The 2011 Martin Earley Tour of Kildare

Haldir

The 2011 Martin Earley Tour of Kildare takes place this Sunday the 14th August. The Tour of Kildare started in 2002 with about 20 cyclists taking part. This has grown steadily over the years with 450 signing on last year. This years tour will include all the factors that have helped make the Tour of Kildare a success over the years. Good back-up, a friendly atmosphere, a mainly flat but challenging route and a burger when you finish in the Naas Court Hotel Courtyard. We will also be offering participants the opportunity to cycle with one of Ireland's most successful cyclists Martin Earley. Martin is one of the few Irish cyclists to have won a stage in both Le Tour and the Giro d'Italia and will probably be found spinning away in the lead group next Sunday.
This years Tour of Kildare covers three distances: 100, 50 and 20kms with sign on for the 100k and 50k opening at 8.30 am for a 10am start while 20k starts at 12 noon. Entry fees have been reduced this year with entry for the 100 and 50km costing €25 (Under 16's on the 50km is €15). Its €10 for an adult on the 20km family cycle and €5 per child up to a maximum of €20 per family. Enter on the morning of the cycle or pre register online at: http://mariekeating.ie/2572/martin-earley-tour-of-kildare-14th-august-2011
All proceeds go to the Marie Keating Foundation. For detailed route and other information log on to: www.naascyclingclub.com (Look under Leisure Tours) or http://www.facebook.com/tourofkildare?sk=wall

munsterleinster

Are there any water stops on the 100k or does everyone fend for themselves?

mfdc

Assuming it hasn't changed since 2009, there's a foodstop and a water stop. It'll be neutralised for the first 30km to the foodstop, which I remember being pretty good, and afterward all hell breaks loose. There's a water stop somewhere about the 80km mark I think? Couple of folks with a few tables set up at the side of the road, I remember flying straight past it and taking a second to register what it was

Great event though, sorry I missed it last year. Hope the weather is good, looking forward to the bbq at the end!

daragh_

Waterstop just as you come across the Curragh I think. I tried to grab a bottle without stopping last year. did not end well

It's good craic, gets pretty fast if you can hang on (which I couldn't).
Nice crowd, great Burger at the end, plus a t-shirt. Worth a go.

Vélo

I'll probably do this again this year.

therightstuff

The group is neutralized as far a feed stop after Maynooth where everyone halts. After that its every cyclist for themselves as far The Curragh where there is a smaller stop. At the end in Naas there is a nice burger on offer.

Plastik

I'll be there

Ryaner

Can you sign up on the day?

cython

Ryaner wrote: »

Can you sign up on the day?

Haldir wrote: »

The 2011 Martin Earley Tour of Kildare takes place this Sunday the 14th August. The Tour of Kildare started in 2002 with about 20 cyclists taking part. This has grown steadily over the years with 450 signing on last year. This years tour will include all the factors that have helped make the Tour of Kildare a success over the years. Good back-up, a friendly atmosphere, a mainly flat but challenging route and a burger when you finish in the Naas Court Hotel Courtyard. We will also be offering participants the opportunity to cycle with one of Ireland's most successful cyclists Martin Earley. Martin is one of the few Irish cyclists to have won a stage in both Le Tour and the Giro d'Italia and will probably be found spinning away in the lead group next Sunday.
This years Tour of Kildare covers three distances: 100, 50 and 20kms with sign on for the 100k and 50k opening at 8.30 am for a 10am start while 20k starts at 12 noon. Entry fees have been reduced this year with entry for the 100 and 50km costing €25 (Under 16's on the 50km is €15). Its €10 for an adult on the 20km family cycle and €5 per child up to a maximum of €20 per family. Enter on the morning of the cycle or pre register online at: http://mariekeating.ie/2572/martin-earley-tour-of-kildare-14th-august-2011
All proceeds go to the Marie Keating Foundation. For detailed route and other information log on to: www.naascyclingclub.com (Look under Leisure Tours) or http://www.facebook.com/tourofkildare?sk=wall

'Nuff said

Ryaner

cython wrote: »

'Nuff said

Thanks. Missed the bit in there about signing on on the day. Busy past few days.

Haldir

Free parking is available at Kildare County Council's Car Park on the Newbridge Road while changing rooms and showers are available at the Town Hall on the main street.

xz

Haldir wrote: »

Free parking is available at Kildare County Council's Car Park on the Newbridge Road while changing rooms and showers are available at the Town Hall on the main street.

what's the capacity of the car park?

vektarman

xz wrote: »

what's the capacity of the car park?

