climbing mount leinster

jimbo28

guys, went up mount leinster for the first time last night..............nice climb. when i got to the carpark at the top took the left turn to go up to the mast i found the gearing that i had on might not suit. the road was also wet and after about a mile my back wheel started to loose friction with the road surface. any of you had any experiences doing this climb and any recommendations on gearing and the best side to attack it from ( hit it from bunclody yesterday and will probably do the same again today). cheers.

oh ya..........anybody know if there are any clubs around carlow still league racing during the week?

jwshooter

jimbo28 wrote: »

guys, went up mount leinster for the first time last night..............nice climb. when i got to the carpark at the top took the left turn to go up to the mast i found the gearing that i had on might not suit. the road was also wet and after about a mile my back wheel started to loose friction with the road surface. any of you had any experiences doing this climb and any recommendations on gearing and the best side to attack it from ( hit it from bunclody yesterday and will probably do the same again today). cheers.

oh ya..........anybody know if there are any clubs around carlow still league racing during the week?

you climbed kilbranish .
the turn at the old school is prob the worst bit of the climb .there is 3 climbs to mt leinster 9 stones ,corrabutt and the way you went up . there is about 6 km of a drag up from borris,9 stones and its the nicest of the climbs .
the corrabutt is the hardest i think .there is also another climb around the mountain on a road called selskin that will bring you on to the 9 stones climb .

lots of lesser known drags around there also.

Morrisseeee

I haven't cycled it, but I have walked it a few times, I actually had to walk backwards near the top (I got pains where I didn't know I could get pains!! :eek:) as it gets 'that steep' near the top. I'd imagine the best conditions would be a cool day, dry road to complete it. I did see somewhere that someone recommend stopping on the descent aswell to let their tyres cool down As regards gearing, you would want to be a strong climber if you were to push say: 34f-26b, but I think I'd prefer my hybrid gearing of 28f-34b :cool:

Captain Havoc

I climbed all the way to the mast :cool:

pprendeville

could you map this please?

Morrisseeee

Here's a previous discussion on it. Also read the comments made by some who have done it. !!

I climbed all the way to the mast

Did you use a bike though

Hail 2 Da Thief

Will someone please provide a map which shows a good route up mt. leinster from the Borris side?
Planning on heading up this afternoon for the first time & don't want to end up on some pot-hole ridden road! I'm not familiar with the area at all!

Cheers!

King Kelly

Log on to the attached link for the Mount Leinster Challenge held each May and view map my rides.

The maps give you two options for the climb. Follow the route thru Bagnalstown for the Corrobutt gap ascent or retrace the route back towards Ballymurphy/Kiltealy and climb from the opposite direction. Both routes bring you to the Nine Stones car park/ viewing area. This is where the private road up to the mast starts from. Just lift your bike over the gate!

