Tour de Burren 2014

HappyNoel

Anyone doing it this year? Did the 80K last year, hoping to do the 160 this year (or at least try it).

killalanerr

when is it ?

Doc07

HappyNoel wrote: »

Anyone doing it this year? Did the 80K last year, hoping to do the 160 this year (or at least try it).

I'm doing the medium (96km I think). Would love to do the 160km but probably not up to that distance yet and also doing it with my wife's cousin who is only 16. Lovely part of the world if it's a nice day. The start and finish is near the church I got married in so it's a sentimental sportive for me. Hope you enjoy it.

mamax

http://tourdeburren.com

Damn it I'm gonna miss this one as I can't get off work

Smith614

Poor weather last 2 yrs. Not going to bother this yr so weather will prob. be lovely.

HappyNoel

Hoping for a scorcher but doing it anyway, enjoyed the 80K last year despite the rain.

greenrocket

Just wondering where would be the best place to stay in the area? Where would the nearest campsite be? Might bring a tent.

acorn

No campsite (or hostel) in BallyV.

Check out Doolin

http://www.campingdoolin.com/

or

http://www.doolincamping.com/

daludo

HappyNoel wrote: »

Hoping for a scorcher but doing it anyway, enjoyed the 80K last year despite the rain.

Ya hope the weather is better this year.il try the 160 also.need to start hitting a few hills in training though.

quinlivan

Just signed up for the 160km! Eeeeek

lismore7

Just signed up for the 96k and not done the Burren before.
As it's a new route (according to thier web site) don't suppose anyone would have a garmin, map my ride or strava link, to check out the gradients and hills etc?

mamax

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/367777927

T Dawg81

Doolin or Fanore

bellinter

Did the 160Km last year. The weather for the most part was brutal with very strong headwinds and lots of showers. All was forgiven by the end though after the great tailwind that blew us home along the coast.

Won't make it this year but would definitely recommend it. Face it, the weather will be bad, but a bit of rain never hurt anyone!

rayr

greenrocket wrote: »

Just wondering where would be the best place to stay in the area? Where would the nearest campsite be? Might bring a tent.

Myself and a mate stayed in a camper van in Ballyvaughan, free of charge courtesy of the GAA Club. Full access to dressing rooms with hot showers and toilets. Not at all crowded and there were some tents there last year but by god it was windy.

Part of the reason it is my favourite sportive of the year and have done it for the last four years and doing the 160 again. Have to be due some good weather this year.

HappyNoel

80K last year, 160 this year.

Biggest challenge I faced was on the home stretch near Fanore - people crossing the road without looking. Otherwise a great day.

harringtonp

greenrocket wrote: »

Just wondering where would be the best place to stay in the area? Where would the nearest campsite be? Might bring a tent.

There is parking in a field in Ballyvaughan. One year a few of us threw up tents beside the vehicles, had a few scoops in the bars after the event and a nice swim between the piers the following morning.

That was back in the days of scorching Tour de Burren weather.

mamax

harringtonp wrote: »

There is parking in a field in Ballyvaughan.

Just curious about the parking for 2000 or so entrants, is there plenty room ?

greenrocket

can you just turn up at the GAA ground the night before or is there someone you can contact. will be staying in a tent for 2 nights.

harringtonp

mamax wrote: »

Just curious about the parking for 2000 or so entrants, is there plenty room ?

I suspect the days of 2000 or so were when the sportive first started. Don't know the numbers for last year but I got the impression it was considerably less than this... then again it was a fairly gank day.

derealbadger

harringtonp wrote: »

I suspect the days of 2000 or so were when the sportive first started. Don't know the numbers for last year but I got the impression it was considerably less than this... then again it was a fairly gank day.

There was over 2000 last year fully booked and one of the best spins i did all year and the free hoddy was way better than a stupid jersey

simonrooneyzaga

Signed up for the 96k, looking forward to it. Will be my longest spin but training going well so can't imagine it being a problem.

Hoping to do a 160 and 200 before the summer is out.

mamax

I managed to get the time off work and booked the 96k last week, jersey arrived today and it's a race fit so if you like a bit of comfort get a size up.

Doc07

simonrooneyzaga wrote: »

Signed up for the 96k, looking forward to it. Will be my longest spin but training going well so can't imagine it being a problem.

Hoping to do a 160 and 200 before the summer is out.

