Wicklow 200 2011

kellt

Ive just signed up for this event. What should we expect and how long does the event take (200km). I usually do 250-300 kms weekly so i hope that this training is sufficent for this event. Any advice welcome

Lusk Doyle

Me to drag you up the hills as usual and then struggle to keep up on the flats!

kellt

sounds like a good plan. plenty hills and less flats

smacl

If the weather is anything like the last week or so, it could be a long old day. As a first timer to the 200k myself, I'm expecting to do it in 9-10 hours on the hybrid, given moderate winds (20-30k). Heavier winds would add to this, and if it is anything like this morning, I'm up sh!t creek without a paddle

Worth getting out a bit in the bad weather though, to see how you get on with it. Did a few hours on Saturday in ~40k winds and got on ok, had a short commute this morning which killed me.

Hopefully the sun wll come out and the winds die down for 12th.

gercso

I have done the W200 two times before and it is a long day on the bike in deed. My best time is 7 hours and 47 minutes but it depends of the weather also. Great event, can`t wait!

iregk

According to some sheep farmer up in Donegal yesterday June is supposed to be a great month.

monkeyslayer

Heyo, anyone thinking of starting from the city centre? Thinking heading up over the lane and meeting up with the route at the glencree crossroads? Not so much cheating considering the cycle back from greystones to town will no doubt take it well over the 200km and same amount of climbing all in all. The whole getting to/from greystones thing and that early in the morning is kinda annoying

smacl

Not cheating at all, but you wont record a time and get your cert if you don't check in at the start. Getting there is annoying ok, but maybe stick up a post and see if you can get a lift from someone near by. The road will be crawling with cars covered with bike racks that morning.

monkeyslayer

Cool yea might do that, not so bothered about certificate or timings, they fecked up my timings last two years in a row so won't be rushing out to greystones just for that! So long as i get another gold medal...

Lusk Doyle

monkeyslayer wrote: »

Cool yea might do that, not so bothered about certificate or timings, they fecked up my timings last two years in a row so won't be rushing out to greystones just for that! So long as i get another gold medal...

Give a give a give a garmin!

smacl

Just got my number today, #136, woo hoo! No backing out now, better try and get in a long one this weekend even though it is supposed to lash. Haven't done Sleive Maan and Shay Elliot as a combo yet, so I might try and figure out the least painful loop from Ballyboden that takes them both in, in the right order. Thinking Ballyboden, Enniskerry, Kilmac, Laragh, Rathdrum, Aughrim, the two big hills and back home. Might be brave and throw in the Sally gap and Blessington.

iregk

smacl wrote: »

Haven't done Sleive Maan and Shay Elliot as a combo yet

Just a word to the wise here to anyone looking to do this at the weekend. I've done them a couple of times in the past few weeks. On saturday we left Blessington and did essentially the W200 trail up to the rathdrum road but we went to Laragh and Sally Gap instead.

I've mailed the organisers about it in case they need to get onto the council in order to resolve some of it prior to the 200. The road up to Donard has been resurfaced with gravel and is lethal. We got off and walked but not before it made a mess of my mates 28 Gator Skin Hardshell!!!

Various gravel repair sections between Donard and Sleive Maan. The little hill prior to Slieve Maan, which a few first timers last year thought was Sleive Maan is grand but the descent after it between that and the Maan has a lethal long section of Gravel resurfacing done on it. Its large white stones and its deep so very hard to control the bike on it.

Just something to keep in mind if thats where you're going. Bring spare tubes!!!

setanta159

Did the Shay Elliott and Slieve Maan in both directions last week and concur with IREGK. The road is treacherous in parts on Slieve Maan. I came down it (opposite direction to W200) against the wind in driving rain and came very close to coming off. The gravel, shoddy resurfacing and large potholes obscured by the deluge didn't help things. Was quite shaken up by the experience. Hopefully the organisers will have organised something beforehand to at least fill the potholes in.

neris

got my pack today but having second thoughts on doing it. have done very little milage since early March. 2 80k spins (1 last week up to sally gap and gave up) and a few 20ks so not sure if i,ll be up to it but am planning to try work up 3 long spins between this weekeknd and the bank holiday weekend. Also got a very low number which might have been to enthusiastic on the entry

Can they change the route if the road is still in a bad state? Or will the council be doing an all out effort to get it repaired? surely be in their interest from a tourism point of view

seamus

They've upwards of 1,000 cyclists using the roads for the event and the council knew about it before putting that surface on the roads, so they would be liable for some very large bills if cyclists came off due to inadequate repairs. I imagine they will fix it, though definitely a good idea to let the organisers know so they can get onto the council.

neris, you can opt to take the 100k route on the day, the entry cost is the same, so don't worry too much about it. If you've previously managed 80k, then 100k will be no bother.

