Hauling my bulging bag down the 14 steps of my stairs was the first effort of the Rás, but in no means the last or the hardest. On the Rás Richter Scale it measured a mere 2. In the car was 2 bikes, 2 sets of wheels and a spare set ICH, (in case of Hahessy), and a gear bag to end all gear bags. The rendezvous for Team Comeragh Race The Rás was the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght. It was there that I met up with my team-mates, manager, mechanic and soigneur for the 8 days. On the team was Stephen Murray and Robin Kelly, both from Waterford, as well as Rás legends Mike McNena and Andy Roche. Andy won the Rás when I was but 3 years old, which was before I could even ride a bike. I didn't notice much about this hotel as I had too much nervous energy floating about and couldn't sit still. Nothing much happened the night before Stage 1, we sat around the hotel room talking about bike components, played with Robin's Di2 shifters, which by the way emit a sound of pure porn, and watched a bit of Jennifer Lawrence in X-Men. At least I think it was X-Men, all I know is that my homegirl J-Law was in it.
The next morning I was well and truly awake before breakfast time. And I had literally nothing to do. All my gear was laid out and organised into what I would be wearing going to sign-on, during the stage and after the stage. All four of my numbers had been meticulously pinned on the night before. My helmet was clean. As were my shoes. My frame number was bolted on. Even my wi-fi wouldn't connect, so my daily fix of Twitter was going unfed. Having said that though, not having wi-fi wasn't such a tragedy, as the vast majority of my time on the internet is spent by watching people fall over on YouTube.
The hour between breakfast and time to go seemed eternal. Packing the van was like a Christy Moore song, as rider's preferences clashed with everyone else's. There would definitely be a line about Wine Gums in there as well. I don't remember much about the drive to the start in Dunboyne either for one reason or another, normally I'm good at taking in my surroundings. Maybe I was still thinking about the Wine Gums. As we waited in Team Car 2 for Team Car 1 and the van to fuel up I could hear the names of riders being read out. There were a lot of names I didn't recognise, but I assumed that they were all complete animals regardless. Signing on up the podium was a strange feeling. It gives a sort of celebrity-like feeling. Just as you're enjoying the celebrity-like feeling though, you nearly fall down the steps in front of the crowd that were just applauding you. That tends to bring you back down to Earth like a shot. Getting the legs rubbed and warmed before the start brought about a dose of either the cold shakes or the nervous shakes. Probably both. As we waited to line up on the start line, the feeling that I was doubtful to get a tan in the 10 degree rain began to sink in. Speaking to guys around me passed the time, the gist of the conversation was that I was Gabba-less. And it looked like it was gonna be a wet one. The stage kicked off as it always does, in earnest. It's a funny to think that you can be that calm on two square centimetres of wet rubber on greasy roads at 40mph without a hint of brakes with nothing but a millimetre of lycra to protect your body. It's crazy. The stage passed without incident for me, although I had to dodge a couple of crashes, cars, dogs, riders and streams of urine. Just your typical Rás stage. We were now in Roscommon, the town that everyone pronounces wrong except the people who are actually from there. The stats for the day were 92 miles in under 3 hours and 20 minutes, averaging just a nose under 28mph. Even so, the general consensus was that I got lucky with my first Rás stage, that it was one of the easier ones.
On the podium before Stage 1. |
We stayed in the Sheraton that night, which is by far the best hotel I've ever been in. It's a hotel that even Ron Burgundy would feel privileged to stay in. My mind switched immediately to Team Sky mode, staying in top notch hotels. The doors were decked in mahogany and the shower had a window that led to nowhere. I even played around with the nozzle on the shower to find the best cleaning/power ratio. Marginal gains. We all had dinner with the guys on the Race the Rás sportive, as we did every night in fact, which was good for morale throughout the entire race as they're the nicest group of people you could hope to come across.
