Tour de Conamara 2013

mcallaghan

I got a large. Think it fits fine...medium might have been too tight.

snubbleste

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Erm, that wind seems to be turning during the day to give a never-ending headwind. Let the good time roll!

LOL. It be pouring rain in the whest at noon http://i.imgur.com/wCswZg1.png

at1withmyself

snubbleste wrote: »

LOL. It be pouring rain in the whest at noon http://i.imgur.com/wCswZg1.png

Eh worse then that, it was pouring in the West since shortly after 8 am this morning. Tough day in the saddle, completed 199 km's today so fecked now.....

mcallaghan

On-the-nickel's forecast could not have been any further off!

Constant, drizzly rain. All day. Little wind.

I think I'm soaked and frozen to the bone. Good ride though you couldn't see a whole lot. Nice just seeing that many other cyclists out on the road and at the food stops.

2Cando

Anybody know of any photos for the event?

el tel

Wet but fun. Saw the Badger. Now having a few pints in Clifden now so everythings all in the world. 320 miles home tomorrow via Skerries to see the Ras finish

Seweryn

2Cando wrote: »

Anybody know of any photos for the event?

Here is one. Before the start...

2Cando

Seweryn wrote: »

Here is one. Before the start...

Where you out in Acton's campsite by any chance?

Seweryn

2Cando wrote: »

Where you out in Acton's campsite by any chance?

No, we were staying in this place .

mcallaghan

I took one or two at the start. Haven't had a chance to load them up yet - not sure how good they came out either as I held the camera up to look over everyones head.

nilhg

I enjoyed yesterday despite the weather, at least the wind didn't really blow, it was a bit in our face at the start but gave a nice push on the northward leg to Maam.

Low points would be the first food stop at Carna, would have been grand on a better day but inadequate yesterday, though finding somewhere better could be a problem I accept, also there were quite a few incidences of lunatic overtaking that I saw especially on the Ballyconnelly - Roundstone road, I know the traffic was light and watching out for us but passing two abreast on the compete wrong side of the road on a blind humpy bend is asking for trouble.

Hope the rider who was being loaded into the ambulance as we passed is OK.

One I'd like to do again, maybe not next year but soon.

tacklemore

Saturday was my first trip around Conamara on my new bike, and I will be back next year. Tackled the 80k, and couldn't get over how handy the hills were at the start, believing that the big hills were there. An awful pity that I didn't come across this thread, but I guess ignorance is bliss. Met some lads who were walking/running their bikes up the last hill, and 1 lad was running faster than I was cycling, made for a bit of fun. Showers at the GAA pitch were the job, roasting so they were, helped get rid of all the rain and dirt I picked up en route. Could have done with a few nibbles at Kylemore Abbey though, lads were mad for the jaffa cakes I had in my cycling top.

140k next year, training starts tomorrow............

slowcyclist

Very, very wet day. None of the on-line forecasts got the morning accurate. Channel 4 was the odd-one-out on Friday night, showing rain from early morning, across the west coast. But I chose to ignore it, because it was out of kilter with everyone else. Marshalling was good, but sparse. First food stop not organised enough for the crowds, but plenty of grub once you got into the hall. Second stop more organised, or maybe I was just a bit behind the field at that stage. Last leg from Letterfrack to Clifden was particularly hard - my average from from a respectable 25.8kph to 24.8 on that leg alone. Only saw one ambulance - hopefully nothing too serious. Well done to the organisers. Need to think hard about whether I'll go back again - that rain really did make for a miserable day out.

yop

Miserable day but good spirit out on the route. Injury prevented me from doing the 140 so I set out with my brother on the 80k. V hard to gauge how many did the 80k but got in with a group of 6 others, the lad with no helmet, crazy kid.
Kept a nice avg and got to stop one at 29.5 avg, then the group split up and cycled with Dave from Dublin on the way to Kylemore, picked up a few more and ended up with a lad from Limerick and we clipped along v nicely to Kylemore. Avg was down to 28 by them though and after a quick stop we ended up with a group of around 12. That didn't stay together long as a group of 4 of us clipped along picked up one or 2 and dropped one or 2. The last hill was good fun and felt sorry for some people who struggling badly on it.
All in all was a good spin, 3hrs on the button with 27.9 avg. Hip is in a ball now though so hoping to book a scan this week to see what the story is with it.

