An Post Ras - Skerries Stage End and Street Party

midonogh

Skerries is hosting the final stage of the An Post Ras for the seventh time on Sunday 27 May. The Blackhills and lanes around Ardgillan make for great spectator points, but for the real atmosphere come down into the village where we hope to have upwards of 3,000 people on Strand Street again.

Its not just about the bikes, there will be something for all the family as Strand Street comes alive at 12.30pm when the Street Party begins. Clowns will entertain the crowds with balloon modelling and magic tricks galore. There will be bouncing castles, face painting, street games and funfair stalls and a wide selection of street party food to tempt your taste buds. There will also be a play area for toddlers. The Skerries Craft Market will display an array of goods, all made by local craftspeople. These are just some of the activities planned to delight the crowds before the main attraction commences at around 3pm when the cyclists begin to speed into town.

Getting to Skerries is easy by train or car. But why don't you cycle out and on the way back you could pick up a few of the Strava KOMs that Shaungil, Beasty, Staro and Glenamaddy are so precious about!!

Check out our Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/An-Post-RAS-Skerries-Stage-End/172855439428127

Hopefully we will see a few of you there
Cheers
midonogh

bcmf

Great to see it here once again. Wont be in Skerries though.Usually watch it as it passes the cross of the cage and then at Ardgillen for KoM.
Love watching the lads come up that hill in the 53 like it wasnt there.

The Hill Billy

Great to have this event back in Skerries yet again!

As a matter of interest - Could anyone tell me by when all riders should be through the Cross O' The Cage? I need to get through there to the airport on Sunday afternoon. (midonogh - I'm asking here as the FB page wasn't particularly clear on this. )

Good luck to all involved!

Beasty

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Great to have this event back in Skerries yet again!

As a matter of interest - Could anyone tell me by when all riders should be through the Cross O' The Cage? I need to get through there to the airport on Sunday afternoon. (midonogh - I'm asking here as the FB page wasn't particularly clear on this. )

Good luck to all involved!

It really depends on how fast they are racing, which will be affected by the weather, the overall race standings, and whether anyone goes for glory (there are a couple of local lads who I am sure would love to get into Skerries ahead of the bunch)

They have indicated the roads will be closed from around 2-2.30pm in Skerries. A slight headdwind is forecast so I guess it's more likely to be after 2 when they close the roads, but to be safe you may want to get away before then

There will be marshalls, particularly at the Cross of the Cage junction, who should be in place by 1.30pm - you could just nip along and ask them what the eta is. I would imaginge the roads will stay closed for well over an hour to get the full entourage through - possibly longer if the bunch gets broken up much earlier in the day - they may wait until the final stragglers come through before re-opening it

midonogh

Hi Hillbilly
The earliest we expect the riders to arrive is 2pm. Once they arrive the circuit will be closed off for an hour. We are guiding traffic disruption between 2 and 4.

Weather looking good for Sunday, should be a great day out.
Cheers
midonogh

buffalo

bcmf wrote: »

Great to see it here once again. Wont be in Skerries though.Usually watch it as it passes the cross of the cage and then at Ardgillen for KoM.
Love watching the lads come up that hill in the 53 like it wasnt there.

I'll see you there! :pac:

The Hill Billy

Thanks folks. Looks like I'll be leaving early for my flight then. Pity I'm going to miss the festivities. Enjoy!

bcmf

buffalo wrote: »

I'll see you there! :pac:

Yep.
Same Bat Time! Same Bat Channel!
I volunteered for marshalling and got the Cross of the Cage.

midonogh

Hi
If anyone is travelling out to the stage end and would like a good vantage point maybe they could help with marshalling. We could do with a few more in the village and out on the circuit.

If you think you can lend a hand:
Village marshalls are being briefed in Holmpatrick School at 12 noon. Please call Teddy on 086 811 9863

Circuit Marshalls being briefed in Holmpatrick School at 12.30. Please call Pat on 086 239 4695

Cheers
midonogh

fat bloke

Big thumbs down from my two girls to Skerries and its street "party", replete with 5 euro bouncy castle, I'm afraid. Took them down the beach instead.

Kudos to the Ras organisers though. Very professional, & nice to hear some Irish music over the PA too.

Inquitus

I took the kids down, and whilst it was a fairly low key event they had some good fun, my Daughter made her own earrings for 2 euros, we had plenty of rice crispie cakes for 50c, and some nice fish and chips. They enjoyed themselves in the sun, I did notice the bouncy castle and told the 2 kids there was no way I was paying a fiver each for them to use it for 10 minutes mind!

triggermortis

Missed all that fun as we headed to Kingscourt to watch them fly through. Impressive stuff

The Davestator

Inquitus wrote: »

I took the kids down, and whilst it was a fairly low key event they had some good fun, my Daughter made her own earrings for 2 euros, we had plenty of rice crispie cakes for 50c, and some nice fish and chips. They enjoyed themselves in the sun, I did notice the bouncy castle and told the 2 kids there was no way I was paying a fiver each for them to use it for 10 minutes mind!

In fairness to the guy, it was 5 euro for the whole day so the kids could come and go all day if they wanted

shaungil

Heard great reports from my crew about the street party , I was stuck on the course again

Inquitus

The Davestator wrote: »

In fairness to the guy, it was 5 euro for the whole day so the kids could come and go all day if they wanted

Aye I worded my post badly, they would have only used it for 10 minutes and hence I wasn't going to pay a fiver, a fiver for the whole day on its own is not a bad deal, but an option to pay for 5 or 10 mins for a lesser amount would have been well received.

buffalo

bcmf wrote: »

Yep.
Same Bat Time! Same Bat Channel!
I volunteered for marshalling and got the Cross of the Cage.

Good to see you out there again, hope you enjoyed yourself. Will have the pics up tomorrow!

buffalo

Pics!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianmca/sets/72157629930510882/

manwithaplan

I headed out to Ardgillan early for a pre-Rás picnic. I couldn't get the wife off the grass or the kids out of the playground so contented myself with heading out to the gates to see them go over the second time. We didn't make Skerries - the best laid plans etc.

All good family fun which cost precisely €0.