Ras 2013

michaelm

I know this is a little early but does anyone know when the route for The Ras will be announced?

ednwireland

think it was around the end of jan 2012 last time

michaelm

Strange to answer your own question but I have since heard that Jan 29th is launch date.

wav1

michaelm wrote: »

Strange to answer your own question but I have since heard that Jan 29th is launch date.

The 29th it is.GPO at 11.45am.Bring it on.

PatM65

Definitely stage end/start in Nenagh but can't for the life of me remember where it's coming from or going to!

fondriest

I've heard that the 1st stage ends in Carlow and the 2nd stage ends in mitchelstown .

TheBlaaMan

fondriest wrote: »

I've heard that the 1st stage ends in Carlow and the 2nd stage ends in mitchelstown .

Oooohh! Interesting, that sounds like Stage 2 might take in an ascent of Seskin or up and over The Vee...........or both!

Slurrpp. :P

BeeForBattens

We are hpping to get some good folk to wear our new charity cycling kit for the Ras, any takers?

Ray1964

I was leading the Ras last year. Yes a 48 year old balding, unfit and overweight guy leads the Ras through Kilmacaugue. What a thrill.

I'd better explain - I had just taken up cycling and the new road bike was only a few weeks old. It was one of my first rides with all the new gear worn. There I was minding my own business on a very pleasant Sunday morning cycling through Kilmacaugue when there was a big crowd standing on the bridge shouting at me "keep it up you are two minutes ahead". They started clapping as I went under the bridge. I hadn't a clue what was going on. I wasn't two minutes ahead for long because in about 30 seconds later all of a sudden there are ambulances, Garda cars and team cars shooting past me and shouting at me to get out of the way.

I turned around only to see the pack chasing me down. I nearly fell off the bike in shock. I pulled the bike into the edge of the road with about 5 seconds to spare. The pack flew by me with a number of riders turning around to give me a stare. I laughted to myself all the way home. So there you go a fat balding middle aged man led the Ras.:D

michaelm

Ray1964 wrote: »

I was leading the Ras last year. Yes a 48 year old balding, unfit and overweight guy leads the Ras through Kilmacaugue. What a thrill.

I'd better explain - I had just taken up cycling and the new road bike was only a few weeks old. It was one of my first rides with all the new gear worn. There I was minding my own business on a very pleasant Sunday morning cycling through Kilmacaugue when there was a big crowd standing on the bridge shouting at me "keep it up you are two minutes ahead". They started clapping as I went under the bridge. I hadn't a clue what was going on. I wasn't two minutes ahead for long because in about 30 seconds later all of a sudden there are ambulances, Garda cars and team cars shooting past me and shouting at me to get out of the way.

I turned around only to see the pack chasing me down. I nearly fell off the bike in shock. I pulled the bike into the edge of the road with about 5 seconds to spare. The pack flew by me with a number of riders turning around to give me a stare. I laughted to myself all the way home. So there you go a fat balding middle aged man led the Ras.:D

Reminded me that I overtook Fabian Cancellara while out on a training spin in Richmond Park, London the day before the Olympics last year. (Is it necessary to say he had slowed down to take a photo of the deer?)

michaelm

Not so sure - let's just say don't book a day off or a hotel based on this! All will be revealed next Tuesday.

ashleey

michaelm wrote: »

Reminded me that I overtook Fabian Cancellara while out on a training spin in Richmond Park, London the day before the Olympics last year. (Is it necessary to say he had slowed down to take a photo of the deer?)

Was he out with his dog?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU

Carpenter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOur8qXvpnk

RobFowl

Carpenter wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOur8qXvpnk

Jesus not that vid again !!!!

Carpenter

RobFowl wrote: »

Jesus not that vid again !!!!

Had to be done

com1

Route announced...

http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/IrishCyclingRas/Home/

ednwireland

com1 wrote: »

Route announced...

http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/IrishCyclingRas/Home/

ahh well thats one less race to watch this year (maybe.....)

michaelm

ednwireland wrote: »

ahh well thats one less race to watch this year (maybe.....)

Ye were spolied last year, Donegal practially owned the Rás in 2012! (Was so envious, would love to have been there).

Fr D Maugire

michaelm wrote: »

Ye were spolied last year, Donegal practially owned the Rás in 2012! (Was so envious, would love to have been there).

Well considering it will be probably another 5 years before it ventures up north, only right it stayed up in Donegal for a bit.

It must be down south almost every year.

wav1

Interesting fact.Last year 2012 was the first time since the race became 8 day in 1954 that there was no stage end in Munster.All put to rights this year.4 in total for all the Munster men.Listowel is always a special place for a stage end.Great atmosphere and you'd never know who you might see.Plenty of good night stages there too through the years.If only John B Keanes pub could talk.As they say bring it on 108 days to go.

G200

The detailed maps for each stage dont seem to be up yet?

