Tell us about your new improved government regulations compliant cycle part II

Seth Brundle

Mercian Pro wrote: »

On club spins we rarely stop in Leixlip so it's good to know there is somewhere doing good coffee there. Elsewhere, we are increasingly stopping at Spars and Centras at filling stations and I'm getting very tired of average coffees and fat saturated muffins. I know getting out at all on a group spin at present is a blessing but I really miss "proper" coffee stops.

No seating currently but IMO it's the best coffee in Leixlip (there are 3 cafe's now). You can easily head down to the Spar car park by the Liffey for a rest.

wheelo01

Packed up all my gear for a trip to Wexford last Friday - had consulted with Secman about the viability of some routes, decided to have a few drinks "to start the holiday ", slipped on the way to bed, have been in agony since (bruised ribs, broken oven door) - sat sulking for the 5 days we were away that I couldn't get out on the bike (and i swear it sniggered at me every time I passed it) - net result?
Wasted week cycling wise, but such a feckin break from the drudgery of working all the way through this crisis.

secman

Sorry to hear about your mishap .

brownian

Took a day off yesterday - next week is going to be manic in work, and this week was tranquil, so... Also, weather was fair.

Deansgrange - Greystones - Ashford - Glenealy (nice back road) - Rathdrum - Ballinaclash - Aughrim - Carnew (getting into the wilds now) - Camolin - Gorey - Arklow - old N11 - Rathnew - Coast Road - Bray - home. The last drag up Bray Head to Windgates was, as always, too trafficcy and too narrow. I usually take the back road by the back of little Sugarloaf, but was getting a bit tired, and took the shorter, uglier way.

The aim was to knock out my first solo 200. 201km, 2100m, average 25/26kmph. 8 hours, pretty much.

To be fair, just cycling to get the miles in does remove some of the incidental pleasure in the landscape, the sense of 'out there' and the joy of movement. There are deffo better roads to ride through Wicklow, and I know many of them. The fear of exhaustion is a compelling (albeit not always valid) reason to cop out, and take the easier and less scenic routes. That said - I was happy enough to get the distance in, and will enjoy more scenic spins at the weekend.

bilbot79

Nice ride out to Howth today. Put the boot down looking for some PBs. Happy to have got into the top 10 for a few segments Getting fitter and stronger.

Was intending to speed into Howth but unfortunately a Garda car in front kept me paced

Dying to head out to the Wicklow but have this weird fear that I'll end up on a road I'm not supposed to be on or something. How do people know what roads are ok to take?

Wishbone Ash

bilbot79 wrote: »

.....Dying to head out to the Wicklow but have this weird fear that I'll end up on a road I'm not supposed to be on or something. How do people know what roads are ok to take?

It's Wicklow - not Afganistan.

What exactly do you mean by ending up on a road you're not supposed to be on?

bilbot79

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

It's Wicklow - not Afganistan.

What exactly do you mean by ending up on a road you're not supposed to be on?

I know it's a bit silly but is it normal to be out on the hard shoulder of busy roads like the N11?

magicbastarder

plenty of ways to get to wicklow without using the N11!

which segments did you get in the top ten of around howth? given how popular it is around there, that's not something you just drop into conversation without more detail...

bilbot79

magicbastarder wrote: »

plenty of ways to get to wicklow without using the N11!

which segments did you get in the top ten of around howth? given how popular it is around there, that's not something you just drop into conversation without more detail...

Lol. I failed to mention 'today' only for the segments

I'm nowhere near an actual trophy and probably never will be!

How do you usually plan your trips to Wicklow do you tend to deliberately avoid certain roads?

triggermortis

Had an hour so took off round my local area. Had a strange creak from the crank area. Unlipped left foot, still the same. Unclipped right foot, creak gone. Got out of the saddle, creak barely there, but still there at times.
Got home and had a closer look... right had crank is bolloxed. Cover plate is coming away from the outer ring. Took the rings off and the crank flexes WAY too much. Aparrently this is a known problem with 6800 Ultegra cranks..
Bike is now unrideable

magicbastarder

i'm on the northside and the (few!) trips i make tend to cross the liffey on the N1 - the father mathew bridge at the bottom of church street - and head out through terenure so i'd be hitting the hills at edmondstown or stocking lane.

magicbastarder

triggermortis wrote: »

Got home and had a closer look... right had crank is bolloxed. Cover plate is coming away from the outer ring. Took the rings off and the crank flexes WAY too much. Aparrently this is a known problem with 6800 Ultegra cranks..
Bike is now unrideable

happened a colleague recently, IIRC. same issue.