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

Morrisseeee

Long post alert
Well............after reading this thread a while ago and replying in it, and seeing as I grew up with it on my back-door, I set myself the target (of some day) climbing the darn thing !! Please remember I'm a noob to cycling, only doing it for the last 2 months, so this was going to be a monumental challenge !
So.........I bit the bullet the other day, put the bike in the boot and off I headed. I parked 3km from the 9 stones car park, took out the bike and got ready. Visibility was poor, maybe 100-200m, (freezing) fog everywhere ! I'd say 10 degrees C cooler than Bunclody. I thought to myself if its this bad here, whats it going to be like near the top?? Ah fcek it, I've come this far, I may as well plod on.
I took a sweater with me for the descent, in hindsight it was a wise move.
The road to the car park is tough enough, ie. it looks almost flat, but I was in a low gear and taking it easy, the idea was to just get the legs moving before the big test. I arrived at the car park and headed for the gap between the stones to gain access to the 'climb', there was a walker/mountaineer eating his lunch at a nearby table and when he saw me heading off on the 'climb', I could read his mind, "...WTF is the eejit doin, I bet he won't last long!!". I jumped up on the bike, the lowest gearing was selected, road bike: 34-26, and off I headed. Straight away :eek: the climb starts, no easy beginning, you are straight into a 10/12/15% or whatever it is, I looked down to double check I was definitely in the lowest gear, yep, the shifter was at the max also ! After about 500-600m I was puffing hard, legs barely spinning, the km/h figure steadily going down to single figures, and then my left knee really started to hurt, oh no, I don't think I can do this, a quick glance up and yep, the road just gets higher, although I can only see less than 100m in front of me now. I decide to get off, left knee is ready to burst ! After a minute, I try to get back on the bike, its not easy as I've got the old skool toe-clips !! Don't ye just hate the way the won't come up for you when trying to re-mount, oh wait I'm the only one using this old technology :pac: Anyway, I get momentum again and go another 100m (seemed like a mile) when in the distance I see 2 figures walking towards me through the fog, and as the approach me, they start to shout encouragement, I stop to talk, ahem well any excuse to stop at this stage ! We chat for a few minutes and I think it crowned me because I regained some strength and they tell me that the fog lifts another 500m up the road, and this is what keeps me going. I remount, and pass a few sheep along the way, I'm just waiting for the TDF peloton to pass me now, rem the Tourmalet. Then after a few more agonising hundred meters I see the end of the fog/cloud cover and the top of the mountain starts to show itself, yep there's the mast ! I hit the first hairpin bend and I'm imagining going up the Alpe d'Huez, and looking back down I look to see where I dropped Lance and Pantani, wusses Ah my spirits are lifting. I then turn onto the straight between the two bends and oh oh I think this is the steepest bit, I get halfway up and I'm now zig-zaging and trying every trick in the book to get that next meter in the road ! but.........alas I stop again, if I carry on the knee will surely go and I'll have to be airlifted off !! I stop, take a few photos on my fone, and what a view, the road down disappears into the fog and up ahead the road seems to disappear into the glaring sunshine. I try to re-mount, again difficult, the bike just wants to roll back down the slope, as does my aching body. I carry on, and start to reach the next hairpin, I'm out of the saddle for the 1st time and gather all my strenght to get round. The bend is negotiated, and I'm on the easy last 150m stretch to the mast, sure its probably only 7 or 8% here. I can now start to get a decent cadence to the finish and the crowd go mad as an Irishman wins on the tough mountain top finish
I take a few more photos, and bask in the sunshine and my (humble) achievement, but what now............oh yeah, the descent.........and back into the freezing fog!! :eek:
I get back to the car, and for the sting in this tail/tale, I leave my bike computer and fone on the roof, tog out, put bike in boot and.............drive off, but wait.............a few miles down the road I remember..........where's my fone and.........ah fcek :mad:

I did it in ~30 mins, incl stops, I think that works out around 5-6km/h !

Note: I've attached a few pics (from google & OSI) to give some idea of the climb, its an awful pity I lost my own, ah well some other day ! :cool:

King Kelly

Well done! Its a brute of a climb, great description. Whats the road surface like I have't been up to the mast for a few years?

If I was to offer a suggestion I'd say a 3km ride is way to short to warm up for that climb. Even if you didn't want to ride up from Bunclody/Borris you'd be better doing a few laps from parked car to car park on the relativly flattish part to get at least 10-15kms in the legs.

Great achievement for somone new to cycling.

Morrisseeee

Well done! Its a brute of a climb, great description. Whats the road surface like I have't been up to the mast for a few years?

Cheers, its a brute alright, but very satisfying when you reach the top. Surface was grand, although seeing as I was going so slow it wouldn't really matter , having said that I did the descent in about 5 mins and it seemed grand, I think i remember only seeing one pothole, I let fly for the last 700m easily getting up to 70km/h !!

I'd say a 3km ride is way to short to warm up for that climb.

