Ras de Cymru 2011

Report and Reflections by Rob Jones

Jake Clark and I were a bit nervous about this one after the unexpected kicking we both got in the first 10 miles of Stage 5 the previous day. We decided to make a detour on route to HQ and drive down Llangynidr Mountain to see what we had to do to complete the Ras. It wasn't too bad in the car at 40mph and we broke the climb down into 3 chapters: typical vale of glam climb; switchbacks typical of a valley pass; exposed bleak endless road.

The start involved another long neutralised zone, not quite as long as the previous day at 6 miles. How there hadn't been crashes up to now in these necessary but horrible neutralised sections no-one knew, and everyone was unbelievably twitchy as always. Everyone was also trying to nudge their way to the front the whole time as always. It was basically a slow motion race with everyone packed like sardines and no-where to go when squeezed.... Then after about a mile and predictably, that screech of brakes, skidding of tyres, rubber smell and the sound of carbon breaking. No screams thankfully but quite a few went needlessly down, bikes definitely got broken and an ambulance came through a little later, so possibly a few did not continue. Typically Jake was sensibly ahead of all this while I was just behind it; forced to take mild evasive action.

The race got under way and it soon became apparent that everything had happened yesterday I Stage 5 - I thought that Gruff Lewis had bagged the Ras GC when he put the yellow jersey on at the start of this stage. In fact Mike Smith of Corley Cycles (last years winner) had bagged it because he is a specialist hill climber supported by a very strong team and highly capable of making up the 30 seconds he needed to on the other GC contenders up Llangynidr Mountain. So what we finally got was a nice paced ride on a stunning day in stunning scenery. At times it could have been a club run. Just what the legs and head needed. Jake took up and maintained his usual position in the top 3rd of the peleton and me mine in the bottom 3rd (often last man). The only positive thing from riding at the back of the group so much of the week was that I had at least started to pick up on when it was getting dangerous (i.e. risk of a split or being dropped), and the order in which those around me fell off the back (GB Paralympics, foreign teams etc etc!). And with light winds it was much more comfortable than previous days back there. Any sign of things thinning out and I forced my way towards the middle of the group...and then of course naturally returned to where I came from within about 5 minutes.

The race only really got going from about Langorse Lake onwards where the roads got a little more undulating, bendy and people started to jostle for positioning at the start of the climb. This was also about the time we joined paths with an Abergavenny sportive (ridiculous planning by someone or perhaps both parties concerned) and all that goes with that. i.e. spectators, others on bikes to watch, parked cars etc. Just for a bit more excitement lets throw in some resurfacing (probably done within the last day or so as the piles of gravel were still at the side of the road, and partly spilling into the road). The kind of resurfacing where gravel is spread on the road and then left to the traffic to compact over time with a 10mph speed limit signs warning of danger of skidding. Then throw in some quite long gradual but fast descents with racing speeds of 40mph...I'm at the back going about double the speed I feel comfortable doing in these circumstances but knowing that if I slow down at all I'm out of the race. For the first time all week, I wasn't impressed to be honest. Road racing is not going to be without risks but this seemed a bit much to me. No-one went down by the way…but cornering on loose gravel at high speeds they could so easily of without putting a foot wrong and it would have hurt a lot. For once I thought neutralising the race would have been sensible. Then we came to one of those one way bridges across the river. Our race lead car was forced to stop by presumably unexpected circumstances. Of course the entire group of riders squeezed past it at 25mph and attacked...OMG.

Anyway that was about the end of the excitement as the pace increased along the lanes to the start of the Llangynidr climb. This was the start of the race for me…from the back of the group, I simply went up at my own pace and picked off as many as I could to the top. Suffering the whole way (never done a big climb on raced legs before), but at least feeling safe and overtaking rather than being taken by other riders the whole time. That's the one advantage of starting from the back! I caught up with Jake on chapter 1 of the climb, and he stayed with me (bottom bracket annoyingly squeaking away) until start of chapter 2 where the gradients suited my bottom gear cadence a bit better and I moved on incentivesed by the irritating noise to find a bit more power. The last 500 metres were really tough despite being the flattest of the climb, and I put in everything I had right to the finish. Jake finished about a minute later. Ruth remarked on how he seemed to be breathing quite normally at the line whereas I looked like I was about to die! She also commented that the winner came through the finish in a full on sprint! I finished 31st, my best position of the week by some way. Jake I'm not sure but I think in the top half.

Reflecting on the week

So all that was left was the following:

1. To see how close to our aim of striving to be average Jake and I had come in the GC
2. To see who had done the best out of the 2 of us in the GC (we had been within a few minutes the entire week)

Well we did pretty well on 1, finishing 51st and 52nd... And it was Jake who took 51st by 3 seconds. If we had ridden and finished together all week then it wouldn't be a surprise that there was so little between us. But we never finished within 15 seconds of each other in any stage and had completely different approaches and styles to the races. Furthermore, with the exception of Stage 5, where we both got dropped from the main bunch and rode together in what I like to think of as Peleton 2, we hardly saw each other in the races all week. Jake was always in the front third and me at the back. I think it's fair to say that if we'd had a full team or even 3 for the Team Time trial, we'd have finished in the top half on GC. Both being newcomers to the Ras I think we did really well and unusually I don't have any if only that didn't happen or if only I had done this about my week... Jake has the youth and strength to get into the top 3rd in the GC next year I feel and maybe the top 20. He just needs a good team around him and personal strategy to make the most of his strengths - Perhaps getting in the breaks and getting some time on the main field before hill finishes. Clearly his time trialling is going to go from strength to strength. He's actually a very good climber too. Unfortunately so are 75% of those that enter the Ras!

As for the real race - Mike Smith won both the KOM and GC. I think Gruff Lewis was 3rd and Hefin Price of PTW I think 4th. Other notable welsh performances were Richie Harris of Cwmcarn in 7th on the GC and Lewis 2nd on the Green Jersey. He got beaten by someone even taller!

All in all a great week, superbly organised throughout aside from my safety concerns on the last stage. Regretfully I don't think I'll be doing it again due to two reflections:

1. It was too much effort, hassle and pain for me just to make up the numbers. If I am going through all that then I want to be playing a part in the outcome of the races and at least finishing in the points. The standard was so high however that the amount of training to perform at that level is beyond me/ my inclination.

2. I felt I was putting myself at more risk than I was comfortable with all week descending roads and surfaces I didn't know at the speeds necessary to stay in the race. In the first half of the week this was partly due to the wet conditions. The last few days it was more due to the risks that pretty much everyone in the race was willing to take and made worse by me not knowing the roads (as I'm sure did not most).

Number 2 was not helped by watching le tour yesterday afternoon! It's a problem I don't have with most races. But the Ras is different of course, being in the hilly Brecon Beacons and racing on a lot of B and unclassified roads at a high standard. Unfortunately for me, with the exception of hill finishes you cannot have hills without fast descents. And the higher the standard of race, the faster the descents will be. Its not that I don't like descending fast or am not confident. It's just that I don't like doing so surrounded by others doing the same thing and lots of other uncertainties!

My only personal disappointment of the week was that I couldn't ride where I wanted to in the front 3rd of the peleton. When it's a field of 60 as is often the case I am fine moving up and down the group and generally end up at the front. When its 80 I don't like it. When it's 100 and often on narrow twisty roads like this years Ras, I am totally uncomfortable and it stops me performing to my abilities. As there weren't many crashes in the Ras I'm not saying that 100 riders is too many, just that for whatever reasons I struggled with it.