Tell us about your cycle Yesterday.

An post heritage spin. 159k. Avg 30.6k. Hamstrings massaged back to life. Refuelling now

An Post 160km. All done in 5 hours 7 mins. Friend took a piss at exactly the wrong time with 40km to go and missed a road train of about 30 cyclists.

The two of us manage to catch up after a painful 10k and joined them with 30km left to the finish.

https://www.strava.com/activities/171599261

Did the 100 k, lovely spin. My first sportive, great atmosphere. I did it on my own but chatted away to loads of people on the route. I was apprehensive about using the new bike as I only had 2 quick spins on it. No need to have worried, the bike was a dream, went up hills with no effort and handled brilliantly. My Back held up fine too so happy days.
The 3 hills, Tara Skryne and Slane were quite easy but there was a false flat into a headwind after Slane that knocked the bo!!ox out of me. After pushing on and getting a bit of speed built up I did something similar to the last poster and got a touch of cramp and pulled in just as a big group came whizzing past. I didn't bother trying to catch them.
Cruised on home and had the kids cheering for me at the finish line, proud as punch.
105k in 3:57.
Now for a pint

http://www.strava.com/activities/171601658

First time back on the bike in 2 years today. Managed to get 52km done with two laps of howth head. Happy out.

have a 240km cycle end of September so need to get my hoop in gear!

First time back on the bike in 2 years today. Managed to get 52km done with two laps of howth head. Happy out.

have a 240km cycle end of September so need to get my hoop in gear!

Meath 160km
6 hours 8 mins at 100kg
Was aiming for sub 6 hours but there were more hills than I was expecting.
Very well organised event


1089m climbing

138 km, 700 m climbing cycling in charity cycle in Bruree co limerick, handy enough route with one real climb. Hoore of a wind all day though kept average below 29km .

^^^^
That is absolutely disgusting.
You legend

macnab wrote: »

I had a "mid life crisis" ride today (46 tomorrow) I cycled 45km into work this morning at a nice comfortable pace. I was surprised to see 29.5kmh average but there was little or no wind.
The mid life crisis element of the ride was the return journey this evening. Average speed of 31.5kmh and 19 Strava accolades including a 9th overall between Blanch and Clonee. Given that Dublin 4 to Summerhill in Meath is uphill most of the way I am a very happy 45.9999 year old man ;-)

Only spotted your post now (posted on Friday 25th), What a coincidence - we were both born on the exact same day - 26th July 1968! Happy birthday!

I was wondering how you got on. It was tough, I found the REK 400 easier with better scenery.

This is a lovely 53k loop with ~600m climbing starting in Newport, Mayo. Might be useful for folks who want a bit more of a challenge while others are on the Greenway.

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/665191857

Ignore my "exploratory detour"

ford2600 wrote: »

Once you you can turn off the voice in your head in middle of event or 400km in which is screaming "what the fcuk are you doing" those long cycles aren't too bad!

I'm fairly hardened to the long distances at this point. I think what got me was that I couldn't stomach any of the food I was carrying for the night hours (nowhere to get food for about 250k after about 8pm) and I hadn't really been enjoying the food I had bought en route. I had perked up a bit by the time I got back to Bray but had lost so much time that I hadn't any real hope of making it back to Roundwood for an 11:36 cutoff time.

If scenery wasn't great, do the Inner Ring this weekend or the Priest's Leap 300 on 23rd August you won't be disappointed.

Be warned Priest's leap is a really tough climb. Scenery on route is best in country; Ballaghbeama, Dunloe, Borlin etc etc

That sounds like a plan...

Warning this is really long! TL:DR I rode a stupid amount of distance and got up and did it again the next day!

Watching dawn break for the second time over Bray Head in 24 hours is an experience to be savoured, especially when you have cycled 450km since the first time you saw the sun rise.

I probably didn't have the best preparation for this ride. On Wednesday I'd ridden a hilly 55km (1300m), on Thursday I did the Inter-Club League race in Brittas and was dropped after three laps. I hadn't rested enough in the lead up to the weekend and I definitely didn't sleep enough on Friday night.

The alarm woke me at 04:15. I dressed and packed the last items into my rack bag and back pack. I had to ride 20km to Bray before the start with a change of clothes, towel, toiletries and a sleeping bag for the overnight in Bray Wheelers club house. The ride to Bray should take a leisurely hour, but as usual I was late out the door and had to ride at a faster pace into the rising red sun to get there for 6:00am.

I arrived just as the pre-ride briefing was taking place. Noel and Paul told us about the information controls and wished us good luck. I didn't do a head count but I'd guess that there were about 20 riders. I was the only woman, I scuttled into the club house and dropped my bag and signed on.

The climbs started immediately, down into Enniskerry and up to Glencullen via Killegar Road. I met some familiar faces from previous rides and small groups of us would form and re-form over the course of the day. The sky had clouded over and although it was warm and humid the rain would threaten us eventually starting near Athy.

My house is about 5km from Cruagh Road and as we swept down the descent from Glencullen I was sorely tempted to go home and go back to bed, it was only 7:00am and I'd even get a lie-in! The nearly constant climbing over the hills of South Dublin and Kildare meant that we had climbed over 1000m by the time we reached 60km. It also meant that my average speed was only 20km an hour.

