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2013 Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford (SKT)
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Great event no complaints at all food stops & water stops were excellent,
Big thanks to the volunteers and supporters on the road,
Spotted one oul lad pulled in at the side of the road with welcome to Waterford typed on a A4 page stuck to the back window of his car. Not sure what even made me see that.........
Rolling time 6:40 so I'll spend the next year wondering were I went wrong but hills did me in,
Had it in my head only 1400m climbing??? I have 2173m on the Garmin this morning.
Bumped into nomoregears enjoy the recovery lad.
Oh and a hello to the Kerry school teachers I was with for the uphills.....First victory for the dubs lets hope Sunday will be the same
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Ah yes the legend that is the Sean Kelly Tour, as tough as the man himself.
Major kudos to the organizers/volunteers/marshals/supporters for making it a great day out.
/really sad to see guys puncturing on the Mama descent thanks to tacks
Yesterday was my 4th in a row, 3rd 160km, and the suffering never gets easier.
At 11pm Sat night I still hadn't an entry and was finishing off a pint of Guinness but then magically got one, so I downed the guinness and got the gear ready.
Up then at 5:30am and downed a big bowl of porridge and headed off for Dungarvan, and heading down through Lismore/Cappoquinn I was greeted with a nice sunrise, always a good sign ahead of a long day of suffering.
Parked in my usual spot, same for the last 4 years and cycled down to register, & got the jersey I wanted, phew.
Off then we rolled to the tune of U2, the adrenalin was pumping, the legs were ready and it was all systems go.
The pace was handy all the way to Tickincor, ie. not as mental as last year, and it always amazes me how lads are 'dying' to get stuck into the 1st fierce climb,
it's like sperm rushing/pushing/fighting their way to the egg, and there's the egg at the top of the climb going "hah hah suckers" :pac:
Tickincor, 3km @ 9%, you have to be in the small chainring at the turn, otherwise............your're toast.
When I turned I was met with a wall of riders, all suffering straight away on the lower tough section. There's a lull in the middle but it bites back again near the top but then there's a nice long downhill recovery to the much needed food stop.
Other highlights:
'boom bang' of several tyres exploding, yellow 'biscuit' jerseys, retro jerseys & bikes ('copper pipes' or something), the Fermoy 'choo choo' train, the chit-chat/craic along the route, the up-down/rolly-polly climb that is Mahon Falls, the final push for home (thanks John/Michael > 9km@48.6km/h), &..............McD's
Small negligible lowlights:
wind on the climbs, road surface from Carrick > Clonmel.0 -
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Hi all!
Really nice ride this was guys.
The organization was brilliant. Big thanks to all the volunteers as well, they sure did an awesome job, they were so friendly!
I'm from Holland myself so we only have flat areas so this 160k with the climbs was horrible!
Have to admit we (my Belgium friend (the one with the big bagpack haha)) and myself) that we were not prepared enough at all, we only did around 70km last weekend in the wicklow area and another 2 50km cycles the week before hehe.
On the first climb the only thing I could think was 'this is the only climb I'm going to do! Gonna take the shortcut back! But miraculously I made it up the to very fast for an untrained amateur haha, took over a lot of guys. It was also due to the fact that I couldn't go on a lighter gear and wanted to keep up the cadence... Was at the point of almost stopping though..
The food stop after that saved our lives because we were wanting to stop...
We were quite in the back of the race, as we saw the broom wagon turn into the food stop whilst eating.
Then after the food stop we managed to find a real nice and fast paced group with all green and pink jerseys, they basically rode us all the way up to the start of the next climb.
Managed to take the wheel of a nice lady with green Jersey and blonde hair, Rosheen iirc, who basically took me up the first few kilometers, until I finally found some new energy and could get next to her. Had a nice chat up the last kilometer which helped me my mind of the horrible suffering I was doing :P
Got back together with my friend at the top of the mountain again.
Then it was alright going to the time limit point, making it just in time at 15:00, 30 minutes before the limit, which also meant committing ourselves to another 2 big climbs!!
The mahon falls climb was awesome, I really like the climb actually. Not saying I wasn't suffering, because I obviously was hehe. Had the luck that my friend and I had the same rhythm and speed for this climb so we could stick together uptill the last kilometer in which he had to slow down.
I continued on my own, just sticking to my own pace. Then saw the last part and it looked so very steep...
I accellerated just before the last big steep part which took me up a few good meters before that speed was also gone, had to stand on the pedals a bit which also didn't work, then sit back down and suffer and suffer and suffer.
I still can't believe I made it up all the way without having to get off the bike!
