Cycle Ataxia 2015

afishyfish · 28-08-2014 7:29am #1

Hi folks,
I got some great advice here while organising the inaugural Cycle Ataxia. Thank you all.
I'm glad to report the event ran very well. (1 or 2 niggles aside) And we raised over €15k for our charities.
We've done our post-mortem and we've decided to repeat the event next year.

I was hoping that I could pick some brains again as I take a second run at the project.

First question is when to stage the event. One of my colleagues is keen to stage it earlier in the year. (June or early July)
This years event unfortunately coincided with the Tour of Kildare. Not ideal as Cycle Ataxia happens in Meath.
Can anybody suggest any 'vacuum' dates that stand out, or dates that should certainly be avoided, i.e. Wicklow 200 (June 7th).
Thanks in advance.
Barry

ratracer · 28-08-2014 8:08am

afishyfish wrote: »

Hi folks,
I got some great advice here while organising the inaugural Cycle Ataxia. Thank you all.
I'm glad to report the event ran very well. (1 or 2 niggles aside) And we raised over €15k for our charities.
We've done our post-mortem and we've decided to repeat the event next year.
I was hoping that I could pick some brains again as I take a second run at the project.

First question is when to stage the event. One of my colleagues is keen to stage it earlier in the year. (June or early July)
This years event unfortunately coincided with the Tour of Kildare. Not ideal as Cycle Ataxia happens in Meath.
Can anybody suggest any 'vacuum' dates that stand out, or dates that should certainly be avoided, i.e. Wicklow 200 (June 7th).
Thanks in advance.
Barry

The ring of Kerry will probably be the first weekend in July so I'd rule that date out.

nilhg · 28-08-2014 8:25am

OP, if you're trying to avoid the Tour of Kildare than you'll probably also want to avoid the Wicklow Peaks also run by Naas which also gets a decent regular turn out, it's the last weekend of June, ROK is first weekend of July which you might want to avoid, though there might be a case for trying that weekend and having an event up country for all those who can't get away to Kerry.

Generally too you'd probably want to be avoiding the An Post events.

Not easy to get a date for a newish event.

afishyfish · 28-08-2014 8:40am

nilhg wrote: »

Not easy to get a date for a newish event.

Don't I know it!!
Thanks for the tips lads.
Spent the past hour looking at calendars and websites.
I'm considering Saturday June 13th (provided it doesn't clash with Cycle4Life)
Any reason to avoid the 13th?

Bloggsie · 28-08-2014 9:52am

afishyfish wrote: »

Don't I know it!!
Thanks for the tips lads.
Spent the past hour looking at calendars and websites.
I'm considering Saturday June 13th (provided it doesn't clash with Cycle4Life)
Any reason to avoid the 13th?

What ever date you decide, I would recommend getting it on the cycle ireland calender as soon as you can, as it seems that there are more & more events every year.

I dont envy you! Good Luck with it, hope to see you next year.

afishyfish · 29-08-2014 10:33am

Bloggsie wrote: »

What ever date you decide, I would recommend getting it on the cycle ireland calender as soon as you can, as it seems that there are more & more events every year.

I dont envy you! Good Luck with it, hope to see you next year.

Thanks Bloggsie.

afishyfish · 02-04-2015 5:04pm

Hey all,
It's been a while since I posted on here. Plans for Cycle Ataxia 2015 are going well. It's set for June 20th. Venue will be Ashbourne. Medium and Long routes have been freshened up. I made some guides and I was hoping to get some feedback of the routes. If you have a few minutes I'd appreciate you taking a look and offering advice. Constructive criticism welcome.

The 13k:

The 38k:

The 100k:

Cheers
Barry

afishyfish · 12-06-2015 10:24am

Hey all,
Just quick reminder about this. Shaping up to be a fantastic event.
I made preview movies of all the routes, You can watch them at: http://www.cycleataxia.ie/route-info/
Hope some of you can make it. You can pre-register at www.cycleataxia.ie/register.
If you do it by today you even vet a free t-shirt.
Cheers all.
Happy spinning!
Barry
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Borderfox · 12-06-2015 11:08am

Well done Barry, really enjoyed the 100km last year even with the rain. Only back from a fractured pelvis so I'll see you for the 38km next weekend

afishyfish · 12-06-2015 11:24am

Fractured pelvis sounds nasty. Was it bike related?
Delighted you can make it to the event. Look forward to seeing you there.

Question to cyclists in general.
I'm trying to gauge logistics and catering requirements.
I have just over 200 pre registered, and registrations coming in pretty frequently.
I'll probably close registration on Wednesday or Thursday night. 24/48 hours before the event.
Let's say I'll have 300 pre-registered. The forecast looks good so assuming we get a dry day, how many walk in's should I expect?
What's the general ratio here?

Also, what % of cyclists are inclined to avail of the free lunch?
Sorry if these are "crystal ball" type questions.
I don't want to be wasteful, but I want to make sure everybody is well fed.

