blarney cycling club

full gas

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CheGuedara

Hoping to have a crew come over for the Donal Crowley cycle on the 3rd.

Was a nice one last year - good route, pace, and nice dry cool day - if that was to go by I'd recommend it to anyone as their first big spin on the calendar

Nova_era

What's the route like in terms of difficulty?

Is there a charge/registration, or just turn up on the day?

Hoping to do this and get out for my first sportive on my new bike.

CheGuedara

Here's the skinny LINK.

Standard C.I. protocol last yr - Reg on the morning e20 w/o licence, e10 w licence (and because NOBODY will have a valid '10 licence by Jan 3rd that is to say e20 entry more than likely)

Route is quite fast (flat to undulating) with potential for high pace if you want to ride near the front - if you want to stay in the main bunch it rolls along at a grand pace. Little in the way of actual climbing by and large except for a kicker of a climb just on the return to Blarney.

Take it handy on the turkey and ham and it's a grand one to get the year rolling on.

(and no, I'm not getting commission)

adodsk

Anyone else doing this? Fancy giving it a go - never done a sportive/group ride before. Weather forecast not looking too good.

CheGuedara

Well I'm fairly sure we've half a dozen going over for it - will be keeping a close eye on the weather forcast though, maybe it'll improve!?

*Crosses fingers*

happy_73

not sure if it will make a difference to numbers but it's the same day as the Mallow 10 mile road race.. and yeah the weather looks pants!

S

CheGuedara

Not a bad ride today!

Good crowd turned up for it and the weather stayed dry which is always a plus.

Pace was high despite a 'this is not a race' warning before the off - but it soon settled down with most finding their pace and those that went with the leaders being roped in as time went along.

The whole thing was well marshalled short of a lack of direction in the last 20km, which saw a few interesting detours taken by some, but that's a small niggle.

A good day in the saddle all in all

kerryscoob

Pace high :eek: 74 odd Km and from what I'm hearing 1st back in or around 1hr 30min,thats scary, I wish I could!!.Well marshalled on the run out but high viz AWOL coming back, until the turn off after Muskerry Golf Club.

No matter the tea and sandwiches were well required after a very good blow out. Does this sort of high pace turn newcomers off??

How will I cope with the ROK with more than double that.

Che by the way a good turnout from the Chain Gang.

CheGuedara

kerryscoob wrote: »

Pace high :eek: 74 odd Km and from what I'm hearing 1st back in or around 1hr 30min,thats scary, I wish I could!!.Well marshalled on the run out but high viz AWOL coming back, until the turn off after Muskerry Golf Club.

No matter the tea and sandwiches were well required after a very good blow out. Does this sort of high pace turn newcomers off??

How will I cope with the ROK with more than double that.

Che by the way a good turnout from the Chain Gang.

Cheers lad, we had one or two bottle out on the morning (a few scoops and the draw of a warm bed being the cause I suspect - they'll be getting a ragging soon over it for sure), but we try to get to as many Munster based events as we can in good numbers. Call over and say hi if you spot us around again - I'm usually with the club at sportive rides and at weekend training (I'm the one made immortal in some of Captain Havoc's movie and motivational posters)

We had one rider in the lead bunch and he's strong, very strong (training for two BIG events this year including the Etape) and even he was dropped on the run in the new road so while there may have been no race there was definitely race pace - cruising speed was 50kph into the headwind apparently!:eek:

I'd agree there's the risk of turning new cyclists off - we had one young fella (16) up with us and while he's got a good year of cycling done already in '09 (though not very many sportives) he suffered today on his first out of county event of the year and falling off the back of a high pace bunch, almost getting lost on the return etc. That kinda thing can mess with your mind when miles from home struggling in a headwind.

It might be the kind of event best suited to cyclists that are strong (some evidently freakisly so) that have kept up a training plan over the winter...

adodsk

As a first timer I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience (bar the headwind!). Got to the front early on but lack of training/inexperience soon told and I dropped back but it was all good. It's a pity they changed the route from the one on the flyer - I turned up over the hill at Healy's Bridge as shown. No harm done but I wouldn't have minded missing that climb - even if it was a short-cut!!.

Hope the guy who hit the St Bernard is ok - he took a nasty tumble.

CheGuedara

I only heard about the St Bernard last night - WTF!!! Pounced off a ditch into the midst of the riders apparently!

And yeah, the Kerry Pike climb is a bit of craic at the end alright - at least there's a bit of gain for the pain though, lovely fast descent off that

cantalach

CheGuedara wrote: »

I only heard about the St Bernard last night - WTF!!! Pounced off a ditch into the midst of the riders apparently!

I'm guessing this was 1-2 km after Carrigadrohid. There's a large dog (possibly a St Bernard - the dopey lookin' ones right?) who often has a go at me when I cycle out that way. It stands on the ditch barking loudly and sometimes leaps down if it feels energetic. The Gardaí should be prosecuting the owners for failing to keep the thing under control and endangering road users.

CheGuedara

cantalach wrote: »

I'm guessing this was 1-2 km after Carrigadrohid. There's a large dog (possibly a St Bernard - the dopey lookin' ones right?) who often has a go at me when I cycle out that way. It stands on the ditch barking loudly and sometimes leaps down if it feels energetic. The Gardaí should be prosecuting the owners for failing to keep the thing under control and endangering road users.

That sounds about right from what I heard. Must be a bear of a yoke? Those animals grow to be fairly big!!

denisstephens

I missed that dog by inches the guy behind me buried into him landed on his shoulder wnd head when i looked back hope he's ok had a great day out Pace was high hung on as long as i could.... Thanks again SWCC..