Me too, doing 96km can't with. Also hoping to do a 160 or 200 between now and sept.
I'll be in my black /pink boards gear.For anyone staying Friday or Saturday night, pop into Loghlen's bar, great pub.

rayr

greenrocket wrote: »

can you just turn up at the GAA ground the night before or is there someone you can contact. will be staying in a tent for 2 nights.

No need to book or contact anyone. You just turn up and pitch up and it is only around the corner from the reg/start line. They had a couple of separate large fields for parking next to the start area which seemed more than adequate.

mamax

rayr wrote: »

No need to book or contact anyone. You just turn up and pitch up and it is only around the corner from the reg/start line. They had a couple of separate large fields for parking next to the start area which seemed more than adequate.

Makes you wonder why this kind of info is not in their website FAQ

mamax

Just a heads up for anyone considering doing this one, registration closes next monday.


Online registration is open! We have extended our early bird price until midnight, June 12th.

Register Your Place Now


Entry Fees
Family Loop 10km €3 per cyclist.
The Burren Circuit 52km €35 Early Bird up until midnight June 12th €45 thereafter.
Heart of the Burren 96km €45 Early Bird up until midnight June 12th €55 thereafter.
The Burnin Burren 160km €45Early Bird up until midnight June12th €55 thereafter.

10% discount on the 52km, 96km and 160km cycle to all Cycling Ireland Members on the early bird price only.


Event registration will close on midnight Monday June16th or as there is a limit of 1,600 cyclists on the event, when this number is reached.
There will be no registration on the day, except for the Family Loop.

tacklemore

mamax wrote: »

Just a heads up for anyone considering doing this one, registration closes next monday.


Online registration is open! We have extended our early bird price until midnight, June 12th.

Register Your Place Now


Entry Fees
Family Loop 10km €3 per cyclist.
The Burren Circuit 52km €35 Early Bird up until midnight June 12th €45 thereafter.
Heart of the Burren 96km €45 Early Bird up until midnight June 12th €55 thereafter.
The Burnin Burren 160km €45Early Bird up until midnight June12th €55 thereafter.

10% discount on the 52km, 96km and 160km cycle to all Cycling Ireland Members on the early bird price only.


Event registration will close on midnight Monday June16th or as there is a limit of 1,600 cyclists on the event, when this number is reached.
There will be no registration on the day, except for the Family Loop.

Any hoody this year for the participants? Raging I missed them last year!!

mamax

Got an email that say they got em

pic attached

The goody giveaway this year is this beautiful long sleeve top and a popular neck warming buff.
Sizes cannot be pre-booked, but dont worry, we have ordered plenty

tacklemore

mamax wrote: »

Got an email that say they got em

pic attached

Not so bad. Cheers for the update!

thekooman

mamax wrote: »

Got an email that say they got em

pic attached

thats nice and something different as well compared to the useless jerseys.

mamax

Looks like it's gonna be a scorcher on Saturday, don't forget your sun cream

nordicb

Doing 160k again this year. I have underestimated the course last year - seemed tougher than expected. Pity they took out the Doolin castle climb, that was a "proper" leg burner followed by a climb to Cliffs of Moher.

rayr

Yeah pity Castle Hill not there. Would be nice to do it in the dry compared to the wet for the last couple of years. Maybe they didn't want to take the risk.
Looking forward to a sportive in sunny conditions(hopefully). Did Sligo and W200 and fed up of the rain.

ratracer

Smith614 wrote: »

Poor weather last 2 yrs. Not going to bother this yr so weather will prob. be lovely.

I'd like to thank you for not turning up today Smith614. Weather was great

A super day out on the bike today, done the 96km route. Very tough first half with most of the climbing here, but after the food stop was a nice spin up the coast to the finish. I love the food stop on this cycle, it's what brings me back even when the weather is sh1te. Cake, cake and more cake, and then loads of ice cream at the finish.

nordicb

2nd that - great cycling weather. Legs cooked, happy face. Compared to last year I see better stops, marshaling and signage for 160k, which is great. God bless whoever came up with an artificial loop after Liscannor - I find this piece the hardest...

PS: I hope the blue jersey girl, who crashed behind me right after start was ok and could resume.

