Tour de France route Wicklow

CramCycle

To be fair going up the Wicklow Gap from Glendalough is not that tough, I do it with ease. Admittedly at less than half the speed with repeated stops to soak up the scenery.

1bryan

CramCycle wrote: »

To be fair going up the Wicklow Gap from Glendalough is not that tough, I do it with ease. Admittedly at less than half the speed with repeated stops to soak up the scenery.

would be curious to know how their times compare to when the Ras went up it a few years ago (I think the strava KOM is still from that day). Probably not possible to find it out at this stage. From what I recall of that stage, it wasn't really raced (was there even a breakaway?). They just rode around and teed up the sprint finish.

Macy0161

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

This could make a great boards.ie ride to celebrate the 20th anniversary - Sat 7th July anyone??

Definitely interested, if not able to commit at this remove!

Weepsie

1bryan wrote: »

would be curious to know how their times compare to when the Ras went up it a few years ago (I think the strava KOM is still from that day). Probably not possible to find it out at this stage. From what I recall of that stage, it wasn't really raced (was there even a breakaway?). They just rode around and teed up the sprint finish.

Ryan Sherlock has it by about 20 seconds from the next 2 which where on the RAS in 2013.

However, on that day (if thinking of the same day) the average speed was 43 kmph. The TdF was 40 kph. It was rainy and windy though.

Met Eireann said there were gale force gusts that day in their archive.

1bryan

Weepsie wrote: »

Ryan Sherlock has it by about 20 seconds from the next 2 which where on the RAS in 2013.

However, on that day (if thinking of the same day) the average speed was 43 kmph. The TdF was 40 kph. It was rainy and windy though.

Met Eireann said there were gale force gusts that day in their archive.

what I remember from that day was that, yes, it was windy. Very windy. It was the same day that Clare played Waterford in the munster hurling final (game was a draw. GAA fans will remember this game because it sparked off a tonne of controversy after a Clare lad got sent off. Basically, there was killings at it). It was also the day of the World Cup soccer final between France and Brazil.

I went out to watch it on the N81. I hadn't yet gotten into cycling (that tour was what initially interested me), and stood by the side of the road for an hour to see the whole thing pass by in seconds. It was a hell of a letdown. Still have regrets over not going into see the Prologue. At the time it just seemed like it would be too much hassle.

ILIKEFOOD

Yep would love to do the July 7th idea but I goning to try and get to the ROK with my auld fella which is the same date.

Probably do it in April when the mornings are brighter so to get an early start and get the horrid first 100k out of the way

MacAttackJ

robyntmorton wrote: »

Indeed, it did go up Bray Main St, but did not take the M11 Shankill bypass. It came off the N11 at Loughlinstown Hospital, and went through Shankill Village. I know, as I watched the Peloton go through there at the roundabout. Fortunately I was but a kid at the time, and found it easy to get to the railings.

Ha, I watched the tour pass from the exact same place. I recall it vividly as I was supposed to be working on the bumper cars in Bray at the time but “got delayed”. Truth be told, I recall being far more taken with la caravane publicitaire than the riders themselves. .

robyntmorton

MacAttackJ wrote: »

Ha, I watched the tour pass from the exact same place. I recall it vividly as I was supposed to be working on the bumper cars in Bray at the time but “got delayed”. Truth be told, I recall being far more taken with la caravane publicitaire than the riders themselves. .

La Caravane was of course much more interesting. It went on far longer than the cycling, which went through far too quickly in a huge bunch!

daragh_

robyntmorton wrote: »

Indeed, it did go up Bray Main St

IIRC Frank Duffs got a brand new paint job/mural in honour of the Tour going by. Think they put a viewing stand in front of it so they missed out getting on the telly.

Lusk_Doyle

1bryan wrote: »

what I remember from that day was that, yes, it was windy. Very windy. It was the same day that Clare played Waterford in the munster hurling final (game was a draw. GAA fans will remember this game because it sparked off a tonne of controversy after a Clare lad got sent off. Basically, there was killings at it). It was also the day of the World Cup soccer final between France and Brazil.

Michael O'Muirahurtaigh had nothing compared to your ability to wander!

Carawaystick

The full route can't be cycled anymore, the M11 from the top of Rathnew hill to the Beehive has prevented people cycling or on bikes going that route anymore. You have to detour via Wicklow town

But you can still go up Rathnew hill, less you miss any climbing.

Idleater

If I recall, being allowed to cycle on that stretch of about-to-open motorway was a feature of the event and the pro tour stage too. I cycled the long route event and if around would try it again in July. In theory I could cycle it on the exact same bike (albeit repainted) if I were to borrow it from the same friend who lent it last time.

NamelessPhil

The official start was a the Stephen Roche monument on Dundrum Main St. Myself and Doozerie lived locally so we walked to the crossroads at the village and stood on the corner and watched the peloton make short work of the little hill past the Garda station. The crowds were pretty good, you could hear the cheers when the flag was waved by Stephen Roche.

Later in the afternoon we cycled over to the Tallaght bypass and waited for the publicity caravan. We got a large Festina t-shirt flung at use by bored publicity girls. I think we still have it. The peloton went by in a flash and we cycled home to catch the highlights on the telly.

CramCycle

NamelessPhil wrote: »

and watched the peloton make short work of the little hill past the Garda station. The crowds were pretty good, you could hear the cheers when the flag was waved by Stephen Roche.

Love that little hill, I had the KOM on it for a long time The traffic light timings have changed slightly so unless you are doing it at night now, you never seem to get a clear run.

BowSideChamp

Imagine the prize money for the golf Irish Open is €7m. The TDF winner gets something like €500k. If we could put golf kinda money into cycling we could transform the Rás into the premium cycling event.

Wishbone Ash

CramCycle wrote: »

Love that little hill, I had the KOM on it for a long time The traffic light timings have changed slightly so unless you are doing it at night now, you never seem to get a clear run.

The current KOM holder must have got a very clear run at it - 165km/h average!

68 lost souls

Sent you a PM with some pics from the official magazine and books

ILIKEFOOD

Question for the mods - any issue with making a scan of the 1998 Irish Times special Tour pull out available to dl via a link?

ILIKEFOOD

Hope this is ok to put up

Scanned copy of the Irish times 1998 Tour special -

Mods please remove of not

https://drive.google.com/open?id=19Lc7Zsl8Kj6iTKMFzu-3T-poJqzbWcKB