The Wicklow 200 (2009) Thread

LastGasp

AstraMonti wrote: »

First of all a big thanks to Neil for keeping me so good company in the whole ride, man i know you could it faster if you didn't have me around

No problem Astra, it was a pleasure to have someone to share the pain ! If I had gone faster I could well have blown up, so probably just as well !
Since your Garmin died, my Cateye says we did 194.4k, 9h 19m, Av 20.8. I enjoyed my first WW 200, more thanks to all who persuaded me to give it a go. Slieve Maan was a pain up to the end of the woods on the right, the rest all felt reasonably OK. Rathdrum to Roundwood felt like the longest 15k ever !

Greyspoke

So, mission accomplished, W200 on the fixie! Boy am I feeling pretty shattered now! I reckon that must have been just about the hardest thing I've ever done and I've done a few daft things in the past.
While it was pretty tough, I suppose it went as good as I could have hoped. The stretch that I knew would be the hardest, over Slieve Maan and Shay Elliot, was indeed that, but I managed to ride up (and down!) them both without any stops and I think I actually felt worst when I hit the road to Rathdrum and it was a few kms before I got going properly again.
Total ride time was 7.58. Were there any other fixies/single speeds out there today?
Anyhow, well done to everyone that rode today however you did it!

xz

TinyExplosions wrote: »

There were a few people on them... were you the one offering the painkillers? If so thanks, if not -thanks to whomever that boardsie was!

Knee is ok, so long as I don't put much weight on it. It's strapped up, elevated and has been well iced, so I'm hoping it'll be ok

No, I was the big fat bloke with a blue jacket on:D

Itsfixed

Hi

Thanks for all the encouragement yesterday over my dilemma about doing the 200 instead of the 100. Very glad i did it.

Maybe I should finally shell out for a boardsie jersey as it was difficult to find a group at the start because I've only ever met Tiny Explosions (sorry to hear about the knee, mate), Petethedrummer, unionman and blorg who were all off like a shot. bit shy y'see

However i bumped into a MTB'ing friend and his mate at Donard so we grouped together for the second half.

10h15min, a bit ****e compared to the rest of you, but having only ever cycled up to 100km, its one more story for the grandkids. Great day

AstraMonti

Greyspoke wrote: »

So, mission accomplished, W200 on the fixie! Boy am I feeling pretty shattered now! I reckon that must have been just about the hardest thing I've ever done and I've done a few daft things in the past.
While it was pretty tough, I suppose it went as good as I could have hoped. The stretch that I knew would be the hardest, over Slieve Maan and Shay Elliot, was indeed that, but I managed to ride up (and down!) them both without any stops and I think I actually felt worst when I hit the road to Rathdrum and it was a few kms before I got going properly again.
Anyhow, well done to everyone that rode today however you did it!

Man.. you are a legend

And blorg you too for doing it on sandals on this (cold!) weather!

unionman

I managed the 200 in 9 hours 45 minutes (cycling time). I'm pretty happy with that because my target was 10, and until today I had no way of knowing if I could even manage that.

I was lucky to fall in with The Tax Man for most of the day, good company and patient with me during phases of tired legs. We met up with mloc123 in Rathdrum and the three of us stayed together rest of way back.

Hardest part was the first 25k or so out of Rathdrum. Sapped legs, headwind, rolling road. Even Slieve Maan was 'easier' relatively speaking. The two consecutive monster climbs were mad, although I was chuffed with myself for getting through them both (no stopping, no walking, no blowing up like I used to when I started cylcing in the hills last year).

Last few kms up to Djouce and I started to feel good again, and once on the descent, it all seemed to click into place nicely.

Very happy to have got the Wicklow 200 done.

Great to meet some familiar faces and some boardsies for the first time today. A great bunch as ever.

Chips Lovell

8:05 for myself and The Claw. Was a bit slower than last year, but I think this year's route might be a bit tougher. Have to say, I had a great day. Doing it with so many people you know really makes all the difference. Felt quite good all day (albeit painfully slow on Slieve Mann) which was good considering how shattered I was last night.