Luxman · 12-06-2015 9:58pm

afishyfish wrote: »

Hey all,
Just quick reminder about this. Shaping up to be a fantastic event.
I made preview movies of all the routes, You can watch them at: http://www.cycleataxia.ie/route-info/
Hope some of you can make it. You can pre-register at www.cycleataxia.ie/register.
If you do it by today you even vet a free t-shirt.
Cheers all.
Happy spinning!
Barry

That video is class. Never have I done a 100k with such little effort and in such quick timeðŸ˜œalso makes snowtown climb look positively flat

Zenson · 14-06-2015 12:43am

Nice promotion for cycle ataxia on the Hill of Tara this morning. Hopefully the weather will be like today.

afishyfish · 15-06-2015 1:11am

Thanks Luxman. Glad you enjoyed it.
Zenson, was it on the Ratoath Wheelers club car?

Zenson · 16-06-2015 12:34am

afishyfish wrote: »

Thanks Luxman. Glad you enjoyed it.
Zenson, was it on the Ratoath Wheelers club car?

Yes. On the Ratoath Wheelers Car. Great bit of advertising.

afishyfish · 17-06-2015 11:42am

Great to see it's getting out there.
I'm trying to decide on when to close off online registrations.
What's the norm here? What's expected? 24 hours? Less?

sullivlo · 19-06-2015 10:14pm

Anyone else doing this tomorrow? I'll be the one struggling up the hills. Pink and white Scott bike, orange and green Pedal The Planet jersey. I'll have haribo if you ask nicely

afishyfish · 20-06-2015 3:56am

I'll keep an eye out for you. Thanks for the support.
Woke at 3:30. The anxiety is killing me!

bogmanfan · 20-06-2015 4:17pm

Very enjoyable spin today. Weather was perfect, and a nice challenging route. Pasta at the finish was very welcome too. Will be back next year.

sullivlo · 20-06-2015 4:32pm

Great day in the saddle. Except I'm an idiot who took a turn too wide and ended up cycling into a ditch of nettles. Fair tingle in the leg now!

Thanks for the organisation. I'll defo be back next year.

Zenson · 20-06-2015 8:24pm

bogmanfan wrote: »

Very enjoyable spin today. Weather was perfect, and a nice challenging route. Pasta at the finish was very welcome too. Will be back next year.

Brilliant day out. Not the easiest 100k I've ever done. Happy to average 27k. Great Marshalling, food, route, weather. Well done Barry.

brianomc · 20-06-2015 9:09pm

Great job Barry and all the volunteers. Really enjoyable route, nice mix of everything, the food at the end was great to get and the weather was unbelievable however you managed to sort that for us.
Averaged 26kmph which I was happy with as I'm crap on hills, terrified on descents and a danger to myself on some bends.
Like the rest, I will be back next year.

afishyfish · 21-06-2015 8:52am

Thank you all. I'm delighted with how it went. Unfortunately next years event hangs in the balance. It's taking up a massive amount of time and effort.
I won't make a decision just yet. Going to relax for a couple of weeks and think about it.
Thanks again all. Delighted you had a great day.

willdill · 23-06-2015 7:14pm

afishyfish wrote: »

Thank you all. I'm delighted with how it went. Unfortunately next years event hangs in the balance. It's taking up a massive amount of time and effort.
I won't make a decision just yet. Going to relax for a couple of weeks and think about it.
Thanks again all. Delighted you had a great day.

Sorry to hear that mate id say it does take up a lot of time and effort.it was very well organised and was a great day really enjoyed it.thanks again and hope it works out again for next year.

Red Belly · 23-06-2015 7:20pm

afishyfish wrote: »

Thank you all. I'm delighted with how it went. Unfortunately next years event hangs in the balance. It's taking up a massive amount of time and effort.
I won't make a decision just yet. Going to relax for a couple of weeks and think about it.
Thanks again all. Delighted you had a great day.

Hope you can find a way to keep it going. You seemed to have a great team of willing helpers on board on the day so maybe you can delegate a bit more of the pre-event work?

Anyway all the best, I really enjoyed the event.

Rb

afishyfish · 10-08-2015 1:55pm

Hi all,
Thanks for your kind words.
In case anybody missed my announcements on Social Media, I've decided to take a run at Cycle Ataxia 2016. I hope to build on what's already a great event and I'll definitely be doing more delegating so as not to burn myself out.

I'm trying to select a date for next years event and I'm looking at the same weekend in June. (18th/19th).
This should put it safely between the Wicklow 100/200 and the Ring of Kerry.
Can anybody suggest why this might be a bad weekend to pick?
Also, whats a better day?
Saturday or Sunday?
Thanks all.

wisjoc · 11-08-2015 3:04pm

There was the Gran Fondo in Belfast on the same weekend which will probably be on in the same weekend again and a lot of people went up to participate. But it took place on the Sunday. I done both the Ataxia and the Gran Fondo but was running a bit late for the Gran Fondo sign on as you have to do it on a Saturday.

There will always be a clash with some sportive as it is a very crowded calendar. Just go for the date that suits you.

By the way, the organisation, and certainly the food, was more than a match for the Gran Fondo in Belfast. I brought a friend over from England who does a lot of the big sportives over there and he said it was the best organised event he has been on. The only very small thing was it kicked off a little later than the advertised start. Only bothered me as I had to get to Belfast fairly quickly. Maybe a 9.00 clock start next year?

Brilliantly organised event and I wouldn't let any other clashes bother you as you are beginning to establish a really good reputation to stave off any competition.

Cycle Ataxia 2015

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