Ring of Kerry Cycle, July 2 2011

vektarman

No big surprise really, 2/7/2011, looking forward to yet another great weekend...

http://www.ringofkerrycycle.ie/

juratelle

Registration done! Training already started. Now, can somebody have a chat with the Big Guy and make sure we'll have a beautiful day on the day

funnights74

hey all, well info pack arrived yesterday and next step is to book overnight accomodation,as it's my first rok was wondering where is the nearest half decent b&b to the starting point. thanks and roll on july

julanont

Can't wait in training now!

Ardennes1944

is there a minimum you must raise? i have just registered with cycling ireland, how long does it take for them to verify my details?

corkchef

Deutschlandfürimmer7 wrote: »

is there a minimum you must raise? i have just registered with cycling ireland, how long does it take for them to verify my details?

once you've gone through the approval stage and pay up, you get your card in the mail within a week. your license info is available online immediately

daymobrew

Deutschlandfürimmer7 wrote: »

is there a minimum you must raise?

No.

cutefainne

any tips for the aches and pain after the race?

corkchef

cutefainne wrote: »

any tips for the aches and pain after the race?

looking at yourself in the mirror, knowing you've done it, then getting a nice deep massage

CheGuedara

cutefainne wrote: »

any tips for the aches and pain after the race?

A nice steak with some veg and chips in town and from there into the night to 'rehydrate' at any number of friendly bars.

(seriously though, a massage is good and if you can get some electrolytes, carbs and a bit of protein into you after you stop cycling to aid in your recovery you'll be fine)

Lumen

cutefainne wrote: »

any tips for the aches and pain after the race?

It's not a race. :pac:

corkchef

Lumen wrote: »

It's not a race. :pac:

actually this is one of the few " leisure events " that is not a race. funny how many forget that sometimes

shamwari

It's a bloody great day, and unfortunately I have to miss it this year due to family celebrations....:( Bring on 2012!

EDIT: Can I suggest anyone doing the ROK for the first time reads the training advice given on the ROK website. With proper training, this event is easily do-able.

michael196

corkchef wrote: »

actually this is one of the few " leisure events " that is not a race. funny how many forget that sometimes

Recent SLieve Bloom was a bit of a race for the first 45 k, untill the t break .

CheGuedara

From the organisers

I am writing to you on behalf of the Committee of the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle which takes place on the first Saturday in July (this year on the 2nd of July). As you may be aware the event has grown enormously in popularity with the numbers of cyclists increasing every year.


There is a huge variety in the ability and experience of the participants but the vast majority consists of casual cyclists who train for and take part in only this one event. Many of these people have close affiliations with the benefiting charities and indeed look on completing the Cycle as secondary to raising funds for these deserving charities.


We, the Committee, are aware that problems have arisen in the past due to the huge difference in the type of cyclists taking part, from the totally inexperienced to the Elite. Someone once described it as being akin to having a four year old and a fourteen year old playing on the same trampoline.


With this in mind we are organising that the Club/Group cyclists start from Killarney at 6.00 am sharp. By doing so we are hoping that these riders will have a quieter and consequently safer road. We will organise that the Food stations will open earlier to cater for these cyclists. We will actively encourage all casual cyclists to delay their departure from Killarney until at least 6.15am.We realise that there will be some casual cyclists who choose not to wait until 6.15 and I would plead that your members be mindful of this.


We would gratefully appreciate your cooperation in this matter by informing any of your members intending to cycle on the 2nd of July of the new arrangements in force.


All cyclists may start the cycle from Killarney as late as 8.00am but those not starting at 6.00am will be expected to participate as individual cyclists.


On the matter of fundraising we are often asked by people not associated directly with the charities “What is the entry fee?” or “How much are we expected to contribute?” There is no entry fee and we feel that a figure of €50 is not unreasonable considering the massive voluntary effort involved in the event.


Thank you for your help in this matter and we look forward to seeing your members on the 2nd of July.


Please feel free to contact me at [Email Address Removed] if you would like to make any observations.


Yours in cycling,


[Name Removed] (on behalf of Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle)
[/email]

As an 11 year vet of the ROK, club rider and individual with particular affiliation to some of the beneficiaries of the event throughout the years I'm going to withhold commentary on this for the time being.

ROK ON

Great idea but lousy timing.
Could club cyclists etc not start at say 800 with everyone else going from 815.

0600. I'll be in bed. Enjoy yereselves.

NickDrake

Sounds like some people were complaining for no reason and taking it WAY too seriously.

Let them off at 6.00 am so. Some neck if they were complaining about older and slower cyclist who do this every year.

Its a charity event. Get over it.

CheGuedara

Based on the text I don't think the decision was made based on concerns raised by club cyclists taking themselves too seriously Nick. Sounds like others were complaining for no reason and Club cyclists are being segregated as a result.

Lumen

It is a bit of a dangerous mix TBH, and not because anyone is being deliberately thoughtless.

