Paul and Darragh McCarter pass Rás test

Two members of Donegal Bay Cycling Club, brothers Paul and Darragh successfully completed Ireland’s premier cycle race, the An Post RAS on Sunday last after eight days of ferocious racing around Ireland, which included five stages that passed through Donegal.

Originally from Tyrone, the brothers have been living in Donegal for 12 years and both are married to local ladies, Paul to Niamh McGarvey from Donegal Town and Darragh to Rionach McKee from Ballyshannon. Previously, surfing was their sport of choice with both brothers representing Ireland at international level. Having competed at surfing for well over a decade, the brothers decided to switch sports in 2012 having followed the Tour de France for a few years.

Starting at the bottom rung of cycling, they progressed quickly and are now ranked among the top cyclists in Ulster. The challenge of the RAS had been on their radar for a few years and 2017 was to be the year they made their debut in Ireland’s premier cycle race. In a nice twist of fate, it turned out to be a good decision with the race spending so much time in Donegal, something the brothers saw as a bit of a double edged sword, happy to be riding on local roads and in front of their supporters, but also weary of just how tough the roads of Donegal could be.

Lining up against a field of professional and International standard cyclists as well as the top cyclists in Ireland, the main aim was survival and this they duly did racing into Skerries, North Dublin in the company of the main peloton after eight days of super fast racing. Each day the pace was high and it was no surprise to anyone that the 2017 RAS went down as the fastest in history with the winner having an average speed of 44kph (28mph). Darragh’s average speed of 43 kph for the week would have been good enough to win most previous editions of the Rás, testament to just how fast the race was.

Reflecting on the week, Darragh was happy with how things went: “It was a good experience. I was a little worried going into it that I would be fighting the time limit each day, but I was never in any real bother in that regards”.

Darragh actually felt that he got stronger as the week progressed: ”The first few days were the toughest for me, getting used to the speeds and the size of the bunch, but by the stage into Bundoran I was starting to feel better and felt strong the last few days”.

Asked which stage he felt was the toughest, he nominates stage 6 from Dungloe to Donegal Town: ”I got dropped from the main bunch going up Glengesh, so then you start to think about the time cut. I had a long, long chase but I finally got back in coming into Killybegs.”

On the flip side he felt his best day was the following stage in the rain to Ardee: “I was right at the back of the bunch hanging in, but I kept passing riders who were blowing up in front of me. I felt really good that day”.

Brother Paul’s race did not go as smoothly: “I was feeling great the first few days, but from the Buncrana stage onward, I just wasn’t 100%”.

On a race like the Rás, anything less than being in top form usually spells trouble, but Paul made it through well despite a few nervy moments. Caught up early in a crash on the stage to Dungloe, it turned out to be a tough day in the saddle as he spent most of the day chasing. He recovered somewhat the following day as the sun shone all the way to Donegal Town and indeed Paul led the main peloton onto the Diamond. “I wanted to make a big effort that day, there were a lot of people out to cheer us on so I wanted to do well”

The next day in the pouring rain was another difficult day as he was caught on the wrong side of the split early on and later in the stage was involved in a crash that could have proved disastrous as his bicycle got crushed under a team car. Fortunately for Paul, it was just the bike that went under the car. Even on the final stage, things didn’t go his way as riding on his spare bike, he suffered a mechanical on the second passage of Skerries and ended up sorting the problem out in front of the huge crowd lining the finishing straight in Skerries. Despite the setbacks, Paul had a good performance and was also delighted to finish the race.

For both McCarters, the Rás was the culmination of an incredibly intense period of training aimed at ensuring they were ready to compete against such high level competitors. More or less since last October, the main priority had been the RAS and everything was geared towards that aim. When they were not doing their normal job, they were usually training or thinking about training. Even a holiday to the south of Spain earlier in the year was geared toward preparation for the RAS. According to Paul “we trained seriously hard for over 30 hours that week, but it put us in seriously good shape for the season”. Some holiday!!

Whilst having just finished their first Rás you get the feeling speaking to Paul and Darragh, that now they know what it is all about, they might fancy another crack at it next year, but they are not letting on…..for the moment.