Race Around Ireland 2017

Vizzy

Does anyone have a link to follow the racers in the RAI 2017.
It was on blackblox last year but I'm not sure where it is this year.

Thanks in advance

Hager

Blackbox again. Just finished packing and ready to head to Meath tomorrow.

Vizzy

Great.

Best of luck.

What team are you and I'll keep an eye out for you ?

CramCycle

Couple of boardsies this year (as always) so hopefully we will get some reports.

A cracking event, my clubmates and my workmates have had teams in for the past few years. I always support my club which creates tension.

Best of luck to all entrants.

thesimpsons

Haven't seen a thread about this here this year. Started yesterday, watch the dots with this link.

https://gps.blackblox.si/race/31

For full information on the race
http://racearoundireland.com

cython

You mean this thread?

thesimpsons

cython wrote: »

You mean this thread?

oops - never spotted it earlier

HeidiHeidi

I have a pal doing this race...but I know nothing about it so can I ask a couple of (possibly stupid-sounding) questions?

I'm assuming looking at the Blackblox tracker that they didn't all start together?

Are current positions/rankings available anywhere? I can't see them on the tracker link I got from the other thread on here.

Thanks!

magicbastarder

threads merged

cython

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I have a pal doing this race...but I know nothing about it so can I ask a couple of (possibly stupid-sounding) questions?

I'm assuming looking at the Blackblox tracker that they didn't all start together?

Teams went off at 3 minute intervals starting at 2pm yesterday, in the order of 8 person, 4 person and 2 person. Soloists then went in the order of Ultra, Recumbent and then the rest at the same 3 minute intervals starting from 4pm.

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Are current positions/rankings available anywhere? I can't see them on the tracker link I got from the other thread on here.

Thanks!

I think the tracker link will order by position in the table on the left hand side (desktop version), which is determined by average speed to date in the race. You can filter by category then if you want to see easily who'e leading a particular one

magicbastarder

i note the race takes in several roads in inishowen which were damaged last week. did they detour?

cython

magicbastarder wrote: »

i note the race takes in several roads in inishowen which were damaged last week. did they detour?

Yes. However the detours were determined too late for the online tracker route to be updated, hence there was some confusion for dot watchers last night when they all took the below detour that Team Aspect are on (and missed Mamore, incidentally!)



Their own description of the route change reads as follows:

RAI wrote:

ROUTE CHANGE IN DONEGAL

TS03 to TS04
OLD ROUTE: Foyle Bridge, Muff, Quigleys Point, Carndonagh
NEW ROUTE: Foyle Bridge, Burnfoot, Buncrana, Clonmany, Ballyliffin, Carndonagh

CramCycle

There were several last minute route alterations (talking to one of the organisers this morning). Looks like the Mamore gap is out as well.

cython

Dan Fallon (first person to attempt it on a recumbent) seems to be DNF already, and if not he's gone off route (again) heading for Omagh. Nothing on the RAI Facebook page about it yet

ford2600

Pat Doocey is motoring. After making the step up after winning the ultra event last year.

Also has team experience from the RAAM.

Regular attendee on Audax events and an organiser. Top man

CramCycle

ford2600 wrote: »

Pat Doocey is motoring. After making the step up after winning the ultra event last year.

I like Pat, met him a few times at different audaxes, really nice guy, and happy to share his knowledge.

ford2600

Nicole Reist is way ahead of the nearest solo participant.

She is at 1050km with leading solo man, Henk Verouden at 954km.

Pat Doocey still going well at 904km

Vizzy

All the 4 person teams seem to have set off 3 mins apart, except for the Ninety Niners who seem to be on the road for about 2 hours more.
Is the timing incorrect cos I reckon that the Ninety Niners would be ranked much higher if their "elapsed time" is 2 hours more than it should be ?

cython

Vizzy wrote: »

All the 4 person teams seem to have set off 3 mins apart, except for the Ninety Niners who seem to be on the road for about 2 hours more.
Is the timing incorrect cos I reckon that the Ninety Niners would be ranked much higher if their "elapsed time" is 2 hours more than it should be ?

