Sunday 17th feb, Blarney Donal Crowley

thebouldwhacker

Anyone gonna head to this? A few boards riders last year and King Kelly too. It was a great event with some nice food at the end. I was surprised at the level it was at, def a great way to start the year on a high.


http://www.blarneycyclingclub.ie/donal-crowley/

Roger Hassenforder

nice curry at the end all right, SFA in the middle of it, and room for improvement with signage up Banteer way. deffo be doing it though, & massive crowd last year.

dvntie

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

nice curry at the end all right, SFA in the middle of it, and room for improvement with signage up Banteer way. deffo be doing it though, & massive crowd last year.

Ill be there for the 100 with my pockets full of food :-)

SomeFool

Me too, first outing for 2013!

Roger Hassenforder

dvntie wrote: »

Ill be there for the 100 with my pockets full of food :-)

& two bidons of whatever you're having!!

Myksyk

Yeah, I'm going. First sportive ever. Hopefully the first of very many.

seve65

"There is a change to this years 100km route, with the cycle going along with the 40km for some 15km, with the pace controlled to allow those taking part in the 40km to enjoy cycling in a large group. The 100km will also be controlled throughout the course so the group stays together for a more enjoyable day out."

http://www.blarneycyclingclub.ie/2013/01/17/maps-for-the-2013-donal-crowley-memorial-leisure-cycle/

not sure about that, but maybe it will suit the majority.

thebouldwhacker

seve65 wrote: »

not sure about that, but maybe it will suit the majority.

They did something similar last year, the whole peloton came to a stop about 5km out.

Just signed up so we'll see what its like this year. Snow last year..... great spin though.

Roger Hassenforder

Is that more or less the same 100 route as last year? Good spin all right.

thebouldwhacker

Looks the same to me,hard to forget the first 25km....

Morrisseeee

seve65 wrote: »

The 100km will also be controlled throughout the course so the group stays together for a more enjoyable day out."

This is to ensure that a certain individual doesn't try to beat Sean Kelly to the top of Nadd.............ain't that right seve65 :pac:

I did this last year and it'd a good way to 'open' the season, but it's some start to a sportive, 20km of climbing !!

thebouldwhacker

I didnt pay much heed to the map last year as I thought it would be a relaxing 100km, bit of a laugh and get Kelly to sign a jersey but holy jebus there was no staying with the front bunch, I got spat out after 15km... Even the group I fell in with after that were pushing hard all the way without let up, its a bit of a meeting place for winter warriors.
That said there were plenty there for the spin and to enjoy the day without going into the red.

Cape Clear

I've signed up for this the other day. Looking forwrad to it. Trying to fit 2 years cycling into 1 given my lack of activity last year.

seve65

the route is a small bit different, it turns north earlier and takes in a small climb at New Tipperary, app.strava.com/segments/2192713

the northernmost part of the route looks like it takes in the main N72 road ?

@morrissee, nah, my sole ambition is to get the training in ready to take on some of your koms

Morrisseeee

seve65 wrote: »

@morrissee, nah, my sole ambition is to get the training in ready to take on some of your koms

LOL stay away KOM monster :pac:
The last time you ventured up this way, you racked up a load of KOMs and they're still there :eek:

pedro_colnago

have done part of this route on training spins, namely blarney to nadd. great workout, it is a slow drag allllll the way to nad.
also good to see they have dropped the entry price from last year. I think it was 40 euro and compared to the years previously it was a bit of a crazy increase in price. think last year was the first year i didnt do the event because of it. good day out tho I wouldnt fault it otherwise

Cape Clear

Bump! What's the weather like for Sunday?

Dubba

Looks good all weekend:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/ie/cork/207697/weekend-weather/207697

thebouldwhacker

Weather looks good enough.
I have had to pull out of this, someone tell Sean I said sorry and that he can catch me another time.

Cape Clear

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

Weather looks good enough.
I have had to pull out of this, someone tell Sean I said sorry and that he can catch me another time.

Kelly expects a written apology on the back of a €50 note to explain your non attendance:D

Morrisseeee

Can you sign up on the day ? (just wondering!)

I see the start is slightly different to last year, there's a little (warmup) climb near Donoughmore !

Dubba

Yep you can sign on the day.

Hope controlled pace wont be to slow! I remember last years SKT had the pace "controlled" for a small bit at the beginning and I thought it was a bit dangerous tbh - 25km/h to 35km/h with a lot of bunching up and nervousness.

http://www.blarneycyclingclub.ie/
"the The 100km will also be controlled throughout the course so the group stays together for a more enjoyable day out."

seve65

couldnt agree more dubba. I just dropped the bl. cc mail address a mail to suggest the car goes a bit faster than last year. However, the majority might be happy with a slower pace. Difficult to please everybody.

Morrisseeee

I think it will stay together until Nadd but it will splinter after that, and especially after the food/water stop.

seve65

Prevailing wind is going to blow peeps into Nadd by the looks of it as well !

www.windfinder.com/forecast/cork

thebouldwhacker

So how did everyone get on?

Morrisseeee

Not too bad, although my legs wouldn't have taken me much farther than Blarney !
It's a good way to get in the 1st hundred of the year tho.

The start was unique, strade bianche-ish out from Blarney House, just a pity the start took so long! The pace was controlled all the way to Nadd, with a savage tailwind, until Sean decided to stop for a 'break', then the pace went up a notch but he descended like..........Nibali/Cancellara to catch the front group before the next climb, a sight to behold!

The front group didn't stop at the food/water stop so I decided to follow as the wind was into us all the way home. I was out the back of this group chatting to a guy from CorkCounty (I think) and several times we had to dig deep to stay in touch, I'll look at it as good interval training
I saw 2 accidents/crashes on the way home, no one seriously hurt tho thank goodness.
Also on the way home 2 dogs (at different places) decided to get in on the action but just stopped short of running under a few bikes......yikes :eek:

Kudos to Blarney tho, it was well organized/marshaled.

Signal_ rabbit

I went to this and thought it was well run with the exception of the unnecessary delay at the start as we were all getting cold.

What i did have a problem with was for the start it was fairly easy going for the first 10k or so as we headed out of Blarney, I didn't have a problem with this but some (I stress some) of the cycling clubs would see it as their god given right to be at the front by crossing over the solid white line and pelting to the front at high speed. When a car came at them they would dart back into the main group causing everyone to brake causing a knock on effect all the way to the back causing several tumbles. I say this to those people; "just because you wear a club shirt, you do not own the road and should be showing a little bit more respect to other cyclists and road users. What you did was dangerous and also illegal, learn some road etiquette and some manners"

Overall it was a good day, a lumpy route and very windy. Good curry at the end too.