Saturday Spin: 24th May

TinyExplosions

10:00 from Harolds Cross Dog Track, 10:!5 Dundrum.

Route to be decided (el_tonto was talking about having one in mind aimed at taking the Wicklow Gap from behind -ooer missus :eek:)

Chips Lovell

Yes, here's the one I was thinking of. Starting from Dundrum, get out onto the Firhouse Road and then up the climb at Bohernabreena. Then on to Blessington, Valleymount and up the Wicklow Gap from the Western Side. After Laragh, go up the Sally Gap from the South, up by Glenmacnass Waterfall and then home via Glencree and Rathfarham. 110km from a starting point in Dundrum and finishing back in town.

Also, would anyone else be amenable to an earlier start time? 10 is fine for shorter spins, but with the W200 coming up and people putting in long rides, it means you're out for half the day. Even just an hour earlier would make a difference.

niceonetom

el tonto wrote: »

Yes, here's the one I was thinking of. Starting from Dundrum, get out onto the Firhouse Road and then up the climb at Bohernabreena. Then on to Blessington, Valleymount and up the Wicklow Gap from the Western Side. After Laragh, go up the Sally Gap from the South, up by Glenmacnass Waterfall and then home via Glencree and Rathfarham. 110km from a starting point in Dundrum and finishing back in town.

Also, would anyone else be amenable to an earlier start time? 10 is fine for shorter spins, but with the W200 coming up and people putting in long rides, it means you're out for half the day. Even just an hour earlier would make a difference.

+2

that route looks suitably challenging without being overly mental, and i haven't done it before.

i'd be in favour of an earllier start too. 9 o clock would be good. 8 even.

petitioning for an earlier start, dear lawd, what have i become?...

TinyExplosions

niceonetom wrote: »

+2

that route looks suitably challenging without being overly mental, and i haven't done it before.

i'd be in favour of an earllier start too. 9 o clock would be good. 8 even.

petitioning for an earlier start, dear lawd, what have i become?...

9 is good for me... shall we change it to 9 Harolds Cross / 9.15 Dundrum?

kenmc

Me drinking in Brugge for the weekend. There IS no 9am there, cos it's an hour ahead.
Have fun.

blorg

You guys aren't doing the Mick Byrne 200 on Sunday then? ;-)

emty

Very nice route,early start sounds good,btw is the ras going through wicklow tomorrow?

Chips Lovell

emty wrote: »

btw is the ras going through wicklow tomorrow?

You're right, just checked and it is. They'll be coming over Slieve Maan, through Laragh and onto Roundwood, so we'd only possibly intersect with them in Laragh.

TinyExplosions

kenmc wrote: »

Me drinking in Brugge for the weekend. There IS no 9am there, cos it's an hour ahead.
Have fun.

Rome a couple weeks ago, Brugge this weekend... you're earning too much money man!

Mick Byrne is out for me, as I pulled a muscle on Wed on the track, and don't think it'd last 200, so a ton tomorrow, and maybe see about the 100 on Sun

kenmc

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Rome a couple weeks ago, Brugge this weekend... you're spending too much money man!

Fixed

emty

Would it be possible to arrange it so that we are in laragh the same time as the ras?.Might be nice to take a look.

TinyExplosions

emty wrote: »

Would it be possible to arrange it so that we are in laragh the same time as the ras?.Might be nice to take a look.

I wouldn't mind a gander either... we could pretend to be all continental, lining the streets in our cycling gear cheering the chaps on -if only we had our boards kit, and it was being televised we could get on d'telly

trek climber

Any word yet on when you are likely to get the boards kit ?

Chips Lovell

emty wrote: »

Would it be possible to arrange it so that we are in laragh the same time as the ras?.Might be nice to take a look.

My club just sent out an email looking for people to cheer them on. They've provided the following estimated times, based on the possible fastest times.