I suspect that's a glitch on the timing side. As you say, they were all at 3 minute intervals counting back from 411 to 401, so Galway Baybes first off, and Tiernans last. Since all the 4 person teams actually made the start, it was all 3 minute gaps (in categories where there was a DNS, then there was a 6 minute gap between starts. Realistically they should probably be in 2nd now based on the distance left to cover - all bar Aspect are behind them, and the 5 km gap between Ninety-Niners and Tiernans is more than the 3 minute head start they got over them.

Only other option I can think of would be penalties but usually they are announced and I haven't seen any on social media, plus I don't think they ever added these on to the tracker in real time in previous years.

wanderer 22

Looks like a great battle between the Veloroos & Tiernans!

cython

colm18 wrote: »

Looks like a great battle between the Veloroos & Tiernans!

Ninety-Niners in that mix too by the looks of it. Remember Tiernans and Ninety-Niners only had a 3 minute gap between them, while Veloroos had about 24 mins on Ninety-Niners and 27 mins on Tiernans (if my maths are right), meaning Veloroos need to be maybe 10-15 km ahead on the road (at current average speeds) to be considered "level" with them.

EDIT: Unfortunately as they head through Wicklow the tracker gets patchy (as can be seen from the last update times) so there are large margins for error in any estimates at the moment!

CramCycle

cython wrote: »

Ninety-Niners in that mix too by the looks of it. Remember Tiernans and Ninety-Niners only had a 3 minute gap between them, while Veloroos had about 24 mins on Ninety-Niners and 27 mins on Tiernans (if my maths are right), meaning Veloroos need to be maybe 10-15 km ahead on the road (at current average speeds) to be considered "level" with them.

EDIT: Unfortunately as they head through Wicklow the tracker gets patchy (as can be seen from the last update times) so there are large margins for error in any estimates at the moment!

Ha,

I misunderstood the starts, I thought Tiernans were first out of the blocks, so they are actually doing far better than expected (and they were top 3 the way I had read it). Epic battle between the three. Veloroos, 99ers and Tiernans have all gone back and forth over night. Reading posts from some of the follow cars, it sounded like an open race for a few hours overnight.

cython

CramCycle wrote: »

Ha,

I misunderstood the starts, I thought Tiernans were first out of the blocks, so they are actually doing far better than expected (and they were top 3 the way I had read it). Epic battle between the three. Veloroos, 99ers and Tiernans have all gone back and forth over night. Reading posts from some of the follow cars, it sounded like an open race for a few hours overnight.

They're all within 2-3km of each other around the Sally Gap now - madness considering the distance they've been going for!

CramCycle

All within 3km except for Team Aspect, who only have a very slight gain in the average speed.

If I have calculated this right, they have around 35km on the 3 teams behind.

Difference in pace is about 0.3km/hr.

Since they started 27/30minutes ahead, the difference at the average of 30kmph is actually half an hour riding between 1st place and 2nd/3rd place.

Not sure why the 99ers are still showing as two hours down, maybe a tracking error not corrected or a time punishement.

cython

Ah yeah, Aspect are reasonably comfortably in first place at the moment (they have over an hour lead, and had a 21/24 minute head start on the other 2 4-man teams currently competing, and started after Veloroos), and it's currently between Ninety Niners and Tiernans for 2nd (damn discrepancy making it hard to tell!) since Veloroos basically need to be halfway between where they are and where Aspect are to be properly level with those currently around them.

This just might end up being one of the closest things to a sprint to the line the RAI has seen!

CramCycle

Team Aspect will be at the finish line before 2pm at this rate. 60km away.

cython

Tiernans seem to be within 2km of Ninety Niners. Given the 3 minute head start afforded the latter, I think Tiernans are virtually neck and neck with Ninety Niners for second now, so will be very interesting to see how the next couple of hours play out - will they be able to crack on to pass and stay ahead?

