The Wicklow 200 (2009) Thread

Limestone1

Raam wrote: »

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

The first before the entrance to Powerscourt waterfall I think actually involved a jeep and a car going around cyclists. The second at the bottom of the shay Elliot before the turn onto the Laragh-rathdrum rd looked a lot more serious for the cyclist as he/she was carted off in an ambulance

kenmc wrote: »

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.

30 mins queuing in Donard to get a plain ham sandwich was the low point of the day. They should have just left the boxes of sandwiches in the yard - .... marshalling was very good though and all major junctions covered. Did 8h 5mins overall in the saddle and a bit gutted not to break the 8hrs but still an improvement on last year. Met a few boardsies here and there and tacked onto a fast moving boards led group (there was also a pink jersey) between Rathdrum and roundwood but could only hang on for about 3 miles. well done all and yes the cold beer tastes so sweet now .....

ps Tiny, if you were the one on the pink bike that went shooting past us going up the hill leaving enniskerry , then I am not surprised you blew a knee cap !

TinyExplosions

Limestone1 wrote: »

ps Tiny, if you were the one on the pink bike that went shooting past us going up the hill leaving enniskerry , then I am not surprised you blew a knee cap !

That most likely was me, though at that point was well in my comfort zone -I have to attack the hills to get my bulk up them

lukester

Whew, that was a long day- managed to do the 200, just decided today to follow the 200 route and give myself bail out options along the way, due to niggling knee injury and feck all training, longest spin this year has been 60k. First sportif I've done.

I found it hard in a way and easier than I expected. Slieve Maan was tough, but manageable. Shay Elliott was easier than I thought, energy gel helped with that though, I was on a total sugar rush, but those gels scare me. Also I'd psyched myself up for them both being unbearably hard.

About 10k before Slieve Maan (and the hill before it), a water car stopped at the top of a small hill, a very small hill, and some poor geezer gasped "Is this the top of Slieve Maan? I heard there's a water stop there?"

Like others, I found the drag from Rathdrum almost harder than Slieve Maan, certainly harder psychologically. Featureless bumpy road and hard to get into a rhythm. After a pitstop in Roundwood got a second wind. Came across a bunch of riders from some club, didn't catch the name, pushing one of their clubmates up Djouce and Poggio. He was coughing quite badly, didn't sound good, but he was still cycling on the flat. Had a scary moment coming down Djouce, was aiming to get a good max speed for the day but a car started reversing out of a driveway halfway down, had to brake sharpish. Not a good moment.

I and many others seemed to miss the turn off just before Enniskerry, I went straight out of habit and forgot the route went left there, but was waiting at the memorial for a friend and about 20 riders passed by asking how to get back to UCD. On the whole found the signage and marshalling very good. I was a bit peeved to only get one sandwich too though, was pretty ravenous. Couldn't understand the length of the queues either at Donard.

Bumped into a good few boardsies, nice to put faces to names, friendly bunch as always. Sorry to hear about the knee Tiny, that is sh1te.

Did 200k on the nail from my front door, averaged 20.1, slow but I'm just happy to have completed it-hope to be better trained for the Sean Kelly.

From about 11am I started fantasising about my recovery meal and I can highly recommend the Chicken Pasanda from Monsoon, they do a mean Peshwari Naan too.

CheGuedara

Well done guys n girls! - sounds like a ye had a long, hard but (hopefully) rewarding day in the saddle.

You lot deserve a round of applause!



Fair play to all of you (you've me considering it for 2010 now!). And get well soon Tiny, I hope you have a speedy recovery, bloody mid-season injuries suck.

forza_milo

Thanks to Lukester for using the Jedi mind trick to make me take the turn turn for the 200 at Powerscourt and to Barry thereafter for dissuading me from bailing at Sally Gap "Ah the 200 will be fine" and "34/25 you'll fly up Slieve Mann". Really glad to have put in the effort. Great day out punctuated by extended periods of grovelling.

Esroh

Just back in Mayo after a long day.Was in the cue for 15min in Donard when they told us they were not swiping.We had a support car there with food so eat out of it. A little p**ed I wasted the time.Rathdrum on was a killer
Tiny sorry you had to pul out ( I was the guy who asked you who you were on the run into Donard, Westernlakes CC gear)

Lumen

08:53 on the Garmin but probably closer to 09:00 (fumbled the restart after a food stop).

Unbelievably hard day. Apart from the boarsie company (which is always great) I didn't really enjoy any of it. Something like 2800m of climbing is far more than I anticipated (x3 my usual 95k spin up to Sally Gap).

My own fault for not training enough, will be better prepared next year.

My decision to TT it up to Shay Elliot ("because it's the last climb") must come as one of the worst midjudgements ever.

Worst bit of the day - seeing Tiny limping in misery at the food stop.

Best bits of the day: being clapped out on the road by the gents with the Aston; getting off the bike at the finish.

