The renegade men from Lucan Cycling Road Club, left to right: Daryl Bent, Pete Vance, Declan Brassil and Ronan Baxter.
By Graham Healy
Following their victory in the Race Around Ireland four-man team category in 2010, Irish team Lucan Cycling Road Club-Renegade Racing will take to the start line of the gruelling Race Across America (RAAM) in June.
The event is arguably one of the toughest endurance events in the world; starting in Oceanside, California, on the Pacific coast and finishing in Annapolis on the Atlantic coast.
At 3,000 miles in length and passing through 12 states and 88 counties, RAAM is around one third longer than the Tour de France.
But unlike the French Grand Tour, once the clock starts at RAAM it doesn’t stop until the team crosses the finish line on the other side of America.
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Teams race in relay format and one cyclist must be on the road at all times. The strategy of who races when and for how long is left to the team to decide as the miles go by.
Teams have a maximum of nine days to complete the arduous route, though most of the good ones will look to do it in less than eight.
Lucan CRC-Renegade Racing team member, Declan Brassil said while his training was on track, he was most concerned about the issue of sleep deprivation.
“You can train your body for years for this, but there’s not a lot you can do for your mind other than establishing discipline and positive habits and behaviours in the months leading up to it.”
“I found in the latter stages of the Race Around Ireland that simple and basic mental processes like adding five plus five were difficult; and the answer would be forgotten very quickly. I also thought I had a wheel-sucker on a long climb in Cork at 3am and tried to drop him. It turned out I thought the wire to my earpiece was a wheel.”
The team – which is backed by Hunky Dorys for RAAM - was formed in 2009 to take part in the 2010 Race Around Ireland. They went on to win the four-man category that year, which qualified them to enter RAAM.
Ronan Baxter was drafted into the team to join Daryl Bent, Declan Brassil and Pete Vance when one of the original members dropped out.
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A number of Irish teams have competed in RAAM before and last year Donncha Cuttriss became the first Irishman to finish the solo event.
Ronan Baxter told stickybottle that he and the rest of the team were already well into the process of preparing for the trans American suffer-fest.
“It has involved many hours on the turbo trainer building stamina and getting used to the extreme position of the TT bike. From January 1st and for the next five weeks our training plan is aimed at continuing to build endurance.”
“We’re also now working on strength. It’s about being able to turn the big gears for long periods. And we’re also using interval sessions to work on recovery after hard efforts such as climbs. Our coach, Padraig Marrey has also included some cross training in our programme with running, core exercises and light weights.”
The team has studied the route in detail, and is using ‘Google Earth’ and ‘Street View’ to become familiar with difficult junctions.
Brassil says there will be plenty of mixed terrain on the road across the US.
“There’s 17,000 metres of vertical gain, with the highest point in the Rockies coming at over 3,300 metres. Night temperatures can drop to -5°C in the desert and high mountains, and daytime temperatures in Death Valley and the Mojave Desert can hit 50°C. Altitude will also be an issue. Wind in the Great Plains will be a factor, and we’ll travel along pan flat roads for a couple of days with little shelter. The difference between a headwind and tailwind there will be massive; physically and psychologically.”
The logistics involved with such a venture are considerable, not to mention the costs. Fortunately, the team has the support of Hunky Dorys and other sponsors, but they still have some way to go to raise the funds required.
Baxter says they need to raise around €45,000.
“Our charity partner is Barnardos and we’re also raising money for them. To date we’ve had brilliant support from our sponsors, primarily our main sponsor Hunky Dorys. All of the team including the support crew are involved in fundraising and we’re around half way there in the fundraising drive.”
You can follow their progress on their website: http://www.renegadelcrc.com
The Team
Cyclists: Pete Vance, Daryl Bent, Declan Brassil and Ronan Baxter.
Team Manager: Chris McAree
Coach: Padraic Marrey
Medical Consultant: Dr Peadar Gilligan
Nutritionist & Chef: Darren Dinkin
Masseur/Masseuse: TBC
Mechanics: Mark Sheridan and John Baxter.
Media & Communications: Brian Purcell
Drivers/Navigators: Hennie Kallmeyer, Joe McCauley, Mervyn Bent and Gordon Lee.
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