Mount Leinster Challenge 2010

King Kelly

Just a first reminder that the 2010 Mount Leinster Challenge takes place on Saturday May 15th. Quite a few boardsies present at last years event and they survived rain and wind of biblical proportions on the mountain and lived to tell the tale!

We'd be delighted to welcome everyone to the MLC again this year and hopefully you'll be able to actually see the views off the mountain this year. The 140km version has two ascents of ML and should be good preparation for those heading to the W200.

Look forward to seeing you in Enniscorthy in 5 and 1/2 weeks!

http://www.slaneycyclingclub.com/?page_id=33

DirkVoodoo

Do I remember reading there was damage to the roads and/or cattle grids on the descent? Have these been repaired?

Really enjoyed it last year, weather aside, it was in the top 3 sportives of last year.

Caroline_ie

Yes it was a great sportive alright, despite the weather. I think some of us ( not me ) still did 140 last year. I had a puncture in the p!ssing rain at the point where I had to chose whether finishing the 140 or just the 100 ... I picked the wimp option.

I would like to do this one again

bcmf

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Do I remember reading there was damage to the roads and/or cattle grids on the descent? Have these been repaired?

Really enjoyed it last year, weather aside, it was in the top 3 sportives of last year.

There were 3 cattle grids on the descent. The third scared the living jebus outta me as I only thought there were 2 and let rip on the wet descent when I came upon the third.
Was deffo a greta spin aside from the viscous weather.I believe only a handful of madmen attempted the second ascent as most of us were frozen solid when we got back to Enniscorthy.

jwshooter

i cycled it sat .
the grids are the same .but you can ride over them ,not at high speed btw .

the road up corrabutt gap has been well patched ,with new tar layed .its in good conidition .

killbranish is not to bad also at the min .

the ras covers some of the challenge course , so them roads will be done for each event .

Git101

I did the second loop last year, it got very lonely out there.
It seem to me that the food was way too good and most riders got far too stuffed to make the extra kms

The grids on both sides of Mt Leinster have bars missing but they are ok to cross with care.

One of the better sportives, the food is exceptional.

Hope I can make it this year but it's just a week before the Edinburgh marathon so I'll have to get some advice..

Caroline_ie

The Mick Byrne was the best with ROK as close second for food bananas.

The tax man

So then with the Mount Leinster Challenge only a week away, isn't it about time people started declaring their interest in taking part.

I know it's a bit F.I at this early stage but the weather outlook is quite good.

I missed with one last year so hope to take part myself.

Limestone1

I'm up for it but need confirmation that they have fixed last years weather problems first.

fondriest

Limestone1 wrote: »

I'm up for it but need confirmation that they have fixed last years weather problems first.

Just checked with the organisers and they have confirmed that they have sorted the weather and they will only have sun and a slight breeze that will change direction to be a tail wind all day.:D

GearoidP

Have to say the sambos and general refreshments were top drawer last year and will be doing the 140km route next Saturday - watch out for the Kerry Jersey up at the front of the bunch until the first foothills of the Corrabut gap! "Seriously though", the Slaney Cycling club seems to benefit from an army of (mostly) women who seem to have stayed up all night baking cakes, pies apple tarts and then serving them up with fresh tea and coffee all day. What's the secret with Wexford women?

Caroline_ie

Who is going then??
I think the _ie household is anyway.

Captain Havoc

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Who is going then??
I think the _ie household is anyway.

Congrats on 4,000 posts Caroline. We're still a man down here at work so I'm out again :mad:

fondriest

I'll be there but gonna wimp out and do the 100k spin (stuck for time and racing sunday)

jwshooter

there is even some of the men baking this year .

Deisetrek

jwshooter wrote: »

there is even some of the men baking this year .

Pity ye didn't send a few of 'em to Midleton yesterday :D:D:D, up for this one myself

shapez

+ 1 for the 140km. Is the decent from the Nine Stones/Car park patched up? I don't want breaking another collarbone on the decent.

Captain Havoc

shapez wrote: »

+ 1 for the 140km. Is the decent from the Nine Stones/Car park patched up? I don't want breaking another collarbone on the decent.

Been on a lot of those roads recently, Kiltealy to Bagnelstown is perfect, a lot of the Corabutt gap has been resurface, ye won't be going fast anyway. Once ye make the turn of the Corabutt towards the Ninestones the surface is grand except for the one cattle grid you come across, this has a bar or two missing. Coming down off the Ninestones both cattle grids have bars missing, the second one you can go around to the right without having to dismount (you probably could cross all three, I just don't have money to be throwing at wheels). Kiltealy to Bunclody has one or two potholes is all, sections have been extremely well resurfaced. The last time I did Bunclody to the Ninestones (a month ago) the road was a complete joke, craters and down right lethal to descend at least climbing ye'll be going slow, some of the holes were the width of the road.

shapez

Brilliant. Cheers for the detailed info. Looking forward to it. Good warmup for the race on Sunday.

jwshooter

weather sorted .;)

Git101

Just back from the Mount Leinster challenge.
The weather gods were smiling this year for a change.
Good crowd,nice grub,sunshine and a few climbs- what more could you want.

