Cycling the wicklow Way

neris

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

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

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

Best of luck!

Idleater

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

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

Cookie_Monster

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

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

You run the risk of meeting many irate hikers

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

columbus_66

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

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

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

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

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

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

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-

This thread reeeeeally has me thinking...

michael196

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

carpe diem

columbus_66

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

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

enjoy,

K

columbus_66

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

Here are some pics from riding the Wicklow Way:

columbus_66

And a few more:

columbus_66

And the last few:

-Chris-

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

Quite the challenge.

ryan_sherlock

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-

Cool pics btw.

LOL at the change between this:


and this:


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

MarkG1975

well done guys,that Trance is very fine!

columbus_66

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

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

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.