New to Top of the Mournes.... road /TT? Compared to Lost Sheep?

lizanne83

Who here has done Top of the Mournes?

I've never done it but planned to race on TT. Can somebody compare it to Lost Sheep? If it isn't much worse than Lost Sheep climbs, TT should be fine. But I'm just starting to get the impression it will be much steeper?

And is it necessary to try get down earlier on the morn to drive the route or should it be marshalled enough to get away with no recee?

Thanks!

splanagan22

lizanne83 wrote: »

Who here has done Top of the Mournes?

I've never done it but planned to race on TT. Can somebody compare it to Lost Sheep? If it isn't much worse than Lost Sheep climbs, TT should be fine. But I'm just starting to get the impression it will be much steeper?

And is it necessary to try get down earlier on the morn to drive the route or should it be marshalled enough to get away with no recee?

Thanks!

Done it 2 years ago on my road bike. Toying with the idea of TT this time but just not sure yet. Interested in hearing other people opinions. From what I remember it's climbing for first 20k ish.

The Davestator

Did it last year and opted for my road bike over my TT.

I think it was the right decision, but the weather and wind on the day made it extremely tough regardless of bike choice!

Also, if it's wet, i would recommend trail runners as most of the course is trail running.

lizanne83

Gosh.... it's a tough one so!! Weather at the moment looks OK, dry but very cloudy so far: http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/Northern_Ireland/Newry/long.html

The Davestator

lizanne83 wrote: »

Gosh.... it's a tough one so!! Weather at the moment looks OK, dry but very cloudy so far: http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/Northern_Ireland/Newry/long.html

Another little point - if its windy, be careful if you have deep wheels. I only had 50's on and the cross winds almost had me off a few times up around the dam. I'm not light either!

lizanne83

Yikes! I've standard zipps 60's front & rear but the forecast doesn't look too windy!! It's a tough one.... I really thought TT would be fine (as it was totally fine for Lost Sheep last year) but somebody is yet to compare Top of the Mournes to Lost Sheep gradient for me!!

I defo will go with road bike if it literally does mean being faster overall (due to the larger climbing V's flat/descend ratio)

68 lost souls

Have you been able to find someone that has a Garmin course of either and then compare them that way? Not as good as real experience but you should be able to see the gradients

68 lost souls

Here are the two GPS routes

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/9542396

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/2818638

fermtri

Time penalty if you're using the tri bars on the main descent from spelga i think, if that factors in for you...