I'm not sure exactly but from the occasions I visit Kildare County Council I reckon about 300 car parking spaces.

furiousox

vektarman wrote: »

I'm not sure exactly but from the occasions I visit Kildare County Council I reckon about 300 car parking spaces.

Well I'm gonna need at least 4 spaces for my support vehicle (07 citroen berlingo) warm up area + privacy screens.

mahoo

they had me at 'burger'....if my alarm clock works im going to give this a go. weather looking good for the day so should be a nice day out.

xz

Is the sign on at Town Hall or Naas Court Hotel?

Haldir

xz wrote: »

Is the sign on at Town Hall or Naas Court Hotel?

Sign on, start and finish is at the Naas Court Hotel from 8.30am. Cycle leaves at 10am. The Town Hall is only a hundred yards away (see map) and changing rooms and showers are available there.

lizanne83

See ya'll tomorrow guys!

moggs1972

great day out, well run event but god the pace was high after the first stop. 100k in 3:12, average 32kmph. got soaked twice, left the rain cape in the car...that was not my finest move tho wonder if i would have had time to put it on . well done to the organisers for a fine event.

seamus

Nice little event. Great organisation for €25. Everything from the setup to the food stop really puts the WW200 to shame. The IVCA need to get some serious sponsorship to up their game. Enjoyed the neutralised mass start. Plenty of jockeying for position going on.

My aim was a 28.57 average. "Super happy" would have been 30km/h. 30.3km/h in the end, against an irritating headwind. So, very happy.

First event with the Garmin too, great to have this level of feedback.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106414276

One thing that struck me was the maaahoooosive difference that riding in a group makes when there's a headwind. Easily pulled an extra 5km/h without any effort when I got picked up by passing groups. When I lost them, drop in speed and much more effort to keep up.

Problem was that I kept doing silly things that would slow me down at the back of a group, I'd drop 10m behind, the headwind would catch me and then I had no hope of rejoining the group. About 20km from the end I got picked up by a passing group (including a "boardsie" from someone), thought "Grand, this'll take me home in great time". At one point I was at the back of the group behind two women. By the time I realised they weren't actually in the group, I was 15m behind and being dropped painfully slowly. Just didn't have the fuel in the tank to pull it back. I'll know for next time.

Super Freak

Anyone have any info on the guy that came off in Kilmeague?

Looked like a really nasty spill, roads were very slippery at the time, his bike looked mangled, and he did not look to be in good condition:(

I think he was wearing a Banbridge cycling jersey, not too sure about this.

Plastik

Good workout. Skipped the foodstop and kept going. Had one other guy with me sharing the work who unfortunately fell off my wheel after about 15k and I spent the next 20/30k in no mans land fighting the wind on my own. Came in in 3h 15. About 1k outside Naas, nearly home, fannying with the bike computer and I hit the deck. Gob****e. No damage to anything but my skin thankfully!

Few Boards.ie's about. Spotted XZ in his Bray Wheelers gear and spun along with Communist Jawgap for a while!

Idleater

Enjoyed that too. Well run event with decent support.
2h56 excluding the food stop in Kilcock ~33kmph average.

My answer to the questions posed on "the Wall" I was in 39x21 (two sprockets to go) where it said 34x27, and my HR was 97%/176bpm

I also noticed that no one has yet put a segment for "the Wall" on Strava. Google maps streetview was getting fineky with me when I was trying to find the "top" of the hill.

Idleater

Plastik wrote: »

and spun along with Communist Jawgap for a while!

I'm assuming there weren't two Communists out in which case I cycled beside/in or around him during the neutralised section. It was certainly a distinctive jersey.

seamus

Super Freak wrote: »

Anyone have any info on the guy that came off in Kilmeague?

Could be a different one, but the two guys I spent the last 10km with said that a group of kids were standing at the side of the road with their hands out. The rider was fairly tipping along and went in to give the kids a high five but instead hit the kerb, flipping himself over and skittling 5 or 6 other riders.

Could be a different incident, but there otherwise didn't seem to be many crashes today, which is always good.

