Race Around Ireland Official Launch

emtroche

Hi All,

The Race Around Ireland will be officially launched by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey at Teach na Teamhrach (formerly Balreask Arms), Trim, Rd. Navan at 7pm on Tuesday 28th July. All are welcome.

In the last week we've had an entry from Italian rider Fabio Biasiolo. Fabio is ranked No.1 in the world in ultramarathon cycling. Along with Caroline van den Bulk from Canada, this puts us in the enviable position of having both the womens and mens world No.1's.

Everybody that enters the race will recieve a Race Around Ireland Jersey. You can have a look at it on our website. It will also be available to buy.

Also, a number of overseas entrants are still looking for people who would be willing to help out as crew members. Not only would this be a great way to see the country but it would also offer a fantastic insight into the race which is sure to be one of the toughest cycling events in Europe.

www.racearoundireland.com

Hermy

So is there a Boards team being entered?
I offered myself and my taxi as support but no-one ever came back to say aye or nay.:(

Hermy

I suppose the moral of the story is don't offer help to strangers as the deafening silence may offend.

rughdh

I see John O'Sullivan of Sorrento CC listed as a solo rider. Best of luck, John! Chapeau!

rughdh

Hermy wrote: »

I suppose the moral of the story is don't offer help to strangers as the deafening silence may offend.

I'm sure your offer would be taken up, Hermy, if a boards team was being entered.

rottenhat

rughdh wrote: »

I see John O'Sullivan of Sorrento CC listed as a solo rider. Best of luck, John! Chapeau!

Did you look at his details on the website? He says he's only been cycling for a year!

ROK ON

Actually a lot of the rider profiles on the website seem dubious. There are a lot of guys who claim recreational cycling for a year or so on their bios.
Likely story, but if true, then fair play to them.

penexpers

rughdh wrote: »

I'm sure your offer would be taken up, Hermy, if a boards team was being entered.

Yeah as far as I'm aware there were plans to have a boards team (or maybe even two), but nothing came of it.

Raam

I know a few guys from Swords CC are doing it. Best of luck to them. It's gonna be tough.

rottenhat

ROK ON wrote: »

Actually a lot of the rider profiles on the website seem dubious. There are a lot of guys who claim recreational cycling for a year or so on their bios.
Likely story, but if true, then fair play to them.

Thinking about it, I believe that he was one of the people who had ridden the REK 400 last year, so he definitely leaped in at the deep end of cycling if that was his first year. Perhaps the PR department were getting a little creative after all.

Still, I think I'd want to have done one of the big brevets before taking on this. Minimum pace for PBP is 13.5km/h over 1200km, this is 18km/h over nearly 2200 and with only 70 riders total including the teams, you'd be spending most of the time riding alone. That's going to be incredibly tough psychologically.

blorg

@Hermy- your offer was appreciated but there ended up not being a Boards team entered... There were a few of us more than willing to get on the bike and ride but it was looking like it was going to be very difficult and expensive to organise from a logistical point of view.

ROK ON

rottenhat wrote: »

Thinking about it, I believe that he was one of the people who had ridden the REK 400 last year, so he definitely leaped in at the deep end of cycling if that was his first year. Perhaps the PR department were getting a little creative after all.

Still, I think I'd want to have done one of the big brevets before taking on this. Minimum pace for PBP is 13.5km/h over 1200km, this is 18km/h over nearly 2200 and with only 70 riders total including the teams, you'd be spending most of the time riding alone. That's going to be incredibly tough psychologically.

Agree. I rode a good bit of the Kerry leg at the w/e in an absolute gail and p*ssing rain. This was between 8am and midday. I would shudder to think what cycling in the Black Valley in a gale at 3am in the morning after 1000km would be like.
Again fair play to them.

emtroche

rottenhat wrote: »

Perhaps the PR department were getting a little creative after all.

I was just putting up stuff the way it came in. Nothing creative about it!

These guys look pretty interesting

www.racearoundireland.com/team_gtf.asp

blorg

emtroche wrote: »

I was just putting up stuff the way it came in. Nothing creative about it!

These guys look pretty interesting

www.racearoundireland.com/team_gtf.asp

They look like they know what they are doing all right. There are other riders in there like Joe Barr in the solo who would certainly be no stranger to this sort of thing. Good luck to all.

rottenhat

blorg wrote: »

There are other riders in there like Joe Barr in the solo who would certainly be no stranger to this sort of thing.

I agree he exudes a certain confidence:

What concerns do you have about the Race Around Ireland? - Don't have any. Been there, wore the T-shirt.

scottreynolds

rottenhat wrote: »

I agree he exudes a certain confidence:

He organises the 5 Day tour of Ireland Cycle challenge. He's tough as nails. Cool guy too.

blorg

rottenhat wrote: »

I agree he exudes a certain confidence:

What Scott said, this year he rode it leading the second group and I would have no doubts in him Former and current holder of many long distance Irish records I believe.

shaungil

I'm doing this as part od SwordsCC so thanks for showing me the ultra organised team with the huge crew:eek:

We've 1 real cyclist , two 12hr ironmen, we've 8 kids all under the age of 6 between three of us (three different mothers) so you can imagine training can be a struggle timewise. The other guy is fitness instructor who bought his first road bike last month and then got hit by a bus a week later. He's fine now though and kicked both triathletes asses up the hills of Bellewstown last weekend.

We've two confirmed crew and three maybes/probably should be okay to do. Camper van is being booked and we got the Swords team car. First meeting was a week and a half ago when the rest of the lads decided to do the last minute things like look at the course and read the rules.

One of the reasons I want to do this is because it is new and no-one really knows to much about the whole concept in Ireland. We might try and do things a bit differently because we're a bit more constricted with only one car and camper van so can't leap frog as other teams can do.

If you are interested in following one of the lads progress he blogs on http://www.roadtobarcelona.blogspot.com/ as he's supposed to be doing an Ironman a few week later.

thebouldwhacker

Hermy wrote: »

I suppose the moral of the story is don't offer help to strangers as the deafening silence may offend.

I only read up on this today. Its a bit late to organise for this year at this stage (is it?) but I would definatly be up for entering as a team for 2010.

shaungil

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

I only read up on this today. Its a bit late to organise for this year at this stage (is it?) but I would definatly be up for entering as a team for 2010.

I've heard of a team looking for a fourth rider if you are interested.

thebouldwhacker

Ahh my knee.... sorry what were you saying?:pac:

Why not post up or pm me the details, cant guarantee I'd be suitable but no harm in looking into it. (i want one of those jerseys)

blorg

shaungil wrote: »

I've heard of a team looking for a fourth rider if you are interested.

I'd be interested, I am happy to ride the bike and contribute if someone else had the logistics sorted!

Hermy

Hermy wrote: »

I suppose the moral of the story is don't offer help to strangers as the deafening silence may offend.

No Hermy, the moral of the story is don't be whinging in the Cycling forum just cause you're in a bad mood. Now they've seen what a cranky bastard you really are they'll never let you be their Director Sportif.:o:p

Seriously though, it's a pity ye weren't in a position to enter a team.
@blorg What were the main difficulties involved in such an undertaking?
I imagine there's a lot I hadn't considered, not having been involved in such an event before.