Ring Of Kerry Charity Cycle 2014

funnights74

This thread was going to kick off sooner or later so here goes. Saturday the 5th of July is the date set for the 31st Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle. Last years cycle raised the huge amount of €1,151,217.
Registration usually opens around St Patrick's day, it looks like numbers will be limited to around the 8,500 mark again, so get in early and avoid disappointment. The same applies to hotels and b+b's, it being July spaces won't last for long.
No news yet regarding entrance fees so keep an eye on the official site for details.

http://www.ringofkerrycycle.ie/index.php

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/300052

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056776684

Amprodude

funnights74 wrote: »

This thread was going to kick off sooner or later so here goes. Saturday the 5th of July is the date set for the 31st Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle. Last years cycle raised the huge amount of €1,151,217.
Registration usually opens around St Patrick's day, it looks like numbers will be limited to around the 8,500 mark again, so get in early and avoid disappointment. The same applies to hotels and b+b's, it being July spaces won't last for long.
No news yet regarding entrance fees so keep an eye on the official site for details.

http://www.ringofkerrycycle.ie/index.php



http://ridewithgps.com/trips/300052

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056776684

I will miss it next year unfortunately. I will be away and i'm gutted to miss a great day out.

Sir Arthur Daley

I did it 2 years ago but had too many bad experiences doing it, a small group of us does it the week after now and do our own charity for it.

TonyStark

WikiHow wrote: »

I did it 2 years ago but had too many bad experiences doing it, a small group of us does it the week after now and do our own charity for it.

Thinking about doing it this year. What were your bad experiences?

Sir Arthur Daley

TonyStark wrote: »

Thinking about doing it this year. What were your bad experiences?

Too many team sky peloton wannabies blowing abuse to get out of the way thinking they are doing the tour de france, rubbish on the road everywhere and just generally overcrowding which led to a few accidents.

Amprodude

WikiHow wrote: »

Too many team sky peloton wannabies blowing abuse to get out of the way thinking they are doing the tour de france, rubbish on the road everywhere and just generally overcrowding which led to a few accidents.

There will be always a few w^^kers doing an event as big as the ROK. I had a problem with one or two riders weaving all over the road in 2012 and one incident where such an action almost knocked me off my bike. I do think there are too many people doing the event. The numbers doing it should be divided up over two days 4,000 Day 1 and 4,000 Day 2.

Iwernia

Or you could just leave an hour later. I did it this year with my wife and thought it was by far the best leisure event that I had ever attended. We cycled it like tourists, took in all the towns & villages and had a great day out finished with a great reception in Killarney. As for the w^^kers, they are part of every leisure event, let them on, they are what they are.

smacl

Iwernia wrote: »

Or you could just leave an hour later. I did it this year with my wife and thought it was by far the best leisure event that I had ever attended. We cycled it like tourists, took in all the towns & villages and had a great day out finished with a great reception in Killarney. As for the w^^kers, they are part of every leisure event, let them on, they are what they are.

A decent enough strategy, though you could spend your day stuck behind the droves of people moving at a snails pace, which could really suck the fun out of things.

There is some absolutely fantastic cycling to be had in that part of the country, and IMHO the ROK route manages to avoid nearly all of it. Planning on getting back to Sneem myself over the summer, but the only bits of the ROK route I'll be doing are those that take me to the nicer cycling routes.

cheerspal

Started it an hour after the start time and had no issues with overcrowding really. Saw a few crashes alright but didnt noticed rubbish on the roads.

KenDowling

Just hope the registration is better organised next year

funnights74

Watch out for documentary of the 2013 Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle. It will be featured on TG4 at 3pm on Sunday 19th of January 2014.

Murphj7

8500 people is too much. 6000 should be max. Any agreeable with me?

Grassey

Murphj7 wrote: »

8500 people is too much. 6000 should be max. Any agreeable with me?

Nope. 8500 was grand with me.

BailMeOut

KenDowling wrote: »

Just hope the registration is better organised next year

Registration last year was a massive improvement. You could register directly with one of the charities who posted out your bike tags and wrist band a few weeks before the event so no queuing up was needed in Killarney.

BailMeOut

Grassey wrote: »

Nope. 8500 was grand with me.

