the pink jersey from Hannah's win the night before, we knew that the other teams would be on the attack.  There were a few attempts early on but nothing stuck until after the first QOM when a counter attack from  two riders went relatively unnoticed.  This was to prove the decisive move and the two then three riders stayed away for the rest of the stage.  I was in the chase group and we were receiving time checks from the comm, although at times these were a little sporadic.  At the top of the corkscrew climb the leaders were 30 seconds ahead, but with only a few riders willing to chase it became evident that we weren't going to pull them back.  The finish was at the top of the third cat 2 climb and I think I speak for everyone in the peloton that day that it was such a relief to see the finish line and seek shelter in the cars to escape the dreich conditions.  Sitting in the car on the way home, we were all a bit disappointed to have lost the pink jersey but also really happy for Mel (team mate in France) who had taken the stage win!

Photo courtesy of Black Umbrella Productions.

Will update soon with a wee blurb on stages 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Laters!

Jools.