First stop was sound as there was only about 10 people ahead of us, got some lovely choco slices
Kylemore was ok, thought that they may have more drinks/gels or something and the same with the end, didn't see any recovery drinks so it did feel a like anti climax, that said the weather wouldn't buzz anyone.

The gilets are a1 though, so fair play on that front.

Pls God will be back next year without an injury!!

Seweryn

slowcyclist wrote: »

Very, very wet day. None of the on-line forecasts got the morning accurate.

Yeah, just looking now how far wrong was this...


Thanks to all organisers and volunteers, the Event went very well in general, thank you for that! And yes, the weather made it miserable. I did the longer route on which I saw one of the participants wearing only a short sleeve jersey... Not sure if I could withstand that kind of suffering on a nearly six hour ride.

I would like to come back next year and hopefully the weather will improve on the day .

ArraMusha

Wet day indeed.. and very dangerous.seen two falls and one lad taken by ambulance...hope he's ok.
What was good: the food and water and junction marshalling.
What was bad: didn't see any mobile marshalling,(motorbikes cars with beacons) badly needed around ballyconnelly on narrow windy roads..oncoming cars caught in the crowd who didn't realize cycle was on. They didn't want to be there and cyclists flying by at 30+ kph didn't want them there either.
. Croi do a mighty job of this each year on the corrib cycle.

Also heard a few people were annoyed about carna food stop cos it wasn't able to handle crowd...people queueing outside in cold etc.

Overall its improving year on year, and could do with some minor improvements.

If the organizers read this, please do a bib short or cap/armwarmers/overshoes next year...thanks and Conamara Abu.!!!

Maidhci

slowcyclist wrote: »

None of the on-line forecasts got the morning accurate.

Confirms my theory, once again, that the forecasts are only accurate for the midlands and east coast of Ireland, certainly not for us poor westerners!!!! My rule of thumb is to presume that Atlantic weather fronts will arrive on the west coast 6 - 8 hours earlier than predicted by Met Eireann - sorry, should have posted this on Friday! Despite the bad weather, it appears that the event was enjoyed by all, unfortunately, I could not take part on the day. There appears to have been a very low turnout at the TT event in Carna today - I counted approx. 20 participants. Presumably, cyclists headed home from Clifden this morning?

Grassey

Was a pleasant loop, miserable weather but an enjoyable day out once I kept moving and warm. Will not be forgetting the overshoes next time!

Queuing in cearna was a low point, the food stop was a bit disorganised, and it didn't help with wet hungry cyclists standing st top of queue eating and not moving on to leave space for those behind. Only having drink refill at kylemore was a pity too.

Biggest gripe though was paying online for 2 Jerseys weeks in advance and to turn up in Galway at 5:15 to collect and be told that they were all out of women's ones and my gf would have to take a small mens instead.

Despite everything though enjoyed the day out. Will probably go back next year and tackle the 140

el tel

I think the Carna stop was particularly busy as so many people bottled going to maam cross and so this would be their only chance of food. I was one of these but luckily was first through the door so no problems with waiting Almond cake was lovely.

mountclare4

Note from organisers;

Thank you for your comments and feedback and the hugely positive response we received directly and online. We learn each year and develop it based on what participants are feeding back to us.

Just to clarify a few issues raised. There was 10 motorbikes mobile marshalls, lead out car from the Gardai to support the event and manage early junctions etc plus support vehicles. The food stop in Carna is something we will look at for next year but rain did result in having to move a portable feed station set up there to inside. We had planned that this would have taken all the pressure off the queues but the rain dictated otherwise.

Spoke to the cyclist involved in accident outside Carna and collar bone was the issue but paramedics had him sorted in a very short space of time.

It was a pity about the weather but as one cyclists said to us 'I did most of my training in the rain this year so this weather was no surprise'

leCycliste

Tough day in the saddle, pity about the rain and low clouds/mist as we really missed out on the beauty of Conamara. Felt the food stations could have done with something different other than sandwiches, maybe some pasta like in the Sligo An Post. Maybe next year??
The route was excellent, with the climbs were a nice challenge. The sign in on the Tuam road was a good idea.

resdubwhite

last ten k was an absolute killer. Watched my average drop from close to 27 down to 26.