With Aspect in Trim I think they're virtually assured the win, so 2nd is what's left to race for among the other teams, and likely to be the closest contest in the whole race!

CramCycle

cython wrote: »

Tiernans seem to be within 2km of Ninety Niners. Given the 3 minute head start afforded the latter, I think Tiernans are virtually neck and neck with Ninety Niners for second now, so will be very interesting to see how the next couple of hours play out - will they be able to crack on to pass and stay ahead?

Just over 1km now, insane pace,

CramCycle

Average pace is also increasing for the top few teams?!? Insame. Team Aspect may actually average out at 30kmph.

cython

99ers opening up their lead a bit again now, wherever they managed to pull their current ~7-8km lead from over the nearest two teams. That's only about a 10-15 minute advantage at current averages though, so nothing decided yet. They also had a 3 minute head start on Tiernans though, so they need to keep the nose to the grindstone, as Tiernans don't have to pass them physically to pass them in the race.

Veloroos and Tiernans are still within 1km of each other, with Tiernans having passed the Veloroos around the Lamb, and Veloroos overtaking again since! Current standings are almost surely (assuming no penalties, simply as I haven't seen any published yet per other years):

1. Aspect
2. 99ers
3. Tiernans
4. Veloroos

EDIT: AS I post that 99ers seemed to have paused in Athboy (tracker was saying updated seconds ago, but they'd been at the same point for a few minutes then). Of course this may simply be the follow car, and the cyclist may be gone on ahead, assuming the same tracker system as other years with the GPS in said car.

WhatsGoingOn2

It's a pity that the 99'ers time is wrong on the tracker. Hard to figure out how close they are. Going through the last checkpoint, it was a dead heat with them and Tiernans, both having the exact same average speed, but you can't see that on blackblox.

cython

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

It's a pity that the 99'ers time is wrong on the tracker. Hard to figure out how close they are. Going through the last checkpoint, it was a dead heat with them and Tiernans, both having the exact same average speed, but you can't see that on blackblox.

They look to have about a 5km advantage at the moment, which equates at the averages involved to being about 10 mins, or maybe a little more. They also have a 3 minute head start, so in reality their lead is probably about 7 minutes. You could probably easily get their actual average by taking the distance and adding 3 mins to the equivalent Tiernans time. Traffic patterns on the N3 when each team cross could even be a factor at this rate - I remember driving behind a cyclist last year who was going nuts at a slight delay there (to be fair, the team won their category so he was concerned about the lead), and his nearest competition were nowhere near this close!

CramCycle

+30kmph avg for the 4 person team winners

velo.2010

I was out at lunchtime today between Kilcock and Clane and saw several supported riders within a few minutes of each other. Took me a moment but then realised it was the RAI.

I'm guessing what I saw was a mix of 2 and 4 person teams and solo's? If they were all 4-man teams then it was fairly tight between them.

cython

velo.2010 wrote: »

I was out at lunchtime today between Kilcock and Clane and saw several supported riders within a few minutes of each other. Took me a moment but then realised it was the RAI.

I'm guessing what I saw was a mix of 2 and 4 person teams and solo's? If they were all 4-man teams then it was fairly tight between them.

Must have been all 4-person teams, the 2 man teams are both still in Munster, and the soloist Ultras wouldn't have come that road. Solo RAI competitors are further behind the first 2-person team, and the leading 8 person team is still in Wicklow.

To be fair, 2nd, 3rd and 4th (on the road, at least) teams in the 4-person were all within 5 km of each other for the last ages (1st was maybe 30km or so ahead of them again), so if you saw one there's a good chance you saw most/all of those!

