Ras de Cymru '09

[Keith]

From Andy E:

Day 1 (Wednesday 1st July)

Stage 1 - ITT

Well, I'm glad that's over with! Have been dreading today for weeks, especially after last weeks cold (sandbagging already ) A 4.3mile rolling prologue with a 900m climb at the end, exactly the kind of short all out effort I hate. We rode up to the start an hour or so before the start to get well warmed up, and finally managed to get some TTT practice in (better late than never eh). Felt pretty good in the warm up which which was pleasing.

We were set off pretty close together, Hal, Sylv and I within 8mins of each other with Toks 35mins later. Despite all agreeing we shouldn't go out too fast and cook ourselves before the climb it was easier said then done. I was seriously hurting after the first minute and holding back the vomit after 3mins, but I guess that's what prologues are all about!!

Anyway, overall it was pretty good and despite really suffering on the climb gave it everything for a strong finish. There are a few serious looking teams here, matching bikes with full TT setups and team cars etc so we're pretty pleased with our modest results.

Stage 1 results

1. Mike Smith - Team Milton Keynes - 11:09
..
15. Dave K - NP - 11:39
19. Marcus B - NP - 11:42
..
28. Sylv - ACC - 11:57
36. Andrew - ACC 12:06
41. Hal - ACC - 12:13
50. Toks - ACC - 12:21
..
81. Nils Gustafsson - Oxford Uni CC B - 13:58

Tough day tomorrow, 52mile hilly stage then 15mile TTT, should make for a good sort out of GC.

Team ACC

Note, Stephanie has posted a full results list [url=http://www.addiscombe.org/members/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8976&start=45#p89137]here[/url].

[Snoop Doug]

Great start for the ACCs and the NPs, keep it goin fellers

[Keith]

I've been having a look through the [url=http://www3.newport.ac.uk/docstore/2/adurst01/2009%20Ras%20de%20Cymru%20Handbook%20100609.pdf]Ras Race Handbook[/url]. In the Safety Notes section for each stage in includes:

• Please do not collapse just after finish line. Progress to suitable point further down the road.

[Keith]

Again from Andy E:

Day 2 (Thursday 2nd July)

Stage 2

Another hard day today. This mornings hilly road stage started well, the 2mile nuetralised zone through Abergavenny was excellent, the lead car announcing us, the streets lined with schoolchildren cheering us on our way, bemused pensioners not knowing whether to wave or run as 84 lycra-clad weirdos sped past. We even got ushered through numerous sets of red lights and roadworks, without any hint of annoyance from the motorists (very surreal).

Once the flag dropped it was pretty quick from the off, with a sprint prime and KOM prime within the first 11 miles the attacks and counter attacks were constant. The pace was pretty manageable though and after a couple of early forays I settled in to the pack, pretty much keeping in the top 20. Hal got himself into the first proper break of the day and contested the first KOM points, with less than a tyre width in it he's not sure yet if he took the points or not.

Things settled down for the next few miles until we hit the next big climb (think Box Hill but 3miles long). Things split here BIG TIME, with 20 riders out the back straight away. I was around mid pack but halfway up was starting to suffer a bit. I measured my effort and started dropping back through the bunch but soon hit the back. Hal had dropped off as had Marcus Brueton and a couple of other strong riders, so to save busting a gut I stayed with them, knowing for sure we'd catch the bunch back on the descent. After a mile or so of very fresh gravel (v dicey) we hit the top, about 10secs back from the bunch. As expected we were soon back on without any panic.

Things rolled up and down now for quite a while, with Toks putting in a good solo attack. A group of 9 followed a few minutes later, but he was just unable to hold on as they came past. Sylv tried to jump across to the break with one other and got within about 5 bike lengths before having to ease off. The break was soon out of sight.

After a long descent we had about 8miles to the finish, and barrelling along the duel carriageway all 4 ACC were leading the chase, assisted by 2 Paragon (Dave and Marcus) and 2 others, with the rest of the bunch hanging on. We managed to halve the gap from 55secs to 27secs by the finish. Hal suffered a puncture though and had to wait 8mins for a change from the service car. Sylv and I finished in the bunch with Toks losing 9secs after a monster pull with 1km to go.