I think that I was the only one wearing boards gear but some boardies introduced themselves including NeedMoreGears, Limestone1, GearoidP and Haldir - the mountain climbing elf

A special thanks to some of the lads from Naas CC (inc. Haldir)who dragged me around most of the second loop.

Looking forward to next year already....

Caroline_ie

Didnt go after all. lots to do here and didn't fancy driving down.
Still cycled 150km today so I earned my piece of cake.

Esroh

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Didnt go after all. lots to do here and didn't fancy driving down.
Still cycled 150km today so I earned my piece of cake.

Thought you were Tired

Caroline_ie

Esroh wrote: »

Thought you were Tired

That's why I didn't cycle more the original spin was supposed to be 170 ... I went home early.
I woke up OK so went out as I can't do anything else than cycle ...
Taking a break this week -> no bike till next weekend for the next race = next sunday in Monaghan.

jwshooter

cracking day @ 280 riders .

energy bars bananas and water on mt leinster gave a good excuse to sit for 5 mins and take in the lovely view ,twice .

at the feed stop i had to keep reminding myself that there was 50 more k to do , i did not have any sausage , honest .

a very enjoyable day ,the legs are tired , a chinese and a glass of wine is in order .

The tax man

Well that was a fun day out on the bike. Great weather,brilliantly organised,top notch food and a good rider etiquette.

Rolled out just after 9.30 behind a pace car which stayed well enough ahead of the pack to let the bunch dictate the pace while doing it's job of warning oncoming traffic of what was approaching. I decided to take a leaf out of Blorg's sportif book and stay right up front in the top 20 riders.(Blorg would be at the front.:D) SCC guys and others did a good job pulling the pack along at a nice tempo.

Just after Bagenalstown we ran into a large funeral and the road was blocked for cars along by the cemetery with cars parked either side of the road and with only room for single line traffic through the middle we saw two cars stuck nose to nose with nowhere to go and blocking everything. Queue bikes and riders snaking through the blockage and having left the pace car stuck things started to heat up. Constant stream of riders shooting towards the front from the right,blink and you were mid pack and going backwards quick.

Then the climbing started so again stayed up front and at the start a steep corner covered with loose chippings caught some riders out by loosing traction and having to unclip, one guy fell and hit the deck, I managed to find a gap and just made it through. Took my time on this steep section and after a short decent I took an unholy long time on a nature break and lost the lead group as they headed towards the car park at the summit.

Unfortunately someone came a cropper near the end of the decent and ended up in the hedgerow attached to his bike,hopefully it looked worse then it was. Still feeling strong I ended up pulling a small group up to the feed station.

Excellent grub laid on,stuffed my face with sambos cake and coffee.

Back on the road and I latched onto a small but strong group as we headed for Mount Leinster again. Legs were still working and I was climbing well. Group splintered along the climb but a few of us regrouped at the bottom and worked well together to get back to Enniscorthy with a good turn of pace. Well chuffed to get back in somewhat good shape.

134k, Average speed 27k, 1,792m climbed, Ride time 4h,58min.Detailed info.

@Git101 Spotted the jersey at the start. Thought I might have spotted you on route but never did so never got to introduce myself. I was in Orwell gear today.

Big thanks to Slaney Cycling club,the marshal's and the folks at the food and water stops.

estariol

Many thanks to Git101 for the loan of the track pump, great day, great food nice event only minor gripe would be the poor discipline/etiquette of some of the club riders...
will def. be doing this next year!

Deisetrek

Just dropping a note to the Slaney CC boys , well done lads enjoyed the MLC thoroughly. Well organised , road markings and stewarding top notch and the food stop at Kiltealy as others had indicated from last years event , simply awesome . Problem was , food was so good it was hard to get up off yer arse and get on with the 2nd climb! Congrats to you all and thanks to the ladies for the great food .
The climbs up Mt Leinster were good and tough , as tough as any I for one have done in my limited experience , but a fantastic challenge . Lovely day out and will definitely be back again next year . I reckon ye lads could budget on another 100% increase in numbers next year

Toblerone1978

Here, here on the above. Another well organised sportive by the Slaney CC people. Great attendance and good atmosphere. Roads very well marked. Food galore at the stop and despite my best intentions, I ate waaay too much again; jury is still open on if laying such a feast is a good thing or bad. Nicely marshalled, lovely route, particulary back into Enniscorthy and great job on the weather

Anybody else spotted Paul Kimmage there?

Oh yeah, jury's verdict is that its a good thing...

GearoidP

Huge thanks to the Slaney Cycling Club for a mighty day out. Fair play to Git101 for wearing the Boards Jersey and being a point of contact for us all. I couldn't resist donning my Ciarrai jersey - got a lot of comments (all good-ish!!) from fellow boardies who had seen the post on the county jersies. Hopefully I will be organised enough to have a boardie jersey by next year.

