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

Is it a different mentality in Dublin??? I lived and cycled there for 12 years and know what yee lads are facing.

These days I have to ride up Trinity St. in Drogheda regular enough and anyone who knows the road will know traffic coming into town backs up a fair bit there, and the road is tight for a good 500m + so any car over taking me heading out of town would be cms from my bars at best , so I have to take the lane up there. I've been beeped at twice in the last year I'd say and neither was a taxi

Oh obviously I encounter a few idiots but again I could count on one had the incidents in the last 6 months and they were minor compared to some here.

Alanstrainor

Lovely morning for it. Cool, light breeze and bright. It's a lovely time of year for it really.

Gerrup Outta Dat!

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Lovely morning for it. Cool, light breeze and bright. It's a lovely time of year for it really.

Did a 28 k cycle this morning. It really sets you up for the day

smacl

Lunch time spin up Cruagh to the viewing point and back down by Stocking lane. Feeling every single gram of the couple of kgs I've put on through the last 3-4 months of inactivity. Lovely out for all that.

triggermortis

Cycled to work for first time in a while - weather was great for it. Took the winter bike as I couldn't face the commuter with the Tannus tyres fitted and couldn't be bothered swapping my Garmin holder over. Looking forward to the ride home now...

rollingscone

Bit late typing this up, but thanks to a well meaning shove from NamelessPhil of this parish I finally did my first Audax on Saturday, just gone.

The Dying Light 200:


After a last minute mechanical flap-storm (*shakes fist at cottage cheese-like aluminium rotor bolts*) I did a last minute switch from lovely comfortable (if weighty) Croix de Fer on plush 35mm tyres and winter friendly disck brakes ( #thecauseofallmywoes) with a massive 2.7l saddle bag to my aluminium road bike with regular road brakes and a saddle bag considerably smaller than my balled fist, opting to load my pockets with the extra cereal bars and things that I ended up not eating.

After a fitful night's sleep I managed to rock up to the start point in Clontarf half an hour early and resentful of the sleep of which I had robbed myself sat down on a low wall for a quick head in hands power nap.

The two guys who'd parked in front of me while I was power honking were 2/3rds of the Trio of friends that I managed to cling to limpet like for more or less the whole route, after I barged my way into their conversation.

The start point was an interesting place with riders, kits and bikes that varied between club spin lycra, to desert crossing survivalist set ups and just some outright eccentricity. Despite being reasonably comfortable doing the Wicklow 200 and a solo 175km in Spain with the same kit I was carrying, a certain sense of unease crept in at the amount of saddle bags, pouches, backpacks and framebags on display.

After wandering up and down for a bit randomly talking at strangers, I met Andreas the organizer and got my brevet card before returning to my original victims.

Certain only of my ability to get lost in almost any circumstance I held on T1000 like to the front most bunch until we were safely out of the city by which time I was reunited with the three lads.

Navigation was definitely my biggest fear on this, but I never got an opportunity to get myself lost with this turning out to be one of the most social spins I'd ever been on, certainly the vibe was far nicer than any of the sportives I've done with no silly jockeying for position for the first 5-10k that seems to be ubiquitous across all sportives.

The flow was such that while looser than a club bunch ride, people still made an effort to take turns at the front of ad-hoc bunches and most had a little chat to share along the way.

The first control was a welcome relief and a serious spread of bread, houmous, cake, coffee, etc., Pretty sure I consumed more calories than I burned on this one.

The information control wasn't overly baffling and the more seasoned participants made sure that I didn't miss anything critical (the time!).

The energy levels were definitely flagging by the time we reached the final control in Athboy but having a bit of banter ("If you think about it, it's really just 10 x 20km spins") helped a lot and the sugar rush after further stuffing my face at the final control kept me flying up until the last 50km or so.

To my surprise after I got caught by a red light in too big a gear on a hill leading into the Phoenix park, i still had enough gas to pick up my speed and catch up with the lads before the exited the other side of the park and avoided putting myself at the mercy of my own navigation to the finish!

The food and beer at the end is everything it's hyped up to be and really lovely welcoming atmosphere for everyone.

10/10 would highly recommend trying an audax to anyone that can, the medal is pretty rad too.

The only problem now is people I met thinking I'll want to do more...

ford2600

rollingscone wrote: »

Bit late typing this up, but thanks to a well meaning shove from NamelessPhil of this parish I finally did my first Audax on Saturday, just gone.

The Dying Light 200:

Well done, the first of many.

Fair play to organiser, he doesn't have to do any of that. That is some load of work, I hope he had help.

Other than Geimhridh 200 and MB200 I haven't done any with food supplied. It's usually a car park or the side of the road!

On navigation, an etrex and load a track is the simplest completely foolproof way of following a route.