We discovered that the stage winner was a certain Julian Winn, ex-pro who has won the national champs a few years ago and has ridden the Giro (somehow he's now a 3rd cat!)

Stage 3 - TTT

Anyway, so 3hrs later and we're the first team off in the Team Time Trial. None of us are ever likely to be mistaken for time triallists so damage limitation was key. Not much to report from this stage, we kept it smooth, 9miles if boring dual carriageway before the final turn (where Hal punctured AGAIN!) The time is given for the first 3 across the line so we pushed on for the final 6miles into a headwind, crossing the line a sweaty, snotty, dribbling trio of yellow in 34:12. This put us 17th out of the 22 teams, 1:59 down on the winners, with Hal losing another 7 minutes.

A cock up with the stage 2 results means GC is a bit of a mess right now, Sylv and I were both placed as finishing 10mins after we did. We've pointed this out so it should be clearer tomorrow.

49miles of racing tomorrow on a hilly circuit with a hill finish, but there's an 8mile nuetralised zone at the start and another 8miles back afterwards. Hope the weather holds upan tho hope it cools down a bit.

[Amy]

Keep up the good work, guys Well done for giving it a go!!

[Michelle]

Wow Andy this makes really good reading, the racing sounds great and you guys are really giving it some. I felt so proud of all you ACCers when you talked about Hal contesting for KOM and Sylv nearly bridging and Toks popping off the front in the final 1k. Some great results chaps.

I'm not sure I can take all the excitement with this, as well as the Tour de France starting tomorrow.

Keep going, you are doing great!

[Rob W]

Go team Addiscombe.Well done chaps.

[Serge]

A great read and solid results so far, keep it going

Go team ACC

[Scott]

Fantastic reports live from within the camp. This is awe inspiring stuff.
We should get an open top double decker bus parade sorted for these heros!
Yous alls is the mans!

[Toks]

I spoke to a rider who spoke to someone at the student union who spoke to someone else who then remarkably spoke to (Ok so U get the picture) Voila on the last day I've been given a magic pass to access the internet on my laptop.

Stage 5

This is the stage that everyone had been dreading! - essentially four circuits of 16 mile loop, punctuated with a few lumpy bits a superfast A road section and a 1.5km"Oh-my-fcuking-gawd-you-can't-be-serious-man" climb (think Whitedown!). The descent of the climb was great fun of course but it was a like having to hold a TV aerial uncomfortable position just to watch your favourite program (it ain't worth the pain ). Once again the ACC boys put in a good showing. Props must go to Hal t"he Monster" and Sylv - Racer Boy Garde who never seemed to be off or near the front. My old legs we're feeling the pressure of 4 days of racing so I had to sit in and do my social thing. I had a word with ex pro (ridden the Giro I believe) Julian Winn. He's now a 3rd cat and in the 2008 version of the RAS he was the GB Team DS. I reminded him of how often I heard Nicole Cooke shouted "Julian Julian" on her radio. and he cracked a cheeky smile and confirmed that she could sometimes be very demanding.

So on the first ascent of the bitch climb I made the classic error of being too far back and also realised that a 16% climb and 39/23 gear combo's wasn't a great match in my case. No panic, "puff pant, honk snort". I could just make out the yellow ACC jerseys in the bunch some twenty metres away. Mmmm... now simply riding across to the bunch required more watts of course but the headwind and the nasty energy absorbing road meant I need help. Two or three guys took to the front and after one turn each we were back on quickly followed by Norwood Paragon's Russell Painter who had also become dislodged. All back on we flew down the super whizzy descent and on to the equally fast A road.

