The Wicklow 200 (2009) Thread

AstraMonti

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.

Yeah i noticed that too. Is there any rule that when someone overtakes you, you have to slow down or move out of your spot so he can "fit" better in? I had to do it multiple times to avoid a collision.

Lumen

blorg wrote: »

If they were overtaking at speed I'm not sure how it forced you to slow down, as they were going faster than you.

If someone slips in front of you, and you continue to maintain the same effort, you will accelerate and cycle into them due to the reduced drag.

ROK ON

@Blorg - where it arises is the following, as I see it.

In a pace line of 8 to 10 riders, two abreast, the cyclists at the tail are either not going as fast (marginal) as those to the fore, or those to the fore slow slightly as they perceive they are past the obstacle (cyclist in this case). When I hear a group trying to pass, I would try to maintain my speed, but not increase it, so that they can pass.

What happened y'day on a few times was the last cyclist in the group effectively pulled in and cut me off, so that I had to lightly apply the brakes to decrease my speed/ and in one case have a word of warning while I was doing this. Now within a short period (maybe 15/30 seconds) they were pulling away. But for that brief second, I came close to touching wheels at a time when I was trying to ensure that i was not increasing my speed (so as to avoid this).

Now, I have been riding under the assumption (just like driving) that when someone is overtaking you, that you dont alter your speed (certainly dont increase it). I would expect more than 3-4 inches of room to be kept by the last cyclist in a pace line and the obect (me) that they are over taking. Everyone taking to the road (in any vehicle) should be aware IMO, that not everyone is as experience/has same reaction times as themselves.

Raam

@Rok_On, you need to learn how to do this...

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

If someone slips in front of you, and you continue to maintain the same effort, you will accelerate and cycle into them due to the reduced drag.

OK, maybe that explains it then. If this is the case, then it strikes me that 1 of 2 things should happen (1) I should ever so slightly decelerate as a group passes or (2) the group should leve more than a handswidth of space.
Personally speaking I would find option two the safer option.

ROK ON

@RAAM - at the next boards spin, I will endevour to practice said move:D.

AstraMonti

decrrrrrr wrote: »

I was with two boards guys (didn’t catch their names) on this and the chat made it an easier climb. Emty passed us on the climb and I even got to see how he takes his famous pictures.

I think that was me and Neil

rflynnr wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't have contemplated taking part yesterday were it not for the existence of this forum.

Thats exactly the truth!

Vélo

Raam wrote: »

@Rok_On, you need to learn how to do this...

Just hit the brakes and let the gob****e fallover (then obviously stop and kick the crap out of him after everyone else has cycled over him) .

decrrrrrr

AstraMonti wrote: »

I think that was me and Neil

I'm guessing it was Neil's family who met him at the top of SE...? It was super to see the two kids running towards him with their half eaten bananas..

Seeing things like and the support from people along the way made the day go by a lot easier..

AstraMonti

decrrrrrr wrote: »

I'm guessing it was Neil's family who met him at the top of SE...? It was super to see the two kids running towards him with their half eaten bananas..

Seeing things like and the support from people along the way made the day go by a lot easier..

Yeap, two lovely kids and a lovely wife! And thats so true, the support made things a lot easier, some people were clapping as we got by.. it gave you a great feeling, i am really happy that i did it.

blorg

AstraMonti wrote: »

Yeah i noticed that too. Is there any rule that when someone overtakes you, you have to slow down or move out of your spot so he can "fit" better in? I had to do it multiple times to avoid a collision.

If you are trying to move up a group by overtaking, and want to fit into a tight gap, generally you would be expected to ask/indicate the gap you want to move into. The rider behind where you want to squeeze into may then ease off to let you in but they wouldn't have to.

That's my take on it anyway, primarily in non-racing situations. In racing situations a friend or clubmate will generally let you in.

If you are overtaking a lone cyclist it is up to you to get past him... In TT and triathlon there are specific rules about this but they would not apply directly to the W200

@ROK_ON- agree riders in groups need to realise that not everyone in a sportive is used to/comfortable with group riding. Generally if a group was passing I would be trying to latch on so I would appreciate the opportunity. You will get used to it if you do more group riding.

ROK ON wrote: »

OK, maybe that explains it then. If this is the case, then it strikes me that 1 of 2 things should happen (1) I should ever so slightly decelerate as a group passes or (2) the group should leve more than a handswidth of space.

