Sportif Highlights of 2012?

kencoo

Its almost time to hang up the bike for until next season. I did 14 sportifs mostly in the east/south ireland (100k to 200k distance) may to aug this year but not all so its non exhaustive. Just a few qualifiers: Toughest was simply down to average KPH. (I didn’t do any Addax as that is reserved for people hardier than me.) Easyest down to KPH. Value winner was those who supplied a “free” jersey- take that out of the entry fee and whats left over is the value. Best food after event – personally i like some junk food so am biased (personally id eat cake than pasta if there were the only options.)


Toughest Overall
1: Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
2:Carrick Wheelers Challenge
3: Wicklow 200

Toughest Hill
1: Corrobutt Gap (Mount Leinster Challenge)
2:Mahon Falls (Carrick Wheelers and Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford)
3: Slieve Maan (Wicklow 200)

Easiest
1: Tour Of Kildare
2: Leinster Loop with Stephen Roche
3: An Post Heritage Tour

Best Value for Money
1: Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
2: Ring of Kerry
3. An Post Heritage Tour

Best Organised
1: Leinster Loop with Stephen Roche
2: Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
3: Carrick Wheelers Challenge

Best Half Time Stop
1: Mount Leinster Challenge
2: Stephen Roche Tour De Cure
3: Carrick Wheelers Challenge

Best Food After Event
1: Tour Of Kildare
2: Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
3: Leinster Loop

Best For Craic Afterwards (Reserved for Sat Events only)
1: Ring of Kerry

Looking to change the list for 2013 so anyone have their own opinions? especially toughest hills etc?

daragh_

Didn't do a whole lot of Sportif Stuff this year but here's my 2c

Toughest
Mick Byrne Randonee
200k of hills, more hills and the odd climb followed by some hills.

The Boards Evil 200 would have been tougher but I slunk off home halfway so that doesn't count.

Best Organised
Tour De Kilkenny or the Orwell Randonee. Can't decide between the two. Great atmosphere, good routes and more food than you could possible consume in a day.

glennbhoy

Did orwell randonee and the ras mumhan sportive in Dingle

Both were fantastic, great food, well organised.

Was more banter fun on the ras mumhan, with 2 nice climbs

Orwell randonee was more serious/competitve but there were so many hills that everyone was wrecked

Seweryn

kencoo wrote: »

Best Value for Money

Best Organised

Best Half Time Stop

Best Food After Event

Looking to change the list for 2013 so anyone have their own opinions?

I can't see any of the Castlecomer Cyclo Sportives listed there. Did you do any?

smacl

Didn't do many this year, but for me the Dying Cow was the highlight, and I'll be looking to the Audax calender again next year for a couple of 200s. Toughest for me funny enough was the Orwell Randonee, probably down to still carrying the winter belly and being stuck on the old hybrid. Found it much easier the previous year, and found the WW200 a doddle by comparison.

Next year, will do the Orwell Randonee and WW200 again for sure, along with as many of the Dublin / Bray based Audax 200s as I can manage. Would dearly love to try the Dying Sow 300, but I'll need to put a lot more miles into the legs.

Seweryn

Seweryn wrote: »

I can't see any of the Castlecomer Cyclo Sportives listed there. Did you do any?

And Kells Angels is another top rated sportive for me.

ford2600

Good post, did half your number with a few in common, listed here in order of date.
Felt the Carrick sportive was toughest, the weather cetainly helped, but Ticincor hill followed by Nire Loop is a tough combination.
French spin and Cork An Post tour were the most scenic, so different hard to pick a winner.

No complaints about organisation of any of them. Found Carrick club very friendly and helpful. It's very obvious admiration and respect they had for Bobby Power and his family.

Had given up on ROK due to volumes, but really enjoyed it this year. Very social, great buzz in town, very well organised.

