A tough weekend at the Ras Na N'og for Cathir and Sarah
In the words of Cathir Doyle " It was a very memorible Ras Na N'og 2015"
Last weekend the 18th and 19th of April saw Cathir Doyle and Sarah Elder take part in this years Ras Na N'og
in Drogheda hosted by Drogheda Wheelers .The venue for the races were based around the Bellewstown horse
racing course a venue which had all the facilities needed to host such a big event with over 150 competitors over the 3 age categories.
Stage 1 was a crit stage based on a short 1.8km circuit around the race HQ the u12 had 5 laps to do and Sarah seemed to find the initial going a little tough though but managed to hang on well to finish the stage well .The under 14s had 10 laps to do of the crit circuit and Cathir was ready to roll the first lap being neutralised for safety then it was race on unfortunately in the early stages of the race Cathir was forced into the barriers but was able to continue he battled really well and finished in the leading group .This left both riders in contention going into what was the Queen stage of the weekend in the afternoon .
Stage 2 was a really tough 6.6km circuit with lots of long drags and sharp climbs the under 12s had one lap to do and the under 14s had 3 this time the u14 went first with the u12s 5 minutes after ,as the u14s came round to complete lap one Cathir was travelling really well at the head of the field shortly after the u12s came to finish their race and sarah finished well in the top 10, as the under 14s aproached again for their last lap Cathir was still looking well placed however as the last lap entered the last fast descent leading to the final climb to the finish disaster again struck as Cathir chain bounced of and threw him over the handlebars and up the road he suffered some nasty road rash and bruising but was able to walk away with nothing broken and ready to tackle the final stage on day 2 .
Stage 3 was a relatively flat circuit of about 6km and again the under 12s had one lap and the under 14s had 3.The format was similar to stage 2 with the u14s going 5 mins before the u12s and again as the under 14s approached the end of lap 1 Cathir was looking comfortable and very well placed ,however as the u12s wound up for the final sprint of the weekend a clash of wheels caused a big crash in the peleton and as was the theme for the weekend another carn wheeler crashed with Sarah coming down the road had to be closed for sometime and the other races were held up for 45 mins as some riders needed lenghty treatment before being taken to hospital fortunately Sarah escaped with road rash and bruising ,when the racing got under way again it was difficult for the riders who had been standing around getting cold but they gave it everything and as the finish approached the sprint was fast and furious and a delighted Cathir finished well in the top 10 to bring to a close a tough weekend for the 2 young carn riders .
Both Cathir and Sarah showed great character in very tough weekend i,m sure it's a weekend that they will have taken a lot from both good and bad .
In the final GC standings Cathir finished in 19th place in a filed of over 60 riders ,and Sarah finished in 13th place in a field of 40. Sarah also received an award which was presented to the rider who had been very combative and hard working but just didn't get the end result .