Plan for next year:

- Be trained enough to enjoy it.
- Have support car with proper coffee, quality sandwiches and chilled chocolate every hour. Carry no food, avoid all "organised" stops.
- Find a group of similar ability that will stick together properly no matter what.
- Arrange some sunshine.

jlang

Forgot to bring my water bottle so stopped at a garage on the way to UCD to pick up 1xwater, 1xLucozade Sport but that was the biggest problem of the day. Set off just after 7:30 with two mates and we hung on/off the back of a large relatively slow Dungarvan CC group until around Enniskerry. Sally Gap came and went without difficulty and really enjoyed the scenery while flying through the Lake District. Did the big queue at Donard. The chap in the queue before me got the last bar in the place so it was only the sandwich for me. The cup of tea was nice. May have stopped a bit too long as the knees were stiff when we set off again. Got in with a few other small groups and sped along to the base of the big hills.

Not far out of Donard, I realised I was now on the longest cycle I'd ever done but I really enjoyed the hills, particularly Slieve Mann, where it was great to have the energy stop at the top. I don't know if Powerade gel jellies have any magic ingredient over regular Jelly Babies but they were much appreciated. Putting on my sleeved jacket for the descent was a smart move here. No queue to speak of at Rathdrum so had another leisurely stop here. We were pretty much on our own for the ride out of Rathdrum which was a long drag - not evil as such but tough just after a stop at that stage of the day and I really felt every little hint of wind and gradient. Had another reasonable length stop in Roundwood to regroup our little group of three and eat ice-cream. Not bad on the familiar roads from there to the finish.

Moving time from computer a little over 8h30' but with stops and waits only got back to UCD after 6. Medal looks nice but I don't have any small children to impress so I place more value on efficient and well stocked food and drink stops and souvenir jerseys. Marshalls and road marking etc were excellent all along and most Wicklow-eans were very supportive but I did see one rather agressive 4x4 cause a bit of commotion speeding by just before Slieve Mann.

Quite pleased at my performance as I don't have many bike miles logged since getting the bike after Christmas but really impressed with one friend who only bought his first road bike about three weeks ago and probably doubled its lifetime mileage yesterday. I'll be back.

Saw plenty of Boardsie kit out there. Well done guys.

ROK ON

9hrs and I think something like 8500 Gramin calories for me.
I dont know what Garmin calories are in terms of real calories.



Best point:
(1) Actually finishing it.
(2) Doing in 9hrs exactly, which was my target.
(3) The fact that the weather wasn't like Sat.
(4) The encouragement at the bottom of the Poggio from the gentlemen in the vitange car.
(5) The lady on Slieve Maan who encouraged me up the entire climb. You are a lady, oh and you have a nice bum too. Thanks for the wheel.

Worst:
(1) Queueing. 9hrs cycling, 1h40mins of breaks. About an hour of that was in queues.
(2) Rathdrum to Roundwood. It was like marching behind a funeral hearse and I was in the coffin. No end of physical and mental pain. A lion bar has never tasted so good.
(3) Bummer to hear about Tiny. Get well soon.
(4) The guy who put my bke toogther made an arse of it. I realised this morning that seat post was 1cm too high and saddle was pushed way to the back (I have it toward the fore) - my fault for not checking. Also for most of the cycle I had either 50/(12-15), or 30/(21-27). I had no intermediate gearing.

Observations: While I achieved what I set out in the time I wanted for, it was much harder than I imagined, due in a large part to my own stupidity.
I spent much of the day hairing off down the road on my own, when I would have been far better advised to stay with Lumen, MLOC, Gavin, Caroline and the rest of the gang.

It is no surprise to me at all, when I saw Caroline bomb it down the road into Roundwood. Your pacing left you with energy that I had burnt at that stage. The offer of a wheel was very welcome, but I couldnt take it.

There are many boardsies (particularly me) that may benefit from a more disciplined pace group in doing these events.
By that I mean that we try to stay together on the climbs and the flats.
I am sorry to those that I tore away from y'day on the flats, and I apologise even more as some of those folks (Lumen in particular) were kind enough to wait for me at the top of Slieve Maan and Shay Elliott.

Having done this, I would be very interested in doing the Ring of Kerry and Sean Kelly as part of a group that would endevour to stay with each other as far as is possible. If anyone else is in the same boat, then I would love to hear from you before these events.

Again, there are many folks, that due to strength, experience,different goals etc, that this may not suit. This is really directed at the folks that would have benefitted from more of a group effort. I know that I would have, but have only myself to blame for the way I tackled the cycle yesterday.

ROK ON

+1 on avoiding organised stops. A disaster. Next year, I would be happy to part fund the cost of a support car (with chocolate).

fletch

Where will our official times be available? My head was in a bit of a spin so don't remember what time I arrived at

RobFowl

petethedrummer wrote: »

I tried those Dioralyte sachets too today. Blackcurrant is mank. What's the best flavour?

Generally best to go for the natural flavour. It tastes like slightly salty water but is the least vile of the lot.

Ryaner

Congrats to everyone who completed it. Lot of punctures during the day.

