Ras Na mBan, 4-8 Sep 2024

After a short period of no racing, I was excited to race the ‘Ras Na mBan’, a tough 6 stages of racing over 5 days. After a slightly disappointing attempt last year, I was determined to improve on my performance this year. I spent a good 6 weeks really putting the hours in, doing the horrible hill reps,and preparing as best as I can for this race. My legs definitely felt better than I expected, so I had a bit of a confidence boost going into the race. However, I knew the line up was full of riders who raced/ trained full time, so I didn’t have any expectations, and I knew if I could make it to stage 4, then I would be happy knowing the improvements I have made (and anything more would be a bonus). My team was also going for the experience, so it was nice to be racing in a relaxed team environment :)

Stage 1 was a 75km race, which was relatively flat course, with the exception of a 3km climb halfway in the race, and a slight uphill finish- it was the same course as last year! It was hard to judge how the race would plan out because some riders may want a slower race as there was still another 5 stages of racing to go, and other riders may want to show off their fresh legs- I just knew it was going to be sketchy! The race was much quicker than anyone expected, and because of this, there wasn’t any breakaways until very late into the race. I tried to focus on making sure my positioning was good, but at times it was difficult. I would be in the top 30 (out of 120 riders), then suddenly 30 riders would overtake you, which seemed to be the theme for the majority of the race. That was also something I weren’t used to, so it was a good learning experience. The bunch pretty much stayed together, and our average speed was around 46kmh, until we reached the 3km climb where the bunch completely split. I felt really good and was in the lead bunch until about 100 metres from the QOM sign. A bittersweet feeling to be so close to staying with the group for the important part of the race, but also a good confidence boost that I am not far from being up in the top group. I managed to find myself in a nice group of 6 riders and we took it turns doing turns on the front. We approached the small circuit where we did 3 laps for the finish, and we were then joined by a few more riders, including my teammate Jacqui. We had 12 riders in our group, and we started to do a nice chaingang. It was a little frustrating to see a couple of riders not cooperating and take a turn in the group, but I wanted to focus on staying with the group and testing their legs on the uphill climb at the finish. At this point my legs felt good, but was also feeling the effects of a fast race, so I wanted to keep in a good rhythm so my legs felt really for our group sprint. The group continued working well until the final 3kms where some people were skipping turns and the chaingang fell apart. My focus was having a good position in the final corner so I could execute a good sprint. As we approached the corner I was 5th, not the best nor not the worst place to be positioned. Annoyingly there was a truck parked on the uphill finish, so there wasn’t as much room to move around. I had good legs on the finish and managed to overtake a couple of rides in our group, so I finished 3rd in our groups sprint. I was happy with how that stage played out, and had good sensations in the legs. I refuelled, recovered and was ready to focus on stage 2.

Stage 2 was a difficult stage, it was 104kms long, which included a 7km climb. Plus, it was a cold day out too! This stage was the stage I did last year on stage 3, and was the course where I struggled on and didn’t meet the time cut, so I was a little bit worried about how this was going to play out. The race started as a rolling course, before getting to the climb. The race was yet again, quite a fast race, and my legs felt a little bit tired, but I knew I just needed to get through to the climb and I’d be fine for the rest of the race. I unfortunately got dropped after about an hour into the race, on the most flat part of the course. Unfortunately I just could not go as fast as the other women on the course. But, I did get into a nice group of 5 riders which included 2 of my teammates Peggy and Jacqui. I was also lucky to have had my team car in my group too, which ended up towing us for the rest of the race. Once I got into a rhythm I found some legs and form. We soon arrived on the climb, and my legs felt really good. I didn’t know whether to put a big effort on the climb or stay in my group and continue working together, where I’d have wheels to follow and have more shelter. Within the final 2kms of the climb, 2 Dutch riders (both on the same team) caught up with me and overtook me. I decided to follow their wheels and see how it would unfold. We were riding well together for about 10k until their team car arrived and decided to give us a tow. The speed they was holding was crazy, they were going around 35mph, and I just didn’t have the legs to be going at that speed, especially not long after the climb. I rode solo for a little while until my small group came back, and this time it was just the three of us, including my teammate Peggy. My team car also came to rescue me and give me a tow, as it was evident I was running out of legs. I saw the sign with 20k to go, and I felt both relieved and frustrated. It felt like I was so close yet so far from the finish. I refuelled and did what I could to keep my energy levels up for the finish. I just sat behind the team car and tried sheltering from the wind; doing whatever I could to help save me some energy. At 10k to go, my legs completely blew up, and I started losing my group, my team car luckily came to help and had to give me a couple of pushes up the final few climbs so I could stay in the group. I crossed the line a couple of seconds behind my group, and was still within the time limit. Again, I had to rest, refuel, reflect and go again tomorrow.