The view of bikes as far as you can see ahead and behind on some sections is just incredible and is there another event where you can cycle for nine hours and not be in the company of hundreds of others at all times no matter what your pace is.

brownetara

BailMeOut wrote: »

Registration last year was a massive improvement. You could register directly with one of the charities who posted out your bike tags and wrist band a few weeks before the event so no queuing up was needed in Killarney.

Which was fine if you were doing it for charity but I had to queue for over 2½ hours for my tags, not great preparation for a 180km cycle the next day!

BailMeOut

brownetara wrote: »

Which was fine if you were doing it for charity but I had to queue for over 2½ hours for my tags, not great preparation for a 180km cycle the next day!

I learned my lesson the hard way in 2012 (queuing in lashing rain) which is why I registered with a charity in 2013.

brownetara

BailMeOut wrote: »

I learned my lesson the hard way in 2012 (queuing in lashing rain) which is why I registered with a charity in 2013.

Yep, definitely the only way I would do it again! Oh well, you live and learn!

borntobike

I would definitely give this a miss if you are a serious cyclist. It is far too messy with the numbers. The only two events I will bypass are the ROK and W200. There are too many good options out there. Also the local hoteliers hike up their prices far too much.

shaka

borntobike wrote: »

I would definitely give this a miss if you are a serious cyclist. It is far too messy with the numbers. The only two events I will bypass are the ROK and W200. There are too many good options out there. Also the local hoteliers hike up their prices far too much.

I enjoyed the day out previously and took it as it was , a social day out but don't think I'll bother with it again, the carry on with trying to charge so much last year left a bad taste in the mouth.

Sir Arthur Daley

It was suggested last year to have the event for 2 days, one day for the leisure cyclists and the other day for groups/professional cyclists, this would be a good move to do for 2014 imo.

BailMeOut

I struggle to find anything wrong with this event. It is a national treasure sporting event in its 31st year that needs to be experienced to fully appreciate how great it is. For people reading this forum and who have never done it please ignore any negative comments! I am doing my 4th one this year and cannot wait and IMO there is no cycling sportive anywhere in Ireland as fun as this one.

Sir Arthur Daley

These negative comments are a concern that alot of people share in the last few years of this event and are discouraging the leisure cyclist more and more, the 2 day event that was suggested would solve alot of these problems.

thesimpsons

did it for 1st time last year - the whole atmosphere of the day which I'd heard about so often is what convinced me to do it. the mixing of leisure and club cyclists together didn't bother me, I found alot of the club groups I ended up cycling along side for a while were great craic, would offer words of support and encouragement knowing I was obviously a beginner. I'd never manage to run a marathon (knees are wrecked) but was on such a high after doing ROK which I never in a million years thought I'd be capable of. I'm sure the feeling must be similiar to someone finishing their first marathon. there are more and more leisure cyclists doing the ROK now, not less I'd have thought.

thesimpsons

WikiHow wrote: »

These negative comments are a concern that alot of people share in the last few years of this event and are discouraging the leisure cyclist more and more, the 2 day event that was suggested would solve alot of these problems.

I'm sure it would be hard enough to get the right support of volunteers for a 2 day event.

07Lapierre

The ROK is a fantastic event. The only problem with it is the amount of "amateur" cyclists! It would be so much better if it was restricted to us "Real" cyclists!!












* relax! Im only messin!

Sir Arthur Daley

thesimpsons wrote: »

I'm sure it would be hard enough to get the right support of volunteers for a 2 day event.

Pay the volunteers, it would be very easy to solve the logistics of making it a 2 day event.

07Lapierre

Its a great event as it is..."if it ain't broken, don't fix it"!

Wishbone Ash

WikiHow wrote: »

It was suggested last year to have the event for 2 days, one day for the leisure cyclists and the other day for groups/professional cyclists, this would be a good move to do for 2014 imo.

Would it not be easier to organise it like city marathons where the elite go first, followed by clubs followed by the general masses broken down by their estimated times etc.

Running it over 2 days would spoil the atmosphere IMO and apart from volunteers, I can't see the Gardai being up for it.

