REK 400, 5th June 2010

rottenhat

Repost from the Audax Ireland list

Paul O'Donoghue wrote:

Hi Folks,

This years REK starts at the Stephen Roche Monument at 04.00 hrs on
Sat 5th of June.The route heads off over a few mountains in
Wicklow,crosses the Blackstairs, fords the Barrow at New Ross, takes a
few bumpy minor roads to Carrick on Suir the furthest point of the
route.Back to the coast at Blackwater via the Kilkenny valleys and on
up the coast to Arklow to return to Dundrum via Vales of Avoca and
Clara.

Anyone interested please contact organiser at podluna@gmail.com
for further details. Entry fee is 5 euro and application forms are
available at www.sorrentocyclingclub.com


Please note that applications are mandatory as I will be out of the
country and must be received before 31st of May.

Cheers,

Paul O'Donoghue

This was one of my favourite rides last year, although my memory might be coloured slightly by the facts that it was my first time riding a 400 and that we had a tailwind for the last 100k up the coast from Blackwater. It does have a few hills - you start off by going over the Shay Elliott and there's more around New Ross, Mullinavat and Thomastown - but overall I'd say it is no leg-breaker. Lights are mandatory, obviously.

I'll be doing it for sure - any other takers?

LastGasp

I should be there

LastGasp

Bump ....

Any other Boardsies taking part in REK400 on Saturday ? Supposed to be 21 entries so must be a few more in there somewhere.

rughdh

I've been taking it easy due to injury, so not ready for it, but should be OK for the 600.

rottenhat

Unless you count Andreas.Voigt (post count = 2), I don't recognise any other Boardsies on the start list. Of course there might be the odd lurker.

LastGasp

About 20 mad people turned up at 4am on Saturday to take part in the REK400. We headed off and the first 100k to Bunclody went smoothly, with the group breaking up into smaller bunches of similar pace. We split up between the Shop and the Hotel in Bunclody for breakfast, and Dave, Will, Andreas and myself ended up in a group for most of the day. I punctured twice early, on potholes, but thankfully those were the only mechanical issues we had. Time got away from us a bit in Carrick-on-Suir for lunch, but it was a nice rest. We headed off out what was signposted as the road for Kilkenny, and were looking out for Kilmagarry to turn off but it never came. We eventually figured out after going about 10km too far that we were on the wrong road, and Dave managed to get his Sat Nav to show us the way back to the right route. We could have done without that extra 20 k at the end ! Will and Dave were going strong, and we let them go ahead rather than wreck ourselves trying to keep up. After the detour Andreas and myself found the trip out to Blackwater pretty hard going - it seemed to take forever for each Km to tick by. We eventually got there, and were happy to sit and relax for a while over a bowl of Spaghetti. Just as we finished Andreas went to the shop and bumped into Dave who had been having a meal over the road. Will had been going strong, and had headed off earlier. The three of us joined up again for the last leg, and after the dinners had gone down we all felt we had some new legs, and managed to keep up a respectable pace to the end. Coming into Courtown we went over an almost invisible bridge, but
said "that must be it", and took a right turn as per the routesheet. This just led us to Courtown Harbour. The next instruction was to "turn right onto the N11", but when we got there it has now become the M11, no bikes allowed ! We crossed under the Motorway and took the old road through Gorey and Inch and had a nice fast spin to Rathdrum as it got dark. My Fenix TK11 continued to give me trouble flickering on and off all the time, but with my back-up light and Dave and Andreas's Lights we managed fine. I'll have to send it back (again) for a check-up. We got to Rathdrum and had a few minutes break at the Chip Shop and picked up receipts, and then headed for home. Finally got back to Dundrum at about 01:45, and picked up more receipts at the Tesco 24hr Garage. I'm getting pretty stiff and tired now - didn't sleep too much last night. My hands are still numb/buzzing from the road vibrations, I'll have to look into different Mitts, Gel pads on the bars, or double-wrapping my tape. My feet have been giving me trouble for a while, but I thought last night they weren't too bad. When I woke up this morning I couldn't put my foot flat on the floor - it felt like I had bruised a bone in it. It's eased off now, but I'll definitely have to look into custom insoles to see if they help.
I've tried most other potential solutions. Anyway I think I enjoyed the experience - I'm not sure I'll be able for the
600 in a couple of weeks though. I certainly wouldn't have felt like heading off at 7 this morning for another 200k !

Thanks to Dave, Andreas and Will for the company and I hope everyone else got finished OK.

rughdh

Well done LastGasp (et al.) and thanks for the report. It was a lumpier 400 than the New Ross.

I had a similar problem with my left foot - it felt as if it was broken, but it's OK now. Let's hope the problem with yours is as minor.

I decided after finishing the NR400 that I wouldn't be taking it any further, but it's amazing how a few days rest changes how you feel about it. I'll see you at the start of the 600!

rottenhat

Mmm...yes, that was quite a bit hillier than I remembered. Sleeping though my alarm and waking up only twenty minutes before the depart didn't help much either - I made it to Dundrum at 4:05 and fortunately people were still signing on but I'd had no breakfast and no coffee. I took it pretty easy to start with, trying to get my head back together and anxious not burn any matches early (I suffered a bit from that on the Mick Byrne, I think). The group was fairly well shattered by the time we got to the top of Djouce and although I caught up with the lead group when LastGasp flatted, I decided to make a shop stop at Bunclody rather than join the lads for the breakfast buffet at the hotel. Bobby (Wexford Wheelers) and Michael (Dromara CC) were also inclined to press on and the three of us stuck together for the day.

I remembered the route about well enough from last year to get us through the trickier bits of navigation but I'd forgotten quite how scenic a route it is - time and again the long drags are rewarded with incredible vistas of the fields and mountains of the south-east. I was suffering for a while after Carrick (never really a good plan to stuff your face before heading into the Kilkenny hills on a warm day) and it was a bit of a grind to Blackwater but I rallied for the final hundred. Or maybe we finally had the tailwind we'd been talking about all day. I think the instruction on the routesheet at Courtown is actually incorrect - you go left at the T and then take the next right which puts you on the coast road, and you follow that until just outside Arklow. Mind you, taking the route LastGasp & co did probably doesn't take any longer. We were back into Dundrum at 11:45, and I felt like I'd taken quite a beating, but I could have gotten back on the bike yesterday. I might not have liked it much though.

I'll see the proud and the few in two weeks for the Three Passes 600.