Top 10 Irish sportives 2012??

byebye

So just trying to put a plan in place for this year and would like to know what sportives others out there rate? pros and cons of each?

Thanks

triggermortis

I've only done one - the Meath An Post one and thought it was excellent. Well organised, good food and water stops, pictures taken en route, group start and a PA system blaring music and congratulations at the end.
If it's on again this year, I'll be back

mediwheel

Tour de Burren

Giantscauswaysportive

Both Excelent !

funnights74

I've done most of them and the Ring of Kerry is top dog,well organised, super route and great atmosphere, Sean kelly Tour of Waterford is an honourable second.

feck sake lads

only one for me tour of mid louth (DUNLEER co louth) well ran great food great route and it only cost a tenner.

hughmace

Tour de Kilkenny is also excellent

ROK ON

Slaney CC Mt Leinster Challenge is superb.
Chain Gang Conor Pass challenge is great (lovely cream cakes at the finish).
Etape Ras Mumhan was superb in 2011.
Iveragh 200 is pure hell but worth doing none the less (Killorglin CC).
Valley Wheelers CC - Mick Dineen Challange is on one of the nicest routes in the country (Sheehy mountains on the Cork/Kerry border).
Naas CC Tour de Cure is a lovely route close to Dublin with great support.

morana

what about the Wicklow 200/100???

byebye

Some great ideas there!

Tour de burren is top of the list bein in clare, How about etape? or would the sean kelly tour in waterford be better? as far as i know on the same weekend,

bertiecont

Tour de Burren, Ring of Kerry, Sean Kelly are best I've done but haven't done any up the country so can't compare.

Views on Tour de Burren if weather is good make the effort well worth it! Corkscrew climb is a nice novelty with the hairpins (mini Alpe duHuez!)

Ring of Kerry is a great day with great crowd / atmosphere and good food stops etc.

Sean Kelly is tough but very rewarding.

Tour de Cure in Midleton was good last year although it's my local event so slightly biased as i don't need an early start for this one!

letape

Ring of Kerry gets my vote! Really enjoy it every gear; crowds, food stops and community involvement and of course a really fabulous route.

Much more fun than the more difficult Wicklow 200.

Keep_Her_Lit

ROK ON wrote: »

Iveragh 200 is pure hell but worth doing none the less (Killorglin CC).

ROK ON, this reminds me of one of the best posts I've read on boards to date. Good to see that you're still enjoying cycling.

penexpers

letape wrote: »

Ring of Kerry gets my vote! Really enjoy it every gear; crowds, food stops and community involvement and of course a really fabulous route.

Much more fun than the more difficult poorly organised Wicklow 200.

FYP

happytramp

Loved the 'Leinster Loop' last year and will defo do it again. Also planning on doing the Sean Kelly Waterford one, the Hinault one in Connemara and 'maybe' the WW200.

Esroh

In no particular order

AnPost Sligo/Waterford/Burren(Clare my favourite route)
Tour KK
RoK
Croi Lap of Corrib



And as its our own and its as good a test as any and its in a beautiful area.
Western Lakes Polka Dot

Bikerbhoy

Tour de Foothills (Naas Cycling Club) , bit shorter than most already mentioned at 100 k but a great season opener very well organised and they are usually very lucky with the weather too. Entertainment throughout the day too for family & friends.....Looking forward to it already

seamus

morana wrote: »

what about the Wicklow 200/100???

I think that's up there as "one to do", but if we were to rate sportives on the overall event, WW200 probably wouldn't get in the top ten. I only did 4 last year, and the WW200 would rate 3rd out of those four.

squeaky crank

morana wrote: »

what about the Wicklow 200/100???

Wicklow 200/100 is poorly organised compared to ROK, Sean Kelly, Tour of Kilkenny and some others. However, it is a good tough course with plenty of good company and chat along the way, just bring extra food with ya.