Stage 3 was a new course, it was pretty much a single straight line from Kilkenny to Gorey. It was another challenging course, it was rolling a course with two big climbs (one at around 40k and the other at 95k). This stage was the one I was a little bit worried about as last year, stage 3 was where I didn’t make the time cut, and I didn’t want a repeat of that this time. I knew I had to give it 110% on this stage, and if I didn’t make the time cut then I knew I left it all out there in the race. My legs felt a bit better than the day before, and I managed do stay in for a bit longer on this stage. Unfortunately, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, which was my error, and also some bad luck. We approached a descent, which I underestimated how soon this particular descent was, and because the descent goes into a village with tight roads, the forum strung out quite quick. I was annoyingly not far in front in the group enough, and as we approached the bend, there was riders that was on the floor. Consequently I lost contact of the lead group, and I couldn’t get back into a rhythm. I eventually got into a decent group, of about 8 of us. We attempted doing a chaingang but it never really stuck so we were doing mostly through and off. The group pretty much stuck together until the first QOM, where the climb was about 5KM but averaged about 7%. One of the riders in my group put the pressure on and rode off the front. I thought the smarter option would be to let her go because I didn’t think she could ride the final 85km on her own with the headwind. Turns out I was quite wrong and she did in fact stay away and got a gap of 2mins from us. The group wasn’t really working well together and got to a point where we were going at Z2. I was conscious of the time cut, so when I was on the front I tried pushing on and doing what I could to keep in the time cut. We got to the final climb at 95km and the group suddenly picked up speed, and unfortunately I didn’t have the legs. I spent the last 10k with my teammate Peggy again and was taking it in turns towing each other to the finish. Peggy is a good time trial rider so I knew Peggy would be able to keep us in the time cut. In the final 5kms I felt exhausted and the tank was empty, but I managed to push on and get to the finish. It also turned out that I also had a slow puncture at this point too, but it was too late to do anything so I carried on pushing to the line as quick as I could. I was uncertain if I would make the time cut but at that point, I just wanted to get to the finish! I finished the race, saw my team manger and gave him a debrief how the race went from my perspective. He also informed me that I was well within the time cut and I was through to stage 4. I was very relieved to know I have improved from last year, but I also knew that tomorrow was going to be the most difficult stage for me (physically and mentally). Yet again, I had to eat more, recover more and sleep more, and prepare for more tough racing.

On to stage 4, this was a stage where I definitely found it stressful and a bit overwhelming at times (which I never normally experience on the bike). I was happy to be starting this stage as I felt that I have ticked a goal, but I also know that this course was very challenging as we also did the course last year. I knew that this stage required me to give 110% (again) to get through. I knew I just wanted to get round this stage, and if I didn’t make the time cut to start stage 5 the following day, then I wouldn’t be overly disappointed as the final 2 stages didn’t suit me, however I also knew how far I’ve came over the first 3 stages and I didn’t want my race to over the day before the final day. The course was flat, and included a 6km climb, 2km at the finish and lots of short sharp climbs. The race was again really fast paced, and I got dropped about an hour into the race again. I tried using the team cars in the convoy to work my way back up but even going at 30mph, the group was still pulling away from me. There was a small group just ahead of me but unfortunately I could not catch up with them, so it was pretty much a solo TT. I ended up being on my own for the rest of the rest, a little demoralising at times, especially up the climbs, and having no legs either. At this point, I doubted I would be within the time cut to start tomorrow’s final stages, so I just tried to empty the tank as much as I could.I could see the broom van behind me in the distance so my aim was to not let the broom come and sweep me. It wasn’t until the final 10km where I found a couple of my teammates, Jacqui and Lindsay, who were riding on the course, although not racing, and motivated me to get to the finish. They rode beside me for the rest of the race, although I obviously couldn’t use them to my advantage, it was nice to have lots of encouragement and company. I kept pushing on all the way to and, and I did start to catch up with a rider on the final climb, but sadly it was too late to catch her. But I was relieved to have left it all out there and survived the hardest 4 stages of the Ras. When we regrouped with my teammates and staff, I was also informed that I had made the time cut (only by a handful of seconds) and I was so relieved to have been told that. However, it did mean, I’d have a very early start the following morning and will be in the hurt locker again for 2 more stages.

After a very early wake up, myself and my teammates, Hannah and Peggy, did a course Recce for the Time Trial. The course was flat, and was 2.5k (very different to the last 4 stages) and was around Kilkenny castle. My legs were very sore and fatigued so I knew I probably wouldn’t get any good results, and the courses were too flat to suit my strengths too. So I decides to just use this day as a learning experience, and wanted to have fun on the bike. As I was quite low on the GC, I was one of the first ones to be set off. I’m not very good at short time trials (or TTs in general) so my pacing strategy was to go full out for the whole 2.5k and whatever the time will be, will be. I did the TT in just over 4 minutes, not the quickest time, but I was satisfied with my ride given how fatigued I was. There was also only a minute between 1st and 90th place, so everyone’s times were very close. It was then time to wrap up warm, refuel and relax for a few hours before the final stage, the 1 hour crit race.

I also did a course recce for stage 6 with Hannah and Peggy. The course was relatively flat, fast, slight uphill draggy kinda finish, and the final corner before the finish was quite sharp. Again, I didn’t have expectations, and I just wanted to enjoy the race and see how the race plans out. The pace was very quick, the group was going about 30mph, there was constant attacks. I was dropped after the second lap, my legs just couldn’t survive with this high pace. There was a small group in front of me that I tried to chase on to, but unfortunately I just couldn’t catch them. I was pulled out of the race about 20 mins into the race, just before the first prime. Despite being pulled out of the crit race, I was really happy with how I raced, not just that day but over the past 5 days.

There was no results to shout about, but I was really happy to have tick a big goal of mine. It was amazing to be racing in such a good atmosphere, with the local schools cheering us on and the local residents clapping as we went passed- something you don’t get much of at home races. I have also been able to take away some things that I will need work on over the winter to improve for next season too :))

Amy Harvey