It's not so much that you need to decelerate as just ease off the pedals. They are actually going faster than you (they are passing you after all)- as Lumen says if you keep up the same level of effort you will go faster yourself due to the change in conditions.

Riding in a paceline is a great way to get used to this, as when you rotate to the front you do exactly this, overtake the person to your left and then pull in immediately in front of them pretty much as close as possible. When the guy overtaking pulls in front of you the difference in effort required to sustain your speed is immediately noticable- one minute you are down on the drops killing yourself and the next minute you are sitting up taking in the scenery.

SBob

did the 200k yesterday, probably the toughest thing i've ever done, sally's gap knocked me for six i started cramping all over my legs and my back was in bits. By the time i got to donard i was severly regretting not taking the 100 route, which was an option as i havent managed to do any practice bar maybe 5 short cycles over the last few months. Situations like that you learn the value of fuel, some energy drink and i think 3 sandwiches as i managed to sweet talk the serving lady and i was in much better form, didnt find sliabh mann that bad except i had to stop twice to relieve severe cramping, reached the peak expecting more which was nice, shay elliot i had to walk the last third as i my legs were about to snap off. Tired reaching rathdrum, after being assured the rest was a doddle by a sympathic fellow cyclist i was disappointed to find almost a continuous climb from there to roundwood! But then got what i think was my 5th wind and coasted the last 40k in great time to make up for an horrendously slow first one hundred. Very very happy, it's a personal achievment and i couldnt be more thrilled that i did it.
Great banter between cyclist, the friendliness of those who were passing me out at 30k was not unfortunately matched by me when i was doing the same at 160, i didnt have the energy to open my mouth.

Found those times when the hot shot groups were passing by exhilerating, was impressed in general by the speeds some groups managed, particularly uphill.

Fair play to all especially the guy i met cycling a mountain bike who hadn't any cycling whatsoever under his belt but battled on, and of course i'm stunned that some of you guys did it on a fixed wheel, and in such good time

xz

The amount of times I got passed on the inside yesterday, was horrendous, I even saw a woman knocked off her bike bike on the drag up to the hairpin on Sally Gap, by being passed by some eejit on a tri bike on the inside, She duly gave him the earful he deserved, Although in saying this about half of those who passed me on the inside gave me a warning, i.e "coming through left"
A lot of this happened on climbs, as it is probably easier for them to come through, rather than go around.
I found this a bit disconcerting, especially on Slieve Mann, as I was already hugging the left of the road to begin with, and dragging my 17 and a half stone up there with that headwind was very very tough

cunavalos

Completed the 200 in 7h20min but that tells only half the story.Cycled 180km up on the saturday and have to admit that it was the worst weather conditions i have ever encountered have never been so miserable on the bike in all my life but its amazing how much a shower and hot meal perks the spirit.

Stayed in UCD but still was one of the last to check in cos i slept out the start and didnt get going till almost 8 o'clock. Struggled a bit for the first 20km as the legs were a bit sore from the previous day but gradually picked up the pace and made up a bit of time. Skipped the food station in donard and ploughed on uo the two hills , have to say i found them tough but managable and was having trouble with my gears. Coming down slieve mann chain got stuck and was able to freewheel down to the junction.
Rang the service van and spent an hour waiting for assistance. ( It was here that the accident happened a guy wearing 7-11 retro gear wasnt able to take the corner at the speed he was coming down at and hit the deck it appeared to be a hip injury and while i was there i counted 5 ambulance/medical support vehicles come and tend to him - he remained fully conscious throughout but was in a good deal of discomfort)
The mechanic diagnosed my problem as an unwound cassette but didnt have the right tools to tighten the cassette he just patched me up and told me only to use the middle 3-4 rings of the cassette and to check if the mechanic in rathdrum could do anything for me.
Mechanic in rathdrum was able to tighten up the cassette and after a quick bite to eat was on my way again looking to get in to a group. passed a lot of cyclists and eventually found a good group and started getting a paceline going through roundwood and onto duece. Was on my own coming in to uCD and stopping at the traffic lights brought on massive amounts of cramp but managed to limp home the last few km's.