Doc07

Great day. Did the 100k, great Gardai escort at start, felt like being in a tour stage. Great marshalling and food stop. Got to ride in the Kelly group for a while to top it off.(before I was dropped!)

tacklemore

Did the 96k. Good route, good weather, good craic. Corker hill is the daddy of the Corkscrew!
Well done to the organisers. Great all round!

mamax

I did the 96 also, great route and the organisers deserve great credit for such a well run event, never saw so much food before and the cheesecake was delicious

sullzz

Did it myself , great organisation , met mcgraitheoin at 2nd foodstop and also met doc07 at the first foodstop , nice to chat lads !!

jamesd

Did the 50k - loved it, didn't bother with the food stop as it was just 15km in but the ice cream at the end was lovely. Views were unreal on the coast.
Thanks to the 2 ladies from Clonard cycling club for pushing me on at the end as ye were fair quick.

mcgratheoin

Good spin - had a mate who was really suffering so was a real cruise around for us with a lot of waiting at the top of the hills. Stopped to wait at the top of corkscrew but only later realised that i had stopped before the end of the strava segment! Great weather, excellent marshalling, and the tide was perfect to throw myself off the pier in Ballyvaughan at the end.

On the other hand, I'm just wondering why the lead car bunched everybody up again after about 15k? There was a short steep hill that lined the 160 group out a little bit and just gave everyone a little more room on the road and then the lead car stopped and everybody ended up really bunched before the turn south onto a terrible road. The road surfaces weren't the best in places, but that's nothing to do with the organisers really.

Met Sullz (who must think I'm stalking him, 90% of my sighting posts are him...) and Michael196 (I may have the number wrong). Also met somebody who last checked the forum in February, wondering about where to get the kit!

willabur

really enjoyed it, did the 96km in 3.50 - happy enough with that.
I liked the route, the road was a bit rough in spots and the traffic on the corkscrew was a bit annoying but apart from that it was very well run. The food stop was great, positioned at the perfect point with the most amount of sandwiches I have ever ever seen

zymar

did the 96k as well, really enjoyed it, very well organised event, marshalling and food excellent, parking in large field right beside start line is just perfect and really adds to the atmosphere. well done to everyone involved

quinlivan

Did the 96K - my 2nd cycle event yet (after Connemara), loved every minute of it. Had been dreading Corkscrew Hill so much but actually it was grand. Loved the food stop in Lisdoon.

I saw a few people out with cameras, has anyone seen any albums online yet?

mamax

An post have some up on their Facebook page
https://m.facebook.com/AnPostCycling?_rdr

dastardly00

I was a first timer doing the Tour de Burren, and I did the 96km route.

The event was very well organised, plenty of marshals at junctions, tonnes of food at the stops. I like the t-shirt and buff and the ice-cream at the end was a nice touch.

I was looking forward to tackling Corkscrew hill again as I struggled on it big time when I did it for the first time earlier in the year during the Stephen Roche Atlantic Challenge. I was almost two and a half minutes quicker this time around so I'm happy out with that

For whatever reason I didn't manage to find a group to share the workload with after I had climbed Corker Hill. So I ended up doing a lot of the route on my own.

The wind along the coast in the last 20km really made it a hard slog for me. I emptied the tank in order to keep up a good pace and my legs didn't thank me for it!

Some of the roads could really do with a bit of resurfacing. There were a few very bumpy sections, along with loose gravel. I wouldn't fancy descending in the wet on some of those rough roads.

I'll be planning on doing this next year for sure.

lismore7

My first time doing this one and I'm very glad I did (98km).
It was well run, great parking, quick registration, great atmos,
absolutely stunning scenery (resulted in sore neck from constantly looking around) good marshalling, great food stop, goodies & food and a 99 was a nice touch at the end...but the strawberry cheese cake at the food stop was to die for...
In fact twas so good, one had to go up again and again...
Worst part of the event was trying to cycle after the foodstop with 3 tonnes of strawberry cheesecake inside me..... BLOATED!!
missed the smoked salmon...twas all gone by time I got there... DOH!.
Travelled 3 hours there and 3 hours back same day, but well worth it and defiinately in calender for next year...
hmmmmmm......strawberry cheeeeeese cake..... (Homer Simpson moment..)
A big congrats to the organisers & volunteers etc, of the Burren Tour...fantastic event..well done guys....

GrandSoftDay

If ye go onto the BurrenEye photography Facebook page there is a few hundred photos of the cycle lads. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.665238560197133.1073741957.385332904854368&type=3

simonrooneyzaga

GrandSoftDay wrote: »

If ye go onto the BurrenEye photography Facebook page there is a few hundred photos of the cycle lads. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.665238560197133.1073741957.385332904854368&type=3

Great snaps! One each of our crew so happy days :-)