FBD Insurance Rás 2008

blorg

Seems there were 110 riders in the peloton that crossed the line thereby all getting the same time. Does this leave things pretty much wide open? The time bonuses seem pretty meagre (1-3 seconds?) Have an interest as recently met an old classmate who only recently took up cycling and is now taking part in this ;-)

bunnygreen

Wow Blorg,that must be a pretty talented classmate you have there,id say just to stay with the bunch is work in its self,i dont know how the timing system works though.

blorg

Yeah, I am pretty impressed really, he only took up cycling three years ago- just met him in Joe Daly's around a month ago. Average speed over 142km: 45.68 kph :eek:

bunnygreen

Is he with the Dundrum Wheelers?

blorg

Yes, Orwell Wheelers/Dundrum Town Centre.

Caroline_ie

blorg wrote: »

Yeah, I am pretty impressed really, he only took up cycling three years ago- just met him in Joe Daly's around a month ago. Average speed over 142km: 45.68 kph :eek:

Ah yeah but your friend was probaly an athlete before. I know a few cyclist who just took up cycling switching from Atheltics and Rowing and are already racing and scaring experienced competition.

zzzzzzzz

deadly article:

http://www.fbdinsuranceras.com/event/fbdras_328.shtml

bunnygreen

Hey Blorg,im with Dundrum Wheelers,i think i know the guy, he only started racing three years ago, hes been doing vey well sincei ,Orwell put together a team for it,and if hes the one im thinking of,then hes in it,hes talented.Is his name S S ?.

blorg

That's the one bunnygreen, Stephen Surdival - see he came 5th in the Tour of Ulster too.

I found his mugshot halfway down on the Stage 1 pictures:

bunnygreen

thats him,i saw him in action a couple of weeks ago at an orwell open race in Balbriggan,he was up at the front all the way around on a tough course,yep hes got it alright.By the way do you do the sunday spins with the orwells?

blorg

I don't, I'm not a member but planning on joining next year when they re-open new membership (over the winter I think?) I did the recent Randonee though which was a nice spin.

bunnygreen

Great,come along,i think they reopen membership in sept/oct,the sunday spins are good,look forward to seeing you there.

bunnygreen

Fair play to Stephen Gallagher today from the An Post team,great result and great for the team.

Beached

Very disappointed that RTE are not showing a highlights show of the ras at night. It is a disgracfull way to treat one of Irelands most important yearly event.. There is a huge history to the ras streatching back over 50 years which I never realised until buying Tim Daly's book a few years ago.

Just going through the times in the ras website and its so obvious the gulf between the county riders and their international counterparts. Im still expecting a showing from Pezula boys, the way they dominated every event irish this year. And hopefully Paidi O' Brien will do something in the next few days. His youth teammate at An Post, Denis Dunworth riding for Kerry is also holding on well.

Is there any plans by RTE to show the later stages???

Beached

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

deadly article:

http://www.fbdinsuranceras.com/event/fbdras_328.shtml

That article scared me when I read it. Thank god im a leisure cyclist, and any person who completes a ras is a legend in my opinion.

Funkyzeit

Beached wrote: »

Very disappointed that RTE are not showing a highlights show of the ras at night. It is a disgracfull way to treat one of Irelands most important yearly event.

Totally agree - very quiet lead up to the race aswell. How are Joe Public supposed to come to it and support it if they don't know it's on. Surely Tv3/Tg4 could have also stepped in?

Raam

RTE did good coverage of the TOI last year.
As for the Rás, I'll be cycling down to Wicklow and up to Skerries to catch some of the last two stages.

bunnygreen

I caught a small piece on the Sunday sports show on Newstalk,good interview with two of the Irish lads from the An Post/Sean Kelly team,other than that a tiny piece on RTE news at 6 after each stage.Remember the good old days whe Channel 4 showed daily highlights of the Tour De France at half 6,ahhh.It is a disgrace,but cycling is still a minority sport here in Ireland anyway.