9:30 ride time for the W200 for me. Had really under estimated the affect of cycling with a large group!

Fair play to the organisers too. I didn't see any of the queueing and the marshalls were stopping traffic at one or two of the junctions. I did start at 6am thinking the day would take me much longer than it actually did however.

tunney

I rolled around this yesterday as well. Not officially so no comments on the food stops but two other comments - on the marshalling and the riding.

The marshalling - I thought it was timely and excellent. I was very impressed.

The riding - I have have never seen such a shocking display of riding in my live. And I'm not talking compacts, triples or even MTBs. I'm talking riding five across, sailing through lights and generally acting as if they owned the roads. Guards were ignored and general safety standards ignored as well. Its an event on open roads and some courtesy to other road users would have helped the cycle cause. (That being said all the boardsies I saw were very well behaved )

blorg

Did you do it on a TT or a normal road bike Tunney? Any more report on how you found it?

Raam

blorg wrote: »

Did you do it on a TT or a normal road bike Tunney? Any more report on how you found it?

he found it fcuking easy, alright!

RobFowl

Raam wrote: »

he found it fcuking easy, alright!

did I not see you riding back along the course to do sections again ???

Raam

RobFowl wrote: »

did I not see you riding back along the course to do sections again ???

Yeah. I had paced my Dad around the 100 route, so rode back out to Roundwood to meet LDB. I ended up doing the same distance as you guys, but on a somewhat easier route

oflahero

The_Claw wrote: »

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.

I started getting to the point where the next guy who tried to undertake me (on the inside) without warning was going to get a lashing across the calves with an extended minipump.

Soon discovered a general principle though: always ended up overtaking later on a climb those who under-took me, but those who overtook me would pretty much be better than me and stayed ahead.

Forget the moaning though. Great day out!

tunney

blorg wrote: »

Did you do it on a TT or a normal road bike Tunney? Any more report on how you found it?

Road bike. Reckoned the handling of TT on descents in groups wouldn't be safe.

I suffered like a dog. I was fatigued from the start from my Saturday ride and I was riding with two lads much stronger than myself and the ripped the legs off me - one a strong triathlete, one a strong road racer. Last 30 km (ended up with 210km) were just surviving.

LDB

Great day, no rain, no punctures, no walking .... so glad I finished it.
Falling asleep in work now

Lovely to see you all as usual and might see a few of you for drinks this week if it goes ahead.

BeerNut

My W200 story:
I didn't actually do it, of course, but I happened to be stopped at the lights at The Goat at 7.45 last night and got talking to another cyclist who was just heading back to UCD on his 13th hour of cycling. Yesterday was, he said, his 74th birthday.

Fair play, thought I.

lukester

BeerNut wrote: »

My W200 story:
I didn't actually do it, of course, but I happened to be stopped at the lights at The Goat at 7.45 last night and got talking to another cyclist who was just heading back to UCD on his 13th hour of cycling. Yesterday was, he said, his 74th birthday..

Was he wearing a blue Carrera shirt?

penexpers

ROK ON wrote: »

Having done this, I would be very interested in doing the Ring of Kerry and Sean Kelly as part of a group that would endevour to stay with each other as far as is possible. If anyone else is in the same boat, then I would love to hear from you before these events.

I was sort of thinking about this for the ROK as well. But you would have to abandon your plans to start in Kenmare

scammer101

Raam wrote: »

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

Hi Raam, the guy by Powerscourt could have been one of our group.Bit of road rash,bit of embarrassment but when on to finish sub 8h of saddle time.50+ and charging hard.Hope this sounds like the same one and not another rider who ahd misfortunate.

Lumen

oflahero wrote: »

I started getting to the point where the next guy who tried to undertake me (on the inside) without warning was going to get a lashing across the calves with an extended minipump.

I undertook a bit. There was a distinct lack of "keep left" going on - people were riding all over the place (not directed at you, obviously).

If someone is riding alone 3m from the kerb, I'm going to undertake in preference to going against the traffic.

lukester

Lumen wrote: »

Something like 2800m of climbing...

Is that right? Mapmyride only had it at 1800, I'd be more than happy to claim an extra 1000 metres :pac:

Jawgap

Congratulations to you all sounds like a very enjoyable (and sometimes tough!) day of cycling.

I can't believe that reading the well written and descriptive posts is making me regret missing out on a few thousand metres of climbing and a couple of hundred km on the Wicklow roads in less than ideal conditions:)

I'm already aiming for next year!

Well done again.

Lumen

lukester wrote: »

Is that right? Mapmyride only had it at 1800, I'd be more than happy to claim an extra 1000 metres :pac:

Depends how you measure it. Since I use my Garmin on training rides, it's the most meaningful comparison for me.

ROK ON

penexpers wrote: »

I was sort of thinking about this for the ROK as well. But you would have to abandon your plans to start in Kenmare

Nope, I would just start earlier, and hook up in Killarney. I could be persuaded to do Molls Gap twice, if the cause was worthwhile.:)