Rest of the ride was quite enjoyable and the last climb was not that steep which was a nice change hehe!
I think I underestimated the ride, especially the climbs, but I'm proud of my friend and myself that we actually made it
We made it back very late, I think we were one of the very last riders to arrive, at 17:51... Ouch!
The massage after that was the best!
For the next ride I would love to have some lighter gears because this one was horrible, I'm very bad with the numbers and stuff, but it's a cube peleton race and probably standard numbers in the front and back (shimano 105).
I just couldn't have a high cadence going up the mountains.
Or maybe for the next ride, just be prepared :P Might help as well.
Things I really liked:
- Organization
- Food and water stops
- Volunteers
- Other friendly riders
- The route
- The weather!
- The massage
- The scenery
Things that could have been better/I didn't enjoy:
- Provide the Gatorade in the middle of the course, when you could really use it
- The decent on Mahon Falls, that was quite scary!! Had to be in the breaks the whole way down.. Was not able to enjoy that one.
- What I heard about the punctures due to crazy people throwing stuff on the roads... that's just sick and pathetic.
- My fitness tracker couldn't get a GPS signal so have not been able to track any data at all
Looking forward returning next year!0 -
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Anybody who did the 160K yesterday who uploaded to Strava can you send me the link to your ride data please?
I am aiming for the 160K myself next year and went to see how tough the route is per Strava
Just type "waterford" into the City/State field and "SEAN KELLY 160" into the Keywords field at http://www.strava.com/activities/search and you will find loads.....0 -
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Morrisseeee wrote: »Ah yes the legend that is the Sean Kelly Tour, as tough as the man himself.
Major kudos to the organizers/volunteers/marshals/supporters for making it a great day out.
/really sad to see guys puncturing on the Mama descent thanks to tacks
Yesterday was my 4th in a row, 3rd 160km, and the suffering never gets easier.
At 11pm Sat night I still hadn't an entry and was finishing off a pint of Guinness but then magically got one, so I downed the guinness and got the gear ready.
Up then at 5:30am and downed a big bowl of porridge and headed off for Dungarvan, and heading down through Lismore/Cappoquinn I was greeted with a nice sunrise, always a good sign ahead of a long day of suffering.
Parked in my usual spot, same for the last 4 years and cycled down to register, & got the jersey I wanted, phew.
Off then we rolled to the tune of U2, the adrenalin was pumping, the legs were ready and it was all systems go.
The pace was handy all the way to Tickincor, ie. not as mental as last year, and it always amazes me how lads are 'dying' to get stuck into the 1st fierce climb,
it's like sperm rushing/pushing/fighting their way to the egg, and there's the egg at the top of the climb going "hah hah suckers" :pac:
Tickincor, 3km @ 9%, you have to be in the small chainring at the turn, otherwise............your're toast.
When I turned I was met with a wall of riders, all suffering straight away on the lower tough section. There's a lull in the middle but it bites back again near the top but then there's a nice long downhill recovery to the much needed food stop.
Other highlights:
'boom bang' of several tyres exploding, yellow 'biscuit' jerseys, retro jerseys & bikes ('copper pipes' or something), the Fermoy 'choo choo' train, the chit-chat/craic along the route, the up-down/rolly-polly climb that is Mahon Falls, the final push for home (thanks John/Michael > 9km@48.6km/h), &..............McD's
Small negligible lowlights:
wind on the climbs, road surface from Carrick > Clonmel.
tis always U2 at the start.. Should try killers . kings of leon or Springsteen next year.
thought I was toast when the rim gave away near carrick, but Barry Meehan world wide cycles clonmel, came to the rescue and got me back to dungarvan and a spare wheel change out. . solo trip then to Baly mac from dungarvan to rejoin the tour.
Great day, met Morrissee. Died on mahon !! and again saw the sweeper lad. Mad burst down coligan back into dungarvan
arrived too late to pick up number but luckily the food halls had a list of registered, so was able to get food , even though I did not have my number displayed.
great event, evem if I missed from carrick to Bally mac.0 -
Well done on finishing the route. It was also my first time to do the Sean Kelly but I was expecting it to be tough and it was. I saw you a few times during bthe cycle, I was in the grey Bretagne cycle gea. We ended up near the end after one of our group had a fall and broke his arm at about the 75 k mark. Guy in fromt of us dropped his chain and stopped and we all just went in on top and Charlie could not unclip on time and went down. We were a while waiting while the ambulance crew sorted him out and then we had to get his bike brought back. It put a real dampener on the day for us. After that we carried on and I went well up the hills for my level and overall i was cycling for 6 hrs 26 but had about 2 and a half hours of standing around with food and water stops and the accident. As for the group in pink and green jerseys. They were the Tour De Munster cycling club. We jumped onto their wheels for the last 10k. Had a chat with one of them at 2nd food stop as she had seen us at scene of accident. Lovely group of guys and gals. great organisation and fair play tio all the volenterrs.Hi all!