At this point the bunch just seemed to plod along allowing a two man breakaway to quickly gain a minute by the end of the second lap. On the 2nd time up the climb I got myself swamped by a mini attack at the bottom and got to the top to find there was a significant gap between the bunch and me. SShit now what?? Enter big guy from Team Isle of Man (they have Liverpudlian accents you know). Soon we're in a rather serious looking thru and off but its not working - we ain't getting back - the bunch have shown us the middle finger and its game over. Noooooooooo!!!!! I adopt my superman position and hit 53/12 like I hadn't done since our Team Time Trial. Big Isle of Man does the same and so do a few others. With the tail wind we're close 40mph and the Junior rider that is with us is spinning out. Eventually we see the service vehicle and a soft pedaling bunch again and five mins later we're all back together. A few other also rejoin after similar efforts one of them being Jason Humphreys who looked pretty happy with himself and shot to the front.

So back in the bunch things never quite got going and a bit like the weather - some efforts were promising but could not to be relied on. This served the break well of course and they soon had close to 3 mins. From the middle of the bunch I could see Hal and Sylv taking stints at the front and a few freedom passes were released but then they were quickly revoked. The 3rd time up the climb was about as tolerable as having a stubborn tooth removed. I stayed with the bunch Just!. Norwood Paragon's Jason Humphreys was less lucky and didn't get back on unfortunately. Having peeled off on the A road for the final time off came the glasses and up went the arm warmers. The weather Gods were obviously unimpressed with our efforts so for amusement/pain or general hilarity they sent down rain very hard. You've all been there before - water from back wheel sprays in your face and you have to take off your google/shades just to see whats in front of you. Arrrggghhh. So finally bunch sprint up the climb, who's gonna get to the top of the climb first? Sylv looked good, so did Hal and so did Andy. Me I just had to survive the climb. Last stage tomorrow Yippee!!!!

[George]

fantastic rides guys good luck tomorrow enjoy and have fun, can't wait to all meet up over a beer and talk all about it back here in the CRONX

[Stu Merckx Man]

some good reading there, well done guys, looking forward to todays report!!!

[Antloony]

Brilliant stuff you guys, shame this isn't on the box, would much rather see this race than the tour anyday. Good luck fellas.

[Sylv]

Team ACC back home
That was a great 5 days of racing, each stage had its fair share of sheer pain inflicted, the standard was pretty high. Had a good time. Got an 8th on stage 4 and 10th today. 4 mile climb to the finish!

GC team final http://www3.newport.ac.uk/docstore/s/AD ... 20Team.pdf

Final GC http://www3.newport.ac.uk/docstore/s/AD ... 6%20GC.pdf

[quote="Keith"]Things rolled up and down now for quite a while, with Toks putting in a good solo attack. A group of 9 followed a few minutes later, but he was just unable to hold on as they came past. Sylv tried to jump across to the break with one other and got within about 5 bike lengths before having to ease off. The break was soon out of sight.

We discovered that the stage winner was a certain Julian Winn, ex-pro who has won the national champs a few years ago and has ridden the Giro (somehow he's now a 3rd cat!)

[Toks]

Stage 6 Road Race 46miles ending in a 4 mile climb up a mountain

I knew from last year this was definitely not gonna be run off like the TDF's final stage procession into Paris. The word was out that the Paragons meant business and a possible Paragon/ACC breakaway alliance was on the cards. Once the lead car pulled away after a five mile neutralisation is was game on! Attacks began and just kept going. Who was attacking just about everyone? Every time I looked up I could see the numbers 31, 8, and 4 (Dave K, Sylv and Hal) stringing things out. The bunch snaked its away along fast narrow lanes, attackers got chased, then chasers got chased down and passed by new attackers. Things were vicious on the flat and descents but the pace was equally high powered even when the terrain wasn't flat. For the most part Andy remained mid pack and so did I until I gradually made my way to the front to join sylv, Marcus and Dave for the last 60 minutes. Never one to miss out on the action (legs permitting ) I launched my attack on a slight descent and was quickly jumped on by Jason Humphrey (NP).We were soon reeled in but it somehow had the desired effect and Dave "I-Bet-U-can't burn-more-matches-than me" Kennett crested a little climb with a couple of others for company rounded a corner and was gone.