WhatsGoingOn2

cython wrote: »

They look to have about a 5km advantage at the moment, which equates at the averages involved to being about 10 mins, or maybe a little more. They also have a 3 minute head start, so in reality their lead is probably about 7 minutes. You could probably easily get their actual average by taking the distance and adding 3 mins to the equivalent Tiernans time. Traffic patterns on the N3 when each team cross could even be a factor at this rate - I remember driving behind a cyclist last year who was going nuts at a slight delay there (to be fair, the team won their category so he was concerned about the lead), and his nearest competition were nowhere near this close!

The 99'ers have a penalty, so looking like second for Tiernans

WhatsGoingOn2

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

The 99'ers have a penalty, so looking like second for Tiernans

Will be exceptionally tight for 3rd between 99'ers and the Velaroos

cython

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

Will be exceptionally tight for 3rd between 99'ers and the Velaroos

It won't be. Veloroos had a 24 minute head start over 99ers, so even if they crossed at the same time, 99ers had them beat (penalty and all), and they are still back the road. The race for 2nd is still on though!

wanderer 22

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

cython wrote: »

They look to have about a 5km advantage at the moment, which equates at the averages involved to being about 10 mins, or maybe a little more. They also have a 3 minute head start, so in reality their lead is probably about 7 minutes. You could probably easily get their actual average by taking the distance and adding 3 mins to the equivalent Tiernans time. Traffic patterns on the N3 when each team cross could even be a factor at this rate - I remember driving behind a cyclist last year who was going nuts at a slight delay there (to be fair, the team won their category so he was concerned about the lead), and his nearest competition were nowhere near this close!

The 99'ers have a penalty, so looking like second for Tiernans

There's at least two boardsies on tiernans, go on the lads!

cython

Chapeau to the lads from Tiernans!

RAI wrote:

Roll of the drums... Results in!
🥈2nd St Tiernans, 72 hours, 21 minutes. 30.60 kph
🥉3rd The Ninety Niners - RAI 2017. 72 hours, 27 minutes (includes 15 minutes time penalty). 30.56 kph.
4th overall The Veloroos in a new Women's record speed of 30.42kmh, 72hrs 47mins.

Very costly penalty for the Ninety Niners

Vizzy

I went out last night to cheer the first 4 teams on.

I was tracking them up to about 12.30pm and was in awe at the speed that Aspect, in particular were clocking.
Their rider came down a hill between Mount Mellary and Newcastle and he was hitting 72kmph at one stage, at about 10.30pm. :eek:.Jesus, I wouldn't do it in the car in the middle of the day.
When he passed me near Clonmel he was clocking 42kph on a flat section!!.

The next 3 teams passed about an hour later and they were all flying also.
At that stage there was 4 seconds between 2nd and 3rd and about 20 seconds between 3rd and 4th, having adjusted for "time on the road".
Phenomenal achievement and racing after about 1800 km of cycling.

Hopefully, I will see the first 2 man team about 5pm today.

irishrover99

colm18 wrote: »

There's at least two boardsies on tiernans, go on the lads!

If Tiernan's win this, i'm never doing the Evil with Daragh again.
You'll never hear the end of it.

ford2600

irishrover99 wrote: »

If Tiernan's win this, i'm never doing the Evil with Daragh again.
You'll never hear the end of it.

It is a really fantastic achievement to ride that distance at that pace. Really enjoyed the dot watching last night.

Riding it 4 person, sounds really hard and wouldn't suit too many; given the distance most racing guys would go "fcuk that" and most audax guys would probably find it too fast.

Great event, I'll try and get out and give the solo guys and lady a shout somewhere in the Knockmealdowns

daragh_

That was epic. Anyone want to buy a bike?

DaithiMC

This was a great edition of the race - the competition was closer again than last year and pushed the riders even harder. I was in the Follow car for STCC on Mount Mellary and it was some of the best racing and craic I've had being involved in a cycling event. At night the rules don't allow the Follow Car to leave the rider so if you overtake you need to be sure you can get the car around safely and hold the lead. You could imagine that up a hill that, in parts is not wide enough for two cars, can be a challenge! The Veloroos' rider had a chain drop so we got ahead at that point. It was so intense HQ got involved with phone calls to each of the teams to "advise" that we'd better play by the rules! Sobeing on the phone to HQ, radio to the rider, rider getting p'd off they couldn't race, there was tension all over the place. Happily everyone made it out of there safely and we got to laugh at it with the other teams the next day.