• Tour de Cure
• Vercors Challenge
• Carrick Sportive
• Tour de Burren
• Ring of Kerry
• Sean Kelly Tour
• Cork An Post Tour

kencoo wrote: »

Its almost time to hang up the bike for until next season. I did 14 sportifs mostly in the east/south ireland (100k to 200k distance) may to aug this year but not all so its non exhaustive. Just a few qualifiers: Toughest was simply down to average KPH. (I didn’t do any Addax as that is reserved for people hardier than me.) Easyest down to KPH. Value winner was those who supplied a “free” jersey- take that out of the entry fee and whats left over is the value. Best food after event – personally i like some junk food so am biased (personally id eat cake than pasta if there were the only options.)


Toughest Overall
1: Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
2:Carrick Wheelers Challenge
3: Wicklow 200

Toughest Hill
1: Corrobutt Gap (Mount Leinster Challenge)
2:Mahon Falls (Carrick Wheelers and Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford)
3: Slieve Maan (Wicklow 200)

Easiest
1: Tour Of Kildare
2: Leinster Loop with Stephen Roche
3: An Post Heritage Tour

Best Value for Money
1: Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
2: Ring of Kerry
3. An Post Heritage Tour

Best Organised
1: Leinster Loop with Stephen Roche
2: Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
3: Carrick Wheelers Challenge

Best Half Time Stop
1: Mount Leinster Challenge
2: Stephen Roche Tour De Cure
3: Carrick Wheelers Challenge

Best Food After Event
1: Tour Of Kildare
2: Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
3: Leinster Loop

Best For Craic Afterwards (Reserved for Sat Events only)
1: Ring of Kerry

Looking to change the list for 2013 so anyone have their own opinions? especially toughest hills etc?

Lusk Doyle

You can also look abroad to expand your horizons a little.

In 2011 I did Paris-Roubaix. This year I did Milan San Remo. Next year I will be doing Les 3 Ballons in France (http://www.sportcommunication.com/) which is a 205km cycle on a Sunday and a hill climb TT the next day.

There is an absolute wealth of stuff out there to be conquered:

FRANCE
Paris Roubaix (April)
Gran Fondo St Tropez (April)
Les trois ballons (June)
La Marmotte (July) - start place not guaranteed

BELGIUM
Tour of Flanders (April)
Liege Bastogne Liege (April)

NETHERLANDS
Amstel Gold (April) - start place not guaranteed

ITALY
Milan San Remo (June)
Maratona dles Dolomites (July) - start place not guaranteed

AUSTRIA
Dreiländer Giro,includes Stelvio climb (June)
Ötztaler Radmarathon (August) - start place not guaranteed

velo.2010

I think I did 10, maybe one or two more that I can't remember. 'Guested' on a couple of them......thats to say I jumped in as they headed off but didn't take advantage of the spread afterwards.

List of the events I can remember:

Tour de Foothills. Bolloxed at the end of this one. An easy winter getting over injury didn't help and the road from Dunlavin to Naas felt a lot longer than it was. Nice food though!

Kilbride Terminator Cycle? I think thats what it was called. Long auld day! There was a 70km option but I went with the small group for the 140km. Including journey out and back it was 178km. A 'guest' event for me so I stuffed my face at a garage on the way home.

Ashbourne Sportive: Apparently only a new event this past year. Disappointed paying out for this one. No food at the end after a mess up by the organisers. They had booked the afters for later in the day not believing guys could complete the 100km route in 3 hours. There was an offer to send us round to a cafe and pay for a smbo/tea(one which I was ready to accept) but the other lads were too polite!:rolleyes: Served tea and fecking cocktail sauseges. Facepalm....

Stubborn Mule Gardai: Excellently run, as one might expect, by the Gardai. Food before the off and plenty afterwards. Best spagbol of the year!

Naas Wicklow Peaks: Again, another well run event by Naas CC who seem to organise a few sportives through the year. This a tough ride as it was pretty much up and down through Wicklow's top climbs. My new found love of rice and all things curry begin here with the food afterwards. Yum!:)

Meath Heritage Tour: Another 'guest' event. Drove out to meet them as they left the castle. With the front group as they headed off and proceeded to take the wrong route. Eventually headed off on my own in pursuit of the groups ahead after giving them a good 15-20 minutes. Felt really good on this spin and having people to catch was a good incentive.