Great to see Sy again. That pink jacket was class.

irishmotorist

Overall, had a great day. But it was mixed - The negative being down to the cold and the wind and the positive being in with so many good groups. Unfortunately, I'd consider the food at the food stops another negative. Particularly in comparison to other tours, I got a sambo and a cup of tea at both food stops. I robbed a 2nd sambo at the 2nd stop because I was starving. I think that having some cake and some fruit (bananas for example) would not be asking too much. Thanks to Emty who gave me one of his bars at a hungry moment! The other tours manage to throw food at you like it's going out of fashion and it's very much appreciated. I think this is something that the WW200 organisers could do way better.

I went out without overshoes and regretted it from Sally Gap all the way to Donard where I couldn't feel my toes. I took it handy up Slieve Maan and Shay Elliott and got over both of them without any problems - apart from being slow. I ended the tour from just after Roundwood with Caroline_ie. I didn't have much left in the tank then and my knees were giving out slightly, but made it back to rounds of applause from the (presumably) paid crowd. :pac:

I saw that outcome of a few crashes along the way - some guy (?) nearly took the wing off a car around a bend before Sally Gap. I didn't see him, but judging by the car, he's not going to be in great shape. There were a few other overshot looking corners with people on the ground.

It was nice meeting so many more of you that I'd read but not seen before - too many to mention, but I'm sure I met at least half of the declared 50 that were there.

As a funny aside, I did most of the route last weekend and bumped into two guys (whose names I forget ) who were also doing some recon on the southern reaches of the route. I bumped into them at almost the same place again today and met them further on a few times. Small world.

Personally, I had a ride time of 8:54. It was hoping for a faster time, but I think the wind particularly put paid to that. Next year!

@Tiny - hope things aren't too serious with the knee. Beer and ice sound like the perfect solution

rottenhat

irishmotorist wrote: »

I think this is something that the WW200 organisers could do way better.

Oh, don't get me started...after a large meal and half a bottle of Barolo I'm starting to feel marginally less tetchy but I still have no intention of doing the Wicklow 200 ever again.

xz

Like everyone else seems to be mentioning, I was pretty spent form Rathdrum to Roundwood, stopped in Round, And got a lucozade sport and a bottle of coke, and got a second wind halfway over Djouce and made good progress from the descent to the finish.
Finished with a ride time of 9HRS 15MINS, had thought I would manage around 8 to 8 and a half hours, but considering the way I felt for most of the day I was happy enough just to finish

Nietzschean

food stops might have left a fair bit to be desired, but the marshalling was very good i thought, especially handy coming down from SE when they stopped the traffic , blind corner would have left us all at a pretty much standstill otherwise... like everyone else that rathdrum to roundwood was though work, thought it would never come! it looked so close on the gps......

Caroline_ie

Had to let everyone go at stepaside. Was on my own for until the descent to Kilbride. Caught up with a few boardsie people on the way. Too wrecked to type more. I am going to bed.

irishmotorist

Nietzschean wrote: »

The marshalling was very good i thought, especially handy coming down from SE when they stopped the traffic ...

+1
Yep, I have to agree there. The bits annoying me were the only ones that popped into mind, but that should be mentioned too. Also, check in seemed much quicker than it was last year!

E@gle.

blorg i liked your attack at the end, The lights changed on us so you were well gone

Raam

E@gle. wrote: »

blorg i liked your attack at the end, The lights changed on us so you were well gone

Ya have to watch that Blorg fella closely. He'd attack his own shadow.

E@gle.

Raam wrote: »

Ya have to watch that Blorg fella closely. He'd attack his own shadow.

He had the traffic light sequence timed perfectly

Raam

E@gle. wrote: »

He had the traffic light sequence timed perfectly

The benefits of recon.

Caroline_ie

... i did say hi to Sean Kelly while he was having pause naturelle ...

The_Claw

I found the ride from Rathdrum to Roundwood - and beyond, over Djouce - a total death-march. Endless, horrible, and no doubt to replace re-sitting the Leaving Cert in my nightmares for many years to come. Stuck with the peloton for a little while - determined to hang in there until I'd taken my pull - those involved will have notice the group slow conspicuously at that point, and even begin to move backwards - but I burned myself out and dropped back and until I got out of Enniskerry felt utterly miserable and unsure why I was even here, or why anyone in the world anywhere would ever cycle for pleasure. Thanks to Tonto for staying back to make sure I didn't chuck my bike in a ditch and go to live in the woods.

