Cycling the wicklow Way

ryan_sherlock · 15-10-2008 6:37pm

Thanks guys - I actually recovered after it pretty well. I was off to London early the next morning to work at a trade booth at the London Bike show - talk about taking it easy

I didn't really attack the course as a race, so by the end it was more just a general feckedness rather than anything else - no sore muscles etc... afterwards.

I thought the twitter thing worked well, Mel (support) was doing them as I passed. She would have done more, and taken pics and posted as I went only she was being carefull of the phones battery - still - was cool. (I didn't really see the point of twitter before).

Anyway, I'm writing a post about it in three parts with the first part up here. The first covers the prep etc...

SetOverSet · 15-10-2008 9:40pm

Well done Ryan - looking forward to readin the rest!

joemc99 · 16-10-2008 9:02am

Nice one Ryan, new record. Pity about the conditions. Would my estimate of ~ 6 -> 6.5 hours be right for world class marathon riders in perfect conditions be correct?

Last 30km crap imo, not worth doind it the 2nd time.....stay in Aughrim, get hammered, back the next day...:D

joemc99 · 16-10-2008 9:16am

Enduro wrote: »

And just to update....

I broke the running record with a time of 13:46:01. That shows how soft the cycling record is at 12:04. Go put the thing out of its misery Ryan

Thats incredible!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice one

ryan_sherlock · 16-10-2008 10:16am

When I hit the half way point (Glenmalure) I had already had to walk a good few sections that were ususally 100% ridable and there was a constant headwind but was still there in a little over 4 hours. The last half just got crappy - instead of bombing along at 20-25kph on grassy flat sections I was walking! That sucked so so bad. Given good conditions, closed & marked trails (I took it real easy through Marley and Glendalough) and a racing situation, I would say 6 to 6.5 is doable by the world elite marathon riders... (I am ranked number 42 in the world though

)

It would never happen, but would be a great race to run. Not many people could actually do the whole thing though quick enough - it is a very very tough challenge.

I put up the second part of my report here.

ryan_sherlock · 27-10-2008 10:41am

I finally got around to writing my final post about breaking the record.

You can find it here.

All the Wicklow Way posts are available here.

Caroline_ie · 27-10-2008 10:52am

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

I finally got around to writing my final post about breaking the record.
You can find it here.
All the Wicklow Way posts are available here.

Amazing! Well Done!!! Must have been lots of fun too!

michael196 · 10-02-2009 3:03am

I hav an ambition to cycle the wicklow way in summer 2009, Dublin to Clonegal

Any one intertested in participating with me ? No dates set .

NeilMcEoigheann · 10-02-2009 3:20am

i ran 117km of the wicklow way when i was 16 in two days 66km to glenmalure stay in b+b (other than that we ran completely unsupported) and ran the rest the next day fell short due to passing out and vomiting all over a road near tinahealy,. i also regularly ride Dublin ballinastoe on the wicklow way which is the toughest bit but is not technical at all, across douce, before the boardwalk is a bit of a trudge on the bike but none the less. marlay clonegal is prob better because you get the tough bit over first and once you leave the mountains it is a gentle slope down towards clonegal, i will prob attempt 12 hours bike when the trails dry out.
also if you need a bit of support or an extra person i'll raise my hand.
i would almost suggest a cross bike but i'm sure there are some places that you would come unstuck

blorg · 10-02-2009 9:53am

I'd be interested in giving this a go if my mountain bike skills improve a bit, they are currently at the definite beginner level. I have only gone as far as Pineforest Road (!), found going over Two Rock very difficult to be honest and went over the bars twice. Does it get easier? Wouldn't want to be holding people up (would be a lack of skill rather than fitness.)

Peterx · 10-02-2009 5:51pm

Coillte appear to be making that section easier for you:) as part of their shiny new user friendly policy to walking trails.

Alkers · 10-02-2009 10:26pm

Found very few technical parts when I did it a few days back. Was carrying full camping gear and food etc in interrailing-style backpacks so that might have made it harder to go over the bars!

Straatvark · 06-03-2009 11:13pm

michael196 wrote: »

I hav an ambition to cycle the wicklow way in summer 2009, Dublin to Clonegal

Any one intertested in participating with me ? No dates set .

