Great Dublin bike Ride 2016

Registration now open.

Cycling jersey for the first 2000 entrants,

http://greatdublinbikeride.ie/

mattdi22le

Is anyone else getting a peculiar error message about some kind of test mode whilst trying to make a payment for the 100km.

mattdi22le

mattdi22le wrote: »

Is anyone else getting a peculiar error message about some kind of test mode whilst trying to make a payment for the 100km.

yep, couldn't make payment for the 100k either.
I enjoyed this last year, and thought the jersey was good quality

mattdi22le

40 euro seems fairly pricey, what are the water.food stops like ? i presume roads are entirely closed ?

Eamonnator

mattdi22le wrote: »

Is anyone else getting a peculiar error message about some kind of test mode whilst trying to make a payment for the 100km.

Yes, me too.

mattdi22le

I dont think reg is open tbh, cant find anything in the twitter feed or news on the website which says reg is open.

Eamonnator

If at first you don't succeed, try again.
My entry was accepted on the 2nd attempt.

Beasty

mattdi22le wrote: »

i presume roads are entirely closed ?

Extremely unlikely. Think last year it was just around the start/finish area

Eamonnator

Roads are not completely closed.
All down along the quays are closed.
Towards the finish is closed.
All other junctions are really well marshalled by Volunteers and Gardai.
Last year a number of Gardai, in uniform, did the long route on their MTBs.
One of the best organised sportives, that I've done.

mattdi22le

mattdi22le wrote: »

40 euro seems fairly pricey, what are the water.food stops like ? i presume roads are entirely closed ?

How much would you pay for a jersey?
with the Wicklow200 you have to pay an extra €40 for the jersey on top of the entry fee.

ted1

mattdi22le wrote: »

40 euro seems fairly pricey, what are the water.food stops like ? i presume roads are entirely closed ?

They were last year, ever junction was closed it was great.

What I didn't like last year was having to give up a second day to go in a collect the stuff and the part by the sports campus was a disaster , ridiculous speed bumps and slippy roads

Eamonnator

ted1 wrote: »

They were last year, ever junction was closed it was great.

What I didn't like last year was having to give up a second day to go in a collect the stuff and the part by the sports campus was a disaster , ridiculous speed bumps and slippy roads

I agree about the Sports Campus at Abbottstown.
Awful, just awful, added nothing to the event, only what it took away.

Eamonnator

Eamonnator wrote: »

I agree about the Sports Campus at Abbottstown.
Awful, just awful, added nothing to the event, only what it took away.

agreed, complete waste, apart from the cup cakes:)

secman

Should substitute "Northside" for "Great" Dublin bike ride ...more appropriate looking at route

Unknown Soldier

This was great craic last year. Defo one to do if you want to try a Sportive this year.

A really good day out on the bike

Oh, and NCD is not "flat" btw, far from it

Eamonnator

secman wrote: »

Should substitute "Northside" for "Great" Dublin bike ride ...more appropriate looking at route

It even has the audacity to venture into Co. Meath.

mattdi22le

Deleted User wrote: »

How much would you pay for a jersey?
with the Wicklow200 you have to pay an extra €40 for the jersey on top of the entry fee.

fair point, but not everyone will get jerseys. Just trying to get a feel for the value, as i've not done many events.

traprunner

Signed up for the 100k. Did the 60k last year which is still my longest to this day. I better get training!

68 lost souls

Shame about the date, would have been interested had it not coincided with our clubs triathlon/aquabike in Skerries

prionnsias

Just signed up there. Was hoping they'd change the route a bit or make it longer but thought it was well organised last year so I'll give it a go again

Solasgeal

Do you have to have a 'proper road bike' for this? I have a basic mountain bike that I was wondering if I could use. Not a serious cyclist and would just be doing it for the challenge.

Thanks for any advice

onmebike

I signed up the other day and am looking forward to it. It was a very enjoyable day apart from getting a puncture when leaving Smithfield. Great atmosphere at the end and little pots of pasta were great.

onmebike

Solasgeal wrote: »

Do you have to have a 'proper road bike' for this? I have a basic mountain bike that I was wondering if I could use. Not a serious cyclist and would just be doing it for the challenge.