There were some really good points to the day too - I got up the hideous climbs respectably and was proud of myself for finishing the sucker despite misery. As ever, the company was really the high point - thanks to Dirk for hanging out and lifting my spirits, and to ghostrider for a great discussion of the work of david lynch and others. If rottenhat had been there we could have started a salon.

Crap to see Tiny have to bow out. Also crap to see that after X years of putting this event on, and charging people a lot of money, the IVCA still can't organise a few sandwiches. They ran out of bars at 11.15. I'm sure there are all kinds of complications to the event that we don't know about, but please, folks, get it together.

Not sure to be gratified or frightened to learn that there are a lot of maniacs out there who are worse cyclists than me. Half-wheeling, overtaking without a word from every side at every conceivable point. A lot of these geezers were into their sixties. Has age taught them nothing? It was like watching King Lear acted out on, like, bikes. With overtaking instead of words.

Raam

Any info on the crashes? I heard of two. One near Powerscourt and one near Shay Elliot or Slieve Mann I think.

In bits. 9h 58 cycling time door to door, 207km. All i'll say right now that cycling with a medal on is much more awesome than not cycling with a medal on. That and sorry again to tax man and unionman for leaving early at donard.

kenmc

7h28 on the saddle for me. got back just ahead of EH, saw the 7.5 hours was on from around enniskerry, and somehow managed to find the energy to timetrial it home. was struggling from rathdrum to around roundwood though like everyone was, but hung in there and got a second wind, it really helps having done those roads so many times.
Back a bit sore now, and legs tired, but the medicinal beers have been had, fat and carbs have been absorbed and it's off to bed for me!
Well done to all, and get well to Tiny.

showry

My first Wicklow - 8:05 in the saddle for me,
one of our clubmates broke a pedal coming out of Rathdrum so we kind of limped back from there.
It was a bit easier than I expected but maybe that was down to the pace we were going. I did enjoy the climbs though, they weren't as hard as I'd been expecting.
Donard was a disaster, we gave up queuing and went to the shop. For that money you expect a lot better, the ROK and Sean Kelly leave it in the shade from a food point of view.

FrankGrimes

Sometimes you gotta just rely on the fountain of profoundness that is Johnny Drama (Entourage) to truly express how you feel, and this is defo one of them!

8hrs 12mins in the saddle for me so I'm pretty damn chuffed with myself right now having beaten my 9hrs target and second target of not getting off the bike on any climb...regardless of how slow I was up the big ones. Add in 9km from home to UCD in 22mins and I break the 200 barrier for the first time ever with 201km in 8hrs 34mins.

Beer is tasting better than ever right now. Cold bath for 30 minutes worked out even better than expected but I'm sure I'll be out for the count soon enough.

Got to talk to a few of the boardsies and I'm always struck by how decent and friendly boardsies always seem to be...there's something about the boards ethos that always comes through. Now I've managed the 200 I'll feel more inclined to come to the boards spins as I'll be less fearful of ruining the rythym of the group.

Not out of Rathdrum though! I'd stuck to my plan of eating up as many miles as early as possible and was pushing hard on the rolling terrain to get ahead of time I'd lose on the climbs and was delighted with things to Donard though I was surprised at how few groups/individuals were working a line,ófferred my wheel several times on terrain I was suited to but no reciprocal bites, just streamlining me. So I was pretty much solo after I lost the medium/fast boards group after 5k while chatting. Enjoyed a stint with the boardsies after Donard (where I spent a crazy amount of time in queues for a poor food offering and strange tasting water).

So all looked good....till 2km before the nasty climb before Slieve Mann my chain slipped of and I stupidly forgot to unclip in the panic of getting to the side without endangering the group....ended up snotting myself whacking the elbow on ground and a mild cut on the knee. So it was back to solo riding for the big climbs, but I guess the adrenaline of the fall did me good.

I underestimated how tough the 45-50km in from Rathdrum would be and I totally hit the wall 5km out of Rathdrum with thighs frozen up and no energy. Couldn't hang onto the slickly moving boards group at all at that point and went through a tortuous hour or so of pure unadultered sufferring. Popped more energy gear and got my mojo back just outside of Roundwood and was really surprised at the recovery but made the most of it and pulled back a lot of time on that stretch - I was sure I'd let all my good early work go to waste.