PandyAndy

Arleady looking forward to it this year. Did it for the first time last July and was great craic.

Great event that I'm looking forward to but it's at the upper limit for how much I'd be willing to pay. I hope they don't increase the costs again.

Roger Hassenforder

WikiHow wrote: »

Pay the volunteers, it would be very easy to solve the logistics of making it a 2 day event.

a very easy way to solve it is people didnt act the bollix, behave themselves, have regard to their fellow cyclists, and register with a charity in advance.
to pay people to volunteer with take from the bottom line. And its part of the day, having a bit of banter with the volunteers.
Anyone thinking of doing it should. Its not a race, just a great day out on your bike with a few thousand like minded souls.

Nedkelly24

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

a very easy way to solve it is people didnt act the bollix, behave themselves, have regard to their fellow cyclists, and register with a charity in advance.
to pay people to volunteer with take from the bottom line. And its part of the day, having a bit of banter with the volunteers.
Anyone thinking of doing it should. Its not a race, just a great day out on your bike with a few thousand like minded souls.[/quote
It's always a race :-!

Jovetic

Will do it again this year I think even though my knee doesn't want me to :P

There are a lot of clubs/peletons that think they own the roads which is a shame. And they leave their gel wrappers all over the roads

Sir Arthur Daley

Friend of mine forwarded an email they got from ROK committee, from quote below they are addressing a few issues.

You may be aware that we conducted a survey after this years event and while most of the results were extremely positive there are clearly some issues that need to be addressed – you will be hearing more on this later. You will be happy to hear that we are well on the way to solving our Friday night registration problems and ensuring that we prevent a recurrence of the long queues of this year.

Murphj7

There was too many people around Glenbeigh and Sneem last year. Hopefully they will see sense

outfox

Last year was my first year doing it, and my 3rd sportive. The buzz coming thru the finish line was fantastic. I've never experienced anything like it. I heard in previous years the finish line was out the road, and not so good. The 170 km is worth it just for the last 2 km coming into Killarney.

codie

Murphj7 wrote: »

There was too many people around Glenbeigh and Sneem last year. Hopefully they will see sense

Sneem always seems to be the worst .I had to come off the bike in Sneem last year due to 3 omegos walking with their bikes smack bang in the middle of the road and they sauntering away with not a worry in the world.I know they are new people every year but a little common sense would go a long way.I think it might work if they push everyone toward the left,where the y in the middle of the village is or look at having a feed station in Sneem.Sure there is somewhere to have a feed station like a Gaa club or somewhere thats off the main road.

kerry4sam

Their is only 1 charity, due to something recent &personal, that I'll be doing my fund-raising for in the future.

If they are not one of the few chosen as official charities for 2014: Can someone remind me of any issues. I'll be registering & I assume that's the minimum required to partake; but I'll be raising funds for ANother charity (assuming not one of chosen few official) & I am aware that's frowned upon, but is that it? Only frowned upon and not a preventative to partake in cycle on the day?

Thanks,
kerry4sam

eoz

Dónal wrote: »

Great event that I'm looking forward to but it's at the upper limit for how much I'd be willing to pay. I hope they don't increase the costs again.

How much is it usually? This will be my first year doing it.

BailMeOut

eoz wrote: »

How much is it usually? This will be my first year doing it.

It was €60 last year if you registered directly. If you registered with a charity it was whatever you could raise.

Morrisseeee

codie wrote: »

Sneem always seems to be the worst

Sneem is the best, great atmosphere and..............ice cream, you can't beat the ice cream, it sets you up for the run in

The ROK is unique, it's not a sportive, it's a charity event and you have to embrace all that it offers, ie. weather, route, views, loads & loads of cyclists (of all abilities), atmosphere and the various towns/villages that are transformed.

Roger Hassenforder

codie wrote: »

Sneem always seems to be the worst .I had to come off the bike in Sneem last year due to 3 omegos walking with their bikes smack bang in the middle of the road and they sauntering away with not a worry in the world.I know they are new people every year but a little common sense would go a long way.I think it might work if they push everyone toward the left,where the y in the middle of the village is or look at having a feed station in Sneem.Sure there is somewhere to have a feed station like a Gaa club or somewhere thats off the main road.