@Tunney were you wearing a yellow trimonkey jacket and legwarmers if so i passed you ( when you were stopped before Donard)
@ Tiny hope you get well soon (Passed you along the n81 before we turned on to the small road in fact i missed the turn off and had to double back didnt realise you were in trouble)

@ Blorg thanks for the route info from carlow to dublin, because of the conditions stuck to the n81 as much as i could

Saw a lot of boardsies about but was too shy to say hello, hope ye all enjoyed the day. Just to set off on my cycle home now, might see te at the ROK or the Sean Kelly

Cunavalos ( The biggest FRED at the wicklow 200 - merlin titanium bike in full green KBS/Medifast Kit)

tomc

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 one at the bottom of Shay Elliot was quite serious as the fella broke his pelvis according to a nurse we met in Laragh. (Went to Laragh for food as Donard was a Joke)

Great to meet some of yee on the day, It was amazing to see what 2400 people praying for good weather can actually achieve

unionman

Very glad I took the day off work today.

And yes, wearing my blue wristband:o

ROK ON

unionman wrote: »

Very glad I took the day off work today.

And yes, wearing my blue wristband:o

Noce to meet you y'day. Sorry for speeding past you like a loon down Sally Gap. But after sweating my ass of on climbs, I sort of live for descents. Anyway, catch up soon.
Cool jersey btw.

FrankGrimes

unionman wrote: »

Very glad I took the day off work today.

+1 on that. The cold bath last night was a stroke of genius - very little by way of muscle cramps today (which I've had after my previous longest cycles in the 100-120km range), just an overall feeling of tiredness. Expected to feel a lot worse though...particularly given how bad I felt on the Rathdrum-Roundwood stretch of pain.

Ah, hello there couch. I am Jules and I am your master and you're gonna payback a good chunk of your purchase price today...

Chips Lovell

Just to echo a few other people, the quality of riding on display from a lot of particpants yesterday was dreadful. It seemed to get worse during the second half of it as people got tired; but really, no matter how tired folks are, they shouldn't be all over the road like that. It's one thing riding two abreast, but another to have one guy on the left and the other hugging the centre line. You can understand it a bit on the big climbs, but on flat or rolling roads, it's a bit of a joke.

Props to emty too for getting a good rolling group organised on the way out of Rathdrum. I think it helped a lot of people get through the final leg (and apologies for going a bit nuts on my own pull).

Finally, fair play to Sean Kelly. He shows up year in year out at this and always seems to be a real gent about posing for photos with people etc. He never makes a huge song and dance about it, but the guy does an awful lot to support the sport here.

tunney

cunavalos wrote: »

@Tunney were you wearing a yellow trimonkey jacket and legwarmers if so i passed you ( when you were stopped before Donard)

That was me. Was helping some lad fix his bike.

Tails

Bit of a luker on this forum, but the W200 was great I have to say. It was great seeing all the boards jerseys out but on saying that was too shy to have a chat with anyone! Unashamedly drafted behind 333 on the way into rathdrum!:p Does anybody know the overall average for the event? I did it in 8:55 from scan to scan, didnt register in time so dont know how much of that was on the bike.

Had a great day yesterday (now that I think about it) but after descending SE at lot of my energy was gone. Was very slow getting back from Rathdrum to UCD which brought my average down a good bit. I think part of the problem was that the energy drink I took from the people at the top of SM didn't really sit well with me, and so I ended up feeling a bit sick for awhile. Dumped the rest it and went for the water + jellies routine which got my legs going again.

Just thinking, I think emty passed me... 4 times in total yesterday? Was nice meeting loads of new boardsies (and ones I had met before) and putting names to faces and all that. The cycle into work today wasn't bad to be honest, but anything to do with stairs hurt! Sorry to hear about your knee Tiny, by the way.

Oh yeah, and the people clapping at the top of Shay Elliot and at the end at UCD was a nice end to both slogs.

Ghost Rider

Yesterday was the first time I've even taken part in an event of this kind and it was easily the furthest distance I've cycled in one day, never mind on such hilly terrain. I have to thank rflynnr for kindling my interest in cycling over the past few years and for being a great cycling companion since then. Yesterday was a personal achievement for me so fair whack to you for helping me along, and I know how your kids felt when they saw you with that medal. (You can take it off now - you're at work.)

I was bowled over by the sheer presence of so many people at the Wicklow 200 yesterday. One defining moment was when we were approaching the crossroads at the Sally Gap with about half a mile to go. I looked to my right and in the distance I could see a solid line of cyclists descending from the Gap. As most of you know, that landscape is pretty barren and yesterday the sky was slate-grey to boot, but there were a few tall trees at the bottom of the valley that were illuminated by a patch of gorgeous golden light. For some reason, that and the sight of a line of cyclists stretching a couple of miles and all heading in the direction of that bright light made it a sublime moment for me.