Huge credit to the organisers, and again especially the people who baked the barm brack, brown bread, rhubarb and apple pies, buns and cakes which I "hoovered" up at the break in Kiltealy. I thought it was a good idea that there was no medal / certificates at the end - the Mount Leinster Challenge beanie hat in the goodie bag was much more useful!

Git101

The tax man wrote: »

134k, Average speed 27k, 1,792m climbed, Ride time 4h,58min.Detailed info.

@Git101 Spotted the jersey at the start. Thought I might have spotted you on route but never did so never got to introduce myself. I was in Orwell gear today.

I think the above in bold is why you didn't see me after the start
I was mid pack until the Corrubut gap, it broke into smaller groups after that.

Thought for a second I might have an early finish as the guy in front of me had a spill just a few mile from the start. I still don't know how I managed to get around him. I met him later, both himself and the bike were ok.

@GearoidP. Your jersey look good but would look much better in the Dublin colours

There were some photographers at last years event but I didn't notice them this year. Anyone see any?

Limestone1

Git101 wrote: »

I think the above in bold is why you didn't see me after the start
I was mid pack until the Corrubut gap, it broke into smaller groups after that.

Thought for a second I might have an early finish as the guy in front of me had a spill just a few mile from the start. I still don't know how I managed to get around him. I met him later, both himself and the bike were ok.

Good to hear he was okay - he was on my inside when he hit the pothole and took a nasty looking spill. Gave me a fright and I was amazed nobody behind him was brought down - that must be a tribute to your dribbling skills Git101 !
The organisation, feeding, watering and marshalling were all top notch. This is despite the numbers being a good bit higher than they were expecting. Met Git101 but didn't put a name to any other boardsies - didn't notice the Kerry jersey either Gearoid unless you were one of the two Killarney boys that gave me a very fast tow most of the way home from the 2nd descent ?

NeedMoreGears

Great day out. Food lived up to the reputation. Ate loads at Kiltealy but on the way out the door I spotted sausages. Ate loads more.
Met git101 and must have spoken to GearoidP at the funeral - unless there were more than one in the kingdom's colours.

@git101 - your climb figures are higher than the mapmyride numbers which makes me feel a lot better about my time 5hr47 moving for 143.3km including a few extra kms at the end where I messed up the turns on the Aldi roundabout.:D

Fantastic weather - new gear would have gone well with sunburn. Definitely back next year.

GearoidP

Next Saturday 22nd May a few of us who did the Mount Leinster Challenge are going to do the 27km walking version:

http://www.wayfarersassociation.com/blackstairs.htm

Anyone interested let me know and we can have a boardie group!

jwshooter

GearoidP wrote: »

Next Saturday 22nd May a few of us who did the Mount Leinster Challenge are going to do the 27km walking version:

http://www.wayfarersassociation.com/blackstairs.htm

Anyone interested let me know and we can have a boardie group!

where is killanure ?

Git101

NeedMoreGears wrote: »

@git101 - your climb figures are higher than the mapmyride numbers which makes me feel a lot better about my time 5hr47 moving for 143.3km including a few extra kms at the end where I messed up the turns on the Aldi roundabout.:D

Sorry, I can't claim them, the figures are from The Tax Man.
Mine may have been a little slower

GearoidP

jwshooter wrote: »

where is killanure ?

Killanure is on the Kiltealy side of Bunclody

http://www.tageo.com/index-e-ei-v-30-d-452301.htm

Doubleclick on the map, brings you to a google map. Click on the "Map" view and keep doublclicking to get the close up.

teufelswerk

Taxman, If you were in the Orwell gear I think I might have been in your group coming back in through Kiltealy, the guy with the Dogma was in that group until he disappeared off for another lap (inadvertently I imagine)? Very well organised event considering the sudden explosion in numbers that morning.

Hutchy

teufelswerk wrote: »

Taxman, If you were in the Orwell gear I think I might have been in your group coming back in through Kiltealy, the guy with the Dogma was in that group until he disappeared off for another lap (inadvertently I imagine)? Very well organised event considering the sudden explosion in numbers that morning.

I can't believe ye didn't want to do another lap with me. Me stupid:o

The tax man

teufelswerk wrote: »

Taxman, If you were in the Orwell gear I think I might have been in your group coming back in through Kiltealy, the guy with the Dogma was in that group until he disappeared off for another lap (inadvertently I imagine)? Very well organised event considering the sudden explosion in numbers that morning.

Yeah, that was the group I was in.

Hutchy wrote: »

I can't believe ye didn't want to do another lap with me. Me stupid:o

How was the extra lap.:D Lovely bike btw.

jwshooter

Hutchy wrote: »

I can't believe ye didn't want to do another lap with me. Me stupid:o

A was that your dogma i seen out side the thatch pup in kiltealy .

NeedMoreGears

@The tax man - sorry misread the thread. Nice time.

@git101 - last time I saw you, you were well in front of me.

Hutchy

As soon as I swung left I knew I had made a mistake. I turned around to see smiles on each of your faces...it fairness it was kinda funny.

It was my first spin on the new bike. Very happy with it...all it needs now is a GPS:D