Wicklow 200 2011

The important thing is, Fair play to EVERYONE out there today,staying warm would be the prority of the day, being wet is not overly bad, but being COLD and wet, is just drudgery and makes for an unpleasant day.

sy · 12-06-2011 11:09am

Some great pics John. Thanks

irishmotorist · 12-06-2011 12:46pm

What an absolute total and utter bsatard of a day out there. I did the 100 and couldn't feel my feet from about 35km. I think it started raining proper around the top of the Sugar Loaf climb and it didn't stop for 1 second after that. I wore a jersey, arm warmers and then a wind cheater on top of that, so my upper half was fairly ok. I could have done with tights and overshoes too though. The cold in my feet had nearly spread up to my knees though by the time I finished. I was mostly on my own for it but was spotted in Rathdrum by Iregs - or something like that. Sorry I'm not sure.

4:26 total but 4:13 rolling. AFAIK, that's nearly 30 mins longer than last year! I'm not nearly as fit this year though and there was perhaps one extra climb (than last year). After Redcross, there was a left turn before the N11 which took me over a hill that I wasn't expecting, but no problems with it.

The food at the end was a big disappointment. I got in, shivering and got my medal etc. The girl told me to go over to get some hot food into me and I nearly kissed her. I hobbled over (couldn't feel my feet!) and I got a bunch of lettuce, 1/4 of a tomato, some spring onions (all cold) and then about 10 spirals of warm tomatoey pasta. Even if it was a warm day, I don't know how much refueling a cold salad like that would give you. It definitely didn't hit the mark today though.

fletch · 12-06-2011 1:10pm

That was absolute misery....set off about 7:10 wearing shorts and a t-shirt and overshoes(crappy Aldi ones)....it started to drissle so I decided to head back to the car for a waterproof jacket before setting off...was I glad I did that! By about 90km, I was getting spasms in my muscles, my whole shoulder and back were aching with the cold, I was delirious and soaking. By the time I got back to the car, my hands were frozen stiff, I couldn't operate the zips of my overshoes so just yanked them off, I needed both hands to turn the key in the car and had to leave all my fly buttons open as I couldn't do even one of them up. Heating on full blast the entire way home!

Am I glad I did it....I really don't know if it was worth it

Least no punctures!

Edit - oh and by 35km I lost the power in my thumbs to change gears. I could change the rears by pushing the lever with my fists...the front derailleur stayed on the bottom cog til the end! lol

kenmc · 12-06-2011 1:11pm

Fair play for doing this on a day like today. I was hard pressed enough to go across the road to get the paper and some rashers for the brekkie! SOOOOO glad I never got around to signing up, would've been a big waste of money

My bed was so warm and cozy this morning! Thinking of lighting the fire now!
Pity they didn't see fit to reward you with even a bowl of warm soup after that - it always seems to be the food that lets this event down.

irishmotorist · 12-06-2011 1:29pm

kenmc wrote: »

I was hard pressed enough to go across the road to get the paper and some rashers for the brekkie!
....
My bed was so warm and cozy this morning! Thinking of lighting the fire now!

Where's the flip-the-bird smilie??

J Madone · 12-06-2011 2:00pm

Fair play to the finishers today, as if it wasn't wet enough
There is a lake now in the middle of the road in Kilcoole , a jetski would do the job nicely!
If any on coming cars drive more than a couple of kphs through it , total drenching for the poor cyclists. Lucky it's in the final few kms

AstraMonti · 12-06-2011 2:01pm

Well done to anyone finishing the course at this weather, I think it's the worst day we had the last 3months.. I went out for a short one and it was awful.

kenmc · 12-06-2011 2:07pm

AstraMonti wrote: »

Well done to anyone finishing the course at this weather, I think it's the worst day we had the last 3months.. I went out for a short one and it was awful.

I need to go to the supermarket but don't even want to leave the house to get into the car! It really is like winter out there. If it wasn't for the calender, I'd never believe it was June

oconnpad · 12-06-2011 2:21pm

Completed the 100 today, it was first time, wicklow virgin
(105km was my distance on the garmin, in those conditions the 5km makes all the difference:))

Conditions were hellish alright, i started out 635 and 15 mins in it started drizzling lightly but just got worse and worse but happy to complete it all the same.

