Racing the Ras

As part of my training for Ironman Zurich I had entered to race the Ras De Cymru four weeks before Ironman. The ‘Race of Wales’ is a race for 2/3/4 category riders and involves six stages over five days.

The first four months of 2013 had been spent concentrating in running- and running a lot! Whilst my swimming was just ticking along as usual it was, for a change, my cycling that was being neglected. My hope was that by racing a fair few miles four weeks out my cycling would return to the level I wanted it to be at for Ironman. It was also going to be an opportunity to practise getting my nutritional intake correct over several hours of racing.

Since moving to London I have joined my housemate, Adam Atkinson, at his team- 34 Nomads. It is a small, friendly club but with some excellent past and present cyclists. Joining me at the Ras would be the experienced 2nd cat rider Nick Gasson and the 4th cat Colin Norris. We would travel, eat, sleep, ride and banter together for five days. Newport Uni was our digs and the Brecon Beacons our playground.

The first day was a short, simple six mile individual time trial. It was flat for five miles then ramped up to a steep gradient for the final mile. We were off numbers 1-4 with myself at three. Colin, Nick and Adam all posted great times but having done no fast tt training for several months my lungs, legs and mind blew up within the first few miles. Colin passed me on the climb as I struggled. We finished day one spread from 20th with Nick to myself in 70th, out of 96 riders.

Day two was a longer ride of around 60 miles, split over several laps. Each lap had a couple of short sharp climbs on. Much to our surprise the pace was kept at an average of 25mph throughout. It was a hot day and legs were being stretched. Colin, with little racing experience, was dropped early on and spent the next two hours doing an individual tt. Adam ‘’crutches’’ Atkinson struggled with cramp with over a lap to go and oblivious to this, Nick and I successfully finished with the pack.

Day three involved a 45 mile road race in the morning followed by a 15 mile team tt in the afternoon, both starting in Abergavenny. My legs were struggling a bit in the morning after deciding to lead the peloton for a short while. Confidence was growing in the ranks though as 34 Nomads all finished in the peloton. In the ttt we flew down the dual carriageway for the first seven miles despite a strong headwind. We were working so well as a team that despite Nick and I struggling to maintain our turns at the front over the final three miles I thought we would be in the top few teams. As it turned out we were minutes off the top teams. When we mentioned a headwind to other teams they thought we were joking so obviously the wind must have changed later in the afternoon!

Day four and we were all feeling surprisingly good. Our team bonding massage sessions, High 5 protein recovery shakes and large meals each night must have been working. Only a 60 mile ride today. Ten miles in and we ramped up into a three mile climb. Colin, with an increasing confidence, managed to stay with the lead pack. Adam and Colin dropped off this but were in a chase pack. I was a minute behind them at the top, but soon formed a decent third pack. I worked my ass off and started feeling much better. We caught up with Adam and Nick’s group and with the three of us doing far more than our fair share of turns at the front we kept a decent pace up.

Ahead, Colin was descending a fast descent with the lead pack and failed to negotiate a sharp bend, ending up in a hedge but managing to get back to the lead group again.

In our group, I was feeling great and being a bit bored decided to attack off the front for a laugh whilst eating a banana. Some tit didn’t like this so I made sure he knew I was a triathlete and that he should lighten up a bit! I beat him in the sprint finish from our group about 30 minutes later Colin had finished a good ten minutes ahead, having punctured near the finish though.

Day five was the final stage, 65 miles finishing with a mountain top finish. Once again Colin was riding strong, leading the peloton for several miles at a time with his teammates ensuring their presence at the front was noted. 34 Nomads did their turn in ensuring our mascot, Felix Pearson, would win the KOM jersey. He still owes us all a pint! (In reality we were of no help to anyone and more than anything were probably just in the way).

At the bottom of the final climb, with Adam having negotiated a crash and Nick and myself getting ready for the climb, Colin decided to pick the pace up and lead the peloton for the first few miles of the climb. This left 75% of us reeling, with Nick, Adam and I struggling up the remaining miles. Nick would eventually lead me over the line with Adam just behind. Job done!

Although we were nowhere near the top spots we all had a fantastic time in what is an extremely well organised event. Nick lead us home, followed by me, Colin and Adam. If Colin carries on like he was on the final two days, and gets a lighter bike, he will definitely be designated team leader on our next escapade! (Sorry Nick).

After the Ras I feel so much more confident in my cycling endurance leading up to Zurich. At four weeks to go it should hopefully be perfect timing as I near my taper period of two to three weeks.