FuzzyDunlop100

They'd hardly re-route the 200 to avoid Slieve Maan though, would they?
It'd be like playing the Masters but skipping Amen Corner!

neris

I got a few 150+ in earlier this year but been so long since ive done it im hoping the next few weekends will get me to 150km minimum. Would like to get 200km in before if i can do it. Have no intention of doint the 100

smacl

iregk wrote: »

Just a word to the wise here to anyone looking to do this at the weekend. I've done them a couple of times in the past few weeks. On saturday we left Blessington and did essentially the W200 trail up to the rathdrum road but we went to Laragh and Sally Gap instead.

I've mailed the organisers about it in case they need to get onto the council in order to resolve some of it prior to the 200. The road up to Donard has been resurfaced with gravel and is lethal. We got off and walked but not before it made a mess of my mates 28 Gator Skin Hardshell!!!

Various gravel repair sections between Donard and Sleive Maan. The little hill prior to Slieve Maan, which a few first timers last year thought was Sleive Maan is grand but the descent after it between that and the Maan has a lethal long section of Gravel resurfacing done on it. Its large white stones and its deep so very hard to control the bike on it.

Just something to keep in mind if thats where you're going. Bring spare tubes!!!

Thanks for the heads up, sounds pretty crap. I'm on a hybrid / cross bike with 32mm Marathon extremes and lockable front suspension, which may for the first time ever actually prove useful. Not being a dare devil or anything, but if the going is treacherous, all the more reason to have checked it out before the day at my own timid pace and without the crowds.

ednwireland

seamus wrote: »

They've upwards of 1,000 cyclists using the roads for the event and the council knew about it before putting that surface on the roads, so they would be liable for some very large bills if cyclists came off due to inadequate repairs. I imagine they will fix it, though definitely a good idea to let the organisers know so they can get onto the council.

neris, you can opt to take the 100k route on the day, the entry cost is the same, so don't worry too much about it. If you've previously managed 80k, then 100k will be no bother.

the council resurfaced part of the ladies brae on the 2010 tour of sligo left piles of chippings on every corner of the descent, several people came off to my knowledge. so dont bet on councils not doing something stupid

velo.2010

Well I'm signed up. First time. Missed the Mick Byrne so I'll do this this, good prep for early July. My number is nearly the same as this year but not quite. So no future anecdote there then.:D

Agreed with others regarding the surface on the road after(or in this case before) the Slieve Maan climb. Poor resurfacing and with little through traffic it won't improve unless the council do something to fix it properly. Would they budge for the Wicklow 200?

Ps. Weather can only get better than this!

daragh_

Got mine in the post this am - 39, not as bad as 11 last year which left me open to a good bit of slagging

Road surfaces probably won't get any better between now and then but they can't be worse then the Mick Byrne. We were climbing over trees in the middle of the road for that.

manwithaplan

I got number 61 - I assume they will assign me a few domestiques on the day.

Cookie_Monster

534

If the weather isn't a million times better than yesterday I'm not going :P

bbolger

Got mine yesterday, 17

Not sure if I'll be able to do it justice...

seamus

#384

Now I just need this feckin chest cold to lift.

daragh_

seamus wrote: »

#384

Now I just need this feckin chest cold to lift.

This does not bode well for a Boards Team 'win'.

Yi Harr

neris wrote: »

got my pack today but having second thoughts on doing it. have done very little milage since early March. 2 80k spins (1 last week up to sally gap and gave up) and a few 20ks so not sure if i,ll be up to it but am planning to try work up 3 long spins between this weekeknd and the bank holiday weekend. Also got a very low number which might have been to enthusiastic on the entry

I'm in the same boat as you. Decided in January to enter (only ended up entering up last week) and haven't had the time to train properly. Aside from my daily commute and the odd weekend spin I've very few kms under my belt.

I've a feeling that on the day I may end up just doing the 100km circuit with an eye to completing the 200km next year.

neris

Its two weeks away so my thinking is I did 85km last week so this weekend head to Wicklow from home and try get in a climb to the sally gap into Laragh and back home and hopfully get in over 120km and then next saturday build up on that to 150km and on the monday get 180km in. sounds like a plan in theory reality maybe a very sore stiff body

manwithaplan

neris wrote: »

Its two weeks away so my thinking is I did 85km last week so this weekend head to Wicklow from home and try get in a climb to the sally gap into Laragh and back home and hopfully get in over 120km and then next saturday build up on that to 150km and on the monday get 180km in. sounds like a plan in theory reality maybe a very sore stiff body

I don't know if big efforts like that close to the day make much difference, although they may help you decide whether you are in shape to do it. Building up to those distances gradually over time certainly helps but throwing in a couple of big ones late on probably won't do a lot for you. I would just stick to the 100-120k and, if you're feeling OK, save your efforts for the day itself.

