Donegal bay kermesse may 17 2014

ednwireland

It's time to get the climbing leg's on as the 2nd edition of the Donegal Bay Kermesse takes place on Saturday May 17th in Mountcharles, South Donegal. There will be two races on the testing cicruit, an A race for A1/2/3/J and a B race for A4s. With a tough 1km climb on the course to be scaled numerous times, this race is the prefect preparation race for those aiming for Ras Dhun na nGall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lrjc0lSzbk

ednwireland

http://www.donegalbaycyclingclub.com/a-kermesse-with-a-difference/

Former An Post-Sean Kelly professional and 2013 Donegal Bay Kermesse winner Ronan McLaughlin talks to us about the event and what it will take to win this year

ormer professional rider Ronan McLaughlin is a very busy man these days. Since retiring from the Pro side of the sport after six seasons with the An Post/Sean Kelly team , the Donegal man has not been standing still. Instead he has dived head first into a number of projects all related to cycling. Doing a bit of coaching, working as a rep for Pactimo Cycling Clothing, setting up a Youth academy in Donegal as well as organising a Donegal team for the An Post RAS. Oh, did we mention he still does a bit of racing as well with the Dig Deep Coaching sponsored team and is busy preparing for the RAS himself.

It’s hard to fathom how he get’s the time for it all, but Ronan was kind enough to take a few minutes out and talk to Donegal Bay Cycling Club about our upcoming Kermesse race, an event which Ronan won last year on a typically sweltering hot Donegal day!!!

First off, we asked Ronan how he enjoyed the Donegal Bay Kermesse last year?

“Yeah I really enjoyed it, the weather was fantastic but I also really enjoyed the course, it was tough, technical, fast and really the type of course that suits me well with the long climb and fast descent. Obviously winning was the best bit, but I really enjoyed the opportunity to do a hard race on home roads and just go as hard as I could from start to finish on a demanding course”

ednwireland

only a few days to go

ednwireland

The race is being held in the village of Mountcharles which is situated 5km west of Donegal Town on the N56. There will be two races, an A4 only race starting at 10am and a A1/2/3/J race starting at 1pm. Race headquarters is the St.Nauls GAA clubhouse in Mountcharles.

A4 race starts at 10 am. 5km circuit, 13 laps, total 65km.

Sign on at St. Nauls GAA grounds, Mountcharles from 8:30-9.30am

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/227661935



A1/A2/A3/J race starts at 1pm. 6.3km circuit, 13 laps, total 82km

Sign on at St.Nauls GAA grounds, Mountcharles 11.30am-12.30pm

http://www.mapmyride.com/ie/donegal-u/a1-a2-a3-circuit-route-116403625

calistro

Well done DBCC, great race, marshaling & support on the street. Legs aching today though!

calistro

Was meant to add to my post above yesterday but never got around to it.

Donegal Bay Kermesse 2014.

I read a lot on race threads here about people looking for tougher hilly races particularly in A4. Well I think I've found the toughest!

This is really a 'hard man's race' as they say. 13 laps of a 5k ciricuit (7k for A3 and up) with a 1k B**st*rd of a climb on each lap!!

Did I enjoy it ?......at the bottom of each climb NO, but elated after completing it because after 4 or 5 laps your head/legs/lungs are all saying 'how may more times' and the lap counter at the start/finish area never lied or skipped a lap:(:D After the 3rd of 4th time around it all split to bits and there was nowhere to hide, it would be down to a last man standing scenario.

Numbers for the A4 race weren't particularly high which I was surprised with as I said earlier there seems to be a lot of A4's fed up with the bunch finishes of a lot of the flatter races and looking for this type of race. Maybe because the race is only in it's 2nd year but I envisage it getting bigger each time and I will definitely be back again next year.

ednwireland

Calistro, thanks for coming glad you (sort of ) enjoyed it, i know i would make about one lap waaaaay off the back (proved how slow i would go yesterday !)

So i ended up in the lead car

working on ras dun na ngall next in 2 weeks time !

Iwernia

A1A2A3A4&J Pics http://www.jimmymcelroy.com/donegalbaykermesse

You wouldnt see faces in pain like these guys on your ordinary club race.

More Pics

http://www.localsportdonegal.com/donegal-bay-cycling-clubs