In one or two days?

michael196 · 07-03-2009 7:54pm

given current fitm\ness 1.5 to 2 days should do it.....

ryan_sherlock · 04-10-2009 5:35pm

Pulling this thread back up...

Last year I broke the record for riding the Wicklow Way (132km offroad) and my partner, Melanie Spath (also an Elite level mountain biker) supported me. Yesterday, it was my turn to return the favour as Mel took on the challenge. She had horrible conditions to start (gales etc... nuts weather) but had good conditions for the second half.

After 8 hours and 55 minutes, she arrived in Clonegal cutting more than 3 hours off the female record. It really was an amazing ride! Like I did, she will be posting a report to her blog (www.melaniespath.com) pretty soon. She had this to say on another forum.

"Hi guys,

I'm fed, showered and pretty tired. Thanks so much for the good luck wishes - I really needed some luck when I trudged alongside Djouce Boardwalk in sideways sheeting rain and galeforce winds. It definitely wasn't the most ideal day to try an attempt. At least the weather improved during the 2nd half of the way and I even had some sunshine in the end.

Thanks also the the two MAD guys shouting encouragement on the WW near the Tibradden path.

I'm not quite sure yet if I enjoyed the attempt, but it was definitely a character building experience!

I'll write up a more detailed blog post soon.

Thanks,
Mel."

blorg · 04-10-2009 5:51pm

Well done to Mel on that, it was really horrendous conditions yesterday morning even on the road. Was out at the National Trails Day with some MAD guys this morning and the record was mentioned, impressive stuff. I would really like to cycle the way myself at some point, might be thinking of more than one day though, your record is safe from me Ryan! Step #1 would be to get over Three Rock without crashing

Enduro · 04-10-2009 7:51pm

That's an awsome time by Mel. Not many blokes would be able to beat that time, even in good conditions.

Caroline_ie · 04-10-2009 9:30pm

well done to Mel

Sean02 · 18-10-2009 10:44pm

Mockler looking forward to joining you on your proposed Grand Canal charity but leave the W W to the walkers. When Failte Ireland and OPW design a suitable envirormental friendly course like i saw for Scottish highlands this morning on BBC Tv. Then its time to contemplate cyclist using this fantactic route. Having walked the route and cycled a number of E2E 's in my opinion your under exstimating the enormity of the challenge

michael196 · 07-08-2010 1:23am

Folks

any takers to accompany on a wicklow way attempt in september , 1 day attempt. Over the past year I have explored sections ( knockree to ballinsatoe). cycling fitness has improved and I have GPS onboard these days with a route. If you interetsed , let me know.

neris · 08-08-2010 10:12pm

Is camping allowed anywhere on the wicklow way? take it the bikes would be safe enough, cant see the skangers hitting the hills at 3am to do a bit of thieving

brayblue24 · 08-08-2010 11:45pm

neris wrote: »

Is camping allowed anywhere on the wicklow way? take it the bikes would be safe enough, cant see the skangers hitting the hills at 3am to do a bit of thieving

With the exception of maybe Knockree which is popular for camping by all sorts there would be no problems anywhere else on that entire route from what I remember from walking it (not in one day you understand)

shnoop · 02-09-2010 7:29pm

Looks like i'll be tackling this challenge sometime next week.Pretty much commited and will be accompanied by one of Irelands top roadies.Just read all pages in this thread and found some very good advice.I don't know if i'm capable of doing this so i'm scared and excited at the same time! the longest event ive done before is the Mam Turks Walk and that took 9 hours.Thankfully my partner and i are pretty well matched off road and finished the Cooley thriller within 5 minutes of each other.I will be completely self sufficient and will carry all required food,for drinks I will use mountain water and Nuuns hydration tablets.The bike I will use is a Giant trance Advanced sl and yes I know a hard tail would be quicker (but not much) and comfort has to count for something also my number one goal here is to complete in 1 day and the time will be secondary evan though a quick time would be nice.I'm pretty much ready to go and evan have a garmin file (thanks mel) to keep me on track so hopefully the weather will hold as the last few days have been perfect.Don't know how much interest in this there still is but i decided to post in case theres still a few like me that have been toying with the idea and would find this post helpful.

Alkers · 02-09-2010 10:03pm

Best of luck!

Idleater · 02-09-2010 10:53pm

shnoop wrote: »

Don't know how much interest in this there still is but i decided to post in case theres still a few like me that have been toying with the idea and would find this post helpful.

