National Hill Climb Champs

Dura Ace

The proposed date is the 6th of October, and will be starting in Glendalough, up the Wicklow Gap AND Turlough Hill

http://www.cyclingireland.ie/Home/News/National-Hill-Climb-Championships-Confirmed.aspx

Plastik

That's a nice stiff test.

http://app.strava.com/segments/846761

manwithaplan

That's a seriously long climb. The bit to the top of the gap is really just a long consistent drag apart from one steep bit. If it were only that, the power riders would have a real chance. I've never done the Turlough Hill bit but I imagine it's more for the skinny riders. Anyway, I will certainly no longer be on the first page of the Gap strava segment after 6 October.

honkjelly

Quality! Pacing will be interesting given the length of the climb.

marcofan

do you turn left at the top of tge gap? i cant picture the roa, is it a steep/long section?

C3PO

Plastik wrote: »

That's a nice stiff test.

http://app.strava.com/segments/846761

.... and look who holds the KOM!!

trihy

is there separate a1,2,3 in that?

Actual Paramedic

So the ESB must be involved with the route and given permission to head up to the top of the resevoir?
The segment shows going up and past the gates though, reckon it may be a little bit off so

buffalo

manwithaplan wrote: »

Anyway, I will certainly no longer be on the first page of the Gap strava segment after 6 October.

That is not how the Leinster Veteran Hill Climb Champ should talk! I'll be heading up at the weekend to check it out.

GlennaMaddy

Will there be one day licences available?

Chips Lovell

I'm assuming this will be the same as previous years, so only A1/2/3 and no day licences.

manwithaplan

I think A4s could ride last year but they weren't taking part in the national champs, just the Usher/IRC event.

ryan_sherlock

Yeah, our club is running it.

The climbs for the HC champs over the last few years have either been very short (Monaghan 2008), or very steep, this is something a bit different. One of the longest climbs in the country!

If there is very bad weather (etc...) we may shorten to just the Wicklow Gap (lots of parking up there), but the plan is the full thing.

One thing I like about the climb is that, although long, it is not overly difficult - there are no long stretches above 8% gradient - average gradient is 5.2%. It may take a while, but should be doable by any recreational cyclist.

The dates were from CI - we would have liked it earlier, but those are the dates available to us.

The date/time looks to be early on Saturday 6th of October. It does clash with the NR Sportif though.

We are hoping to run a support 'challenge' in conjunction with the event for riders, maybe something like a sportif - more on that later.

We will try to make this as in inclusive event as possible. For the actual title it will be like other years (A1/A2/A3), but we would hope to be able to give everyone a chance to race it.

DM me with any input or if you would like to get involved (we are a very small club!)

manwithaplan

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

We will try to make this as in inclusive event as possible. For the actual title it will be like other years (A1/A2/A3), but we would hope to be able to give everyone a chance to race it.

That's exactly the right approach. I went along to last year's event with the children and they shouted their heads off, particularly for those that were struggling. I know it's a national champs but there's more than a whiff of novelty about it and I strongly agree that everyone should be allowed have a go. The fact that many regular racers will have put the good bike away and started grinding out the slow miles also suggests a more relaxed approach. The saturday morning slot should mean that there's no huge time pressure.

The course makes things interesting. Many of the twisty little evil boreens these things are run on don't give you much of a view of the road ahead. On this you will be able to see your five minute man. There's heaps of room for spectators too and a good bit of parking high up to make it easy to bring the little ones. I plan to be there supported by my sizeable brood. A decent lunch and plenty of ice cream will follow. It has the makings of a great day out.

buffalo

manwithaplan wrote: »

you will be able to see your five minute man.

Is that the intended gap? I was hoping that we could all pace each other, and then have a sprint finish.

manwithaplan wrote: »

A decent lunch and plenty of ice cream will follow. It has the makings of a great day out.