Saw the Soviet Jersey alright, but couldn't remember who it was! Gave him a nod anyway as I was heading back to my car.

xz

Plastik wrote: »

Good workout. Skipped the foodstop and kept going. Had one other guy with me sharing the work who unfortunately fell off my wheel after about 15k and I spent the next 20/30k in no mans land fighting the wind on my own. Came in in 3h 15. About 1k outside Naas, nearly home, fannying with the bike computer and I hit the deck. Gob****e. No damage to anything but my skin thankfully!

Few Boards.ie's about. Spotted XZ in his Bray Wheelers gear and spun along with Communist Jawgap for a while!

Thought you had stopped at foodstop and left with David, from the Curragh, back to Naas, I put the hammer down a bit trying to catch up with you, thought everyone else was right on my wheel, ended up on my own coming back into Naas, I had dropped everyone......my bad:rolleyes:

Must say , it was great day out, well marshalled, especially at the greasy bends and roundabouts, with the marshals verbally warning everyone, foodstop was well organised, and no queuing, despite the numbers there, managed to grab a bottle on the go in the Curragh, the guys there were great at this, obviously expecting people to grab on the go. My wife loved the choclates in the goody bag, and the Burger at the end was gratefully received (again, fast moving, very little queuing). A big thanks to Naas C.C. for putting on a really well organised and fun day out.

Ah_go_on

xz wrote: »

Plastik wrote: »

Good workout. Skipped the foodstop and kept going. Had one other guy with me sharing the work who unfortunately fell off my wheel after about 15k and I spent the next 20/30k in no mans land fighting the wind on my own. Came in in 3h 15. About 1k outside Naas, nearly home, fannying with the bike computer and I hit the deck. Gob****e. No damage to anything but my skin thankfully!

Few Boards.ie's about. Spotted XZ in his Bray Wheelers gear and spun along with Communist Jawgap for a while!

Thought you had stopped at foodstop and left with David, from the Curragh, back to Naas, I put the hammer down a bit trying to catch up with you, thought everyone else was right on my wheel, ended up on my own coming back into Naas, I had dropped everyone......my bad:rolleyes:

Must say , it was great day out, well marshalled, especially at the greasy bends and roundabouts, with the marshals verbally warning everyone, foodstop was well organised, and no queuing, despite the numbers there, managed to grab a bottle on the go in the Curragh, the guys there were great at this, obviously expecting people to grab on the go. My wife loved the choclates in the goody bag, and the Burger at the end was gratefully received (again, fast moving, very little queuing). A big thanks to Naas C.C. for putting on a really well organised and fun day out.

Really well organised, great bit of grub and a very nice atmosphere. Convinced I missed a turn somewhere after prosperous as I caught up with a group that were way ahead of me around the 60-65k mark. Garmin showed 96k in 3:14. Would definitely do again

mahoo

really nice day out. have to say the 100k sportif with no mountains is a great idea .. met seamus and velo on my travels and was good to put faces to the names. took it handy for first 50k and joined in with a nice bunch from bray wheelers for a bit. then decided to give it full gas for the second 50 and went solo to the finish. averaged about 34kph for the second half which i was dead chuffed with seeing as i was on my todd. well organised event and will definitely be back next year.

Plastik

First time doing this event, have to agree that the marshaling was spot on. If I was to pick a fault though, why is there a foodstop at 30k? I realise that it's halfway on the 50k route but it's way, way to early for everyone else. Especially seeing as the whole trip is pace controlled to this point.

100k should have been let go at 9/9.30 with a short stop around the 60k mark.

mloc123

Can anyone stick up a google map pinpoint of 'the wall'?
Heard about it a few times but no idea where it is.

munsterleinster

Enjoyed that.
First time doing a sportif and first time riding in a group.
Got with a group of 3 others after the food stop and the pace was really moving at 35k with.. The difference was massive when we got seperated and I was on my own for a long while fighting the wind.

Reckon I'll do that again next year.

Jawgap

Great event and that was me with Soviet geansey!

Very well organised - no delays at the sign on or getting the goodie bags and burgers afterwards. Marshalling was excellent and the neutralised start made for a nice atmosphere.

At one stage I thought I was jinxed - two or three riders took a tumble in front of me in Clane, then another in Maynooth, again after Kilcock and then on the run in I see Plastik dusting himself off at the side of the road. Hope everyone involved was ok.

I'd agree with the comments about the food stops - maybe one at 30 for the 50km riders and one at 60 for the 100km riders.

"The Wall" was the big hill at about 63km (I think) and in response to the question, I was "sur la plaque" - 50 x 23 - but only because I grossly underestimated the gradient and thought I could big ring it - then once I realised my mistake it was too late to change down so I just had to live with it.

