Toughest Sportives ?

BUACHAILL

All the charity and club runs got me thinking ahead to next year. Having only done a handful to date can people list the toughest ones that run every year ? I would like to get myself focused on what else is left this year and what I can look forward to next year ? I want to push on and take on all the so called badboy runs:) So what should I sign up for to test myself.

Apologies if its already been covered had a quick look and couldn't see anything.

Cheers

nilhg

http://worldwidecyclesblog.com/2012/06/03/the-bobby-power/

Never done it but it does make the claim.

Rest of the blog is well worth a look too.

ford2600

I've done the Carrick spin, tough but nothing crazy, I'd imagine the Iveragh 200 is no joke, might be able to squeeze it in yet!

Wicklow 200 is never easy.

nilhg wrote: »

http://worldwidecyclesblog.com/2012/06/03/the-bobby-power/

Never done it but it does make the claim.

Rest of the blog is well worth a look too.

Esroh

I will say I'm biased
But the Westernlakes Polka Dot is up there. Its in May
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/30300244

There are more stingers than the listed cat climbs and the road surfaces are quite dead in places.

RO 06

Giants causeway sportive in September
Mourne sportive on August 5th
Both are pretty testing spins

Cookie_Monster

Dying Sparrow 300km in Wicklow Mountains
or some of the 400km ones?

BUACHAILL

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Dying Sparrow 300km in Wicklow Mountains
or some of the 400km ones?

Ok they can wait till next year My jaysus that sounds like pure hell

ednwireland

as mentioned - mourne sportive
http://www.dromaracc.co.uk/sportive/home.html

michael196

1) Iveragh 200

2) carrick,

3) the PIG one on boards ( never did it but looks horrendous)

4).some of the Bray wheeelers Randonnes

5) anything over 200 K !!


the iveragh only because its 200K, it was very wet and miserable, and i had to walk the shagging coumanaspic, with manwithaplan ahead, the only one of our group to stay in the saddle.

Organiser said riders return just to finish coumanaspic

michael196

as regards whats left for this year ....

http://www.cyclingireland.ie/Home/Leisure/Calendar.aspx

quite a few good ones too many to mention !!!

but the sean kelly on August 26th would be probably the biggest to come in terms of numbers and tough enough too

calistro

Was thinking along the same lines myself and had put together an initial 100k route with around 1100m of climbing and a 3k off-road (rough-track) in the middle. Have it going through some ****ty country roads aswell but all do-able on a race bike. Wonder would there be much interest in it, in that would be people be willing to take the risk of damaging their bike on the off road section/rough roads or they have the choice of using cyclo-cross/mountain bike.

I took part in the Paris-Roubaix sportive this year and you could take any type of bike you wanted, while full suspension were sometimes quicker over some of the rougher cobble sections they were reeled in on the road sections.

BUACHAILL

Is the Sean Kelly one very tough ? I wouldn't mind giving it a bash.

Lusk Doyle

I did Paris - Roubaix last year and Milan - San Remo this year.

If you are looking for a tough bone shattering event away then Paris - Roubaix is the one for you.

If you are looking for a long and relatively flat event then Milan - San Remo is for you. Watch out for cross winds for the first 150km and a head wind for the last 150km!

BUACHAILL

Would any of the more seasoned cyclist / cyclists who have completed lots of sportives/ runs care to do a list for everyone to see. Just maybe naming the event, distance, and difficulty level ? I know it will be an opinion on difficulty depending on rider ability but just to give the likes of myself who have not done them an idea of what its like ?

michael196

BUACHAILL wrote: »

Is the Sean Kelly one very tough ? I wouldn't mind giving it a bash.

You must think in terms of graduating !! , if u did the ROK in 7 hours you have an honours degree in cycling ( 2.2 or so !! )

so u did the ROK in 7 hours, then do the sean kelly. Kelly is probably harder but not significantly. there will be maybe half of what the ROK gets but loads of groups to tag onto .

Do it .

BUACHAILL

Yes I think I just might give it a go. After all not a race just take her handy.

torydiver

Giants Causeway sportif in september,
The Torr head section nearing the end is one hell of a sting in the tail after spending a few hours in the saddle.........
Some clips on youtube showing it,,,,worth a look......

Dermot Illogical

torydiver wrote: »

Giants Causeway sportif in september,
The Torr head section nearing the end is one hell of a sting in the tail after spending a few hours in the saddle.........
Some clips on youtube showing it,,,,worth a look......

+1. This one beat me last year. Going back for a 2nd attempt in September hopefully.

Muckers

No mention yet of the tour of Kilkenny 160. 9 climbs makes it much more difficult than the Kelly imo.

JRant

Friend of mine is just back from La Marmotte, said it was torture, 38 degrees in the valleys.

Ryaner

JRant wrote: »

Friend of mine is just back from La Marmotte, said it was torture, 38 degrees in the valleys.

Its like that most years. Could hear the tyres sticking to get ground on the Alp the year I did it.
Great event but some of the Irish ones may be harder. Roads in the Alps are great and it is easy enough to get into a proper cadence. Once that happens its just a matter of time till the top, well unless you decide to sprint to the top

JRant

Ryaner wrote: »

JRant wrote: »

Friend of mine is just back from La Marmotte, said it was torture, 38 degrees in the valleys.

Its like that most years. Could hear the tyres sticking to get ground on the Alp the year I did it.
Great event but some of the Irish ones may be harder. Roads in the Alps are great and it is easy enough to get into a proper cadence. Once that happens its just a matter of time till the top, well unless you decide to sprint to the top

Great read, would love to give it a go but it's hard to Find the time these days to put the hours in.

el tel

The Tour of the Glens, run by Castlereagh Cycling Club, is an absolute ball breaker. 120 miles, 7000ft climbing. Large proportion of racing cyclists so your ass gets handed to you on a plate. Although in May, awful weather has caused hypotheria in many of the last few editions.

http://www.touroftheglens.com/about.html

Keep_Her_Lit

Ryaner wrote: »

Once that happens its just a matter of time till the top, well unless you decide to sprint to the top

Great report and congrats on the Gold! The heat sounds an absolute killer - I just don't think I could hack that. 16degC is just perfect for me!

Ryaner

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

Great report and congrats on the Gold! The heat sounds an absolute killer - I just don't think I could hack that. 16degC is just perfect for me!

Heat in the alps is a different kind of heat than here. Felt better on days at 30C over there than I have in Wicklow at 20C. Better bit was always that the temp didn't swing massively, Ireland has really bad wind chill compared to the continent.

For those looking for something closer to home, http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.org.uk/ is regularly listed as one of the hardest sportives in the UK. 180km and 3950m climbing, 30% max gradient
Dave Lloyd Mega also shows up but that is a paltry 3200m of climbing over 192km. Haven't done either but they are on my hit list once I'm injury free again.

Those who don't like climbing, the Cape Argus is the largest mass start event in the world. Bit far away in South Africa but it regularly gets great reviews. Worst reviews tend to say it ends a bit quick if you are fast, sub 3hrs being possible in a well running group.