Martin Earley Tour of Kildare. It was wet! Then there were a few crashes. Not the most inspiring route all told. Burger was nice at the end.

Leinster Loop. I just knew at the start, looking at who was lining up, that this was going to take off......and it did. An American visitor, who is a regular crit rider in the States, seemed happy to keep to the front thinking this was a fairly handy ride didn't know what was to hit him! Fast into Castlecomer and fast over the hills and around Carlow, this was a tough but great spin. Plenty of food and plenty of muffins. Should have taken a bag of those home!:rolleyes:

Leisure Loop Trim: Sedate and quiet event at the end of the year. Myself and another guy went round the figure of eight loop at a handy enough pace. Roads were fairly well known to me at this stage after a number of spins/sportives out that way this year.

LCRC Around the Mountains: Emotional affair for the Sparrow family. Very good turnout to support the event. Stayed on for the afters/raffle. Great job by the Defence Forces out on the roads and on top of the Wicklow gap. Route across from Sallygap to Laragh, I do not like!

Enjoyed the Leinster loop from start to finish. Well worth the drive down. For the most part, all the events were fun to do. Weather held up well and the food (when it was there) was good. No idea what I'll be doing next year!:cool:

funnights74

Great thread, My faves 1. Tour de Kilkenny 2 Ring of kerry 3 Rebel tour. Love the tour de kilkenny, really well organised, excellent marshalling and there's a great buzz on the day, i'm surprised it's not as big as the cycles on the an post series so for anyone who has not done it it's well worth a trip to the Marble city on the August weekend.
What can you say about the RoK, biggest sportive of the year, and it will probably keep getting bigger, superb day,it's some sight seeing thousands of cyclists climbing coolmicaste and molls gap, and the craic in Killarney is always mighty post cycle.
The rebel tour, the new route this year has improved the standing of the Rebel tour, i had my doubts but it was a great idea to go down to the Beara peninsula, fantastic course hard and spectacular scenery and the locals really got behind it which makes it a must for next year.

seve65

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

You can also look abroad to expand your horizons a little.

In 2011 I did Paris-Roubaix. This year I did Milan San Remo. Next year I will be doing Les 3 Ballons in France (http://www.sportcommunication.com/) which is a 205km cycle on a Sunday and a hill climb TT the next day.

There is an absolute wealth of stuff out there to be conquered:

FRANCE
Paris Roubaix (April)
Gran Fondo St Tropez (April)
Les trois ballons (June)
La Marmotte (July) - start place not guaranteed
And blog.ardechoise.com/en/ - biggest in Europe ? Almost fancy doing the Velo marathon (275K plus 5km vertical) myself

BELGIUM
Tour of Flanders (April)
Liege Bastogne Liege (April)

NETHERLANDS
Amstel Gold (April) - start place not guaranteed

ITALY
Milan San Remo (June)
Maratona dles Dolomites (July) - start place not guaranteed

AUSTRIA
Dreiländer Giro,includes Stelvio climb (June)
Ötztaler Radmarathon (August) - start place not guaranteed

one addition

alexanderomahon

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

You can also look abroad to expand your horizons a little.

In 2011 I did Paris-Roubaix. This year I did Milan San Remo. Next year I will be doing Les 3 Ballons in France (http://www.sportcommunication.com/) which is a 205km cycle on a Sunday and a hill climb TT the next day.

There is an absolute wealth of stuff out there to be conquered:

FRANCE
Paris Roubaix (April)
Gran Fondo St Tropez (April)
Les trois ballons (June)
La Marmotte (July) - start place not guaranteed

BELGIUM
Tour of Flanders (April)
Liege Bastogne Liege (April)

NETHERLANDS
Amstel Gold (April) - start place not guaranteed

ITALY
Milan San Remo (June)
Maratona dles Dolomites (July) - start place not guaranteed

AUSTRIA
Dreiländer Giro,includes Stelvio climb (June)
Ötztaler Radmarathon (August) - start place not guaranteed

What do you use to transport your bike, and is it expensive to take your bike abroad

Lusk Doyle

alexanderomahon wrote: »

What do you use to transport your bike, and is it expensive to take your bike abroad

An airplane. BOOM!!!