Ice cream in October. The eternal Irish optimism!

ryan_sherlock

manwithaplan wrote: »

That's exactly the right approach. I went along to last year's event with the children and they shouted their heads off, particularly for those that were struggling. I know it's a national champs but there's more than a whiff of novelty about it and I strongly agree that everyone should be allowed have a go. The fact that many regular racers will have put the good bike away and started grinding out the slow miles also suggests a more relaxed approach. The saturday morning slot should mean that there's no huge time pressure.

The course makes things interesting. Many of the twisty little evil boreens these things are run on don't give you much of a view of the road ahead. On this you will be able to see your five minute man. There's heaps of room for spectators too and a good bit of parking high up to make it easy to bring the little ones. I plan to be there supported by my sizeable brood. A decent lunch and plenty of ice cream will follow. It has the makings of a great day out.

Yeah - you cover much of what I think about it. Very easy access (sit in car), to get to the upper two thirds of the climb. If the weather is nice - it is simply stunning up there and yeah, you can see you 5 minute man easily! Shops, coffee shops, restaurants etc... all close by.

These are a few photos I took when I rode up there back in March: http://ryansherlock.blogspot.be/2012/03/amazing-irish-weather-for-march.html

ryan_sherlock

buffalo wrote: »

Is that the intended gap? I was hoping that we could all pace each other, and then have a sprint finish.

For the National Championship, it will be the usual Time Trial thing. 1 minute probably. Just there are long stretches where you can see miles ahead (thus the 5 min man)

manwithaplan

buffalo wrote: »

Ice cream in October. The eternal Irish optimism!

My children are remarkably unfussy when it comes to ice cream eating conditions. From the graveside of a near relative to a January hailstorm, I know what the tug on the sleeve and the puppy dog eyes mean.

joker77

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

We will try to make this as in inclusive event as possible. For the actual title it will be like other years (A1/A2/A3), but we would hope to be able to give everyone a chance to race it.

Cheers for the info Ryan - could A4's enter and be ineligible for a title, but be given a time?

ryan_sherlock

joker77 wrote: »

Cheers for the info Ryan - could A4's enter and be ineligible for a title, but be given a time?

I have to verify the rules (re title) but A4s will of course be able to enter and get a time and get the same treatment as everybody else.

g0g

As a non racing cyclist I'd love the idea of random cyclists being able to enter on the day as a separate event. I'd happily fork out a few quid to have a go. Organising a "slow-people event" beforehand would leave you these people at the top to cheer on the competitors later (or possibly some bodies on the side of the hill for them to pass on their way up). I know Strava lets you try/compete these things anyday, but it'd be a great novelty to feel you were part of a spin-off of a national event. I dunno though, maybe the serious cyclists would have a problem with that? In that case maybe it's time for a Boards Hill Challenge again?

lennymc

Even though im terribly slow I generously pace myself up hills, I think im going to enter this.
It should be painful fun.

daragh_

lennymc wrote: »

Even though im terribly slow I generously pace myself up hills, I think im going to enter this.
It should painful fun.

You are only doing it so you can go back down afterwards at a ridiculous speed.
I'll have a go if there is room for lardy ass A4s.

lennymc

daragh_ wrote: »

You are only doing it so you can go back down afterwards at a ridiculous speed.

ssshhhhhhhhhhh

ROK ON

Ryan
Well done for endevouring to run the event.

If in tandem with the national champs you wanted to open a support event to all comers then perhaps for novelty think of using the Strava weight categorisation.

Only reason is that I want to win the fat category (& beat LennyMc in the process).

Hope the event is a success.
Inspired location choice.

lennymc

^^^^^

bring it on.

Looser buys all the pies. Winner gets to eat them.

Morrisseeee

lennymc wrote: »

^^^^^

bring it on.

Looser buys all the pies. Winner gets to eat them.