If I was Dublin based a rode a Cdf I'd be all over Roonie Moore''s many events

NamelessPhil

Well done Rollingscone! I told you we were a nice bunch!

brownian

Great report, rollingscone. You've finally tipped me over the edge, to look at doing one....right, application form sent!

daragh_

Well done rollingscone! It's a slippery slope to recreational 600k spins and the normalisation of sleeping in ditches

rollingscone

daragh_ wrote: »

Well done rollingscone! It's a slippery slope to recreational 600k spins and the normalisation of sleeping in ditches

I already have extensive experience in one of those things...best not to ask.

Fireball XL5

Great day for it.

Ten minutes from home was knocked off my bike by a left turner from the N11 onto Fosters Avenue. I was last in a row of 4 cyclists who had stopped at the lights. When the lights turned green the first three had no problems but then he decided to take the turn and I went down. Luckily it was a slow speed jobby.

Driver must have been 90.

Caught it all on video and currently contemplating whether I should report it or not.

Apart from that did both harbours - first Howth and then Dun Laoghaire - about 70k in total.

NamelessPhil

Brownian, not all Audax events are as well catered as the Dying Light! Don't be disappointed if you turn up, are given the route sheet and a blessing and you have to get round 200km on your own!

Although we do tend to make an effort to make sure that everyone gets back in one piece and if possible to ride as a bunch. You can usually tell when audaxers have landed at a stop, there'll be the remains of a 5litre bottle of water left for the stragglers.

Macy0161

Back commuting at least one day a week - did yesterday and this morning, testing a few options to make it work with childcare. No issues with vehicles, but 4 or 5 times pedestrians just wandered in front of me. "Perfectly good" footpath beside them Also rediscovered that a bell is worth feck all against head phones!

Alanstrainor

Working from home today, and not wanting to miss out on my daily commute I decided to head to Howth. This morning was my first time going up the "hard way" through Howth village and on up Howth Head. It was a bit of a pain, and I used some gears I had never used before on my bike but it was fine enough. Really lovely morning for it. Although there was a head wind coming down which seriously limited my top speed! I'll have to try and do that climb more often.

Luxman

Hit the hills today, chilly up high but great to be out. Near miss as a black cat decided to scarper across the road in front of me as I zoomed down the embankment. Scared the **** out of me.

triggermortis

Just the 18km commute into work this afternoon. Bit chilly but dry and bright. No dramas with traffic or the bike apart from the chain coming off past the big ring - needs a tweak. Currently waiting for Garmin express installer to download to a work computer so I can sync my rides here but our internet is so glacial I’ve another 33 mins to wait! (File is only 80.4Mb). Torture!!

magicbastarder

triggermortis wrote: »

Currently waiting for Garmin express installer to download to a work computer so I can sync my rides here but our internet is so glacial I’ve another 33 mins to wait! (File is only 80.4Mb). Torture!!

i could ring you and list off the ones and zeros down the phone, sounds like it could be quicker?

Sunsets On Tuesday

Took one of the DublinBikes out for a long enough spin today. Brought it out to Dun Laoghaire, which ending up being a 25.8k round trip.
Thankfully it's flat enough from Town to DL, but honestly I find them a pleasure to ride. Obviously slow enough but just nice to ride :-)
Link to strava (got some cool photos too):
https://www.strava.com/activities/1259742286/

nice_guy80

brought my new bike out for a 30km cycle today along the westmeath greenway
it glides along

Felexicon

A nice 45km spin from Swords out to Howth Summit this morning in lovely sunshine.
First time cycling out that way as I only have the bike 3 weeks. That climb up the 'scenic route' was pure torture by the end.

Wishbone Ash

Felexicon wrote: »

..That climb up the 'scenic route' was pure torture by the end.

Which side is the 'scenic route'?

Felexicon

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Which side is the 'scenic route'?

Not the Howth town side if that makes sense

Wishbone Ash

Felexicon wrote: »

Not the Howth town side if that makes sense

Sutton side then so - it's longer than the village side but has a more gentle gradient.

triggermortis

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Sutton side then so - it's longer than the village side but has a more gentle gradient.

But it is more ‘scenic’...

triggermortis

Just done my 18 km commute to work and realized I’d forgot my lock!!! Frantic scrabbling around at work to find a chain and padlock. Might nip home in the van to get my lock as the chain looked fairly lightweight...

Felexicon

triggermortis wrote:

But it is more ‘scenic’...

It's signposted as the scenic route from the junction at the start of it

Wishbone Ash

triggermortis wrote: »

... Might nip home in the van to get my lock as the chain looked fairly lightweight...

Why not just store the bike in the van for today?

LollipopJimmy

30kms around Dublin today. Uneventful apart from a guy pulling out from a side street almost on top of me in a horse and carriage. My shout of warning while on the anchors seemed to anger the little inbred and he wanted to fight. I decided against showing him what I've been learning in the MMA gym and pedalled away

secman

A spin out to blessington via n81 as far as turn for Valleymount, back to blessington and right turn to head around back road to manor kilbride and home on n81.
Just over 50 km avg 26 kph. A nippy 5 degrees at 8 am this morning.