Marie Keating- Tour of Kildare

ccull123

Hi all,

Just wondering have many people signed up for this? I completed the 100km tour of meath last weekend and was wondering what sort of numbers done the MK cycle last year?

any ideas how tough the 100km route is?

Haldir

The Tour of Kildare route has been slightly changed for 2012 with both the 100 and 50 km cyclists staying together behind the safety car until we pass through Clane and out onto the Kilcock Road. The routes will separate at Boherhole Cross with the 100km route turning right towards Rathcoffey and the 50km route continuing straight until they turn left at Baltracey Cross. Caragh GFC in Downings, Prosperous have kindly allowed us to use their facilities for the foodstop this year and this is ideally located at approximately the half way mark on both routes. The 100km adds a few extra lumpy bits before Prosperous at Cappagh and Ovidstown to test the legs before resuming the traditional TOK route after the food stop. We omit Robertstown this year but still have Boston, "The Wall" and the company of some sheep as you cross The Curragh Plains and head home towards Athgarvan and Two Mile House. We expect in the region of 600+ cyclists on the day so the event is not as big as the Tour of Meath you mentioned. Further details at www.tourofkildare.com and online entry is now open.

nilhg

This one is the most local sportive to me, literally passes the back gate of the farm, so if I'm not harvesting I'll be doing it. I'd be familiar enough with most of the roads and there is nothing there to frighten anyone, The Wall is impressive enough as you approach it, while it's steep it's short so just a matter of picking your granny gear and spinning over, watch out for the surface on that road though, right through to Kildare Town..

The decision to change the route to avoid Celbridge and Maynooth makes sense, though one worry would be that the roads on the new course through Cappagh and Newtown down to Prosperous are narrow enough and poorly surfaced, I suppose that the groups will have split up well by then but still an area to be extra careful.

cython

Was out by Newtown this morning, and the descent towards Knockanally (which is on the route) is in rag order, definitely one to take it handy on, and give people space. I also have concerns about the detour around Maynooth, as there are two narrow bridges on that section, one of them a blind humpback one. Hopefully neutralising with the safety car (assuming it is done until then) will ensure that the group gets over each of these in one go, as it could get messy otherwise.

munsterleinster

Did it last year and have also done the Meath and Wicklow 100 this year.
Course is fairly flat with but exposed if it's a windy day.

Much prefered the Wicklow 100 but it's still a decent cycle and I'm going to sign up for it.

LeftBlank

I did this a couple of years ago and found it very fast. Felt more like a race than it did a leisure cycle. I wouldn't be rushing back to do it again...

t'bear

I think I will give this one a go, willing to meet up with other boardies as I will be on my own. The 100k one that is. Coming from maynooth say how do I get to the starting tent?

seamus

It's literally on the main street in Naas, you won't miss it. The road is blocked by cyclists from 30 minutes beforehand.

Come in through Rathcoffey and Clane and it's a straight run right to it.

t'bear

Cheers Seamus

Grassey

I stuck the 100km route into mapmyride to see the elevation profile... it's now showing the route distance at 123.44miles... a glitch in the matrix I think!

Just signed up for the 100k route... should be interesting!

rich.d.berry

What's the situation with parking? Naas clampers have a bad reputation and with a 2 hour maximum in most pay and display car parks around the town it could turn out to be a very expensive day's cycling.

I see from the website that the Kildare County Council offices will be providing free parking on the day.

richiewhe

No clampers on a Sunday

munsterleinster

Looking like I may need to bring an umbrella on Sunday:mad:

t'bear

We might be lucky. I just remembered I forgot to register online, tried this morning and its closed but they will accept registrations at the hotel from 8:30am onwards. I think roll out is at 10. Free parking at the CC offices apparently.

If I can find nilhig I shall try to stay with him :-)

Kevin dublin

Many thanks to all the organisers of this event, had a great spin.

Well organised, the lads on the motorbikes were great, I think every junction was covered along the route.

Garda also supported the event, fair play.

Bit of rain, but nothing too severe.

Kevin

Grassey

Great day out, enjoyed it (apart from the wall - nice strava warning at the bottom :-) )

Cheers to naas cycle club and everyone else involved in organising it!