Slieve Maan Category 14:10
Drumgoff 14:19
Laragh 14:26
Annamoe 14:31
Finish Line at Main Stree Roundwood 14:47

TinyExplosions

trek climber wrote: »

Any word yet on when you are likely to get the boards kit ?

Should be sent out from Portugal by the end of the month, and I was assured we'd have it by the W200, so should be a couple weeks!

el_tonto, what time should we leave to get to Laragh in time based on your info?

Raam

el tonto wrote: »

My club just sent out an email looking for people to cheer them on. They've provided the following estimated times, based on the possible fastest times.

Slieve Maan Category 14:10
Drumgoff 14:19
Laragh 14:26
Annamoe 14:31
Finish Line at Main Stree Roundwood 14:47

I was gonna try see them while they are on the way up Drumgoff, they'll be at their slowest there, I hope, so it should be better than just watch them belt it by in Laragh. Plus it's not too far from Laragh anyway.

kenmc

ye'll really confuse the leaders if ye are climbing away up the hill as they hit the bottom of it

Raam

kenmc wrote: »

ye'll really confuse the leaders if ye are climbing away up the hill as they hit the bottom of it

It's all about the mind games
Seriously though, I'm hoping to get there early.

Chips Lovell

TinyExplosions wrote: »

el_tonto, what time should we leave to get to Laragh in time based on your info?

Should take around three hours to get to Laragh, which would see us arriving there at 12:15 if we left Dundrum at 9:15.

TinyExplosions

el tonto wrote: »

Should take around three hours to get to Laragh, which would see us arriving there at 12:15 if we left Dundrum at 9:15.

So do we leave later, hang around in Laragh, or what way is the best way to do it? We could always act all suprised as they come through with "Oh, didn't think there'd be anyone else up here" when they come past

Chips Lovell

To be honest, while I wouldn't mind seeing the Ras, it's a bit late in the day for me. Hanging around until it goes by means not getting home till after five o'clock.

RtD

I'm probably in, though I'd like to be home, washed, fed and back out to the pub by the time the rugby starts.

TinyExplosions

Then I think the best is to stick to 9 / 9.15 to start then, and screw the Ras

See yer tomorrow

Chips Lovell

kenmc wrote: »

Me drinking in Brugge for the weekend.

They're filming midgets!

dub_skav

Won't be able to join in unfortunately. Night out tonight and I really need a long spin so going to leave it until Sunday and go it alone again. Reckon I'll piss myself on the big day when I'm surrounded by other cyclists.

I'll be doing the Wicklow gap forwards (starting from Arklow) and the Sally Gap backwards. I'll be interested to hear how you all find it.

sy

Luv to join you guys but have a small "boil" in a very delicate area!! :eek:
Can't believe my luck. ( memories of a certain S Kelly in the Vuelta in the late eighties, bet you guys can't remember that one?) May have to rest it for few more days. Enjoy the spin.Will you be heading out next week?

TinyExplosions

sy wrote: »

Luv to join you guys but have a small "boil" in a very delicate area!! :eek:
Can't believe my luck. ( memories of a certain S Kelly in the Vuelta in the late eighties, bet you guys can't remember that one?) May have to rest it for few more days. Enjoy the spin.Will you be heading out next week?

I would certainly imagine so!

Good luck with healing the boil, they're nasty yokes to have

Cadex

Hi, was thinking of doing a loop starting at Rathdrum, through Laragh, the Wicklow Gap around Hollywood, Donard, Rathdangan, Slieve Maan and back to Rathdrum. Have a friend with me who reckons he'd not make much over the 100, so plan is to drive to Rathdrum and cycle from there - at 09:00. The overall plan is to see more of the W200 route and get the Slieve Maan bit done. DO you reckon we'll be able to miss the Ras? I hadn't planned to meet it but wasn't thinking until I read these posts. Best of luck with the route yourselves, sorry I won't be with you this week.

emty

Cadex wrote: »

Hi, was thinking of doing a loop starting at Rathdrum, through Laragh, the Wicklow Gap around Hollywood, Donard, Rathdangan, Slieve Maan and back to Rathdrum. Have a friend with me who reckons he'd not make much over the 100, so plan is to drive to Rathdrum and cycle from there - at 09:00. The overall plan is to see more of the W200 route and get the Slieve Maan bit done. DO you reckon we'll be able to miss the Ras? I hadn't planned to meet it but wasn't thinking until I read these posts. Best of luck with the route yourselves, sorry I won't be with you this week.