Sean Kelly Challenge was highlight for moi last year

Daithi BC

My favourite in 2011 was the Sean Kelly 160, closely followed by the Wicklow Peaks 120km run by Naas CC. The others that I did last year that I will try to do again this year were:

Cuan Mhuire 150km, Athy
An Post Tour of Meath 100km
Tour de Kilkenny 100km

cdaly_

The Cuchulain CC Midsummer Night Century was really fun last year. Night-time riding on deserted roads etc. I'll leave ye to figure out the date for next year...

C-Shore

Is the Wicklow 200 really that badly organized?

What's the problem with food?

Inquitus

In no particular order the ones that stand out from last year for me:

WW200
SKT160
Tour of Louth
The rest of the An Post Series
Orwell Randonnée
Maracycle
Kare Tour de Foothills

Th WW200 is massive and tough, so well worth doing despite the cost and ****e organisation.
The SKT160 is also massive and the atmosphere awesome.
The Orwell Randonnée while small, was the best organised event I did with the best cake, and it takes in the wall and a **** ton of other hills besides.
The Maracycle was a fun blast up to Belfast, and I got the train back down.
The An Post events are very popular and generally well run so I'd recommend them.
The Kare Tour de Foothills is an early season 100km, well run and good fun.

Dermot Illogical

Giant's Causeway was excellent last year. Well organised and a tough scenic route.

seamus

C-Shore wrote: »

Is the Wicklow 200 really that badly organized?

What's the problem with food?

It's not badly organised at all. I think the main problem is that the food stops are a tiny bit chaotic. A lot of people complained about having to queue to get food and there being a poor selection. All I can really remember is sandwiches, Rice Krispie squares and tea/coffee.
The first stop in Donard while welcome, doesn't have much room for people to sit/stand around, so a lot of people either had to stand out in the rain, or fuelled up and went on without stopping for long.
There was also no real atmosphere at the end. A bit of pasta and some benches to sit on in a mostly empty hall.

The two sportives I did after the WW200 by comparison appeared to have a better selection of things to eat & drink, as well as more room at the stops.

To be fair on the WW200 though, the weather was absolute muck last year, which will always taint one's feeling about an event.

C-Shore

seamus wrote: »

It's not badly organised at all. I think the main problem is that the food stops are a tiny bit chaotic. A lot of people complained about having to queue to get food and there being a poor selection. All I can really remember is sandwiches, Rice Krispie squares and tea/coffee.
The first stop in Donard while welcome, doesn't have much room for people to sit/stand around, so a lot of people either had to stand out in the rain, or fuelled up and went on without stopping for long.
There was also no real atmosphere at the end. A bit of pasta and some benches to sit on in a mostly empty hall.

The two sportives I did after the WW200 by comparison appeared to have a better selection of things to eat & drink, as well as more room at the stops.

To be fair on the WW200 though, the weather was absolute muck last year, which will always taint one's feeling about an event.

Ah OK, because I'm thinking of doing it this year.
I did hear about the weather though, that's nobody's fault I suppose.

I'll just bring a few extra Powerbar bars and use the foil wrappers as a blanket to prevent hypothermia

Inquitus

C-Shore wrote: »

Is the Wicklow 200 really that badly organized?

What's the problem with food?

The sandwiches, tea and rice krispie bars were grand, and I was through the checkpoints early so didn't have to queue.

The food at the end however was utter shíte, some cold tasteless pasta and a couple of lettuce leaves, not what I was looking for after 8 hours freezing my tits off in the middle of a storm.

spdmrphy

Inquitus wrote: »

In no particular order the ones that stand out from last year for me:

...
Maracycle
....

Gotta second that; did both legs of the maracycle the last two years running and it has been great each time. Very well organised, well marshalled along the length of the route. Great day out!

michael196

C-Shore wrote: »

Ah OK, because I'm thinking of doing it this year.
I did hear about the weather though, that's nobody's fault I suppose.