Wishbone Ash

bilbot79 wrote: »

I know it's a bit silly but is it normal to be out on the hard shoulder of busy roads like the N11?

Apologies - I took your comment up incorrectly. I thought you believed that there were roads in Wicklow that cyclists shouldn't be on because they were either private or would be subject to attack.

I normally go to Wicklow via Rathfarnham/Stocking Lane/Military Road/Sally Gap etc.

triggermortis wrote: »

Had an hour so took off round my local area. Had a strange creak from the crank area. Unlipped left foot, still the same. Unclipped right foot, creak gone. Got out of the saddle, creak barely there, but still there at times.
Got home and had a closer look... right had crank is bolloxed. Cover plate is coming away from the outer ring. Took the rings off and the crank flexes WAY too much. Aparrently this is a known problem with 6800 Ultegra cranks..
Bike is now unrideable

The positive in that is that you were near home and not in the middle of Wicklow with no one at home.

secman

Headed out n81 to blessington and did lakes from Valleymount to Lacken direction. Plenty of cyclists around the lakes this morning but all heading in opposite direction to me
Back across bridge to blessington and back in the n81. Tough headwind out and a bit on the lakes, avg was only 26kph at the turn to Valleymount from n81, coming back into blessington it was 27kph, nice tailwind back in ended up with 73 km avg 29kph and 611 m.

secman

triggermortis wrote: »

Had an hour so took off round my local area. Had a strange creak from the crank area. Unlipped left foot, still the same. Unclipped right foot, creak gone. Got out of the saddle, creak barely there, but still there at times.
Got home and had a closer look... right had crank is bolloxed. Cover plate is coming away from the outer ring. Took the rings off and the crank flexes WAY too much. Aparrently this is a known problem with 6800 Ultegra cranks..
Bike is now unrideable

Ive seen cranks snapped in 2, the hollow one on driveside

Wishbone Ash

secman wrote: »

Headed out n81 to blessington and did lakes from Valleymount to Lacken direction. Plenty of cyclists around the lakes this morning but all heading in opposite direction to me
Back across bridge to blessington and back in the n81. Tough headwind out and a bit on the lakes, avg was only 26kph at the turn to Valleymount from n81, coming back into blessington it was 27kph, nice tailwind back in ended up with 73 km avg 29kph and 611 m.

I don't know how you subject yourself to that torture. The attraction of the Blessington lakes to some never ceases to amaze me. I'd rather spend the morning sticking pins in my eyeballs. Has to be the most unrewarding cycling route in the state. It has absolutely no redeeming features.

secman

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I don't know how you subject yourself to that torture. The attraction of the Blessington lakes to some never ceases to amaze me. I'd rather spend the morning sticking pins in my eyeballs. Has to be the most unrewarding cycling route in the state. It has absolutely no redeeming features.

The ultimate "marmite " route , you either love it or hate it. I just love the remoteness of it, the beautiful views, lack of traffic, its a great route, a bit of everything say from Tallaght out and back. On the other hand i absolutely detest cycling across the city to the northside, did it back in spring and reminded myself why i hadn't done it in 20 odd years, if i never cycle across town again it will be too soon. Yet you seem to enjoy it for God knows what reason
Lakes spin is good for the soul,

Wishbone Ash

secman wrote: »

... Yet you seem to enjoy it for God knows what reason....

Yea, I like cycling in heavy traffic. I think it's because there's always something happening. Rural cycling can be tedious and boring when solo. I was bored stupid at times today on my solo trip.

(We took a few from the club recently down to do the Resevoir Dog route, A few were struggling near the end and said they wouldn't do the last cimb via Ballysmutton/Gap road. We only managed to get them to continue on the proviso that we'd cut out the lake drive!)

CramCycle

triggermortis wrote: »

Had an hour so took off round my local area. Had a strange creak from the crank area. Unlipped left foot, still the same. Unclipped right foot, creak gone. Got out of the saddle, creak barely there, but still there at times.
Got home and had a closer look... right had crank is bolloxed. Cover plate is coming away from the outer ring. Took the rings off and the crank flexes WAY too much. Aparrently this is a known problem with 6800 Ultegra cranks..
Bike is now unrideable

What length crank, I have a few sets of Shimano 4 arm cranks lying around with little use, it was cheaper to buy the crankset than the chainrings on occasion.

@28km

85 very windy kms @28km with 900m climbing in misty Cork this morning. I have never seen so many cyclists out on the road! Missed a few long spins of late so the quads didn't enjoy it too much.