Carna food stop was a huge let down. Absolutely feeezing.

Was very surprised at the lack of people working together in groups although it may have been down to the weather. Would certainly have been nice to have something in the legs towards the end but didn't have anything to eat after Maam so maybe that was the reason I felt like I was going backwards.


good event. I thought the road marshalling was fine. Never got a sight of the badger either.

spiderman1885

Was a shame there wasn't more teams involved in Sunday's time trial.

Gallant_JJ

Thoroughly enjoyed the day, lovely route, great surfaces in the main too. Sign on at the Skoda Garage on the Friday evening was very handy. I didn't stop at the first food stop but I was very impressed by the hospitality at the 90km food stop after Maam, great selection of stuff. Great day on the bike.


Very few cohesive groups on the road alright, everyone was very fragmented. I suppose road spray may have had something to do with it.

mountclare4

We had 30 teams committed to taking part but not all showed up. Combination of a few injuries, sore heads from night before and Saturday taking more out of the legs than expected with the turn in weather.

yop

mountclare4 wrote: »

Note from organisers;

Thank you for your comments and feedback and the hugely positive response we received directly and online. We learn each year and develop it based on what participants are feeding back to us.

Just to clarify a few issues raised. There was 10 motorbikes mobile marshalls, lead out car from the Gardai to support the event and manage early junctions etc plus support vehicles. The food stop in Carna is something we will look at for next year but rain did result in having to move a portable feed station set up there to inside. We had planned that this would have taken all the pressure off the queues but the rain dictated otherwise.

Spoke to the cyclist involved in accident outside Carna and collar bone was the issue but paramedics had him sorted in a very short space of time.

It was a pity about the weather but as one cyclists said to us 'I did most of my training in the rain this year so this weather was no surprise'

Plenty of evidence of bikes and cars along the way in fairness so wouldn't think anyone can have an issue with that. From the 2 close calls I saw, both were cyclist inflicted and both went over the wrong side of the road. You can't cradle watch each cyclist and they need to bear some responsibility themselves.
One thing to note though which maybe no harm for next year and I don't want it to be a rant!, people will at some stage end up in a group during the day.
If in a group keep 2 abreast.
Ensure on tight roads that if traffic is coming from the back or from the front that a shout is given to inform those in the group.
If there is a hole in the road to give a little shout to inform those behind.

Also stress that people need to keep left if they are on their own, I know its a sportive but on more than once occasion we came across a lone cyclist on the white line.

As I said I know its a sportive, but it will make the cycle a little safer for all concerned.

Actually on a side note, how the hell did your man get around the course without a helmet? He had a peaked cap on and no helmet. I had a word with him at one stage as he swerved in from inside to out with no indication and nearly took 2 of us out of it.

Nephinbeg

2nd time on the 80k after last year. Weather was poles apart!

Had great fun in a group up until the first stop. Unfortunately had a wheel burst about 43k in. One absolute legend gave me his levers and another stopped and helped me replace the tube...not easy with numb hands in the rain!

Got about 2k down the road and it went again and had to retire, tyre was all shredded. Really disappointing but I'll definitely be back next year for round 3!

Maidhci

el tel wrote: »

I think the Carna stop was particularly busy as so many people bottled going to maam cross and so this would be their only chance of food. I was one of these but luckily was first through the door so no problems with waiting Almond cake was lovely.

Good for you! - were you also first into the finish line at Clifden?

el tel

Maidhci wrote: »

Good for you! - were you also first into the finish line at Clifden?

We didn't go all the way back into Clifden, the turn off to the place we were staying at was about 5km back up the road so we peeled off there.

Would second everything yop said below. Maddnes those solo riders obliviously going along the centreline.

silver campaign

Good challenging course. Felt better after this 140 than the one the previous year believe it or not. The heat the year before really took it out of me.

I made it to the first food stop before the que started. I could see it forming as I was leaving but it was mainly caused by cyclists inside not moving on and making room for those outside, which is really down to the rain at the end of the day. Can't blame the organisers for the weather.

I was thinking before the weekend that I might stick around clifden and pop down to the time trial the next day, maybe join in if someone was stuck for an extra body, but when your that wet you just want to get home and put the feet up. I'd say it was the same for a lot of other people.