21

Ras De Cymru Stage Race

Ras De Cymru Stage Race

The Ras De Cymru is a stage race consisting of 6 stages and spread over 5 days (30th June to 4th July). The event is held around the city of Newport and riders from all over the UK have entered. This year the Welsh police have granted organiser, Chris Landon, permission to expand the rider entry from 80 to 100 riders due to an increase in entrants.

The race is open to 2nd/3rd and 4th category riders including women riders of all abilities. The stages are all held on the open road, mainly road races, but two events are time trials one being a short 4.3m prologue TT and the other a 14.2m team time trial.

Team Wiggle has entered a team for this year captained by Ben Simmons and managed by Richard Pearman. The four riders who have entered for Team Wiggle are: Ben Simmonds (2nd), Jon Cannings (2nd), Peter Kitching and me, Richard Pearman, (both verging on 2nd cat). After every stage I will endeavour to send Jason a brief report on our progress who will then publish it on the Bloggle site the following day.
The Ras De Cymru is the brainchild of Chris Landon and it all started back in 2005. It is promoted by a partnership between Cadence Cycle Racing – a Welsh cycling club – and the University of Wales, Newport. Due to an increase in popularity the 2010 event has been extended from 80 riders to 100 riders with Team Wiggle just making the final cut.

Ben lives in Wales very close to Newport, but the remaining three riders all live in Hampshire and will start our journeys early Wednesday morning. We need to leave early as we must attend the rider briefing which starts at 12.30pm.

What Does a Rider Take?

Being a stage race and away from home we, as riders, have to take enough spares, clothing and food for the full duration of the event (5 days). Food usually consists of energy drinks (High Five), recovery drink (For Goodness Shakes) and food bars or gels (Torq, Accelerade). Once the riders have completed the stage, they usually down a bottle or two of recovery drinks to aid their recovery. These could be either SIS Rego or For Goodness Shakes, either way both will help the riders by replacing lost minerals that were lost during the stage and also to help muscle recovery.

Riders also bring their favourite cereals, snacks and other items which they enjoy so to eat prior or after the stage. We also have to take enough race clothing to get us through all six stages bearing in mind that the weather could be wet from time to time. Another essential thing to remember is spares. Once racing the riders face many changing road conditions and also challenging weather conditions. It is wise to bring a spare set (or two) of wheels, a couple of tyres, brake pads and also cleaning lubricants like Pedros lubes to clean and oil the chain. Tools area must too.

Results

The results will be displayed on the http://www.cadencecycleracing.co.uk/ website. You will also be able to view any photos from the event and read a full report of the day’s action.

What to Expect?

From the outset the racing will be hard. The courses are not flat with a couple having mountain finishes. Ben Simmons (team leader) has won this event before and knows what to expect. Jon is finding his form quickly and should be able to ride well aiding Ben at those crucial moments or possible get into a break if Ben misses the opportunity to do so. Peter is new to stage racing and if I’m honest will find it hard as the race continues. His job will be to finish and aid Ben or Jon for as long as possible and as for myself, I’ll find it tough too. I do have the experience with teams in stage races (The Ras in Ireland for example) and will know what to look out for and when to ride hard. For Pete and myself it will be the case of saving our energy to help Ben and or Jon and remain with the bunch over the climbs or for as long as possible. Quitting the race is not an option in my eyes unless a rider falls. This is a team event and riding as a team is extremely important even if Pete and myself are many minutes down on the leaders. Well, roll on the first stage and I hope the good weather continues.

Richard

PS Please revisit the Bloggle site to see how our progress unfolds.