I woke up on Stage 2, and could definitely feel Stage 1 in the legs. And worse still, it was tipping it down outside. Seeing croissants at breakfast brightened me up, and the porridge was good. I'm more of a porridge connoisseur than Goldilocks was. As I peered through the windscreen of the rented Hyundai i30 Estate rented team car as the wipers continuously cleared it of rain, I contemplated swapping my front carbon 50mm wheel for an aluminium instead to give me better brakes in the wet. Minutely better brakes. It like falling up the stairs instead of falling down the stairs. Better, but still pretty shit. As I found out later that day. Roughly 60km into the stage there was a crash two riders in front of me and somehow my brakes managed to actually accelerate me into the carnage. As we all got up and did the shortest body check ever I realised that I had broken both my shifters and had turned my front wheel into the shape of Pacman. As the race tore off up the road, I was waiting for a bike change. And then as I had broken my helmet I had to get a quick roadside check by the race doctor as I waited. Asking me maths questions is a dangerous and perilous action at the best of times, but at the roadside with blood streaming down my leg didn't prove too successful either. If I get this question wrong, it doesn't mean I'm concussed, it just means I'm not a human calculator. I chased, and kept chasing. I made up about 5 of the minutes I had spent at the roadside sitting on the bumper of car, and trying my best not to tear lumps out of it with my front tyre. After all, it was a rental. The rolly, twisting roads were a nightmare to ride the cavalcade in however. I never made it past Car No. 10. I went from Car 12 to Car 32 in one go at one point. And then I blew up. The adrenaline from the crash had worn off and now my right leg had gone dead. Game over. At this point I only had about another 65km to go before I made it to the finish in Lisdoonvarna, which Christy Moore actually had written a song about. Maybe I'd meet my future wife there, and she'd clean the blood from my calf. And feed me chicken. I recognised most of the roads from the Junior Tour of Ireland. The route went up over Castle Hill, which I could big ring over the top in the Junior Tour. I did no such thing on that day. 39x25 is my friend and I spent some quality time with him that day.
Day 3. Oooooooohh Lisdoonvarna. It was a headwind, so once the break went, it would be quite easy to sit in, if a Rás stage can ever be easy. The break went early, which was good because Seánie needed a piano day. My back muscles had tightened up, which meant breathing deep was hard, and my neck was sore from when I hit my head in the crash. But everyone had there own little problems, just like mine. My good bike was roadworthy after the crash, so I rode Stage 3 on my winter warrior which has a dirty big weld mark around the bottom bracket from where it split in half two winters ago. Just don't tell the pros. At least Madison-Genesis weren't the only ones riding bikes with weld marks on them. We took in yet more Junior Tour roads, which were heavy and rolly, but very controlled. And then I punctured. Front wheel, downhill, off camber right hander, on clinchers. Proper clench moment. It was a quick change and there were plenty of kilometres left in the stage so I didn't panic. Again it was a relatively relaxed stage, the day's break stayed away but only just thanks to some careful riding by the yellow jersey's New Zealand team.
Coomanaspic @25%, Seánie @100%. (Photo by Stephen Kelleghan) |
We were now in Clonakilty, home of pudding and the sausages I was reared on. I was always told stories of riders with the stare. The thousand yard stare that it is a good indicator of a rider's fatigue level. I didn't however, get the stare. Instead what I got was a complete and utter ingnorance of the laws of physics. Getting my gear bag out of the van that evening, there was a box of race food in the way. and instead of moving out of the way, I thought to myself "Maybe if I pull harder, somehow friction will be reduced, and I will prove science wrong" Predictably this didn't happen, but this was my version of the stare.
Full Team Photo, with Eamon Ó Muircheartaigh included on the far left. That's not Stephen's helmet by the way, his head is just incredibly aerodynamic. |
Thank you Carrick. (Photo by Joe Cashin) |
Over the top of Corrabutt. (Photo by Gary McIlroy) |
Riding two laps of Skerries on my own was by no way the highlight of the Rás. (Photo by Sean Rowe) |
Standing on the podium, albeit 2 riders down, was still a great feeling. Wearing the pink livery was another great feeling. The gear also came with a little kick up the arse when needed. Every time I was really hurting and on the limit throughout the race, the pink gear reminded me that my pain mattered little in comparison to those suffering with breast cancer. The pink was my little reminder to MTFU.
Hahessy.