Julian Winn (Abergavenny RC) came to front with myself and Hal and we rode tempo while Dave Kennett and his new buddies slipped away like thieves in the night. The pace soon hotted up again but the gap stayed good and break wasn't seen by most of us again. Once on the 4 mile climb a strong group of 20 or so containing Hal, Sylv and most of the top 20 GC guys surged away from the rest of us and reeled in the break. Ain't power to weight ratio a BITCH! Further down the mountain the rest of us set about out things with a little less haste. All the way up the climb I'd swapped positions with a plucky Junior rider, Max Webster. I thought I'd dusted him off at 500 metres to go but he kept me insight then shouted "common Toks" and duly out sprinted me to the line. A great stage and a great race D

Position Team / Club Stage1; Stage2; Stage3; Stage4; Stage5;Stage6 Total

1 RDC Comp 1 0:35:30 6:20:30 1:37:57 5:54:09 8:40:40 6:48:30 29:57:16
2 VC Montpellier 0:36:05 6:19:58 1:38:27 5:54:09 8:41:03 6:48:22 29:58:04
3 Team Milton Keynes 0:34:06 6:19:48 1:40:27 5:53:43 8:42:55 6:47:50 29:58:49
4 http://www.cyclingbargains.com - Infinis - Metaltek
RT 0:35:02 6:20:30 1:36:39 5:54:00 8:41:39 6:52:31 30:00:21
5 BC Central Region 0:36:33 6:20:03 1:39:06 5:54:26 8:41:21 6:49:22 30:00:51
[size=150]6 Addiscombe CC 0:36:16 6:20:39 1:42:36 5:54:20 8:43:59 6:50:16 30:08:06[/size]
7 Cambridge CC 0:35:53 6:28:10 1:37:27 5:54:26 8:44:09 6:52:16 30:12:21
[size=150]8 Norwood Paragon CC 0:35:40 6:30:09 1:38:18 5:54:43 8:45:14 6:52:40 30:16:44[/size]
9 Oxford University Cycling Club 0:36:35 6:28:10 1:39:48 5:55:27 8:44:20 6:53:32 30:17:52
10 Oxford University Cycling Club B 0:36:35 6:27:33 1:39:39 5:54:26 8:45:14 6:55:09 30:18:36
11 Welsh Dragons 0:37:16 6:30:09 1:42:24 5:54:26 8:44:06 6:50:21 30:18:42
12 Liphook Cycles 0:38:12 6:30:09 1:43:54 5:54:26 8:44:14 6:52:57 30:23:52
13 Team Isle of Man Microgaming 0:34:52 6:29:40 1:37:03 6:03:29 8:44:17 6:56:12 30:25:33
14 Abergavenny RC 0:36:10 6:29:25 1:43:12 5:56:19 8:44:35 6:56:59 30:26:40
15 St Ives CC 0:37:41 6:29:42 1:42:21 5:54:26 8:45:09 6:59:43 30:29:02
16 Mid Devon CC/Lewis Cycles 0:35:39 6:30:09 1:42:09 5:54:26 8:45:02 7:04:37 30:32:02
17 Cherry Valley Racing Team 0:36:10 6:39:46 1:37:42 5:55:17 8:42:26 7:03:08 30:34:29
18 DHC Colnago 0:37:23 7:00:54 1:41:03 5:54:48 8:45:09 6:53:55 30:53:12
19 Red Kite Cycles 0:34:16 6:58:55 1:39:21 6:23:13 8:40:50 6:48:17 31:04:52
[size=150]20 Team Veloriders 0:37:05 6:29:42 1:43:06 5:59:45 9:09:15 7:51:42 31:50:35[/size]
21 RDC Comp 2 0:37:57 6:38:59 1:48:09 6:16:21 9:08:24 7:26:37 31:56:27
22 Abergavenny RC B 0:39:51 7:04:16 1:47:39 6:57:44 9:45:06 7:54:14 34:08:50