Thanks for any advice

What distance were you thinking of doing? A mountain bike will be less comfortable and probably heavier than a lot of the bikes that people will be doing it on so you'll have a slightly tougher day because of that. That said, it won't be the only mountain bike on the road that day.

Ways to make it easier would be based on tyre choices. If you can, get slick or as lightly treaded tyres as you can. Also, ensure they are pumped up towards their max pressure. A properly pumped tyre will feel so much better than a soggy tyre and you'll go much faster for the same energy.

07Lapierre

Solasgeal wrote: »

Do you have to have a 'proper road bike' for this? I have a basic mountain bike that I was wondering if I could use. Not a serious cyclist and would just be doing it for the challenge.

Thanks for any advice

The bike is fine..just get out on it when you can and get miles in. You'll be fine on a mountain bike.

mattdi22le

Solasgeal wrote: »

Do you have to have a 'proper road bike' for this? I have a basic mountain bike that I was wondering if I could use. Not a serious cyclist and would just be doing it for the challenge.

Thanks for any advice

You'll be absolutely fine on your MTB, I believe a few garda done it last year on the garda bikes. And i'm sure there will be plenty of people there on non drop bar road bikes.

Eponymous

I'm not a member of cycling Ireland, do I need to sign up for that too? Seems a bit steep to fork out €80 for the only sportif I'm likely to do this year...

DanDublin1982

Just had a look back there at last year when I did the 60k and Strava has it clocked as 186m elevation gain which isnt a whole lot. Can't speak to the 100k but id have no probs giving that a blast on a mountain bike, especially if I had between now and September to prepare

boredatwork82

I signed up for this. My reference number is in the 500's but my bib number is in the 3000's. I wonder if I was in the first 2000 for the free Jersey

traprunner

boredatwork82 wrote: »

I signed up for this. My reference number is in the 500's but my bib number is in the 3000's. I wonder if I was in the first 2000 for the free Jersey

My bib number is in the 3000s and ref number is less than 200. Did you sign up for the 100k? I'm thinking the bin numbers for them started at 3000.

boredatwork82

traprunner wrote:

My bib number is in the 3000s and ref number is less than 200. Did you sign up for the 100k? I'm thinking the bin numbers for them started at 3000.

Yeah it's the 100 I signed up for. Hopefully!

retalivity

Signed up for this....never done a sportive before, and only breached the 100km barrier the one time.

Looking forward to it!

strmin

retalivity wrote: »

Signed up for this....never done a sportive before, and only breached the 100km barrier the one time.

Looking forward to it!

I'm in the same situation. I better get training. Aim is to finish in less than 4 hours.

Eamonnator

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/897169180

Her's my Garmin from last year.The longer route is just under the 100k mark.
It has 725 metres of climbing.
There are couple of tough enough drags in there, Nags Head and Snowtown included.

BTW, I signed up quite early, my bib number is 3001

rollingscone

Anyone do this on a singlespeed last year? The closed road parts were cool and it was very well run but surprisingly it was a bit flat for me.

Eamonnator

rollingscone wrote: »

Anyone do this on a singlespeed last year? The closed road parts were cool and it was very well run but surprisingly it was a bit flat for me.

FLAT????
I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

P_1

Eamonnator wrote: »

FLAT????
I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

I'd call the route undulating rather than hilly. 60km looks a bit flat mind

TonyStark

mattdi22le wrote: »

You'll be absolutely fine on your MTB, I believe a few garda done it last year on the garda bikes. And i'm sure there will be plenty of people there on non drop bar road bikes.

They compared them to riding gates. Sound gents!

rollingscone

Eamonnator wrote: »

FLAT????
I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

I only remember a couple of steep ramps out in NCD, twas about 750m climbing on the 100 no?

koutoubia

I would imagine that most of that 700mtrs of climbing would take place within a very short distance. The drag up the Nags Head just before Nail. The climbing up Snowtown and then up to Ardcath straight after Snowtown.
Anyway looks like a large contingent of VCB will be taking part.

Eamonnator

koutoubia wrote: »

I would imagine that most of that 700mtrs of climbing would take place within a very short distance. The drag up the Nags Head just before Naul. The climbing up Snowtown and then up to Ardcath straight after Snowtown. .