I'll just bring a few extra Powerbar bars and use the foil wrappers as a blanket to prevent hypothermia

if you are thinking of doing the w 200, then certainly go ahead and do it,. just other sportives have more atmosphere, more facilities and seem to better cater for a large crowd. If you can handle the w200, u can do any of them.

but the w200 was one of a few sportive for years and i reckon will still be there when the others fade.

personally, a friend talked me into the ROK, first time in 2011, and what a blast we had, leisure, crowds, masses of cyclists, pints in sneem in the middle of the event, atmosphere, even if it took me all day to figure out yer wan in the convertible merc was the rose of tralee !!

tour of the burren was class, the atlantic scenary on the last 40 K back to bally vaughan was stunning. Quite competitive in a lot of sections.

Sean Kelly tour well up there, but dont expect a soft ride. as said earlier class atmosphere, well handled and organised.

Sky Etape hibernia....tough last 40 K , just a race... no frills.

Tough ones :
Iveragh 200, has the name of a hill imprinted in my head : Coumanaspig .... a tough day in 2o11, and the Bobby Power Challange Carrick Wheelers, very tough in wintery conditions in June I think .
Nass three peaks, one of the few, to go up the wicklow gap



the SERC three peaks challange deserves mention as does the slieve bloom challange and the Chain Gang blasket blast for stunning scenary and up the Connor pass.

Yet to try:

tour of kilkenny
Mt leisnter challange
An post SLigo / meath
lough neagh

monkeypants

Is it okay to add event dates in here? Might help with deciding which one(s) to do.

Giants Causeway Coast Sportive is £35 entry and is on Saturday 15-Sep-2012.

Lucifer-0

Just wondering, are any of these on in the next few months? The earliest one I have planned at the moment is 21st April - http://www.activeglobal.com/cycling/dublin-ireland/100km-ride-for-life-2012

Dubba

The Sean Kelly tour was my favorite from last year.

There's another tough one down south called the West Cork 200, which i suffered greatly at, missed a turn and only did 169 of the 200

http://www.westcork200.com/

G rock

only did four last year:

SKT of meath
tour of louth
naas cc twin peaks
orwell radonnee

while the skt was really well organised, the route let it down a bit; just wan't that interesting. still a good day out though.

both the orwell and naas cc sportives were superb though, great routes, great food, and well marshalled.

will def try to do these two again this year

xz

SKT Waterford
Tour de Kilkenny
are my favourite 2.

Martin Earley Tour of Kildare (Naas CC) Burgers afterwards were magic
An Post Tour of Meath
Both very flat, good for those wanting to test out their speed over distance.

Joe Loughman (Bray Wheelers), because whilst relatively short (120km) it's tough.

Leinster Loop
OK I suppose

WW200
Done it once, have never done it again (for value for money, organisational reasons) but everyone has to do it at least once.

kayaksurfbum

The Carrick Wheeler's challenge was my no1 last year.


An Post Tour the Burren and Sean Kelly tour of Waterford close second.

byebye

Does anyone rate etape hibernia?

Cookie_Monster

The Helping Hand in Athy that I did last year was a really enjoyable event. Great marshalling, good roads, some testing (awful) hills, lots of nice food, really nice people at the stops.

Not sure if it's a regular one but I would definitly do it again.

The w200 is one to do to say you've done it IMO, I'd have little interest in doing it again, expensive, terrible marshalling, crap food, crap timing system

VanhireBoys

byebye wrote: »

Does anyone rate etape hibernia?

Too far away from "The Pale" for some

I done this last year and it was absoluely fantastic

I am doing these this year
Croi
An Post Burren Tour
Tour de Connemarra
An Post Sligo
Cancer Care Sligo - Letterkenny
Skyride Etape
Ring of Kerry

Possibly the Wicklow 200

Sportives rock :cool:

byebye

VanhireBoys wrote: »

Too far away from "The Pale" for some

I done this last year and it was absoluely fantastic

I am doing these this year
Croi
An Post Burren Tour
Tour de Connemarra
An Post Sligo
Cancer Care Sligo - Letterkenny
Skyride Etape
Ring of Kerry

Possibly the Wicklow 200

Sportives rock :cool:

sound like a good list!

cunavalos

kayaksurfbum wrote: »

The Carrick Wheeler's challenge was my no1 last year.

