Anyone know the Status of Sally Gap

scottreynolds

Hi guys,
Just finishing lunch and then heading up for a ride.

Anyone know if climbing the gap is doable on the road bike.

Scott

DirkVoodoo

Let me know how you get on Scott, I was gonna head out tomorrow.

zzzzzzzz

was up there yesterday afternoon. It's fine all the way to the crossroads from the roundwood side but the glencree side was impassable from 100m after the cross road

scottreynolds

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

was up there yesterday afternoon. It's fine all the way to the crossroads from the roundwood side but the glencree side was impassable from 100m after the cross road

Cool thanks -- I'm going up from Glencree so I'll let you know how far I get -- If I am 200 metres from the cross roads at least I know there's hope.

Eoin D

I usually get e-mails if it's in a bad state, last one I got was on Monday and it said "there are snow drifts on the road from Sally Gap to Luggala. Motorists are advised to avoid the area."

Yesterday was a lovely day though and no word today so I reckon it's alright

Or maybe it would be better to take the word of someone who was actually there....

tomc

Expect it might be bad, was up over the featherbeds to Glencree this morning and road would only take one car for stretches near the top. Minor offshoot roads were impassable.

Best O Luck

TomC

ROK ON

Wicklow 200 organisers were up there y'day and had to turn back as road was impassable.
Some very nice pics on the website.
http://www.wicklow200.ie/

nortal

ROK ON wrote: »

Wicklow 200 organisers were up there y'day and had to turn back as road was impassable.
Some very nice pics on the website.
http://www.wicklow200.ie/

How many hours would it take to do that route - based on an average cyclist

DirkVoodoo

8 hrs would be a good ride time.

The best thing you can do is just go train on the hills as much as possible, once you are familiar with the climbs you will know how to pace yourself, conserve energy and won't be intimidated by them on the day.

blorg

8 hours (in the saddle time) would be very good, average is a fair bit slower than that.

kincsem

nortal wrote: »

How many hours would it take to do that route - based on an average cyclist

I took 10h 13m in 2008 and that was average (I'm 58). Conditions were very good in 2008. You need to find the steepest hills near you and use them.

Chips Lovell

I think for a beginner, you should see 10 hours, i.e. 20kph avg, as the baseline to expect. While that does sound slow enough, there is a fair bit of climbing and that does eat into your average speed. That's riding time. Factor in at least an hour for breaks. There are two feed stations and two drinks stations along the way.

I did it in just under 8 hours last year. I'm no climber, but was moving fast enough on the flatter sections. I had trained for it the year before but missed it as my arm was in a cast, but I probably would have been slower first time out.

Ryaner

el tonto wrote: »

There are two feed stations and two drinks stations along the way.

So there are four stops at which to pick up water?

Chips Lovell

Ryaner wrote: »

So there are four stops at which to pick up water?

There was last year. Although I think the Slieve Mann one just had Powerade.

Ghost Rider

Time to start a dedicated thread about this year's W200...?

Raam

el tonto wrote: »

There was last year. Although I think the Slieve Mann one just had Powerade.

I think the other small one is in Laragh, or at least it was the last couple of years.

Chips Lovell

Raam wrote: »

I think the other small one is in Laragh, or at least it was the last couple of years.

That's right actually. I rode by it last year as I didn't need to refill. Was more water available at the top of the Wicklow Gap.

niceonetom

el tonto wrote: »

That's right actually. I rode by it last year as I didn't need to refill. Was more water available at the top of the Wicklow Gap.

this is actually a tip i would give to first timers - be wary of taking breaks at the bottom of the climbs (laragh is right at the bottom of the valley). you can lose momentum and after 15 minutes of self-congratulation re-fuelling it can be difficult to get the legs turning smoothly again. food and drink at the top of a hill tastes sooooooo much better.

blorg

niceonetom wrote: »

this is actually a tip i would give to first timers - be wary of taking breaks at the bottom of the climbs (laragh is right at the bottom of the valley). you can lose momentum and after 15 minutes of self-congratulation re-fuelling it can be difficult to get the legs turning smoothly again. food and drink at the top of a hill tastes sooooooo much better.

Good idea to eat 1 or 2 of your bars just a bit before a climb though- you should be able to do this without getting off the bike.

ROK ON

niceonetom wrote: »

this is actually a tip i would give to first timers - be wary of taking breaks at the bottom of the climbs (laragh is right at the bottom of the valley). you can lose momentum and after 15 minutes of self-congratulation re-fuelling it can be difficult to get the legs turning smoothly again. food and drink at the top of a hill tastes sooooooo much better.

