Tour De Breffni - Sunday 2nd October

Johnners1878

If you fancy an end of season Sportive this Sunday, why not take a spin down to Lovely Leitrim? The 100km is a very nice route, one cracking climb, a good few hills and spectacular surroundings. There's a food stop en route at 60k and refreshments at the finish. I'm not involved in organising it, but know a few of the Leitrim Crew and am looking forward to it.

Full details here - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=164227443660621

reilig

I'm going to bump this.

There has been quite a lot of interest expressed in this and there is a large attendance expected. Entry fee is €20 and all proceeds got to IHCPT-Irish Pilgrimage Trust. There will be food and water stops and refreshments served afterwards. Routes can be found on the facebook link above.

alexanderomahon

Did the four counties last week and managed 3hrs 35 for the 100k. this was my first ride of this lenght and I had a bit left in me but not that much. How much tougher will this be?

Herc

From what I can see it is a reasonably flat course apart from the trek to Glangevlin which seems about a 7km climb up about 250m - it'll just mean getting into a comfortable gear and grinding it out, that elevation spread over 7km shouldn't be a killer but I'll probably be the guy with the big red head on me half way up regretting saying this

Johnners1878

My man in the LCC described it as 350 metres elevation over 4-5km Herc, which would make a bit tougher again, but maybe he was just bigging up his own Sportive!

Dizraeligears

Im doin this its fairly local -only the 60 though.Lookin forward to it.Done Glan before a few times,would love to do the 100 but with my newbie mate...

ednwireland

any chance of letting a slow fatboy do the 100km ?

dont want he broomwagon up my ar*e like last weekend (had to have words !) . should be about 4 to 4.5 hours

Johnners1878

ednwireland wrote: »

any chance of letting a slow fatboy do the 100km ?

dont want he broomwagon up my ar*e like last weekend (had to have words !) . should be about 4 to 4.5 hours

Yes, there won't be any pressure on you at 4.5 hours ednwireland. There are a couple of new clubs in the area and there'll be quite a few people doing their first 100k. The whole point of this is to encourage interest and participation, not to make us feel inferior to the club racers.

ednwireland

Now all i have to do is decide rugby or cycling, rugby or cycling

reilig

ednwireland wrote: »

Now all i have to do is decide rugby or cycling, rugby or cycling

Sky + and whether ireland win lose or draw, we still go through

Johnners1878

Rugby on the radio, cycle on your bike!

ednwireland

cracking day cheers guys, 100km in 3:42

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118659363#

reilig

.

reilig

I had a great time too on my first Sportif. It all went really well, the food was good,the marshals were where they should be, the facilities were good and the showers afterwards were a comfort. The hills from Dowra back up to Drumshambo were hard on the legs, but it was one of the best sporting things that I have ever done.
60km in 2 hours 20 minutes. I've never cycled as fast or as far before. :D:D

Herc

3hrs 45 for the 100k and happy out - great day, a bit of everything from a misty eerie climb up to Glan to a clear calm spin from Drumkeeran back to Leitrim Village - reasonable level of marshalling and good stops for this standard of event - climb wasn't as bad as expected, 7k alright bottom to top but stepped which allowed short lived breathers every few hundred metres but gradient quite bearable - defo one for next year. Well done to the organisers and a great part of the world to take in

Dizraeligears

+1 to the above,
Well done to all involved in running this.loads of food at stops and finish.

Tweedo

reilig

???

Tweedo wrote: »

Gipo3

reilig wrote: »

???

Tour de Breffni

reilig

Gipo3 wrote: »

Tour de Breffni

That's not him is it?

Surely this is more representational?? :D:D

Johnners1878

Great day out on this yesterday. At the outset I had three ambitions -
1. No punctures. 2. No falls. 3. Finish in under four hours.

Before the start I met up with two of my fellow Curlieu Wheelers. We decided to stick together for the first half of the route. At a guess I'd say there were 50-60 who set off on the 100k. A group of up to 20 went haring off at the start and quickly built up a gap to the main bunch, which remained close-knit, averaging approx 28kph.

By the time we got to the foot of the big climb to Glangevlin at 42km, some of the leading group were coming back to the bunch, and we passed quite a few more on the climb up into the clouds. Our Sunday mornings and Tuesday nights climbing the Curlieus definitely stood to us. It was so misty that it wasn't possible to see how high we had to go, which might have been a blessing in disguise. A couple of times we hit plateaus and it seemed like the end, only for the hill to rise up again. The descent was nice though.

After the food stop in Dowra we set out again. All three of us were feeling pretty strong and the pace was upped quite a bit. We kicked into team time trial mode from around 75-90km, and made a lot of progress through the field. Then we hit a few hills and my legs started to go. I was ok at normal pace, but not the 40+kph we were doing. We'd hooked up with a couple of other strong riders and I couldn't keep the wheel on any little drag uphill. We set our strong man loose and eased up a little bit for the last 10k to finish in 3.19 at an average of 29.7kph.

This was as good as I could possibly have hoped for. I only had one problem all day. At the food stop I swapped water bottles, but forgot to take the plastic top off. As I tried to take it out in Drumkeeran, the top separated from the bottle which flew off the bike, leaving me with just a small amount of Lucozade Sport to get me home the last 30km. I popped a couple of energy gels to try and compensate, but felt really ill with indigestion most of the day afterwards. I'd read on a thread here that they can cause people problems, so I won't be using them again. Luckily, I didn't feel the worst effects until after we'd finished.

A big word of thanks to all in the Leitrim Cycling Club for the excellent marshalling, food & water, and especially the piping hot showers at the end.

Just to add that the newly formed Curlieu Wheelers are holding a small Sportive next Sunday starting and finishing in Lough Key Forest Park. 50k and a Family 10k. Registration on the day from 10.00am in Lough Key activity centre. €10 gets you in, a souvenir Beanie Hat and refreshments. All welcome.

Shadow78

Had a great days cycling after a bad start.

1) Flat tire when I took the bike out of the shed.
2) Got the keys locked in the car soon after arriving, had to break a window.
3) Took 12k of chasing to catch up with the main field after not being ready on time.

Nice flat route with one climb which seemed to have been talked up alot.
Good turnout from our club, Innisfree Wheelers, with 9 turning up for the event. Had a nice group of 6 after the food stop working together at a
nice fast pace.

Food stop was great, great spread of food.

Could have done with a marshall at the final turn when we got there. Lucky not to have crashed when we came upon it at speed with a few of the group flying by before they got stopped and turned.

Refreshments at end hit the spot, thanks to all the many people involved in the running and organisation.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118688102

Avg speed 28.7 over 97.9k in 3hrs 24m