Did anybody do the 200? fair balls to you if you did under those conditions

fletch · 12-06-2011 2:32pm

oconnpad wrote: »

Completed the 100 today, it was first time, wicklow virgin
(105km was my distance on the garmin, in those conditions the 5km makes all the difference:))

Yeh my mate was counting down the kilometres to 100 so I was building up for finishing...passed the 100km marker and then remembered last year that there was a good few more km to go...I suppose I should really have known that before I set out. Just out of an hour long bath and I feel much better...think I'll be bussing it to work tomorrow.

fletch · 12-06-2011 2:34pm

One big positive was that the wind wasn't too bad

Hail 2 Da Thief · 12-06-2011 3:01pm

fletch wrote: »

I lost the power in my thumbs to change gears. I could change the rears by pushing the lever with my fists

:pac:

Fair play to all who done it. Horrible weather for it!

mloc123 · 12-06-2011 3:25pm

My first time in about 4 years not to have done either the 100 or 200 and when I woke up this morning and heard the rain hitting the window I was glad

ROK ON · 12-06-2011 3:57pm

Never Again.
Cycling is a **** hobby.
That's all.

lennymc · 12-06-2011 4:04pm

what a lovely spin

horrible, horrible day. At least i couldnt feel my legs.

Someone mentioned the flood at kilcoole - mr nice taxi man decided to bate through it soaking me. Luckily I couldnt physically get any wetter

Cant wait for next year. 100k for me. I did speak to someone who turned back from the 200 - he said it was horrendous.

gerrybmw · 12-06-2011 4:10pm

Thanks for the great pics John!

Nothing more to add about the weather - but very satisfying to have just finished that!

cython · 12-06-2011 4:30pm

Did the 100. ****ing utter misery is about the only description I can come up with for it! Set out around half 7 in a group of 5, was happy enough going up to Roundwood, tipping along at a good pace once the worst of the climb was over, surprising myself by the amount of people we were passing with little effort. Rain started coming down then, but wasn't a major issue. 2 of us had gotten away from our group, so we paused in Roundwood to give the others a chance to get on rather than dropping them that early. Made good time and was happy enough with progress to Rathdrum, chatted away to a few people, and found that I was on my own out of our starting group, other guy at the front had pushed on, but it wasn't a major issue as there was still a bunch of people around with similar paces.

It was all downhill from there though, the cold set in, I lost energy (probably left it too long between eats), and basically from Redcross home was just outright painful. I couldn't feel my feet, nor much of my hands (I feel your pain, fletch!), and then about 2km before Kilcoole I punctured :mad: The only saving grace here was that no sooner had I the bike upside down to take off the wheel than the base2race van pulled up, and suddenly I had a track pump - you, sir, are a legend, and you have no idea how much I appreciated that! Got back into Greystones about 12:45 instead of the 12:30 that I was on target for (track pump or no, changing a tyre with frozen sausages for fingers is slow going, as I'm sure anyone who has done it will attest to).

My thoughts are with anyone who took on the 200, and I'm actually glad not to have done enough training to attempt it this year, as there was another group from our gang set off on that, and I know at least one of them turned back early due to being chilled and soaked through, and feeling unable to complete it (i.e. another 6 hours of the same). It sounds like he wasn't the only one either, as he found company going home.

Beasty · 12-06-2011 4:52pm

A selection of quotes from finishers already in:

irishmotorist wrote: »

no problems with it.

fletch wrote: »

it was worth it

oconnpad wrote: »

it was first time, wicklow virgin

fletch wrote: »

the wind wasn't too bad

lennymc wrote: »

what a lovely spin

cython wrote: »

Made good time and was happy enough ....
... I'm actually glad

Sounds like a positive experience for all - looking forward to reports from some of those doing the 200 now ....:D

Well done to everyone out there today - I'm sure you'll all look back on this with pride (and fondness!)

Wicklow 200 2011

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