A couple of years ago I almost rear-ended a rider who stopped dead on a descent to pick up something she'd dropped. I thought this sudden unindicated stopping to be suicidal. She probably thought I was following too closely.

lescol

With this in mind we are organising that the Club/Group cyclists start from Killarney at 6.00 am sharp. By doing so we are hoping that these riders will have a quieter and consequently safer road. We will organise that the Food stations will open earlier to cater for these cyclists. We will actively encourage all casual cyclists to delay their departure from Killarney until at least 6.15am.We realise that there will be some casual cyclists who choose not to wait until 6.15 and I would plead that your members be mindful of this.


We would gratefully appreciate your cooperation in this matter by informing any of your members intending to cycle on the 2nd of July of the new arrangements in force.


All cyclists may start the cycle from Killarney as late as 8.00am but those not starting at 6.00am will be expected to participate as individual cyclists.

Just how do the organisers plan or expect to be able to enforce any of this? It's insane!

Beasty

lescol wrote: »

Just how do the organisers plan or expect to be able to enforce any of this? It's insane!

They are not saying they are going to enforce it - they are simply looking for co-operation from the cyclists/clubs presumably with a view to making it a better experience for all

Cork24

Is this a Really Safe Run?

I heard people talking about Last years one and they were saying some people were very very Dangerous while in the Groups. taken up at lest half of the other side of the road.

like to do it this year. but hearing people from last year kind of got me thinking

lescol

Beasty wrote: »

They are not saying they are going to enforce it - they are simply looking for co-operation from the cyclists/clubs presumably with a view to making it a better experience for all

We would gratefully appreciate your cooperation in this matter by informing any of your members intending to cycle on the 2nd of July of the new arrangements in force.

IN FORCE (adjective)
The adjective IN FORCE has 1 sense:
1. exerting force or influence


I'm sure everyone wants the ROK to be a safe and enjoyable experience for all. The inflammatory tone of the letter is mildly annoying. Since I won't be getting out of my bed at 5.00 to be ready for the start I shall duly take my place as an individual.

tyler71

This is interesting to see. As one of the biggest sportives the ROK is always going to have the biggest problems with crowds. Did the Stephen Roche this year and there were definitely issues with crowds at the start, dropped bottles, people in groups having issues and the whole group stopping, all these cause major issues when there's a few hundred travelling at speed right behind. The Sean Kelly is similar but has the advantage of wide roads for a long distance but is still very sensitive to sudden changes.
Obviously the cycling clubs are going to travel at greater speeds but tbh a 15min head start as suggested above would probably be sufficient as a lot of single cyclists like to try to hang onto a fast group but this all tends to break up after the first stop. 15mins is all that is needed to break this, and it's generally pretty obvious if you're a club cyclist or not.
It's probably not a bad idea to split the groups up from everyone else, but the 6.00 start is a big issue. As someone from Cork who could drive up if it was a reasonable start time 6.00 just rules the race out for me - the West Cork 200 have taken the same early start approach, and it's just not on really, I think we're going to start seeing splits between the pure cycling sportives and the touristy/charity ones - probably not a bad thing as there's a limit on the numbers that are safe for our roads.

daymobrew

tyler71 wrote: »

As someone from Cork who could drive up if it was a reasonable start time 6.00 just rules the race out for me

You can start up to 8am if you are on your own.

Beasty

lescol wrote: »

We would gratefully appreciate your cooperation in this matter by informing any of your members intending to cycle on the 2nd of July of the new arrangements in force.

IN FORCE (adjective)
The adjective IN FORCE has 1 sense:
1. exerting force or influence


I'm sure everyone wants the ROK to be a safe and enjoyable experience for all. The inflammatory tone of the letter is mildly annoying. Since I won't be getting out of my bed at 5.00 to be ready for the start I shall duly take my place as an individual.

As far as I can see, the new arrangements "in force" are that clubs/groups can start at 6.00am - indeed in the original quote this was the only bit highlighted in red. If they are not aware of these arrangements they may miss their opportunity to "have a quieter and consequently safer road"

The whole message is clearly one of seeking co-operation, and not applying "enforcement" - I see absolutely nothing inflammatory in it

Lumen

@tyler71: It's not a race

penexpers

Interesting idea. As I documented here last year I had quite a few hairy moments on the ROK last year and it was just purely because different abilities were mixing together. I guess the simple fact is that the roads down there really can't handle ~3,500 cyclists plus all the normal traffic.

I can see where they are coming from - club cyclists would tend to be faster so getting them on ahead of everyone else probably makes sense. It's unfortunate that it's so early but I think that's a result of the slower cyclists being very slow (e.g. 12 or more hours to complete it) so if they held everyone back until 8am, there would be a risk that some people would not finish it before darkness.

ROK ON

Jaysus Beasty, not inflammatory. 6am on a weekend is pretty inflammatory in my book :-)

I think this goes to a problem with too many sportives in this country. The start times are simply way too early. I think most sportives in Summer months should start around 10. A casual rider should be able to complete 150k in 10 hours including breaks.

With up to 5000 cyclists on the road I believe that the organisers have to seek a better alternative. I applaud their effort, but they could employ a later start. Many people travel to this event on the morning of it. I just don't think it's particularly nice to expect people to choose a crazy early start or an overnight stay in Killarney.