It's a great sense of achievement having done this and I'd encourage anyone to give it a shot....put in the training and you'll do it. I do want to say a big THANK YOU to all contributors on this forum - I know without a shadow of a doubt that I wouldn't have been able to get to this stage without the fantastic selfless advice and support offered on here. I owe a fair few of you a pint so if you see me in a boozer, shout to claim it

kenmc

yeah the queueing was a pain inthe hole. especially as there was no reason to, since they were not swiping the cards to record your visit. the queue was 2 lenghts of the yard and out the gate when I was leaving. terribly organized.

FrankGrimes

@Tiny - tough break with the knee, hope it comes good. That was me pushing the pharmaceuticals in Donard, hope you got sorted in the end, fair play for trekking it to Donard after picking up the injury.

@blorg - 7h02m? :eek: Seriously, seriously impressive, as the boardsie beside you when I saw you afterwards said - you're a beast, in the best meaning of the word.

@Greyspoke - never met you but I'd say you're some mad hoor even thinking about doing the 200 on a fixie, let alone pounding on a savage time like that.

Random thoughts:

-Perpeteum Extreme Endurance powder = your only man. It's pretty much like a meal in a bottle and gives a sustained energy release instead of a spike and lull.

-Rocatane = your only backup man. I stayed off the short energy burst gels and went for this and the above - stomach couldn't handle much more solid foods so I'dve been dead without these dedicated endurance fuels.

-Who'd have thunk lowering the seatpost by a mere 1cm could make the difference between being in hassle and being in comfort for the first time ever?

TinyExplosions

TinyExplosions

FrankGrimes wrote: »

@Tiny - tough break with the knee, hope it comes good. That was me pushing the pharmaceuticals in Donard, hope you got sorted in the end, fair play for trekking it to Donard after picking up the injury.

Cheers -sorry I didn't put usename and that together -was concentrating on just pushing the pedals round at that stage. Thanks again though!

FrankGrimes wrote: »

-Who'd have thunk lowering the seatpost by a mere 1cm could make the difference between being in hassle and being in comfort for the first time ever?

And lowering the seatpost by 2cm would make the difference between a grand WW200 and a dead knee!

sy

Really enjoyed the day and that was down to the excellent company. I met some boardsies for the first time last year on the W200 and briefly at the recent Orwell Randonnee but I can honestly say a nicer bunch of individuals would be hard to find in any peleton. New acquaintances today were Dirk Gavin ghostwriter (and his companion whos name I cant remember:o) LDB and your female friend from Orwell, barrabus, blorg, planet x and a few others that I can't think of at the moment. Great to meet up with Tonto, Tom(loved the polkadot cap) Emty
(absolute gentleman, think you deserve that coffee slice in the morning;)) Tiny (really hope that knee is back in action soon) Caroline(got confirmation of what I suspected at Orwell Randonnee) Claw who was more impressive before Djouce than he gives himself credit for! and Madhatter whom I met briefly at the start and Ken(that was an impressive time). Apologies if I left anybody out.

A special mention to Dirk and Gavin whos company and pulls over tha last 40k were most welcome. Thanks Dirk for that pull over Djouce and I was very impressed with your climbing ability. Great popential. As for Gavin I still can't believe that was your first spin over 125Km:eek: Very impressive.
Finally thanks Tonto for those descents of Slieve Maan and Shay Elliot, always a great wheel to follow. Red Bull can give you wings!
By the way that pink jacket was bought from a bargain bin for a fiver in 1987! Haven't worn it for years but was a scarey item of clothing to be seen cycling in back in those days. Now a pink bike might have been pushing the envelope a little too far!!

petethedrummer

The marshalling was great and the road markings, but it amazed me that they didn't think to have a row of tables on either side of the hall at the donard stop. Would have moved the queues twice as quick.

The pink liquid offered at the top of Slieve Mann was truly vile and I don't I can ever eat another nutrigrain or chocolate rice krispie bar again. I tried those Dioralyte sachets too today. Blackcurrant is mank. What's the best flavour? And what time did we roll out at?

I hope everyone washed their teeth.