Hope the person behind me who got clipped by the jeep coming into kilcock is alright.

t'bear

Indeed many thanks to a well organised day....got nicely washed out of it coming across the Curragh - as we came out there was bunch standing under the trees at the roundabout sheltering. So I slapped myself on the back as I kept going.

But the wall got the better of me. I think it was just after 70k and I had struggled from after the food stop at 50k so the sight was not an incentive. I hoofed about half way up it and had to climb down. I like to think if it was after 40k I might have had a chance of getting over it.

But great day out. Had a cuppa at the curragh (I overheard some guy did a 600k audax last week)

Party Supply Van

great day. hoping to be up fitness for next years one. minus the rain great day was had by all

rich.d.berry

Really enjoyed the event and good value too. I'll definitely make this a regular date on my calendar. Despite a wrong turn in Kildare, which added about 4 kilometres to my journey, I had a great time. And to top it all - I beat The Wall!

The organisers were top class. Registration was quick and efficient and the food stops were well laid out so that there was minimal queueing and plenty of food and drinks. The barbecue afterwards was top class too. I was expecting thin, greasy, budget burgers, instead we got good quality quarter pounders. Well done to all!

Didn't see any boards.ie jerseys but did meet one other boardsie before the start, I hope you had a good and safe spin velo.2010 :-)

Unfortunately there were a few idiot motorists who put a damper on things. Shortly after the start, even with the garda presence and the marshals blocking the side roads, there were two total plonkers who somehow managed to get their cars in with the bikes. Instead of slotting into a gap and showing some patience they overtook with no way of moving back to the left because of the volume of cyclists. Blind corners and no overtaking signs didn't stop them. Fortunately a garda car had the lane blocked about a kilometre up the road which stopped their shenanigans. And to the hooting driver in the red Ford Ka, just before Rathcoffey, who thought it was safe to overtake on a potholed and rutted lane and then sped past when given room, you're an idiot!

sheepfield

A new route this year and I actually feel it is better than the old one, except the weather and the potholes made riding treacherous in places: some nasty crashes out there so I hope everybody is in one piece. It is a major undertaking for a club to put this on and requires lots of volunteers so well done to all.

I just avoided that nasty spill on the right hander on the descent towards Knockanally, did anybody notice oil or such at that point? Two guys went down heavily but I think they both finished okay?

On a related point, after the incident I made my way up to the very front of what was left of the bunch - it was lined out moving quite fast towards that sharp right-hander before Donadea - and I shouted that there had been crashes and to take it easy on the bends. The club chairman had specifically asked a few of us beforehand to keep an eye on this, as you often see when a club puts on a big event.

I got dogs abuse......!

What is it about sportive riders???? I wont name clubs but feck sake lads, get a licence, go to Mondello next Tuesday and watch proper racing cyclists make a show of you. It happens to me most times and at the end of the day its great crack once you don't take it too seriously.

And it only costs a tenner. Lot cheaper than many sportives.

Granted that most guys are experienced, strong riders, but jeez whats wrong with being careful in the conditions of the day?

After the food stop, a group of 15 kept going to the end and the riding was mostly excellent, steady pace mostly, with a cheeky sprint finish to round off the day. I was wet so I didnt stop and it was nice to see some top quality racers/Ras Veterans enjoying the route.

And the highlight of the day was seeing Martin Earley actually towards the front of the big bunch setting a nice even tempo, rather than having to avoid the mad hammerfest that the previous route had encouraged.

Overall, well done to all.

Just take it handy on the 90degree bends with cow****e and rain on them... thats all.:D

nilhg

t'bear wrote: »

We might be lucky. I just remembered I forgot to register online, tried this morning and its closed but they will accept registrations at the hotel from 8:30am onwards. I think roll out is at 10. Free parking at the CC offices apparently.

If I can find nilhig I shall try to stay with him :-)

Hope you didn't spend too long looking for me, if you'd have looked to the left on the drop down from Boston Hill you'd have seen me hauling straw...

Glad you all enjoyed your trip to Kildare and especially the Wall, think I'll head on over there in a little while so at least I can say I climbed it on the Sunday of the TOK.

velo.2010

rich.d.berry wrote: »

Didn't see any boards.ie jerseys but did meet one other boardsie before the start, I hope you had a good and safe spin velo.2010 :-)

Yes, nice spin Rich, nice to meet you too!