I put it in a bike bag or else get my brother who lives in Munich to bring two with him as he normally drives from his house to the events. €80 return with aer lingus for a bike.

buffalo

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

An airplane. BOOM!!!

Sounds like a terrorist threat!

/me reports Lusk Doyle

ROK ON

This year I did the following:
Blarney CC tour
Middleton 200 Audax
Orwell Randonee
Etape Ras Mumhan
Mick Byrne
Rebel Tour

The toughest was the Mount Leinster challenge, only because I was too hungover to get out of bed and safely drive to the start.

I struggled in the Orwell event and Etape Ras Mumhan. So I didn't particularly enjoy them - they were very well organised with some great food. I simply didn't have the legs. But good to have done them.

Midleton 200 Audax. Great route and stunning day. Five punctures and a great crew. Disappointed that there was no food stop. Other Audax events have them. Shame as it was a great day out.

Blarney CC tour. Great route. Great food after. Too expensive and no water stop.

Mick Byrne. Easily the best event. Glorious day out with blue skies, no wind and the temp hitting 30 degrees. Beautiful route. Felt great all day. Great foodstop. Everything should be like this.

Rebel tour. Best route in the country, bar none. Great event.

MichealD

[QUOTE=kencoo;81510874
Toughest Hill
1: Corrobutt Gap (Mount Leinster Challenge)
2:Mahon Falls (Carrick Wheelers and Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford)
3: Slieve Maan (Wicklow 200)


Best Half Time Stop
1: Mount Leinster Challenge
2: Stephen Roche Tour De Cure
3: Carrick Wheelers Challenge[/QUOTE]

Delighted to see the Mount Leinster Challenge gets two Sportif "Oscars"!!
Sitting beside one of the main " half time stop " foodies who's fairly chuffed her baking exploits have been recognised!

The great Irish bake off will continue next May at the foot of Mount Leinster!

Roger Hassenforder

ROK ON wrote: »

Blarney CC tour. Great route. Great food after. Too expensive and no water stop.

Rebel tour. Best route in the country, bar none. Great event.

couldnt agree with you more!

ugsparky

I'm impressed ... and embarrassed ...

An Post Meath Heritage 100k ... felt good
Ardee CC 100k ... died on Jenkinstown Hill
Trim Leisure Loop 100k ... wondered if I was lost heading towards Enfield !!!

I thought all were well organised ... good post, I'll use the lists as a menu for next year

boege

Interesting to see what people are up to, quieter year for me, the memorable tours were:

Etape Ras Mhumhan 100km - my first DNF - ever - thought I was fit, dont ask!
Limerick Classic Tour - 180km - took it nice'n handy (after the above)
Lap of lough derg 100km- glad I went out with early group
Tour de Burren 100km - foul day, always find TDB tough
Tour de Lain Cyclo - France on hols, did 2 stages of 5 stage 700km cyclosportive. Was not expecting lunatic pace, its a full race. My 21 yr old son finished the full GC. Have a pic of him at the end ...totally fooked.
Sean Kelly 160km - gawd that new hill, still recovering.
Rebel Tour 160km - loved the new route, we may have a new leader
Bruff charity ride 80km - first home, no kiddin, skipped the last stop and pounded away waiting to be caught. Ended up coming in with 50km group and no one noticed, oh well!
Castlecomer 100km- Curry at the end, someone finally gets it:D

alexanderomahon

Tour de Conamara

kencoo

i have not done the mick byrne randonee but a few guys i know have and they agreed that it was hardcore and the toughest in ireland. The SKT was funny in that i seemed to be breaking my neck to keep the cadence up on the flat sections never mind the hills.

I like the European input. Was goint to do the Etape this year but it looks less of a "challenge" than previous years. The Marmotte is on the same day and looks a much better option.

Lusk Doyle

buffalo wrote: »

Sounds like a terrorist threat!

/me reports Lusk Doyle

One more for Abu nazirs Christmas card list...

cnz8euq6x7syj2

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

You can also look abroad to expand your horizons a little.

