Admiring the professionalism of the Ras from an eye in the eye of the hurricane

Until yesterday the eyes of the cycling world were firmly fixed on Italy as the Giro headed into the mountains, but that all changed when the 181 riders of the 2013 An Post Ras took to the start line in Dunboyne, Ireland. One of the eyes in the eye of the racing hurricane was Down Chain Reaction Cycles Matty Blayney, who having finished yesterday summoned one last surge of energy through his fingers to send in the following blog...

I know you were looking for a few hundred words to best surmise my first stage in the Ras, but I could easily have summed it up with just one: Tough.

We turned up at the start early this morning having spent the night before getting our massages and fending off the noise the gypsies were making outside the hotel. The big names and big teams of this years Ras had advertised their room numbers in the lobby and despite a sudden urge to place some early morning wake up calls I thought better and was glad to have fallen asleep as easily as I did despite the gypsies and my nerves.

When we arrived at the starting area there were hundreds of people about ... a real carnival atmosphere. Each team had been given three parking spaces each, which given the size of the Down Chain Reaction Cycles motor-home, made things a little tight. Still, there were photographers milling around between the teams and if the size and professionalism ahead wasn't clear before, then it certainly was when it came time to sign on.



This wasn't your average club sign-on in which you ambled over to the organisors car threw in a few quid and signed your name, this was big time stuff. They had a stage and a bloke with a microphone and he called each one of us up individually to sign our names and then stand as a team in front of the crowds for our picture. We weren't quite required to dance or sing, though in hindsight such a competition might have been an interesting way to handicap the race. Still, it was an impressive set up and really made us feel a part of the race.

Even the roll out was special. They sent us down the Main Street of Dunboyne as teams before we did a three kilometre lap of the town. I couldn't believe the numbers out cheering us on.

Once the neutralised zone ended the pace went through the roof. The first hour and a bit the pace didn't drop below 30. Thirty!. And that's miles per hour we're dealing with here. All the pro teams were fighting for position at the front while the rest of us county guys sat at the back of the pack hanging in. We found it hard to believe that guys were attacking off the front despite the fact the bunch had lifted the pace to more than 35 mph.

After about an hour and a half I got caught in a huge line out as the torrential speeds began to take their toll. There was about 40 of us in the line and as is always the way it was a few near the front of the line who began to go past their limit first. Suddenly a wheel was lost and before anyone could react, a gap had opened. I felt OK so pushed around those sitting up and busted myself to try and get across to the tail of the peloton. I got to within five bike lengths and held it for a moment but couldn't close those last few yards. It was gutting and frustrating when I knew the only way to survive was to sit up and wait for the group behind.

When I got safely back into the group behind I was trying to regroup when we hit the only categorised climb of the day, a third cat lump in the road by most standards, but a nightmare for someone who had spent the kilometres before trying to get back across to the main bunch. I found myself quickly back on the limit again, but the hoards of support lining the climb in their green An Post tops retrieved from the earlier passing publicity vehicle, spurred me on and over the top still in the group.

From then on things were quite easy for us. We rode through for a bit but with no hope of catching the main field we rolled into the finish at Longford, 135.4 kilometres after we began and almost 18 minutes after the main group. Once again the crowds were big, which considering the time gap to the winner (Conor Dunne), it was great to see.

I've been really impressed with the organisation and with the people who come out to support this race. Every house or village we passed through there were people out cheering and waving. Apparently the schools all get an hour off to watch the Ras go by when it comes through their town. I almost feel famous going to bed tonight.

A sleep which will bring more racing tomorrow.

While our big hero's at the Tour de France and the Giro tend to get upwards of a week to settle into their race, stage two will be our last day of flat racing. We are expecting a head wind with some cross winds. Hopefully it keeps the pace down.