Of course, I haven't done more than 120k this year (although I would have done a lot of 90-100ks, some at a fast pace) so I might just be trying to bring you down to my level.

christeb

neris wrote: »

Its two weeks away so my thinking is I did 85km last week so this weekend head to Wicklow from home and try get in a climb to the sally gap into Laragh and back home and hopfully get in over 120km and then next saturday build up on that to 150km and on the monday get 180km in. sounds like a plan in theory reality maybe a very sore stiff body

you don't need to do 180 on the Monday, and mightn't even need to do 150 the weekend before. It's more important to be fresh on the day than to flog your body trying to get in shape. Maybe do 80 - 100 the weekend before on the hills, it's allow time to recover for the 200

ROK ON

1018.

Training starts tomorrow.
140km tomorrow
140km Sunday
160km next Sunday
That should do it it nicely.

As rgds rest.
Its fine to do 180km next w/e. You will have a full 7 days for recovery. Ideally one should do a few short spins during the week before just to get the legs moving.

manwithaplan

ROK ON wrote: »

Training starts tomorrow.

On top of all your other cycling this year! Those distances would make bugger all difference if you didn't have a base laid down.

I wouldn't care about recovery after 180k the previous weekend either - 7 days is bucketloads - but there's not much point in it other than to prove you were ready in the first place.

smacl

Back from a spin taking in Slieve Maan and Shay Elliot, roads around Slieve Maan seemed ok, but I came from the Aughrim side, so I'm guessing the bad bit is coming from the Donard direction. The second half of the Shay Elliot descent is a mass of pot holes, but nothing new there. A bit slow going into the wind as far as Rathdrum this morning, but a pretty decent day out apart from that. Found the hills grand, but my pace leaves a lot to be desired. Loving the new Brooks saddle, such a great bonus to come in the door without a sore rear end.

Might give the Enniskerry-Sallygap-Blessington-Donard approach a go next weekend.

get on your bike

I wouldn't care about recovery after 180k the previous weekend either - 7 days is bucketloads - but there's not much point in it other than to prove you were ready in the first place.

Why is it of no benefit

manwithaplan

get on your bike wrote: »

Why is it of no benefit

Because a couple of long efforts in the last couple of weeks are not really going to bring you on unless you have been building up to it over time. The 180k the previous week on your todd takes a bigger effort than the 192k on the day riding in groups etc. Nobody runs 30 miles the week before a marathon - it kind of defeats the purpose.

g0g

#70 myself, and like most I doubt I'll do the low number justice! Got out for 110km today, probably the longest I'll get before the event, but too late at this stage! Did Sally Gap twice (with conditions fairly miserable at times!) - my god that was my first time approaching Sally Gap from the Lough Tay side and the hill nearly killed me just before the start of the lake!

On the way up from Kilbride to Sally Gap there was a council truck and a few laps filling the potholes wioth gravel or something. Hopefully cars will mash it all down before the day of the event! Good to see at least they seem to be seeing to parts of the course!

Cookie_Monster

g0g wrote: »

my god that was my first time approaching Sally Gap from the Lough Tay side and the hill nearly killed me just before the start of the lake!

did that myself yesterday, savage hill. had to stop for a breather at the top

trek climber

smacl wrote: »

Back from a spin taking in Slieve Maan and Shay Elliot, roads around Slieve Maan seemed ok, but I came from the Aughrim side, so I'm guessing the bad bit is coming from the Donard direction. The second half of the Shay Elliot descent is a mass of pot holes, but nothing new there. A bit slow going into the wind as far as Rathdrum this morning, but a pretty decent day out apart from that. Found the hills grand, but my pace leaves a lot to be desired. Loving the new Brooks saddle, such a great bonus to come in the door without a sore rear end.

Might give the Enniskerry-Sallygap-Blessington-Donard approach a go next weekend.

We did the Shay Elliott from Laragh last Saturday and then up Slieve Mann,is that from the Donard or Aughrim side....

smacl

trek climber wrote: »

We did the Shay Elliott from Laragh last Saturday and then up Slieve Mann,is that from the Donard or Aughrim side....

Depends where you went afterwards. I went from Laragh to Rathdrum, Aughrim than Slieve Maan - Shayy Elliot to do them in the same order as they appear in the WW200. I reckon the climbs you did taking them in the other direction from Laragh are more difficult.