Quite right

rollingscone

Eamonnator wrote: »

Quite right

Would you say the individual climbs are much tougher than Howth head from the Sutton side?

koutoubia

rollingscone wrote: »

Would you say the individual climbs are much tougher than Howth head from the Sutton side?

The drag of The Nags Head... In a group you will fly up it.
Snowtown is probably a shade tougher the Howth Sutton side but shorter.
Up to Ardcath is very short buy deceptively hard.
Once you get over Ardcath you have a nice descent then a stingy little ramp into Garristown.
The pain ends there as its downhill all the way back into town.

carltonleon

Just looking at the route and it looks like it is going down the Coast Road. The road is in absolute bits at the section where the roadworks are for about a km. Can see incidents at that section, it really is in bits unless it has been sorted within the last week. Cycled it last week and couldn't wait to get past that section

carltonleon

rollingscone wrote: »

Would you say the individual climbs are much tougher than Howth head from the Sutton side?

You will be fine on Snowtown, it has 3 little sections. It goes up then down then up and levels out before going up the final tough part.
When you are leaving the Naul as you go around the corner at the end of the Naul there is a little downhill section before the climb starts. Get up some good speed and it will carry you up the first part of the climb. It levels out and then goes down, again good speed in the downhill section will bring you up the second part of the climb which is only about 50/60 metres. It levels out and then you go up the last tough part of the climb after about 200 metres. This part you just have to grin and bear it and grind yourself up but it is only about 300 metres with the really tough part about 100 metres if even.

P_1

carltonleon wrote: »

Just looking at the route and it looks like it is going down the Coast Road. The road is in absolute bits at the section where the roadworks are for about a km. Can see incidents at that section, it really is in bits unless it has been sorted within the last week. Cycled it last week and couldn't wait to get past that section

Aye that section isn't great. I could be tempted to take a left up Vernon Avenue and rejoin the main route after Watermill Road

Eamonnator

I got an email, saying that there are still jerseys available to entrants.
As of 6.00am this morning, there were 300 jerseys left.

Eamonnator

P_1 wrote: »

Aye that section isn't great. I could be tempted to take a left up Vernon Avenue and rejoin the main route after Watermill Road

I'm not familiar with names of roads in Dublin, but there was a section last year, near the start, where there were lots of punctures.

fjon

Just signed up for the 60km and looking forward to it. I've a hybrid bike, and the furthest I've gone so far is around 40km. I've also never ridden in big groups before.
Any tips for a newbie?
Also, silly question, but what do I wear?

brocbrocach

Eamonnator wrote: »

I'm not familiar with names of roads in Dublin, but there was a section last year, near the start, where there were lots of punctures.

My thought was that was from bits of glass being picked up between the cobbles in Smithfield, pure guess but it was flats every few metres for the first few miles.
The bit that the roadworks are being done on is out by Clontarf Wooden bridge - it's a huge mess at the moment for cycling on. Going over 20 kmph would be hazardous on it. You can take a longish detour around it to avoid the potholes but it wouldn't be possible to reroute the whole sportive away I'd think. Might cause problems on the morning.

brocbrocach

fjon wrote: »

Just signed up for the 60km and looking forward to it. I've a hybrid bike, and the furthest I've gone so far is around 40km. I've also never ridden in big groups before.
Any tips for a newbie?
Also, silly question, but what do I wear?

My advice actually would be to avoid big groups. There's a huge mix of people doing this particular spin, probably more inexperienced than most such events. Either staying close to a small group at similar speed to yourself or going alone would be easier than being in amongst a dodgy group. That said you'd miss the social side of the day a bit maybe. When you do find yourself in a crowd avoid sudden movements and braking if possible. Pay attention to any shouted warnings.
If you've done 40 km before you know that your backside will hurt a bit
If you have padded cycling shorts wear them. A lot of the rest depends on the weather but a good general rule would be that you should feel a small bit cold at the start (you'd heat up as you go along of course and also the day will heat up too).

fryup

whats the story do i have to become a member cycling ireland to pay for this sportive??

it directs me to the shopping cart page and nothing happens?

edit: got it, have to become member of Azolve

what a disaster of a website, just filling it out and i realise they're looking for emergency contacts first
and you have to scroll the page cross ways to find the link to pay, pulling my hair out trying navigate my way through it, had to re-do it up to four times arrghh!!