Best of luck with it, and I for one would be interested to hear how you get along. It's something that is on my "to do" list.

ryan_sherlock · 03-09-2010 8:47am

Good luck with it and I hope you have good weather.

Cookie_Monster · 03-09-2010 10:44am

shnoop wrote: »

Looks like i'll be tackling this challenge sometime next week.Pretty much commited and will be accompanied by one of Irelands top roadies.Just read all pages in this thread and found some very good advice.I don't know if i'm capable of doing this so i'm scared and excited at the same time! the longest event ive done before is the Mam Turks Walk and that took 9 hours.Thankfully my partner and i are pretty well matched off road and finished the Cooley thriller within 5 minutes of each other.I will be completely self sufficient and will carry all required food,for drinks I will use mountain water and Nuuns hydration tablets.The bike I will use is a Giant trance Advanced sl and yes I know a hard tail would be quicker (but not much) and comfort has to count for something also my number one goal here is to complete in 1 day and the time will be secondary evan though a quick time would be nice.I'm pretty much ready to go and evan have a garmin file (thanks mel) to keep me on track so hopefully the weather will hold as the last few days have been perfect.Don't know how much interest in this there still is but i decided to post in case theres still a few like me that have been toying with the idea and would find this post helpful.

I'm sure its been mentioned previously but as the WW is a way marked route you are not entitled to cycle on it, apart from the road section. You run the risk of meeting many irate hikers

Morgan · 03-09-2010 1:35pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

You run the risk of meeting many irate hikers

Not really - I've hardly met any over the years.

columbus_66 · 03-09-2010 2:08pm

That's ok we'll be leaving at 8am so I don't think many hikers will be out at that time. And the further south we go the less people there will be. It's a trip into the unknown for me, I have done mainly road including the Ras loads of times and a good bit of touring but on good roads! At least if the weather is like this it will be faster.

Cookie_Monster · 03-09-2010 2:47pm

Morgan wrote: »

Not really - I've hardly met any over the years.

My old Cub leader used to (and I hear still does) give out yards to any cyclist he met up on the route

my only annoyance with it is the stupid trenches and dips that have been dug in to try and dissuade MBers, not good walking either. I think its fair enough to have a few very limited routes off limits to all but walkers...

Morgan · 03-09-2010 2:56pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

My old Cub leader used to (and I hear still does) give out yards to any cyclist he met up on the route

He sounds like a fun guy

.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

my only annoyance with it is the stupid trenches and dips that have been dug in to try and dissuade MBers, not good walking either. I think its fair enough to have a few very limited routes off limits to all but walkers...

Yeah, they've really ruined the flow of a lot of trails and don't really do much to dissuade. I think most routes are suitable for mixed-use as long as everyone is considerate.

mtbireland · 03-09-2010 3:00pm

The trenches are for drainage... although they might make them a bit big sometimes to put bikes off... very easy to ride over anyway... makes it interesting.... I've very little issues with walkers..you see them coming..you slow right now..you say hello.. you get the odd grumpy one that doesn't say hello back... anyway...

you'll really enjoy it columbus_66.... don't under estimate how far this is.... bring loads of food and gels.... try and keep it nice and steady and avoid stopping too much... and if possible don't ride with anything on your bike... two 750ml bottles on the bike and just refill in rivers and shops along the way... A camalback will drive you nuts..digging into your shoulders and swinging around and making your back sweating... also a lot of weight on your back.

I attempted this one back in the very early 90's.... was out with Robin and a load of others... Robin was on a mission and we soon split up... I was on my own hitting laragh and called it a day as I didn't fancy doing the rest on my own.. Robin got half way up the back of Fairy and got the knock... had to roll back down and knock on a strangers door to get a lift home..!

columbus_66 · 03-09-2010 3:21pm

Yes I was thinking of bringing a camelback but I am not used to them so I might just stick with 2 big bottles, and refill in streams. We will have to go off course to go to a shop so we might not do that and just bring all my out of date Power bars! I will be certainly be taking it easy at the start keeping HR below 140 maybe. At least the hardest part is early on and I am looking forward to the boreen's down Carlow way. If it stays this dry I might use my intermediate tyres for the extra speed. We are not racing so we won't be taking any risks.

mtbireland · 03-09-2010 3:33pm

couple more tips.... if riding in groups take turns at the front... on climbs let the weakest guy ride at the front and set the pace then on the flats and descents the stronger riders can tow them along... if you make the slower person sit on the back on the climbs they will just be fecked trying to keep up and blow their lights.. let them set the pace and it will make a huge difference...