Collumbo

Surdival has earned himself the ultimate nickname in the bunch: Survival. He's motoring this year and was super in the Tour of Ulster. Three of the riders ahead of him were pro, the guy who was 4th was a normal bloke who's back racing this year after a few years out, and Stephen was the next normal bloke in finishing in 5th. I can tell you it was a hard race from Day 1 and he was in the two key breakaways in the race on 1st and 2nd day.

We have another guy on the Orwell Dundrum Town Centre Team riding the Rás who is a guest from another club, Con Collis. He's an ex-rower, and he is a bit of a beast. This is his first season racing and he was a 3rd category rider at the start of the year and won his first race just with his strength. You cannot bluff talent and that guy has it for sure. The team are doing very well - Shane Hurley was 1st "B" on Gen. Classification going into today's stage, and the team are currently 5th in the County Team competition. That is superb for a team of 2nd Category riders. [I got an awful hiding in the Rás last year... I mean... awful...]

trek climber

Beached wrote: »

Very disappointed that RTE are not showing a highlights show of the ras at night. It is a disgracfull way to treat one of Irelands most important yearly event..

Totally agree....cant believe that there isnt even highlights on at newstime.

bunnygreen

Hey Collumbo,you nailed it,Stephen was amazing in the Tour of Ulster,hes on fire at the moment,ive seen Con Collis in action,yeah hes an animal,its great for the club and the Ras.If you were creamed last year in the Ras,fair play to you for being there in the first place,thats hard going,kudos to you.

Pj!

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

deadly article:

http://www.fbdinsuranceras.com/event/fbdras_328.shtml

Great article, thanks!

E@gle.

bunnygreen wrote: »

Hey Collumbo,you nailed it,Stephen was amazing in the Tour of Ulster,hes on fire at the moment,ive seen Con Collis in action,yeah hes an animal,its great for the club and the Ras.If you were creamed last year in the Ras,fair play to you for being there in the first place,thats hard going,kudos to you.

Didnt Con collins only take up cycling recently??

bunnygreen

Thats right

zzzzzzzz

Just heard that Cassidy's out of the Ras - suspected fractured elbow after a bunch crash

E@gle.

“The Cassidy family would like to thank all the bunch for their respect for Mark when he crashed. I just spoke to him in the ambulance and he has a suspected broken elbow, but thank God he will be okay and will live to fight another day! He is in good spirits given the situation.

“That’s what makes the sport of cycling so great as you can never tell what is going to happen next. We are all very proud of him and glad he is okay.”

cassidy father philip said the above a previous winner himelf

bunnygreen

What other sport would slow down to let the leader get back on?.

cyclopath2001

Raam wrote: »

RTE did good coverage of the TOI last year.

The organiser had pay for it. Cost was in excess of 300k.

dave2pvd

117th! What happened to Dolly today?

Not a good day for Pezula. At least, not by their standards.

Power was best in 61st.

They may be out of contention....

quietobserver

Beached wrote: »

Very disappointed that RTE are not showing a highlights show of the ras at night. It is a disgracfull way to treat one of Irelands most important yearly event.. There is a huge history to the ras streatching back over 50 years which I never realised until buying Tim Daly's book a few years ago.

Just going through the times in the ras website and its so obvious the gulf between the county riders and their international counterparts. Im still expecting a showing from Pezula boys, the way they dominated every event irish this year. And hopefully Paidi O' Brien will do something in the next few days. His youth teammate at An Post, Denis Dunworth riding for Kerry is also holding on well.

Is there any plans by RTE to show the later stages???

rte will probably have a programme being shown on sunday evening for 30 minutes as they have in previous years, summarising the whole week, and making whats a massive achievement for even the best riders look like a leisurely fun cycle around ireland. last year guy i know did the ras and his boss wouldnt give him the following monday off reckoning he didnt need it, three others in the office got the time off on the monday for having completed the CROI fundraising cycle. Now i wonder if rte showed the grueling side of it or even Mark Cassidys crash today would his boss maybe consider giving him the monday off this year??? hmmm

Quigs Snr

Bad for Pezula alright. I know that Ciaran has been ill for the last 2 days and is far from his best, even if he gets better I think it will be difficult now. Shame. But its an exciting race this year, fingers crossed for an Irish winner.