I agree with the above. I thoroughly enjoyed it last year and will do it again this year. I shares some of the sean kelly route so i don't think i could recommend the two of them in a top 10 because i think the top 10 should consist of a variety of terrains and locations. I personally am not fussed about food and/or goody bags once there is sufficient food available to help you get around the course that is all that matters and decent signage and marshalling.

My bucket list for this year would be (in no particular order).

1. Ring of Kerry (The route is not top class but it is still a very special day that will live long in the memory)
2. Carrick Wheelers or The Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
3. One of the Wicklow rides (Doesn't have to be the WW200 just one of the leisure rides/ audax that goes over most of the climbs in Wicklow.
4. One of the Mt. Leinster leisure rides. (I think Barrow Wheelers and Slaney do rides at different times of the year
5. Tour of Kilkenny
6. One of the Dingle Penisula Leisure Events (The Chain Gang and Etape Mumhan both do different routes in the same area)
7. Tour de Burren ( If you can't make this the Sky Ride Etape Hibernia follows a similar route)
8. West cork 200 or any event in the West Cork region
9. One of the Connemara events
10. One of the hammerfests inside the pale (Martin Earley Tour of Kildare, Tour of Louth and others). Sometimes it is not all about the hills and pushing yourself on a flat route is a different type of challenge

I don't think there are any events in this list that haven't been mentioned before but these are just events or areas that i have cycled before.

There are undoubtably hundreds of rides that i have not mentioned that are also highly recommended Comeragh CC's Copper Coast Sportive, Billy's Trip To Tipp , Carlow CC put on two very tough but enjoyable events. The Viking ride in Waterford was a good route that was surprisingly tough.

I am not really familiar with the events further norther but from the time i did the Tour of Island i remember some great routes up around ulster. The only caveat is that the entry fees all add up and if you factor in accommodation and transport costs it really can be an expensive hoppy. I think the best advice is to pick 2 or 3 definites from that list and then keep a lookout for other events close to home that can be cheaper and just as enjoyable. The Audax events are very reasonably priced and invariably present a far greater challenge than most leisure events.

Hope this helps

at1withmyself

Looking forward to the Sportiff season again this year, Irish ones I'm hoping to complete:

An Post Tour of Sligo
Croi
Tour De Connemara
West Cork 200
An Post Tour De Burren
An Post Sean Kelly Tour
Blasket Blast

Outside of Ireland
Celtic Series Wales ride
L'Etape
Vitus Road Sportiff (prob the Wales one)


Have never done any road sportiffs down the Wicklow mountains so will aim for something there as well, maybe the Mt. Leinster Challenge. Does that cover the Wicklow mountains?

I'm sure there'll be more to pop up again so ouwl be interested in one in Donegal as well.

torturedsoul

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there. Tour de kilkenny,tour de munster etc. Its sounds wrong! Why do we have to borrow a french word when we have our own "of" to use.

sounds much better and less cringe worthy. (anyway just a small matter)
Ring of Kerry is great for the obvious reasons

xz

torturedsoul wrote: »

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there. Tour de kilkenny,tour de munster etc. Its sounds wrong! Why do we have to borrow a french word when we have our own "of" to use.

sounds much better and less cringe worthy. (anyway just a small matter)
Ring de Kerry is great for the obvious reasons

Fixed that for you

torturedsoul

xz wrote: »

Fixed that for you

Bit of a rant alright

check_six

torturedsoul wrote: »

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there. Tour de kilkenny,tour de munster etc. Its sounds wrong! Why do we have to borrow a french word when we have our own "of" to use.

sounds much better and less cringe worthy. (anyway just a small matter)

The An Post Tour De Burren must give you multiple cultural crossover cramps then

Last year I did:

Tour of Louth - Crazy high average speed, one big hill, nice scenery once you get to Carlingford (so long as it's not foggy/misty, which it was when I did it). Also, you get a medal based on your time.