TheBlaaMan

Yeh, there's someting screwy going on all right. There are "full" details for Stage1, but this is for a finish in Kilkenny !!! - and stage 1 should end in Longford, so the details relate to some other year.

With OSi on board as a sponsor, I'm sure that we'll get grreat maps in due course, but they weren't even provided at the launch yesterday - only the brief overview maps were distributed - so we'll anticipate more details asap....

CramCycle

I'm thinking of going out (to view or cycle a few hours/one day ahead of them) for the first stage, its passing almost through the townland of my youth. I have cycled that route before heading home one year, it's not particularly tough at any stage but I wasn't pushing it either. In the final 20km there are a few tight turns and one or two pinch points, Ballinalee would be a great viewing point of the olde forge pub in Killoe as they will have to do a 90degree right turn beside their car park and I can imagine a few skimming the outside and through the petrol station, other than that, if they are finishing in the town, it will be fantastic. A smooth sprint from the roundabout outside of town, mild descent before the town squeezes the roads together. Wonder what the finish point in the town will be. Before St. Mels would be safest but the main St. would look cooler.

BTH

CramCycle wrote: »

I'm thinking of going out (to view or cycle a few hours/one day ahead of them) for the first stage, its passing almost through the townland of my youth. I have cycled that route before heading home one year, it's not particularly tough at any stage but I wasn't pushing it either. In the final 20km there are a few tight turns and one or two pinch points, Ballinalee would be a great viewing point of the olde forge pub in Killoe as they will have to do a 90degree right turn beside their car park and I can imagine a few skimming the outside and through the petrol station, other than that, if they are finishing in the town, it will be fantastic. A smooth sprint from the roundabout outside of town, mild descent before the town squeezes the roads together. Wonder what the finish point in the town will be. Before St. Mels would be safest but the main St. would look cooler.

Was wondering about the finish too. Main street would be class, but probably too technical navigating new street and market square, while the bends at the cinema would rule out the Battery Road. In the newly done Ballinalee road finishing at the cathedral/unicare would probably be the best bet.

CramCycle

BTH wrote: »

Was wondering about the finish too. Main street would be class, but probably too technical navigating new street and market square, while the bends at the cinema would rule out the Battery Road. In the newly done Ballinalee road finishing at the cathedral/unicare would probably be the best bet.

The Gardai could put a no parking section for Sunday on Dublin St. and run it up there Contra flow and finish it on the main St. but it would be alot of hassle. Up towards Market Sq, again, the island at the top, it just becomes too messy, I presume they will finish, as you were saying at the Cathedral/Unicare. Not much space for viewing unless its just directly at the cathedral and have the crowds in the car parks both sides i.e. the finish is just before the triangle /island and the riders can slow / stop on Dublin St. or upto Market Sq. leave the team support there.

wav1

BTH wrote: »

Was wondering about the finish too. Main street would be class, but probably too technical navigating new street and market square, while the bends at the cinema would rule out the Battery Road. In the newly done Ballinalee road finishing at the cathedral/unicare would probably be the best bet.

Main St it is.From the westerly side.Finish about 100 metres after Longford Arms which will be on the riders right hand side.Finished there the last time also in 2000.The ras stages always finish as close to town centres as possible.It all adds to the occasion.Sometimes the finishes can be a bit technical but thats bike racing.Pull the brakes and lose about 30 places,Its great.

BTH

wav1 wrote: »

Main St it is.From the westerly side.Finish about 100 metres after Longford Arms which will be on the riders right hand side.Finished there the last time also in 2000.The ras stages always finish as close to town centres as possible.It all adds to the occasion.Sometimes the finishes can be a bit technical but thats bike racing.Pull the brakes and lose about 30 places,Its great.

two 90deg bends within 400m of the finish. That'll be fun!!!

CramCycle

BTH wrote: »

two 90deg bends within 400m of the finish. That'll be fun!!!

It will be a nice spot to finish, the run isn't great though,from the N4 you hit a mini roundabout and 2 islands a km from the end which could be messy but the road widens from there. If that is the correct direction then, I presume they are either heading right at the olde forge, hanging right at the large roundabout on the longford by pass and left at the next one? or will they take the left-right by the olde forge and hit the second roundabout head on?

michaelm

Fr D Maugire wrote: »

Well considering it will be probably another 5 years before it ventures up north, only right it stayed up in Donegal for a bit.

It must be down south almost every year.

Fair point, I actually think it was a great move to base it there last year, I believe the atmosphere was great and many people took holidays to follow the race.

thebouldwhacker

Looking forward to this.
Great routes, I have cycled (i think) all the roads in Munster and some furthur north which always makes viewing it all the more interesting. Its passing my Home too....... which is nice.

marvin80

Anyone have a rough estimate what time the stages usually start and finish each day?

buffalo

marvin80 wrote: »

Anyone have a rough estimate what time the stages usually start and finish each day?