Definitely one for next year when I hope to improve on my time of 3:15.

esox21

Does anyone know the site of the guy who was taking pics while riding in the tour of Kildare today, i was too knackered to take it in, told me he posts pics on his site.

Plastik

Probably www.SportActive.net

treborm

http://www.sportactive.net/

Pics not up yet but usually puts tons up

Haldir

Pics will be on Sportactive Site later in the week...
http://www.sportactive.net/index.php?option=com_mydyngallery&Itemid=60&lang=en
There will also be some pics later in the week on...
www.facebook.com/naascyclingclub

baap86

Super Freak wrote: »

Anyone have any info on the guy that came off in Kilmeague?

Looked like a really nasty spill, roads were very slippery at the time, his bike looked mangled, and he did not look to be in good condition:(

I think he was wearing a Banbridge cycling jersey, not too sure about this.

Speaking to this guy's friends in the hotel afterwards and they said he broke his hip. Poor guy!
Excellent day out though.

cython

mloc123 wrote: »

Can anyone stick up a google map pinpoint of 'the wall'?
Heard about it a few times but no idea where it is.

This is pretty much the wall, it was around 70-73km into the route. It's only about 500m long, but it is very steep in parts.

Super Freak wrote: »

Anyone have any info on the guy that came off in Kilmeague?

Looked like a really nasty spill, roads were very slippery at the time, his bike looked mangled, and he did not look to be in good condition:(

I think he was wearing a Banbridge cycling jersey, not too sure about this.

baap86 wrote: »

Speaking to this guy's friends in the hotel afterwards and they said he broke his hip. Poor guy!
Excellent day out though.

I think this guy (or another poor unfortunate!) took his spill behind me, so I didn't see much, only the colour of his jersey as I looked around to see what the clatter was. Just coming down the hill before the right hand bend his back wheel seemed to slide out, possibly trying to take the turn a little too quickly for the conditions. A few of the gang that set out with me were either behind him, or happened on it shortly after it happened, so stayed with him for a while, and one of the girls got a text from him when she got back to Naas to say that he had indeed broken his hip. Wishing him a speedy recovery anyway!

Magilla Gorilla

Did it in 2.54 excluding a few minutes at the food stop, so well pleased with my first sub-3 hour 100k. It's a lot easier on the flat........
Would agree that the food stop is too early for the 100k, so maybe that will be looked at for next year.
Great crowd out, weather not too bad (only two wettings!) and not too wrecked afterwards.

Hope the injured are back on the road soon.

Big thanks to all marshalls, helpers and all at Naas CC.

Super Freak

Quote:
Originally Posted by Super Freak
Anyone have any info on the guy that came off in Kilmeague?

Looked like a really nasty spill, roads were very slippery at the time, his bike looked mangled, and he did not look to be in good condition

I think he was wearing a Banbridge cycling jersey, not too sure about this.

Speaking to this guy's friends in the hotel afterwards and they said he broke his hip. Poor guy!
Excellent day out though.

Poor guy, not nice.
I suspected that he had broken his pelvis by the way he was lying on the road. Quite horrible to see.

Get well soon mate!!!! Get well soon.

Super Freak

Pics are up on sportactive.net

Big thumbs up from Super Freak :pac:

pug_

Yay I found a picture of myself heading in for some brack. Cheers for letting us know Super Freak

Vélo

Idleater

Enjoying the spin:

Got into a nice bunch with a load of Swords riders shortly after this, then continued with two of them after they (we) dropped the rest of them on the first "hill".

cdaly_

Vélo wrote: »

Wow! That's some hill! And it doesn't look like you're suffering at all...

Vélo

cdaly_ wrote: »

Wow! That's some hill! And it doesn't look like you're suffering at all...

I found it easy enough this year, it is steep but it's fairly short. It must have been the training I got in Wales, some seriously tough hills over there, much steeper and much longer.

cython

Happily wheelsucking after getting stuck on the front of a train for way too long after Kilcock and subsequently burning out.

Haldir

Some more pics of the Tour of Kildare here...
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.178184432253030.43407.148363841901756&l=3f69aea4a5&type=1

billaustin

It was a brilliant day out on the bike, well done to Naas CC for an excellent event!

SlinkyKittin

Super Freak wrote: »

Pics are up on sportactive.net

Big thumbs up from Super Freak :pac:

Looking good OH