Leaving Cert lyricism aside, I was delighted to meet several Boardsies in the flesh: The Claw, sy, El Tonto, blorg, ShortCircuit, Niceonetom, DirkVoodoo, LDB, TinyExplosions and others whose names I didn't catch. (Who was that chap with Niceonetom an DirkVoodoo on the grass at Rathdrum? Sorry - didn't catch your name. We also ran into another friendly boardsie coming out of Rathdrum, just after that sharp right turn. Was it emty...?) A more charming bunch you couldn't hope to meet. Thanks to you all for making it such an enjoyable day, particularly by counterbalancing the (i.e. my) physical suffering with tremendous sociability. Sorry I didn't get to meet the rest of you who were there, such as Unionman, but I'm sure I will.

The cycling itself I found pretty tough in the obvious places - Slieve Maan and the Shay Elliott - but the section from Rathdrum to Enniskerry surprised me with its hillynesss. In fairness, that probably says more about the rider at that particular time than it does about the terrain. About 1km from Roundwood, my lower back had become quite inflamed so I had to stop and stretch for a bit. Luckily, afraid for the well-being of my undercarriage the previous night, I'd brought with me a tiny quantity of Assos chamois cream in a little plastic tub. So I had the idea of applying some of it to my back! It worked a treat and I didn't feel any more pain until later that night, and again this morning. Now it hurts like a bleeder again, but the pain is a perverse kind of medal!

When rflynnr and I "rolled" (i.e. trundled) back in to UCD, our total riding time for the event was around 8.5 hours, I think. Considering I would have been happy with a 10-hour ride time, I was delighted and, of course, hugely relieved that it was over.

Still, as a better time-travelling cyborg than I once put it, I'll be back.

rflynnr

Ghost Rider wrote: »

I have to thank rflynnr for kindling my interest in cycling over the past few years and for being a great cycling companion since then.

Right back atcha man.

ROK ON

It is amazing how many folk found the strech of road between Rathdrum tough.
I recall Lumen saying to me leaving Rathdrum, that if we pushed a casual pace of 25km/hr we would be making it home in maybe close to 8hrs, as opposed to my target of 9.
We lost an hour of time on that road and came home around 9hrs. Amazing. I had a feeling that the bit after we finished climbing and then had a rest would be tough.

Another highlight of the day for me was the crazy laugh that Lumen gave out as he TT'd it past me on the way up the SE. I honestly thought that you had lost it at that stage.

Also, did anyone ee the guy at the start line on a TT bike with a small round/oval shaped saddle, with no nose on the saddle. It seemed like something that one would just lean on (like a ledge) as opposed to actually sit on.

Esroh

cunavalos wrote: »

Cunavalos ( The biggest FRED at the wicklow 200 - merlin titanium bike in full green KBS/Medifast Kit)

If you are who I think thanks for takeing over the front on the way up Djouce from the Westernlakes guy who the couple of Nordies were wheelsucking. I know my buddy(had a gilet over a yellow jersey with a Donkey inside a bike wheel-Asal Ironnaigh Gallaimh) took over from ya ust as nature called me at the top and I lost ye.
That would be the one thing that gets to me on W200 when people never even acknowledge you, sit in and then when a faster group passes and your feeling the effects of taking the wind they just sail off.If I not able to do my bit I will atleast explain that to others.

Re the Garmin/MYR differences .Bike Garmin if anything like my hand held Etrex Vista will record every metre change in altitude as you go along the road.So even the rise up to the roundabout in UCD is recorded. Presume MYR must have a criteria for climbs

lukester

On the Garmin thing, we have quite a variety of figures from different Garmins for the total ascent. Are they just inherently inaccurate, or is there some other factor at play?

Lumen

lukester wrote: »

On the Garmin thing, we have quite a variety of figures from different Garmins for the total ascent. Are they just inherently inaccurate, or is there some other factor at play?

It's possible that my figure includes the number of times I picked up my bike after throwing it in a ditch.

Chips Lovell

ROK ON wrote: »

It is amazing how many folk found the strech of road between Rathdrum tough.

For everyone who found this bit tough, I will say that a few more years of cycling will make all difference. Once you build a bit more leg strength up, it's possible to keep motoring over this kind of terrain even when you are tired.

Esroh

lukester wrote: »

On the Garmin thing, we have quite a variety of figures from different Garmins for the total ascent. Are they just inherently inaccurate, or is there some other factor at play?

Could be loss of sat coverage at different times. I know from walking you'd be surprised how often it can be lost.
If you can load the file it on to a programme any loss will show up as gaps