Sweet Jeebus, you had to get off. I hope those individuals were suitably punished for enjoying themselves. Outrageous behaviour in a village. With several hundred other cyclists. In the largest charity cycle on the calender...

Sir Arthur Daley

kerry4sam wrote: »

Their is only 1 charity, due to something recent &personal, that I'll be doing my fund-raising for in the future.

If they are not one of the few chosen as official charities for 2014: Can someone remind me of any issues. I'll be registering & I assume that's the minimum required to partake; but I'll be raising funds for ANother charity (assuming not one of chosen few official) & I am aware that's frowned upon, but is that it? Only frowned upon and not a preventative to partake in cycle on the day?

Thanks,
kerry4sam

What do you need reminding off? im sorry but finding your post very confusing

Masala

Only frowned upon and not a preventative to partake in cycle on the day?

My understanding (in your case) is that you will have to pay €60 to the ROK committee.

You can raise what want for 'other' Charities - that is your business. If you do the ROK - you are expected to either

1. Collect for their nominated charities OR
2. pay €60 to ROK of which they will re-allocate to the nominated charities on your behalf.

You can't get a Registration badge without going thru ROK (with €60) or thru Charities (after you sign up with them and give your commitment to collect).

Of course nothing to stop you collecting €500 for CharityXXX and paying €60 to ROK and transferring €440 to you chosen charity.

My thoughts anyway

Masala

The ROK is unique, it's not a sportive, it's a charity event and you have to embrace all that it offers, ie. weather, route, views, loads & loads of
cyclists (of all abilities), atmosphere and the various towns/villages that are
transformed

Here, Here Morrissee.....

I met u on my 1st ROK in Sneem - enjoyed the chat, had a water refill and a bit of deep-heat on the muscles from the 1st Aiders!!

Great day...looking forward to my 3rd this year.

codie

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Sweet Jeebus, you had to get off. I hope those individuals were suitably punished for enjoying themselves. Outrageous behaviour in a village. With several hundred other cyclists. In the largest charity cycle on the calender...

It was more like nearly fell off.There was no need for punishment as if I recall correctly there was 2 in football shorts.Its agreat day out and a great bit of banter to be had but just saying a bit of common sense wouldn't go a stray for everyones safety.Walking in the middle of the road in Sneem 3 abreast isn't the thing to do

Uberbeamerman

kerry4sam wrote: »

Their is only 1 charity, due to something recent &personal, that I'll be doing my fund-raising for in the future.

If they are not one of the few chosen as official charities for 2014: Can someone remind me of any issues. I'll be registering & I assume that's the minimum required to partake; but I'll be raising funds for ANother charity (assuming not one of chosen few official) & I am aware that's frowned upon, but is that it? Only frowned upon and not a preventative to partake in cycle on the day?

Thanks,
kerry4sam

Ideally one should only fundraise for the chosen charities. Before Christmas, an open invitation was issued by the committee to charities interested in becoming beneficiaries of ROK 2014. Every charity was eligible to apply and I'm guessing a shortlist was drawn up and will be whittled down to the final few in the near future. Unfortunately every charity that sends in an application is not successful. If people want to raise money for other charities, I don't think the ROK is the event to do it as it would be unfair on the charities that applied and went through the screening process, it'd be unfair on the volunteers, and it would be unfair on the committee who are already in full swing preparing for ROK '14

mossym

the ROK is unique. you'll get slowed down behind groups of laughing people who aren't "real" cyclists because they don't wheel their bikes out every sunday. You'll have to stand in queues behind people who are enjoying the breaks rather the seeing how quickly they can do 160km non stop. You'll have guys raving about sandwiches and tea rather than energy bars and carb drinks. you'll see things on the ROK you'll see on no other cycle. anywhere. ever

embrace that, and you'll love it. leave the speedo and the ego at home and just cycle for the enjoyment of it.

otherwise, pick another sportive and save your money. the ROK is special, but not for everyone

zindicato

balls would be out on holdays for this one... would have loved to do this event:-(

outfox

zindicato wrote: »

balls would be out on holdays for this one... would have loved to do this event:-(

Why do you take your balls out on holiday? Is that illegal?