Handed over a toddler and a six month old by my wife when I landed home - there's nothing quite as tiring as minding small kids after a long spin. Early night for me tonight!

Daroxtar

Had a cracking spin today. Really enjoyed it. Sunshine, mountains, good company, it was great.
I had a couple of rough spins with the club over the last few weeks. My fitness seemed to just drop off a cliff after a minor hernia operation. I thought I was going OK but got completely blown out the back last week on climbs I'd usually be attacking everyone else on.

Today I went off up the mountains to see what I was really like. I went with a friend who I hadn't seen in over 2 years so that catch up alone was worth it. He wouldn't normally be as strong as me on the climbs but I was expecting him to kill me today. As it turned out, he hasn't climbed a hill since the last time we were together so we both took it nice and steady and just enjoyed the chat and the scenery.
There was an absolutely brutal crosswind going up to the top of the gap so we abandoned plans to do Kippure and just headed down to Laragh for the coffee.

Witnessed a comical confrontation between an apoplectic midget motorist and a couple of cyclists outside the café. The purple faced loon lept straight out of the car, fists clenched, screaming at the cyclists. Then a load of other people started roaring laughing and he seemed to turn even more enraged before storming off like a slapped child.
Take a wild guess what type of car he was driving?

The tailwind going up the gap was lovely but my mate was suffering a bit so we kept it very steady. Then when we hit Ballinascorney, as it was the last climb of the day I put in a spurt and waited for him at the top. Beat my PR by over 2 minutes so I was delighted with that and my mate wasn't long behind me. It was a lovely confidence booster after the last few club spins. Then the descent down off the top of Ballinascorney and Bohernabreena.... Whoosh. Its a savage drop, smooth surface, no sheep today, dry... Perfect way to end the spin.

Bohernabreena, Cunard, Sally gap, Lugalla, Laragh. Then back up Sally with a tailwind, turned left at the crossroad and descended to the turn for the army camp, climbed Ballinascorney and back to the car in Tallaght.
90km, 1650m climbing.
https://www.strava.com/activities/4053320243

Eamonnator

^^^^^^
If you tell me it was another Audi, I'll seriously have to consider a change.

secman

Gorey, Ferns, Enniscorthy in a tough headwind, left across towards Oulart; small deviation to Ballaghdreen (spelling ?) Crosswinds and draggy to main road. Left by Wells house, Ballyedmund, Ballycanew and on to Gorey in a nice tailwind. 66km 32.4kph avg 535 meters.

Omega28

I witnessed a cyclist being knocked off his bike today by a car around the Clontarf area. The cyclist looked quite hurt. Ambulance and Fire Brigade on site.

secman

Omega28 wrote: »

I witnessed a cyclist being knocked off his bike today by a car around the Clontarf area. The cyclist looked quite hurt. Ambulance and Fire Brigade on site.

Tell the Garda you witnessed it ?
Hopefully the cyclist is not seriously injured.

Don't Chute!

I went up Stocking Lane today up onto the Featherbeds. Horrible wind aside I noticed on the decent towards Glencree there were old car wheels evenly spaced on the right side of the road about 50 meters or so apart. I turned off to go down Aurora and they seemed to be still going but less evenly. Anyone any idea what they are about?

magicbastarder

dumped, probably.

magicbastarder

secman wrote: »

Gorey, Ferns, Enniscorthy in a tough headwind, left across towards Oulart; small deviation to Ballaghdreen (spelling ?) Crosswinds and draggy to main road. Left by Wells house, Ballyedmund, Ballycanew and on to Gorey in a nice tailwind. 66km 32.4kph avg 535 meters.

that's a great pace. you still working on your cadence, or did you stick with what you were comfortable with?

Chris871

Don't Chute! wrote: »

I went up Stocking Lane today up onto the Featherbeds. Horrible wind aside I noticed on the decent towards Glencree there were old car wheels evenly spaced on the right side of the road about 50 meters or so apart. I turned off to go down Aurora and they seemed to be still going but less evenly. Anyone any idea what they are about?

Noticed them myself on my spin yesterday, I'd imagine theyre just dumped.
Although we did comment at the time they looked to be purposefully placed where they were, strange one.

bbuzz

Cycled back towards Dublin through Enniskerry this afternoon around 5 - traffic backed up in Enniskerry nearly up to powerscourt, then traffic backed up to the ski slope all the way from Golden Ball.

Filtering through the traffic put a dampener on a great ride, but delighted I wasn’t in a car!