Using a GPS is great... get some gaffa tape and write the height of all the major climbs and the distance into the route when they appear. You can then watch the GPS and there will be no surprises.... great to know you are on the second last peak with 3km's to go to the top and only more more climb after that...

michael196 · 03-09-2010 10:26pm

I am interested in following you

what day do u want to try it ?

my availability next weeks is :

friday 10th or tuesday 7th or sunday 12 rgursday 16, tuesday 21

any of these suit ?

Could you email a copy of the tcx file

michaelnoonan196@gmail.com

-Chris- · 03-09-2010 11:42pm

This thread reeeeeally has me thinking...

michael196 · 04-09-2010 2:46am

I am aiming for september when there is still almost 12 hours of light , that drops to 10 in october .

carpe diem

columbus_66 · 04-09-2010 12:27pm

Hi Michael, We are scheduled in for next Wednesday 8th Sept at 8am. I have been thinking about this all year but the road racing season was in full swing up till now so I didn't get around to do it. And with the light I would prefer to do it earlier but we should still be ok. We'll have to keep a check on the weather forecast as well as I wouldn't like that rain we had this morning.

karltimber · 04-09-2010 12:59pm

I know you'll have enough to carry - but pics of your adventure would be cool.

enjoy,

K

columbus_66 · 09-09-2010 11:21am

Well we finally rode the Wicklow Way yesterday, it took us a bit longer than expected, 10hr 49min riding time and abour 13hr overall. We started at 8.08am and finished well after dark, we had to do the last off road section in darkness but luckily I had a good light with me. The weather yesterday was good, just two heavy showers but the track was just wrecked from that deluge of rain Sunday and Monday. There was loose rocks everywhere, mud slides, land slides, closed roads, channels were gouged out of every track. I was sould destroying doing 3 or 5km\h up some of the tracks. and it took us 7hrs to get halfway! But overall it was enjoyable as we took it steady enough, and the scenery was fantastic. I don't know how Ryan or Mel did between 8 and 9 hours as at best I think we might take an hour off our time and risk blowing up, it was like doing 2 Ras stages back to back. I'll put up some pics shortly.

columbus_66 · 09-09-2010 11:26am

Here are some pics from riding the Wicklow Way:

columbus_66 · 09-09-2010 11:28am

And a few more:

columbus_66 · 09-09-2010 11:30am

And the last few:

-Chris- · 09-09-2010 11:30am

Thanks for the update and fair play for going through with it!!!

Quite the challenge.

ryan_sherlock · 09-09-2010 11:32am

Good job! 13hrs is a great marker to set down for yourself. I know what you mean about the soul destroying sections - I waded through feet of mud and was ready to quit.

Two RAS stages... nahh, equivalent to at least 3 (hilly ones).

I have thought about doing it again, but when I do, I want perfect conditions and not much wind. The weather can play havoc on the ride... Wind for the first half, mud for the second.

-Chris- · 09-09-2010 11:33am

Cool pics btw.

LOL at the change between this:

and this:

Not quite so smiley by the end... :P:D

MarkG1975 · 09-09-2010 12:19pm

well done guys,that Trance is very fine!

columbus_66 · 09-09-2010 12:43pm

Hi Ryan, last week would have been perfect but there was a race on in Mondello. The weather wasn't bad yesterday, there wasn't much wind, it was warm, and the tracks were dry in some places. But after that storm earlier this week I don't think the tracks will be good for a long time. For example there is a steep descent after Slieve Mann and it was like a conveyor belt of rocks. I went head over here and cut my leg as I was trying to move between the gullies. I don't think your time will be beaten for a while.

shnoop · 09-09-2010 12:49pm

Some of my pics and Garmin Stats.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48190005
Having now done this Ryan and Mels times are evan more impressive,but I have to say it was very enjoyable (except for the last 5 miles) A truly epic day,oh and no irate hillwalkers!

Ant · 09-09-2010 4:35pm

Well done. That's an epic ride. I'm pretty sure ye beat the record that existed previous to Ryan and Mel's awesome accomplishments.

Cycling the wicklow Way

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