That's a nice route but time wise I think you might clash with the ras around slieve maan

Cadex

Hi, Thanks for all advice. We set out to do the route anyway and it went fine. If I am honest, I suspect there were a couple of bits where we were lost but we did take in the route I planned and got in all the climbs I hoped. The idea was to see more of the W200 route and we managed that. It was a bit of a laugh to come to the top of Slieve Maan ahead of the peloton with the team cars all there! It was cool though, they were 40 mins behind us - not that there was a risk of they mixing them up with us!
Hope you got on OK with the spin lads, it sounded like a good route.

dub_skav

How did yis get on with this? How far did you end up going, how long did it take?

Managed to do my planned spin yesterday, Arklow -> Dublin via Wicklow and Sally gaps, 140k all told.
The wind was horrible

Raam

El Tonto, NiceOneTom,
is this the winding road where we pealed off from some of the other guys?
Cruagh Road:
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.245136,-6.31216&spn=0.034309,0.080338&z=14

P

TinyExplosions

dub_skav wrote: »

How did yis get on with this? How far did you end up going, how long did it take?

Managed to do my planned spin yesterday, Arklow -> Dublin via Wicklow and Sally gaps, 140k all told.
The wind was horrible

My computer endeded on just over 135Km, with about 6.5hrs saddle time. For me, it was totally knackering, the wind was bad enough to make me want to quit cycling altogether at some points on the way up Sally Gap, but made it home eventually!

dub_skav

TinyExplosions wrote: »

My computer endeded on just over 135Km, with about 6.5hrs saddle time. For me, it was totally knackering, the wind was bad enough to make me want to quit cycling altogether at some points on the way up Sally Gap, but made it home eventually!

Fair play to all so. The wind was something I hadn't really contended with up until now - not pleasant at all. On some stretches that I know and was expecting to be doing about 30km/h, I was labouring in to the wind at 15 odd km/h. If it's windy like that for the W200 I reckon it'll be a very long day

niceonetom

Cruagh Road:
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll...,0.080338&z=14

yeah, that's where that carpark is.

could one of ye lads plot out the route we took? i really liked it but i don't know what point we left the n81 at.

i learnt an important lesson on saturday night: beer is not a recovery drink.

Raam

niceonetom wrote: »

yeah, that's where that carpark is.

could one of ye lads plot out the route we took? i really liked it but i don't know what point we left the n81 at.

i learnt an important lesson on saturday night: beer is not a recovery drink.

Thanks mate.
I have it on the Garmin, I'll stick it up this evening.

kenmc

niceonetom wrote: »

i learnt an important lesson on saturday night: beer is not a recovery drink.

Where'd you get that idea from?

I think that the 'non-alcoholic' bit indicates that it's not for alcoholics...

Chips Lovell

Raam wrote: »

El Tonto, NiceOneTom,
is this the winding road where we pealed off from some of the other guys?
Cruagh Road:
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.245136,-6.31216&spn=0.034309,0.080338&z=14

P

Yep, that's it, Cruagh Road, which then merges into Edmonstown Road. You should try the climb up it sometime. It's a good one.

TinyExplosions

el tonto wrote: »

Yep, that's it, Cruagh Road, which then merges into Edmonstown Road. You should try the climb up it sometime. It's a good one.

By good one, do you mean a killer... I know all about you and your understatement of hills

Chips Lovell

TinyExplosions wrote: »

By good one, do you mean a killer... I know all about you and your understatement of hills

It's a hard one alright.

RtD

niceonetom wrote: »

i learnt an important lesson on saturday night: beer is not a recovery drink.

