Connemara Rough Diamond 2013

seanin4711

Didnt see a thread on this so decided to start one off!
Anyone do it before?
PLanning to give it a go in the elites(GORSH)
any tips and kit info please post here!
thanks
John

DoMyBooks

I'm hoping to do Rough Diamond myself, Although the way things are going will only be the sport course. I'm not very experienced myself (3 races) but things I have learned the hard way

Try to run on hills as much as possible in your training, Its a completely different exercise to flat. I got caught out badly on this.

Try to bring the bare minimum of gear on the day - I seen a guy doing Gaelforce with two bags and another guy with nothing visible. Your horsing it around all day keep it to a minimum.

Check your bike well in advance, Seen a guy shear off a plastic pedal in a race, Really frustrating way to drop out of a race.

Try avoid changing shoes if at all possible, One race I changed from trail runners to cycling shoes and my bag ripped so I lost a trail runner and had to jog the last 8k in cycling shoes which wasn't fun.

I've used gatorskin tyres for a good while now and never got a puncture through them, Have cycled some fairly rough forest tracks on a road bike with them too. If your use a road bike they might be worth the investment.

Have fun

bluenova

Tempted by this one haveing just done the roar,
Looks like a class event

stampydmonkey

bluenova wrote: »

Tempted by this one haveing just done the roar,
Looks like a class event

looking forward to it now, except the nice early start to get out there but can't wait to do the course. doing the long one so hopefully the weather will be alright.

silver campaign

Heading down this evening for this, looking forward to the sport event. Not too confident about my chances of a finish high up the field given my lack of training lately.

seanin4711

Anyone get lost near the end of the first cycle?
Pain in the ass

stampydmonkey

seanin4711 wrote: »

Anyone get lost near the end of the first cycle?
Pain in the ass

Negative. Took a good look at the course on streetview beforehand so knew it would be sign posted and that there was a hardstanding at it. Did doubt myself for a second but could see the trail up ahead. Was wondereing how I ended up ahead of a pile of people who passed me on the cycle. Some lad kept shouting he did 10miles extra..bad dose if true but in fairness there was no stewards where the wrong sign post was so didn't think anyone would actually follow it. Tough event nevermind that sh1te

silver campaign

Didn't hear of anyone getting lost in the sport event. Had a great day. The mountain run was harder than i expected, turned into more of a hike than a run. First cycle had fairly strong headwind which slowed everything right down. If you were in a bunch here, you would of had a strong advantage. Obstacle course was energy sapping. The last cycle was nice, flat, smooth, tailwind 40kph sprint home, couldn't have asked for better