Ring of Kerry - Great day out, beautiful countryside, a lot of people on the road (this can be a problem with constant overtaking).

Orwell Randonee - Brilliant event, really well organised, some great photos made available to the participants, but you need to be in the whole of your health for those blasted hills (which are awful and great at the same time!).

Etape Hibernia - There are drawbacks to this event, it's expensive, you have to register the day before, and the photos that they try to sell to you after the event are no great shakes (especially compared with the excellent free photos from the Orwell one). However, there are big positives too. The route is good and challenging, the area is beautiful, the roads are closed, and the thrill of blasting into the finish line in Ennis with barriers, crowds, and a few other cyclists chasing you, but not quite catching you is amazing.

I did the Wicklow 100 on my mtb in 2010, and found it much as described previously, there is no group start, the food stops aren't worth bothering with, and I missed a badly signed turn at one point. The 200 would be worth doing to say you'd done it, but don't choose it over the raft of other better (imo) events available.

I'm based in Dublin, so I'm going to do the Tour of Louth and the Orwell Randonnee again for definite. The further away ones I'll have to think about. The SKT of Waterford always gets great reviews, so I'd like to do that one.

sheepfield

Sportive riders generally seem to love murdering themselves on the hills: yet in my opinion, the best of the year is the Martin Earley Tour of Kildare. Yes it is a hammerfest as they say and is over fairly quickly, but there is a superb buzz zipping along in a big group, which then shatters to pieces once we hit Boston Hill:o and most especially The Wall.:eek:
The apres-match with the burgers etc right in the heart of town gives it a lively feel and Naas CC do a great job getting the thing on and running smoothly.
Not everyone loves 34x28 for long periods on a Sunday..... :P

daragh_

Mick Byrne - Hand made sambos and more hills than any sane person should contemplate.
Orwell Randonee - Great route and love-bombing by Orwell.
Tour de Kilkenny - Mainly so you get to meet Captain Havoc.
Etape Hibernia - I enjoyed this despite the expense and hassle. We stayed in a friends house right in the middle of the Burren and communed with nature, red wine and manky big steaks afterwards. Sitting outside the pub at the finish watching folks come in was very enjoyable. YMMV

I really like the look of the Carrick Wheelers Sportive in June.

Sr. Assumpta

torturedsoul wrote: »

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there. Tour de kilkenny,tour de munster etc. Its sounds wrong! Why do we have to borrow a french word when we have our own "of" to use.

sounds much better and less cringe worthy. (anyway just a small matter)
Ring of Kerry is great for the obvious reasons

Ok, we'll change it to 'De Tour of Kilkenny' then.

Happy??

thebouldwhacker

torturedsoul wrote: »

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there.

You seem to have picked a very apt user name.......

michael196

byebye wrote: »

Does anyone rate etape hibernia?

it is actually a race with a prize for the fastest. great scenary but I much prefer the tour of de burren...( goes the opposite direction, clockwise around Co.Clare ). your individual time for completion is electronically recorded , down to milli seconds. A brutal tough circuit also.

in 2011 a lot of people dropped bidons and kept going, its that kind of competitive, not lesiure.


there is only 3 etapes left, so I recommend doing one at least. this year it clashes with de sean kelly tour of waterford last yeat the etape clashed with the leinster loop.

biggest advice for de etape is to be food self reliant, as only one brand of bar available en route, and no 'real food'.

torturedsoul

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

You seem to have picked a very apt user name.......

Am I wrong?

daragh_

michael196 wrote: »

byebye wrote: »

Does anyone rate etape hibernia?

it is actually a race with a prize for the fastest. great scenary but I much prefer the tour of de burren...( goes the opposite direction, clockwise around Co.Clare ). your individual time for completion is electronically recorded , down to milli seconds. A brutal tough circuit also.

in 2011 a lot of people dropped bidons and kept going, its that kind of competitive, not lesiure.

biggest advice for de etape is to be food self reliant, as only one brand of bar available en route, and no 'real food'.

How is it a Race? It's promoted as timed Leisure Sportive.