Jeeepers this could be EPIC : lennymc 'v' ROK ON :cool:

ROK ON

Battle of the Bulge

Lusk Doyle

ROK ON wrote: »

Struggle of the Bulge

Fixed that for you

wav1

lennymc wrote: »

Even though im terribly slow I generously pace myself up hills, I think im going to enter this.
It should be painful fun.

Lenny they obviously havn't heard that your buying SMALL club gear now.

lennymc

wav1 wrote: »

Lenny they obviously havn't heard that your buying SMALL club gear now.

dont be telling everyone

Might see if we can organise a few drogehda wheelers for it.

cantalach

Love that course! Provided I can negotiate some shore leave to head up for the day, I'm in for sure. Actually, I'm heading up there this weekend so I might do a recce. I'm familiar with the Wicklow Gap part of the climb but is the Turlough Hill part on a private service road, i.e. will I have to lift my bike over a barrier at some point?

Re the whole question of eligibility and talking here about the specific cases of hill climbs and time trials, I don't know why C.I. draws a distinction between cyclists holding racing licences and other licensed cyclists. In events such as these, it's not as if a rider who isn't used to the cut and thrust of road races is going to represent some sort of danger to other cyclists. Truth be told, there are many so-called 'recreational cyclists' (is amateur racing somehow non-recreational?) who can out climb A3/A4 riders.

Plastik

It's a service road alright, Cantalach. You won't have to lift the bike over the barrier but you'll have to hop off for a second to wheel it through the boulders on either side. Same deal for the Kippure TV mast climb if you're heading in that direction.

buffalo

Plastik wrote: »

It's a service road alright, Cantalach. You won't have to lift the bike over the barrier but you'll have to hop off for a second to wheel it through the boulders on either side. Same deal for the Kippure TV mast climb if you're heading in that direction.

I vote that we leave the barrier there, in a tip of the hat to our cyclo-cross brethren.

CramCycle

Going to head up it in the morning to see what its like, haven't been up there before, hope the weather is good.

lennymc

im thinking of heading out on sunday....

CramCycle

lennymc wrote: »

im thinking of heading out on sunday....

See who Strava deems to be the superior, met.ie tells me you'll have a tail wind while I will be faced with a decent head wind so comparisons may not be fair

lennymc

CramCycle wrote: »

See who Strava deems to be the superior, met.ie tells me you'll have a tail wind while I will be faced with a decent head wind so comparisons may not be fair

Ill need all of that wind to just make it up!!

buffalo

You should both just do it both days, and then compare your average times. Easy!

NamelessPhil

I've just set a nicely beatable 45:46 on Strava for the women's time. That won't last after the 6th October but it's respectable enough. It would be great if there was a category for non-racers. I'd love to do it again with a better bike.

There was a tail-wind up there today which meant that there was a horrible head wind on the descent. I felt about as aerodynamic as a brick! The climb is not too technical and not too much gravel on the corners but there were large groups of walkers on the last part up Turlough Hill.

manwithaplan

I went up it yesterday. I was a good two minutes slower than my only previous recorded effort up Wicklow Gap so I'd say the wind wasn't helping (although I was on my slower bike too). The extra bit up Turlough Hill means it goes on forever. The surface is grand. I took a wrong turn near the top but I'm sure such idiocy will be impossible on the day.

It's pretty much all 'in the saddle' territory. Staying seated probably reduces the chances of burning out too. The view from the top was fantastic.

buffalo

Is this going to be the longest, flattest hill climb ever?

Went up today, legs were a bit empty so not my best time. But not really impressed with course - for a hill climb it's only got a couple of ramps, on Turlough.

Good to get an excuse to head up Turlough Hill though, amazing views as MWAP said.

daragh_

Went up today with Nameless Phil and a few heads from the Club. They flew up the Gap ahead of us and then sat out the bit past the barrier while we struggled manfully and womanfully to the top.

It's not particularly difficult anywhere, just long, boring and soul sapping.

Weaving through a massive group of walkers was a pain, but it was worth for the glory of being 4th on Strava for about twenty minutes.