Gets better each year.

cython

DaithiMC wrote: »

This was a great edition of the race - the competition was closer again than last year and pushed the riders even harder. I was in the Follow car for STCC on Mount Mellary and it was some of the best racing and craic I've had being involved in a cycling event. At night the rules don't allow the Follow Car to leave the rider so if you overtake you need to be sure you can get the car around safely and hold the lead. You could imagine that up a hill that, in parts is not wide enough for two cars, can be a challenge! The Veloroos' rider had a chain drop so we got ahead at that point. It was so intense HQ got involved with phone calls to each of the teams to "advise" that we'd better play by the rules! Sobeing on the phone to HQ, radio to the rider, rider getting p'd off they couldn't race, there was tension all over the place. Happily everyone made it out of there safely and we got to laugh at it with the other teams the next day.

Gets better each year.

That sounds like a tough situation alright! I drove that section on a practice run a couple of years ago, and narrow doesn't do that road justice. Ye were tit for tat with the Veloroos for a hell of a long time.

After crewing the last 2 years I have to say I was surprised how much I missed the experience while dot-watching. That may have been evident from my back of the envelope calculations earlier in the thread, probably a habit from having to do similar to reassure our surviving cyclist last year (Odd Ball Joes; one of the lads was brought to hospital from Slieve Mann) on the way from Wicklow to Moynalty that he wasn't going to be caught by the nearest 2 man team - ye were orders of magnitude closer to each other, mind!

cython

Incidentally, does anyone know what happened that Dan Fallon (recumbent rider) seemed to head for home before even hitting Donegal? Would have thought/hoped he'd get a bit further along than that having travelled all the way over from the US for it.

DaithiMC

cython wrote: »

Incidentally, does anyone know what happened that Dan Fallon (recumbent rider) seemed to head for home before even hitting Donegal? Would have thought/hoped he'd get a bit further along than that having travelled all the way over from the US for it.

My understanding was that he went off in a section that was one of the route changes and it was a while before it was noticed and he was corrected. The apparent speed increase people noticed was likely him being put in the car to rejoin the route. I'm not sure this is all the reason, ie, he gave up when he realised how far he was off or if there was some other reason too.

cython

DaithiMC wrote: »

My understanding was that he went off in a section that was one of the route changes and it was a while before it was noticed and he was corrected. The apparent speed increase people noticed was likely him being put in the car to rejoin the route. I'm not sure this is all the reason, ie, he gave up when he realised how far he was off or if there was some other reason too.

Ah. A couple of us did see him miss a turn around Scarva at one point (he was basically in Tandragee before they turned around), and to be honest while he was definitely brought back up the road, it looked a bit like instead of turning on to Station Road (per the race route) and then heading into Scarva, that he may have taken the more northerly (but more main road) turn off the A27 (i.e. the first one they found coming back). It ends up in the same place and it's metres in the difference, but strictly speaking would be a deviation from the route, so was wondering if it was that one or something similar that came to light down the road - perhaps it was from the way you're describing it.

ford2600

Nicole Reist
Speed 19,17 kph
Distance 2.153,8 km
Time 112:21:27

First cyclist home. New record for ladies solo.


7 other solo riders, still out on the road with between 200km-400km to ride.

Pat Doocey is outside the time limit but is still riding. Got to meet him in Clonmel, in good spirits. Hopefully he can make Meath sometime tomorrow.

daragh_

ford2600 wrote: »

Nicole Reist
Speed 19,17 kph
Distance 2.153,8 km
Time 112:21:27

Incredible stuff. To just finish the RAI solo takes so much, to win like Nicole you have to be superhuman. I'm in awe.