Really nice ride this was guys.
The organization was brilliant. Big thanks to all the volunteers as well, they sure did an awesome job, they were so friendly!
I'm from Holland myself so we only have flat areas so this 160k with the climbs was horrible!
Have to admit we (my Belgium friend (the one with the big bagpack haha)) and myself) that we were not prepared enough at all, we only did around 70km last weekend in the wicklow area and another 2 50km cycles the week before hehe.
On the first climb the only thing I could think was 'this is the only climb I'm going to do! Gonna take the shortcut back! But miraculously I made it up the to very fast for an untrained amateur haha, took over a lot of guys. It was also due to the fact that I couldn't go on a lighter gear and wanted to keep up the cadence... Was at the point of almost stopping though..
The food stop after that saved our lives because we were wanting to stop...
We were quite in the back of the race, as we saw the broom wagon turn into the food stop whilst eating.
Then after the food stop we managed to find a real nice and fast paced group with all green and pink jerseys, they basically rode us all the way up to the start of the next climb.
Managed to take the wheel of a nice lady with green Jersey and blonde hair, Rosheen iirc, who basically took me up the first few kilometers, until I finally found some new energy and could get next to her. Had a nice chat up the last kilometer which helped me my mind of the horrible suffering I was doing :P
Got back together with my friend at the top of the mountain again.
Then it was alright going to the time limit point, making it just in time at 15:00, 30 minutes before the limit, which also meant committing ourselves to another 2 big climbs!!
The mahon falls climb was awesome, I really like the climb actually. Not saying I wasn't suffering, because I obviously was hehe. Had the luck that my friend and I had the same rhythm and speed for this climb so we could stick together uptill the last kilometer in which he had to slow down.
I continued on my own, just sticking to my own pace. Then saw the last part and it looked so very steep...
I accellerated just before the last big steep part which took me up a few good meters before that speed was also gone, had to stand on the pedals a bit which also didn't work, then sit back down and suffer and suffer and suffer.
I still can't believe I made it up all the way without having to get off the bike!
Rest of the ride was quite enjoyable and the last climb was not that steep which was a nice change hehe!
I think I underestimated the ride, especially the climbs, but I'm proud of my friend and myself that we actually made it
We made it back very late, I think we were one of the very last riders to arrive, at 17:51... Ouch!
The massage after that was the best!
For the next ride I would love to have some lighter gears because this one was horrible, I'm very bad with the numbers and stuff, but it's a cube peleton race and probably standard numbers in the front and back (shimano 105).
I just couldn't have a high cadence going up the mountains.
Or maybe for the next ride, just be prepared :P Might help as well.
Things I really liked:
- Organization
- Food and water stops
- Volunteers
- Other friendly riders
- The route
- The weather!
- The massage
- The scenery
Things that could have been better/I didn't enjoy:
- Provide the Gatorade in the middle of the course, when you could really use it
- The decent on Mahon Falls, that was quite scary!! Had to be in the breaks the whole way down.. Was not able to enjoy that one.
- What I heard about the punctures due to crazy people throwing stuff on the roads... that's just sick and pathetic.
- My fitness tracker couldn't get a GPS signal so have not been able to track any data at all
Looking forward returning next year!
Hope to see ye all at the Rebel Tour.0 -
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Morrisseeee wrote: »I think this sums up Mahon Falls quite nicely !
/courtesy of David Clynch
Great photo.
The view as you come towards the left turn and swing onto it is very impressive, my first time seeing it, and deffo had thoughts of 'am I going to get up this?"
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I did the 100k and got a photo of one Boardsie, but can't figure out how to post the photo so far. I'll try again later!
Great day all round. I was doing the 100k with a bunch of cousins (6 of us in total) and things got a bit competitive at the start so everyone went hell for leather up to Knockanore (40k), but that was the pissing contest over and we stuck together all the way home then.
By far the most climbing I've ever done, and I was happy with how it went - I may have bugger all power but I haven't much weight to be lugging around either, and that told toward the end 0 -
I did the 100k and got a photo of one Boardsie, but can't figure out how to post the photo so far. I'll try again later!
Trying again:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
(Taken at 10:41, so somewhere between Lismore and Knockanore)0 -
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