I find White Russians work best, a good mixture of energy and protein. Bloody Marys are good for getting your vitamin levels back up also

TinyExplosions

RtD wrote: »

I find White Russians work best, a good mixture of energy and protein. Bloody Marys are good for getting your vitamin levels back up also

You are the expert in this area

blorg

dub_skav wrote: »

Fair play to all so. The wind was something I hadn't really contended with up until now - not pleasant at all. On some stretches that I know and was expecting to be doing about 30km/h, I was labouring in to the wind at 15 odd km/h. If it's windy like that for the W200 I reckon it'll be a very long day

Try to stick in a bunch, makes it a hell of a lot easier. I punctured on the Mick Byrne 200 yesterday at around 60km and had to limp the rest of the 140km on my own. After the turn back had horrendous winds; only reprieve being the climbs where the wind was blocked by the mountain! The climbs were actually substantially easier than the flat bits, it was that windy.

dub_skav

blorg wrote: »

Try to stick in a bunch, makes it a hell of a lot easier. I punctured on the Mick Byrne 200 yesterday at around 60km and had to limp the rest of the 140km on my own. After the turn back had horrendous winds; only reprieve being the climbs where the wind was blocked by the mountain! The climbs were actually substantially easier than the flat bits, it was that windy.

I think I saw some of the folks from the Mick Byrne, somewhere near Rathdrum?

I was coming from Arklow and have to agree about the climbs, at least on the climbs it was only my legs working against me, the flats were no fun.

blorg

dub_skav wrote: »

I think I saw some of the folks from the Mick Byrne, somewhere near Rathdrum?

I was coming from Arklow and have to agree about the climbs, at least on the climbs it was only my legs working against me, the flats were no fun.

It's likely, I've attached the bottom part of the route below so you can see where we went. You certainly picked the wrong day to cycle Arklow to Dublin! (The other way would have been a dream.) Which way did you go? Over the mountains?

Raam

niceonetom wrote: »

could one of ye lads plot out the route we took? i really liked it but i don't know what point we left the n81 at.

Here ya go: <link deleted>
I'm not sure if it's my PC or Google Maps that is acting up, but sometimes the whole route isn't showing.

Edit: screw it, Google maps is confusing me today, and me an engineer. I'll sort summat else out.

rogerb

blorg wrote: »

I've attached the bottom part of the route below so you can see where we went.

Hey blorg, is that image taken from Google Maps or similar? Do you have a URL for the whole thing?

blorg

It's a screen grab from SportsTracks, was limited by the height of my monitor ;-) - I'll sort out a complete route and upload it. Can supply gpx file also!

rogerb

blorg wrote: »

I'll sort out a complete route and upload it. Can supply gpx file also!

That would be fantastic, thanks!

dub_skav

blorg wrote: »

It's likely, I've attached the bottom part of the route below so you can see where we went. You certainly picked the wrong day to cycle Arklow to Dublin! (The other way would have been a dream.) Which way did you go? Over the mountains?

I saw a group of around 15/20 with 2 or 3 off the back between Avoca and rathdrum, must have been some of the Randoneers so.

I went over the Wicklow Gap E - W, then up Sally Gap from the West, went straight through and up Luggala, round to Enniskerry from the Roundwood side (that was the worst bit, slightly uphill and into the wind) then from Enniskerry to Bray and back into the city.

I really did pick a bad day, but I figure it can't get much worse than that so it was good training

blorg

I've put the Mick Byrne 200 route up on Bikely and MapMyRide, so whichever you prefer. It is from just a bit after the start (forgot to press the "start" button, duh) to Shankill on the way back, when my battery died. MapMyRide seems to simplify the route somewhat which means it is easier to load but less accurate and has a shorter length. I've also attached a KML (Google Earth) file taken directly out of SportsTracks from the original data - this would be more accurate than the processed exports from MapMyRide (and maybe Bikely too, not sure.) So you can fly around the route in Google Earth if you like!