They'll publish an estimate of schedules closer to the race. Keep an eye on http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/IrishCyclingRas/Route/

ednwireland

marvin80 wrote: »

Anyone have a rough estimate what time the stages usually start and finish each day?

technical guide out

part one
http://www.anpost.ie/NR/rdonlyres/975BAD47-8EC1-4973-B1BA-13F7402A04DE/0/AnPostR%C3%A1sTechnicalGuide22013Part1.pdf

part two
http://www.anpost.ie/NR/rdonlyres/3D702D46-10D2-4EEC-A3EE-85F2BCE836D2/0/AnPostR%C3%A1sTechnicalGuide22013Part2.pdf

michaelm

With less than a week to go to the start of the Rás I have to say I am really looking forward to this year's event. The "race within a race" should be fascinating with the addition of the County Jersey. Just wondering what are people looking forward to in particular? For me I love following the stories of the "ordinary" cyclist who manages to complete the event. These are my real sporting heroes and I am always in awe of the lads who are not in a position to train fulltime but manage to complete the eight gruelling days of full on racing.

michaelm

Nice touch from An Post, received this in post today, as did everyone along race route I'm presuming.

http://twitter.com/northtippcyclin/status/334008221532557312/photo/1

buffalo

michaelm wrote: »

Nice touch from An Post, received this in post today, as did everyone along race route I'm presuming.

http://twitter.com/northtippcyclin/status/334008221532557312/photo/1

ah, that explains why the housemate's boyfriend has a copy of it. Nice touch indeed.

RobFowl

Nice program and well designed.

Picked up my official pack on Sat and very happy.

Looks like its going to be a great race.

Look out for a certain Boardsie in Kerry.........

buffalo

Ahead of this year's edition, I just noticed that TG4 are once again showing the excellent "Rás Tailteann-Rothaí an tSaoil" tomorrow (Fri) at 21.30. If you haven't seen it already, make sure to catch it.

snollup

RobFowl wrote: »

Nice program and well designed.

Picked up my official pack on Sat and very happy.

Looks like its going to be a great race.

Look out for a certain Boardsie in Kerry.........

Are you working this year?

Have recently moved out to Tinahely in Wicklow so really looking forward to stage 7. It will be running through Woodenbridge, just down the road from me.

RobFowl

snollup wrote: »

Are you working this year?

Have recently moved out to Tinahely in Wicklow so really looking forward to stage 7. It will be running through Woodenbridge, just down the road from me.

I am, usual gig

Should be a good stage that one

Captain Havoc

I booked my holidays for next week but due to changes at work I am now working, I hope still to get to the Carlow sprint though.

michaelm

I have made a PowerPoint presentation available for primary schools in my area that will hopefully bring their classes out to see the race. The presentation was very hastily put together but I hope teachers may use it to let the kids know something about the importance/status of the race. If anyone is interested please feel free to edit to suit your own area and pass on to your local schools.

Available here: http://www.visitnenagh.net/ras2013pp.pptx

If you haven't yet seen it - the start list is here

emtroche

I've drawn online maps for each of the stages if anybody is interested. You can export them to gps devices if anybody is planning on following or riding some of the stages.

Stage 1, Dunboyne – Longford http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2523940
Stage 2, Longford – Nenagh http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2524017
Stage 3, Nenagh – Listowel http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2524333
Stage 4, Listowel – Glengarriff http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2524499
Stage 5, Glengarriff – Mitchelstown http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2524637
Stage 6, Mitchelstown – Carlow http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2524836
Stage 7, Carlow – Naas http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2525805

Haven't done the last stage yet but should have it tomorrow.

I should stress that these are not official but i reckon they're bang on.

Its a nice looking route this year. One of the most interesting in a good while in my opinion. There also seems to be a lot of opportunity for people to jump around and see it in a couple of places every day.

emtroche

Stage 8, Naas - Skerries http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2529148

el tel

Does anyone know if there will be any tv coverage or highlights of the race?

emtroche

el tel wrote: »

Does anyone know if there will be any tv coverage or highlights of the race?

Should be a few minutes every day on RTE news and then theres normally half hour of highlights on the sunday night.

emtroche

Just wondering does anybody know of any good twitter feeds for the race?

buffalo

emtroche wrote: »

Just wondering does anybody know of any good twitter feeds for the race?

Last year https://twitter.com/anpostras was okay, and https://twitter.com/fi_cooke was a good one, but I don't know if she's on it again. Once the race starts hopefully the good accounts will surface.

buffalo

Interview with Tim Barry: http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cycling-battling-barry-plans-to-strike-blow-for-domestic-warriors-29276594.html

wav1

buffalo wrote: »

Last year https://twitter.com/anpostras was okay, and https://twitter.com/fi_cooke was a good one, but I don't know if she's on it again. Once the race starts hopefully the good accounts will surface.

Yes AFAIK Shane Stokes is doing live updates on the anpostras site.

emtroche

This is a nice piece http://www.rapha.cc/the-ras