Yeah, it probably is, but I had done 30km and 47km on the previous 2 days (thank goodness for shift work & an Indian summer ) with some steep sections also, so I was kinda prepared, plus the fact I only had a limited time that day also. If I lived nearby, it would be a great challenge to tackle this climb regularly, or does that seem odd !! ......maybe I was a mountain-goat in a previous life :eek::p

Great achievement for somone new to cycling.

Thanks, these last 2 months I'm just trying to improve my times (and cadence) on regular routes and also exploring new routes (ie. enjoying the honeymoon period), as for next year, I dunno what 'achievements' to set for myself !!

Morrisseeee

I leave my bike computer and fone on the roof, tog out, put bike in boot and.............drive off, but wait.............a few miles down the road I remember..........where's my fone and.........ah fcek

Well, by some miracle, the fone was found, and not working (surprise/surprise), but........I did manage to get the photos off the memory card.
Here they are:

Morrisseeee

........last few:

Morrisseeee

Ascent No. 2................complete (last Saturday).
.........and I'm happy to report that I have made improvements.

This time I started a little further back and had done a few steep hills on the two days beforehand, and I was actually feeling good.

1st improvement: only 1 stop, well actually 2, and here's why: I got to the first hairpin, ~1.5km, and I just couldn't get around it (end of the 17.5% section), not only were my legs hurting but my arms (out of the saddle) were giving up aswell, so........stop no. 1. I sat down, took a breather, a few sugary sweets, said hello to a few walkers, and off I went again. Taking it easy was my motto, saving all my strength for the steep sections, but when I was 3/4 way up (& feeling like I could actually make it) the last 18% section I said I would try and sprint to the top, but alas after putting out something like >600w for a brief moment I was cooked, my heart was pumping so hard I thought it would pop out !! So........stop no. 2, but only cause I got over-ambitious, doh! After a minute or two, I managed to remout and finished.
Improvement no. 2: I went straight as an arrow, no zig-zagging, which also gives a better reading of the climb on the altimeter (mini-goal).
Improvement no. 3: No pain in my knees, so I can only assume I'm building a bit of strength.
Improvement no. 4: Breathing, I didn't notice my breathing during the climb, ie. it wasn't a distraction, this could be either down to the fact that I had my earphones on listening to 'encouraging' music !! or it's just getting more natural.
Improvement no. 5: All of the above leads to me doing a better time, (ride time) 21mins.

Note: see pics of gradient, I've never seen it peak so many times at 20-30%.
Here's a breakdown:
1st 200m : 9.5%
Next 400m : 16%
Next 500m : 12%
Next 450m : 17.5%
Next 300m : 11%
Next 350m : 18%
Next 200m : 13%
Last 200m : 9%
Those long sections at 16/17/18% are the real killers, and can be further broken down into mini 25/30% sections.

Destination:



Arrival:



Altimeter:



Same info, different software:

seve65

hi Morrissee and well done , how would you compare it to Mullaganish ?

I am resting up having probably irritated the illitobial bands around the left knee and to a lesser extent the hips after a ride to Mullaganish over a week ago. Not sure if it was due to the severity of the climb (overall ride was 150k), or the fact one of my pedal cages (still using toe clips) was ever so slightly falling away as a screw worked loose, not sure how long it had been like that.:mad:

Morrisseeee

how would you compare it to Mullaganish ?

I haven't done it, but I believe they are similar, with the Mt Leinster route being that little bit steeper. I will do it sometime this year and then get a direct comparison.

Not sure if it was due to the severity of the climb (overall ride was 150k)

Yikes, you attempted it as part of a 150km spin, ouch ! I'm imagining I'm your coach here, "That might have been a bit much". :eek: I think for a climb like that, it would need to be tackled on its own.

I am resting up having probably irritated the illitobial bands around the left knee

I don't know what 'illitobial' is, but it sounds painful, best of luck on the recovery.

FootNote: I'd imagine the Mt Leinster route is actually harder now than a few years ago, and the reason being is that alot of trees have been cut down on the right-hand-side as you go up, and hence you are exposed to the winds almost all the way up now.