Enjoyed that. Really took off in places. Hadn't done it before and was aware it is one of the pacier Sportives. Shame about the weather. Soaked roads and soaked clothes! It made some of the roads quite dodgy and 'that right-hander' treacherous. The speed jumped up some time before that and the group was strung out over those short climbs. Guys trying to get back to the front took risks on that descent. I heard the crash behind me - 5 or so went down if I heard right. Hope they are OK. @Sheepfield was that yourself telling folk to 'calm down, calm down'? Wise words in any case.

Anyway, a strong pace towards the Curragh before the open lands and that nasty headwind slowed things before speeding up again into Naas. Average was 33kph but closer to 35kph before we hit the Curragh. Again, like so many sportives lots of strong non-racing guys as well as a couple of crafty veterans. Lovely burger at the end.:)

banner_phoenix

New to the cycling scene and have to say I am very impressed with the organisation of these events (I'm coming from the running scene). This was my second event in the last few weeks and I'm hooked already . Thanks to all involved.

Rain and wind only added to the challenge and the burger was a welcome sight at the end.

Lambretta

Greatevent - Big Well done to Naas cycling club, Marie Keating foundation and all the Marshall’s.

andy69

yeah have to agree that was a great event - very well organised and brilliant marshaling all the way through with the motorbikes. Fair play to the Marshals on the junctions also....not much fun standing round in the rain, but thanks guys!!

hope the guys that crashed on the descent are ok - that was an awful noise of the carbon slamming to the ground on that corner. my back wheel went, and a younglad beside me as well but we were lucky and stayed up. lads behind weren't so lucky.
Was some pace up that hill, think I saw 36km/h at one stage (trying to keep up with the power-house Naas CC guy drilling it up over the top!)

will be back next year!

Mycroft H

Lambretta wrote: »

Greatevent - Big Well done to Naas cycling club, Marie Keating foundation and all the Marshall’s.

Don't forget the Order of Malta volunteers

Haldir

Hope you all enjoyed the 11th edition of the Tour of Kildare in spite of the less than perfect weather. The first batch of photos from Sundays Martin Earley Tour of Kildare are now online on the Tour of Kildare Facebook page. These pictures feature "The Wall" and more pictures will be posted tomorrow. Thanks to Chris Connolly and Sean Brilly for these quality pics.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.374212979316840.81827.148363841901756&type=1&l=d87c80b0b7

Grassey

more pictures up

kilcock
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.374389645965840.81891.148363841901756&type=1

and more of the wall

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.374226862648785.81837.148363841901756&type=1

velo.2010

More Photo's here. And jaysus, I actually appear in a couple of decent pictures for the first time in a cycle event!:rolleyes:

http://www.adrianmeliaphoto.com/cycling-tour-of-kildare-2012

Lumen

velo.2010 wrote: »

More Photo's here. And jaysus, I actually appear in a couple of decent pictures for the first time in a cycle event!:rolleyes:

http://www.adrianmeliaphoto.com/cycling-tour-of-kildare-2012

The arms of your glasses are inside your helmet straps. Try harder next time. :pac:

t'bear

Some excellent photo's there...nicely done to the photographies involved

velo.2010

Lumen wrote: »

The arms of your glasses are inside your helmet straps. Try harder next time. :pac:

Noted for next time!

I had just said to the Naas guy 'Do you think I have a chance with yer wan in the pink jacket?';)

billaustin

A big thanks to Naas CC and all the organisers and volunteers on the day. Unfortunately I ended the day in the ambulance after coming off near Kilcock. I know they won't see this but a major thanks to the ladies who stopped and stayed with me until the ambulance picked me up. Spent a very weary 24 hours in Naas Hospital after with a head injury, damaged pelvis, leg and shoulder but have now been discharged and am looking forward to getting back on the bike once I'm sorted. My thanks also to Giro who helped keep my grey matter inside my ears! Unfortunately my bike has not been as lucky!

sheepfield

Sorry to hear that Bill: you have been unlucky with falls it seems. Only one answer: get back on the bike asap.
Joe.