In 2011 I did Paris-Roubaix. This year I did Milan San Remo. Next year I will be doing Les 3 Ballons in France (http://www.sportcommunication.com/) which is a 205km cycle on a Sunday and a hill climb TT the next day.

There is an absolute wealth of stuff out there to be conquered:

FRANCE
Paris Roubaix (April)
Gran Fondo St Tropez (April)
Les trois ballons (June)
La Marmotte (July) - start place not guaranteed
Tour du Mont Blanc - Has to be on everyones list.

BELGIUM
Tour of Flanders (April)
Liege Bastogne Liege (April)

NETHERLANDS
Amstel Gold (April) - start place not guaranteed

ITALY
Milan San Remo (June)
Maratona dles Dolomites (July) - start place not guaranteed

AUSTRIA
Dreiländer Giro,includes Stelvio climb (June)
Ötztaler Radmarathon (August) - start place not guaranteed

Switzerland
Alpenbrevet - Epic cycle but a little late in the year.

Did countless others this year in Ireland but completely agree the foreign ones are the real deal. Do an event like the Marmotte and you will never look back. You will just want to keep climbing the big mountains and tackling some white knuckle descents.

Best ones in Ireland would have to have been(best=challenging and scenic):

The Rebel Tour - Best route in the country
Tour de Burren - Dreadful weather which added to the challenge
REK 400 - Good test with a fantastic route however the last 6 hours or so were in torrential rain
Quiet man 300 - brilliant route and finishing in westport. ill say no more.

On a different note would defintely recommend the Tour du mont Blanc. The views, the organisation, cycling the alps in the pitch black amongst many other things are not to be missed. If you can get around the Marmotte in a decent time you should be well able for this with some longer style training cycles thrown in for good measure.

Would also recommend the Alpen Brevet. Choice of 3 routes makes it doable for almost anyone and you get to tackle some of the best climbs in Europe. Not as well known as say the Alp d'Huez due to not being on the tour each year but easily more difficult and more breathtaking and sheer massive in height.

Set yourself a goal and build up to it.

Iwernia

Hills of Donegal Tour in March, 1st century of the year with 4000m of climbing, stunning scenery.

Tour of Knockalla, almost as good for cycling as for rallying http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLptg6BYNoo

Lakeland Sportive, great route through Fermanagh & Leitrim, spoiled at the feedstops

An Post Tour of Sligo, good fast flat route, great catering.

Tour of Malin, in a hurricane, least enjoyable day on the bike 2012

NorthWest 100 great roads around Sligo/Leitrim. Leitrim has to be one of the best counties for cycling.

Western Hills Challenge Omagh, the reason they dont put up a route map is because nobody would turn up

Harvest Fair Challenge, Glenties. 1 of 5 charity events up Glengesh this year.

Poison Glen Tour, Stunning scenery again around Donegal.

triggermortis

I only did a few and found them all good.
An Post Meath - just avoided the wrong turning after a few Km as everyone in front of me had started turning round
Dundalk CC 100Km - liked the timed element to it, nut it was 104Km and my Garmin had a different time to the official one. Weather was brutal, but enjoyed it
Carrickmacross 100 - my local one so no driving involved. Was just under 100Km. No big hills but there is no flat (or straight) roads in Monaghan so it was a good test.
Leisure Loop 100 - my best ride of the year - felt strong all day. Liked the figure 8 course and the food inside instead of shovelling something in at the side of the road - a bit more social, plus the weather was good.
I'd like to up the distance on next years sportives and try a few 160's

shaka

Here are top four for this year.

New favourite was the Rebel tour , route this year moved it above the Sean Kelly tour.
ROK is handy but good for the chat.
Tour de Kilkenny - oh Jesus those hills

CB93

Nominations for the Cycling Ireland Leisure Event of the Year:

Codys Challenge (Steady CC)
Tour of South Derry (Carn Wheelers)
Giants Causeway Sportive (Outdoor Recreation NI)
Cuan Mhuire Helpinghand Cycle (Deenside Wheelers)
The Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
The Leinster Loop