The route I took last Saturday is in blue, the WW200 will be coming from Donard - Rathdangan - over the hills to Laragh - Rathdrum and onwards. Thinking of doing the sally gap - donard - SM/SE - Laragh run next weekend, weather and motivation willing.

kellt

I cannot wait till sunday week to complete this event. I may not want to see a bike for a week later but it will be an great achievment to finish. id say you would probably need 2 rest days before the event ?

seamus

kellt wrote: »

I cannot wait till sunday week to complete this event. I may not want to see a bike for a week later but it will be an great achievment to finish. id say you would probably need 2 rest days before the event ?

Depends on your typical workload. If I went out for a big spin the week beforehand and then did my normal commute all week, I'd be annihilated on the route. However, if I stayed off the bike from the Wednesday, perhaps a very short 20k or something on the Saturday for mechanical checks and to loosen up the legs, I'd be fine. Likewise if I didn't go out for a spin this weekend and just did my commute, I'd be fine for the WW200.

I'm equally excited and nervous about doing this. Relishing the challenge, but at the same time I've no idea what condition I'll be in by the time I hit the 100k mark in Donard. I'll really only know on the day.

daragh_

What time are yiz all thinking of heading off?

I'm doing it in the company of my esteemed training partners (Unionman and '68 Fastback to the rest of you) for as long as I can keep up. I imagine we will be starting around 7?? They may disagree forcefully.

Would be nice to see a bunch of Boards jerseys on the road together, for a short while at least.

Opens can of worms, backs away slowly.

trek climber

smacl wrote: »

Depends where you went afterwards. I went from Laragh to Rathdrum, Aughrim than Slieve Maan - Shayy Elliot to do them in the same order as they appear in the WW200. I reckon the climbs you did taking them in the other direction from Laragh are more difficult.

The route I took last Saturday is in blue, the WW200 will be coming from Donard - Rathdangan - over the hills to Laragh - Rathdrum and onwards. Thinking of doing the sally gap - donard - SM/SE - Laragh run next weekend, weather and motivation willing.

We started from Blessington and headed north for Dublin and took the right turn off the N81 and headed up Sally Gap. Took a right at the top and came down by Glenmacnas ? into Laragh, then Shay Elliott and Slieve Mann. At the top of Slieve Mann we literally turned around and came back the same way.

seamus

daragh_ wrote: »

What time are yiz all thinking of heading off?

I'm giving myself 9.5 hours to do it, including stops, and for morale reasons I want to get back before 6pm, so I'm thinking about setting off at 8am.

trek climber

iregk wrote: »

Just a word to the wise here to anyone looking to do this at the weekend. I've done them a couple of times in the past few weeks. On saturday we left Blessington and did essentially the W200 trail up to the rathdrum road but we went to Laragh and Sally Gap instead.

I've mailed the organisers about it in case they need to get onto the council in order to resolve some of it prior to the 200. The road up to Donard has been resurfaced with gravel and is lethal. We got off and walked but not before it made a mess of my mates 28 Gator Skin Hardshell!!!

Various gravel repair sections between Donard and Sleive Maan. The little hill prior to Slieve Maan, which a few first timers last year thought was Sleive Maan is grand but the descent after it between that and the Maan has a lethal long section of Gravel resurfacing done on it. Its large white stones and its deep so very hard to control the bike on it.

Just something to keep in mind if thats where you're going. Bring spare tubes!!!

See note up on the Wicklow200 website advising that the route around Slieve Mann may be changed due to the road conditions

iregk

Yeah. I got a reply back from them to say the route manager had looked at it and agreed a re-route may be needed. Now the council may well have it sorted out in time in which case nothing is required but always good to bring it up with time to spare.

Lusk Doyle

Myself and Kellt are going for the worms. Early start at 6am.

Would love to wear my boards jersey but the lad that ordered it is out of the country for the past while and I don't know when he is back

Keep an eye out for us two rocking it in the Swords club gear :cool:

manwithaplan

Will probably start early and will most likely wear the Swords gear too. Haven't a breeze how long it will take me - maybe 8.5 hours allowing 30 mins for stops. I probably wouldn't do that solo so hopefully I hook up with a couple of groups along the way.

Lusk Doyle

manwithaplan wrote: »

Will probably start early and will most likely wear the Swords gear too. Haven't a breeze how long it will take me - maybe 8.5 hours allowing 30 mins for stops. I probably wouldn't do that solo so hopefully I hook up with a couple of groups along the way.

Hook up with us so. I need my lead out train

daragh_

It took me 9(ish) hours last year, mostly solo, with the odd lift where I could get away with it. So I'll be hanging on the back of every single one of you I see.

Shame there isn't a team car with magic sticky bottles

FuzzyDunlop100

I'll be gutted if they re-route around Slieve Maan, people will think it's a Wicklow-lite!