Great piece of advice. One is also much more prone to cramp after a long break.
Made that mistake last Saturday.

Chips Lovell

You also notice some people taking a bit of a break in the middle of a climb, which is never a good idea.

ROK ON

el tonto wrote: »

You also notice some people taking a bit of a break in the middle of a climb, which is never a good idea.

You are correct, however some of us have no choice but to take a short break in the middle of a climb.:o
Must try harder.

Ghost Rider

Any chance we could shift the discussion to the W200 thread I've just started? I reckon it'd be handy to have all tips (especially the one about not taking a break mid-climb...) in the one place. Especially for newbies like me!

scottreynolds

Sorry to HiJack my thread back :-) ----

The status of sally gap is as follows. There's still a lot of snice (snow and ice) on either side of the roads and some patches on the roads between kippure mast and sally gap. There's nothing that you can't pass unless you afraid of getting your white SIDI word cup shoes dirty. The vids have the details and the route map shows where its okay. I presume that all the roads are now fine but I'm not going to ride them.

Nice 100kms but the snow and slight, very very slight, breeze made my feet a bit cold. Its still overshoe weather up there.

View back towards kippure mast.....


Some poor fellas car but if you going to steal a car and go 4 wheel driving this is the one


Map of the route (well part of it)




Poor videos I know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seyYkCSnvr8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygxcsFINcWU

blorg

Well done Scott, from our own correspondent on top of Sally Gap. I wonder if the 4x4 could be yer man who was airlifted off?

scottreynolds

blorg wrote: »

Well done Scott, from our own correspondent on top of Sally Gap. I wonder if the 4x4 could be yer man who was airlifted off?

I was thinking of you when I was up there :-) and your ice tires. Good Idea I think. Specifically my questions was "So now I have ice tires, what do I do?";)

Then I was thinking about how great a TV Ad would be of me on a TT bike going flat out looking at my power output (600 WATTS ) with a helmet cam coming up on Lance Armstrong pumping away for the 'Tour of Ireland', I look him in the eyes and pedal off .... then across the screen comes ... "NIKE... you never knows whats possible" alternatively the message could read "Its amazing what you can do with two"

Chips Lovell

Scott, I think you just upped the ante on ride reports with that one.

blorg

Lumen is the guy with the ice tyres I just try to manage with what I've got on the basis that this doesn't happen this often. The mountain bike has been a hell of a lot of fun in the packed snow though and has amazingly good grip.

Raam

Scott, that's class. Nice work.

scottreynolds

el tonto wrote: »

Scott, I think you just upped the ante on ride reports with that one.

I'll have to carry an HD Helmet cam next time :-)

DirkVoodoo

Scott you are mad. Nice pics and photos though, I will be mostly avoiding the gap this week.

jlang

I was up there this afternoon (first time cycling in Wicklow Mtns, nice day for it). Up from Roundwood/Lough Tay and down to Laragh. No ice/snow on the road, but enough in the fields to recognise winter. I don't think my photos would be up to the new standard above - not enough snow for a start.

On a geographic note - is the "Sally Gap" the crossroads at the top, a particular approach or through road or the whole general area?

Ghost Rider

That's some great reporting there, dude. What sort of mike does your camera have? The sound quality is surprisingly good, especially on the second video.

scottreynolds wrote: »

I'll have to carry an HD Helmet cam next time :-)

scottreynolds

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

was up there yesterday afternoon. It's fine all the way to the crossroads from the roundwood side but the glencree side was impassable from 100m after the cross road

Meant to say a big thank you -- I was 300m from the road on my video so your advice was invaluable. 'One Gold star for that man'

scottreynolds

Ghost Rider wrote: »

That's some great reporting there, dude. What sort of mike does your camera have? The sound quality is surprisingly good, especially on the second video.

Sorry missed this..... Its a Nokia N95 phone :-)

Raam

scottreynolds wrote: »

Sorry missed this..... Its a Nokia N95 phone :-)

Give us a commuter race report on the phone will ya?

Chips Lovell

I'll buy a drink for anyone who can deliver a video report from a proper race.

Raam

el tonto wrote: »

I'll buy a drink for anyone who can deliver a video report from a proper race.

Hardly seems worth it. Make it two drinks

scottreynolds

el tonto wrote: »

I'll buy a drink for anyone who can deliver a video report from a proper race.

It was a proper race -- no one turned up -- I presume they didn't like the weather -- I earned my world cup stripes fair a square. I will now buy SIDI world cup shoes and a new bike -- or I may ask Scott, the company, to paint mine.