The result of this is that many people will simply ignore the suggestion and we will get the usually heavily congested roads for the first few hours.

shamwari

I know a few people who started from Kenmare last year. Are the organisers going to put the kibosh on that too??

Signal_ rabbit

Its not compulsory to start at 6 or even 6.15. We started at 6.30 last year and although there were many cyclists already out it wasn't too crowded.

I believe that most people start at seven or even later lat year.

It is great craic though as the atmosphere with that many cyclists is really good, the route isn't too challenging either (unlike the West Cork 200 which was savage last year!) and Killarney always has a good buzz about it.

Any event that has over 4000 cyclists is always going to have a few problems.

slingerz

i'm hoping to do this with some buddies of mine this year, they have done it before but i have never done it.

any tips on what to look out for and some do's and dont's?! should be a good weekend in killarney once we put their footballers in their place the day after!

CheGuedara

slingerz wrote: »

i'm hoping to do this with some buddies of mine this year, they have done it before but i have never done it.

any tips on what to look out for and some do's and dont's?! should be a good weekend in killarney once we put their footballers in their place the day after!

Haha - thems fightin' words! :P

No real things to keep in mind out of the ordinary;

*ride your own pace

*stop at the food/water stops long enough to fuel up & recover but not so long as you get cold

*spin up the hills, slowly grinding out a big gear will make it seem harder than it really is

*as you're going to be in a bunch of cyclists always look before you move. If you find yourself rolling along well in a group dont forget to point/call out potholes and obstacles and use make use of the standard calls to let riders know about traffic;

'car/rider up'=car/cyclist overtaking,
'car down'=oncoming traffic',
'watch left'=call to following riders of obstructions/traffic on the left,
'rider up'=call to riders ahead that they're about to be overtaken. (These calls can sometimes spook casual cyclists but they're just simple communication that helps keep everyone aware of whats coming and going on the road)

*stop and take a photo on top of Coomaciste - on a good day the view is just fantastic. The high point over Ladies View is worth pausing for too.

*most importantly - enjoy it, its a great, scenic, social charity ride (and the post ride food and refreshments in the hostelries of Killarney taste particularly good after it!)

penexpers

Registered for this but going to give it a miss now. First time in four years that I will be missing it but hope to get back for next year.

slingerz

CheGuedara wrote: »

Haha - thems fightin' words! :P

No real things to keep in mind out of the ordinary;

*ride your own pace

*stop at the food/water stops long enough to fuel up & recover but not so long as you get cold

*spin up the hills, slowly grinding out a big gear will make it seem harder than it really is

*as you're going to be in a bunch of cyclists always look before you move. If you find yourself rolling along well in a group dont forget to point/call out potholes and obstacles and use make use of the standard calls to let riders know about traffic;

'car/rider up'=car/cyclist overtaking,
'car down'=oncoming traffic',
'watch left'=call to following riders of obstructions/traffic on the left,
'rider up'=call to riders ahead that they're about to be overtaken. (These calls can sometimes spook casual cyclists but they're just simple communication that helps keep everyone aware of whats coming and going on the road)

*stop and take a photo on top of Coomaciste - on a good day the view is just fantastic. The high point over Ladies View is worth pausing for too.

*most importantly - enjoy it, its a great, scenic, social charity ride (and the post ride food and refreshments in the hostelries of Killarney taste particularly good after it!)

ha ha ya my group should be close enough i'd say we'd wait for each other really.

thanks for the heads up for the call i wouldnt have had a clue what they were about!!

whats the terrain like overall is it mostly climbs or whats the story with it

Chips Lovell

Thread title changed to reflect that the thread has become a general discussion of this year's event.

CheGuedara

slingerz wrote: »

whats the terrain like overall is it mostly climbs or whats the story with it

No no, the terrain is actually very fair 90% is really just rolling road most of which is pretty good surface too.

There's a dead bit of road over bog just before you get to Sneem and just after leaving Kenmare that can drain the legs if you go hard on them but are fine if you take it handy and there's some space-time paradox that can make Templenoe sometimes feel an extra 20kms from Sneem but those are IMO the only bits that stand out.

The 10% remaining are the ascents and descents off Coomachiste and Molls Gap - the two climbs of the day. They're both fine climbs, all you have to do with them is find your climbing gear & cadence and spin over them. Coomaciste you can see the road all the way to the summit from the start of the climb proper making it easy to see how little/much is left (depending on if you're a glass half-full/empty type). Molls can feel like a toughie but that's more to do with the miles in the legs when you reach it than the hill itself - as with Coomaciste its best beat by spinning over it.

The descents are quite safe and potentially quite fast but most of all very enjoyable the only thing to remember is to keep watch for on oncoming traffic - tourist traffic is likeley & its easy to forget that its not a closed road event as you rail through the bends.

The weather's always a modifier in how difficult it feels to do the ROK but regardless of sun or storm (yes, storm - been there, bought the tshirt) the sense of achievement & post ride buzz is always great.

slingerz

Should be a good weekend in Killarney, anyone know what the after cycle entertainment is lik?

mgmt

What time do most people set off at?