Near Kilcullen the route sheet sent us awry and we waited for a larger group who navigated the narrow country lanes with certainty and rode with them as far as Athy and the first control at 100km. The westerly headwind was a problem once we turned onto the N78 to Athy and our group turned it into a team time-trail with the strongest riders pushing into the wind. After Athy the group splintered and I paired up with one other rider who will henceforth be known as "The Windbreak" because he rode his socks off into that westerly wind all the way to Kinnity.

As I have noted before on audax rides, life is happening around you while you get on with the business of riding your bike. At Cadamstown there was a massive country funeral with a huge outpouring of people and cars on the way to Kinnity. We tried not to interfere with the cortege and remained a respectful distance from the front.

After Kinnity the road turned upwards once more over the Wolftrap climb and the Slieve Bloom mountains. That was the first time I've ridden the bike down there and I'll go again. The Wolftrap is a testing climb, the hardest part being the false flats on the way to the summit. When I'd ridden the last one I felt like Rocky Balboa running up the steps and I should've punched the air as I crested the summit.

The descent is great, nice roads and not too many blind bends. By now it was mid-afternoon and the rain remained on the north side of the mountains. We encountered a wedding party with bridesmaids in coral dresses outside a church near Coolrain, again we tried not to get in the way of the bridal procession.

The rolling hills of Kilkenny took their toll and we were flagging by the time we reached the next control at Callan (254km). We stopped for food, reckoning that as it was 6:00pm it would be worthwhile stocking up before nightfall. Having cleared out the remaindered stock from the deli-counter we set off into the evening, only realising that we'd gone the wrong way for 5km and had to double back.

Re-finding the route we pressed on through Kells and another outdoor mass near a round tower and church with a large crowd standing outside listening to the priest give the blessing. Again my companion acted as a fine domestique and pulled me along at a great pace through Gowran and Paulstown. We saw some other audaxers that we'd passed earlier near Bagnelstown and we stopped soon after to add lights and night time clothing.

On through Rathoe(Rathtoe?) into the dusk plagued by insects and moths fluttering past our lights. We skirted Tullow and at 11:00pm encountered an open chipper in Rathvilly. The counter staff were really helpful, re-filling our water bottles and even going back to their own house for milk when they ran out! Some other audaxers caught up with us and we persuaded them to join us for chips. The next control was only 10km away at Hacketstown and it was good to have a bigger group.

At Hacketstown the cards were signed off and one of our companions was found ensconsed in the pub getting on grand with the locals. By now it was midnight and I was very tired. I was finding it hard to concentrate on following wheels and let the group slip away from me on the cool night-time roads on the way to Laragh. It was easier to ride on my own. At one point I stopped to change batteries in my light and looked up at the Milky Way and caught the brief streak of a shooting star.

The whirr of my wheels was my only companion on the road to Laragh when I met another participant and rode behind him on the way back to Roundwood. I could see his light in the distance every now and then. By now the sky was beginning to lighten in the north-east and the Sugar Loaf was silhouetted against the brightening horizon.

The last 10km into Bray involves the descent of Red Lane, not easy in the dark and then a convoluted climb around the back of Bray Head to the last information control 4km from the finish.

I rode back into the clubhouse at 4:10am to be met by sleeping bodies and the prospect of spaghetti carbonara and a shower. I slept on the floor of the women's toilets, setting my alarm for 7:50am but I woke up to the sound of voices at 7:30am.

A mate of mine got me in to the Trinity lab yesterday to do a lactate tolerance test. Set a cadence of 80 for the whole thing, started at 120kw and every 3 minutes it went up 30kw. They take a blood sample towards the end of each block too. I finished the 330kw and did about 30 seconds of the 360 before blowing up.

They now graph my lactate results v heart rate / vo2 max and it will be plain to see where I blew up, my lactate rose sharply to over 14 on the last reading. They can then set me various training zones to try and expand my lactate tolerance. Looking forward to learning more about it once the results come in.

Pretty cool set up in the lab, will be interesting to see the difference in 8 weeks or so given that I've only really been out training for cycling since April.

quozl wrote: »

I did something like that 15 years ago with Shane Stokes for his MSc. I couldn't even ride a bicycle back then but he got me on an exercise bike in their lab, put a mask on to measure CO2 output (I think) and kept stabbing me in the finger with a fecking pin every couple of minutes while gently encouraging me not to give up

Then I had to do it all again about a month later!

Every time I see an article by him in the media I remember what an evil fecker he is

Yeh the pricks are sore, although I only needed two as she could just squeeze out more blood from the initial ones!

Audax is all about self-reliance. There is no broomwagon, no feed stops (mostly), nobody to sort you out if you have a breakdown (of either kind). You bring what you need (spare parts, food, clothing) or shop en-route. You navigate from a turn-by-turn routesheet and you get very fond of your own company.

Can I consider myself a randonneur if I do Audax events with my cycling buddy, only one of us carry spares and we both use GPS nav?

Well, we haven't tried anything longer than 200 km yet, maybe after a 600km we'll be cycling buddies no more ;-)