Should have come home the flat way after.

ryan_sherlock

Longest Irish HC Champs, almost certainly. Flattest - not even close (Monaghan in 2008 - never left the big ring - was about 4 minutes long).

The climb is something different from the last couple of years. There are longer sustained climbing segments (1km @ 8%m [steep part a couple of km from the start], 2.2km @ 7.4% on Turlough hill), but as was mentioned, accomplishable by all. I loved the HC Champs on Kilmashogue last year but a few folks I talked to afterwards talked about wanting a less steep/longer one some year. Change things around.

For any power meter users, this is the perfect 20min power test, sustained, no descents (well, more like a 25-30min test for the quick folk). Wind on the day can change the times a lot.

More info in the next few days.

Funny to see much more times on Strava now

Peterx

buffalo wrote: »

Is this going to be the longest, flattest hill climb ever?

Went up today, legs were a bit empty so not my best time. But not really impressed with course - for a hill climb it's only got a couple of ramps, on Turlough.

Good to get an excuse to head up Turlough Hill though, amazing views as MWAP said.

The hillclimb champs going up an actual hill, it's a cool idea.

Mount Leinster, Kippure, The Masts in Carlingford, The Masts beside Valentia, I'm sure there's loads more.

I hope you'll "enjoy" it a lot more in race mode.
There was a MTB XC race round a disused quarry up north once that felt like a waste of time on the practice lap and raced really well. Change is good. Sometimes..

buffalo

Peterx wrote: »

The hillclimb champs going up an actual hill, it's a cool idea.

Mount Leinster, Kippure, The Masts in Carlingford, The Masts beside Valentia, I'm sure there's loads more.

I hope you'll "enjoy" it a lot more in race mode.
There was a MTB XC race round a disused quarry up north once that felt like a waste of time on the practice lap and raced really well. Change is good. Sometimes..

The hill I agree with - it's not my favourite climb, but it's a climb. But with the inclusion of the Gap, I think this edition favours a more powerful TTing rider than a pure climber (imho), and I would argue the the Hill Climb champs should select the best climber. Maybe it's just that it's a different sort of climber who'll win this year, and yes, maybe change is good. As long as we change back next year!

I look forward to seeing the times go down on Turlough when people can keep momentum coming through the gate.

cantalach

I had a crack at it yesterday - one of 8 new times on Strava this weekend. It's a nice long test for sure and definitely one that larger riders could do well at. I was expecting some steep pitches on the section after the barrier but they never came - a very dead surface and a breeze was the only added difficulty it brought. Happy to come in just 48 seconds behind Ryan but using the comparison tool shows that he only started riding from the barrier. And in the 3km from there to the top, he turned a 57 second deficit into a 48 second lead. Wow!

CramCycle

daragh_ wrote: »

It's not particularly difficult anywhere, just long, boring and soul sapping.
.

Went up myself this afternoon, front derailleur cable slipped half way up Turlough hill so the last stretch were the road was good for making time was spent spinning but I wouldn't have been much faster.

Theres one bump about 3.5km in that drains you if you think you can keep going in the same gear (like I did).

It should be good craic on the day when the crowds are there.

Idunnowho

Any word on (pre) registration etc?
thanks

ryan_sherlock

Idunnowho wrote: »

Any word on (pre) registration etc?
thanks

Everything is ready to rock - just waiting on some info to come back in relation to making the event as inclusive as possible. Hopefully it will be online today/tomorrow.

ryan_sherlock

A website to go up a little later but online signon is up and available here: Online Signup

The reason there was a wait was, as I said, we wanted to make it as inclusive as possible.

Running along side the HC Champs (which are run as a TT) there will be an open mass start challenge using the same course starting at 10am.

No CI license is needed for this event - so sportif riders, recreational riders, commuters etc... can sign on and ride on the day being part of the event. A nice way to get to the top of the hill to spectate for the other event.

Online signon only for the event - closes on Thursday 4th at 8pm