Tour de Kilkenny 2019

Marble City Cyclers

Hi folks.

Marble City Cyclers are delighted to announce that they will be hosting the tenth edition of the Tour de Kilkenny on Saturday 4th of August, 2018. In the last nine years, Tour de Kilkenny has raised over €100,000 for charity and we hope that with your help, we can raise even more funds.

The 2018 Tour de Kilkenny will run 40KM, 70KM, 120KM and 160KM routes. There is a route to cater for cyclists of all abilities meaning this is a great day out for the family, a group of friends or work colleagues. Or why not make a weekend out of it and enjoy the famous nightlife and hospitalities that Kilkenny city has to offer.

All four routes will leave the Kilkenny Rugby Club. Sign-on (which is obligatory, even for those who registered online) is opened at the Kilkenny Rugby Club on the night before the cycle (Friday 3rd August 2018) and on the morning of the cycle. Times to be confirmed.

With the Sean Kelly tour not running this year (hopefully it returns), we are aiming to be the biggest sportive in the South East this year.

As many of you know, this is a great day out with challenging routes that have surprised many newbies.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Charlie69

I'll be there for sure... always very well organised and a very challenging 160km route.... one of my favourites.

tombliboo83

How much climbing is in the 160 route? (in meters)

Paul_Mc1988

tombliboo83 wrote:

How much climbing is in the 160 route? (in meters)

2000 from a strava file i found online.

dastardly00

tombliboo83 wrote: »

How much climbing is in the 160 route? (in meters)

1,800 metres based on my Strava file from 2016 event

tombliboo83

Lovely. Thanks lads

Marble City Cyclers

Officially it is 1860m but feel free to add on a bit more if you like!

Route details can be found at www. tourdekilkenny. com (remove spaces)

tombliboo83

Marble City Cyclers wrote: »

Officially it is 1860m but feel free to add on a bit more if you like!

Route details can be found at www. tourdekilkenny. com (remove spaces)

Thanks very much. Looking forward to it.

Wishbone Ash

dastardly00 wrote: »

1,800 metres based on my Strava file from 2016 event

My one from 2016 is giving 2,234m.

https://www.strava.com/activities/658825366

Marble City Cyclers

**BUMP**

Just over 2 weeks to go until this years Tour de Kilkenny.

Thanks to Kinetica Sports, anyone who enters online at tourdekilkenny.com will be automatically entered into a draw for one of 5 Kinetica goodie bags.

Hope to see you in the marble city on August 4th!

Thud

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

My one from 2016 is giving 2,234m.

https://www.strava.com/activities/658825366

you probably cycled down to the start though

The Noble Nudge

Signed up

Steve SilverMint

Signed up and plan to do the 160 again this year. Great to have the Bank holiday to recover after it.

Marble City Cyclers

Thanks to everyone who have signed up. Online registration closes at midnight on Thursday 2nd. Registrations will also be taken on the day. Everyone who registers online will automatically be entered into a draw for 1 of 5 sports nutrition packs that have been sponsored by Kinetica Sports.

The weather is looking good for Saturday so why not come down to the marble city and challenge yourself to a tough but enjoyable sportive?

borntobike

This is one of the best events in the country and a real good test. It has everything and with about 2000m of climbing. The numbers should be great this year.

dastardly00

Best of luck to all involved. I can't make it home this weekend, disappointed to be missing this. Superb event

monkeyslayer

Enjoyed that, very well marshalled and decent plentiful food at various stages. We'll worth the 30 quid. probably couldv thrown in an extra water stop considering the heat but otherwise a great day out. Really enjoyed the pace and some great groups, the hills were really brutal, some of them just went on and on and on...

dahat

Some quicker lads I know had great fun looking at Strava, mad gallop all day long.

These Sportive races are great craic!!!!

jrar

Great event today lads, well done to all involved in setting it up, registration, marshalling, food stops - all run very efficiently

Love the route tough and all as it is - always keep you honest......no hiding place in 160kms of constant up and down !

Looking fwd to 2019 event already !

funnights74

God that 110 Km is a tough one. Constant climbing and descending, its tougher than most 160's .superbly organised as usual so quodos to everyone for taking the time. I had a close call when some eejit ignored a steward flagging and kept going at the 110/160 split. A few expletives were unleashed.A nice feed and chats at the finish Loving the medal as well.

marvin80

funnights74 wrote: »

God that 110 Km is a tough one. Constant climbing and descending, its tougher than most 160's .superbly organised as usual so quodos to everyone for taking the time. I had a close call when some eejit ignored a steward flagging and kept going at the 110/160 split. A few expletives were unleashed.A nice feed and chats at the finish Loving the medal as well.

It's not too bad till Inistioge but then it's pure torture!! Even the stretch home is always a nightmare - headwind with slight inclines.

The Noble Nudge

Enjoyed from start to finish...
Well done to all will sign up for next year..
Now to find the right event to wear a Kilkenny Tshirt

padyjoe

I think the 160K should start earlier than 9 o'clock. There are few who are well capable of this distance but with food stops added, the total time could be over 7 hours and the sense of achievement could be lessened when returning to a nearly empty place.

Thanks to everyone for taking part in running this great event!

Marble City Cyclers

Thanks to everyone who took part in another successful TdeKK. Hopefully everyone had a good day.

We are planning to send out a questionnaire to all who took part this year, looking for feedback (positive and negative) in order to improve the event next year. Please feel free to contact us if you have any suggestions.

Thanks again to all who took part - both cyclists and volunteers.

Marble City Cyclers

Marble City Cyclers wrote: »

Hi folks.

Marble City Cyclers are delighted to announce that they will be hosting the tenth edition of the Tour de Kilkenny on Saturday 4th of August, 2018. In the last nine years, Tour de Kilkenny has raised over €100,000 for charity and we hope that with your help, we can raise even more funds.

The 2018 Tour de Kilkenny will run 40KM, 70KM, 120KM and 160KM routes. There is a route to cater for cyclists of all abilities meaning this is a great day out for the family, a group of friends or work colleagues. Or why not make a weekend out of it and enjoy the famous nightlife and hospitalities that Kilkenny city has to offer.

All four routes will leave the Kilkenny Rugby Club. Sign-on (which is obligatory, even for those who registered online) is opened at the Kilkenny Rugby Club on the night before the cycle (Friday 3rd August 2018) and on the morning of the cycle. Times to be confirmed.

With the Sean Kelly tour not running this year (hopefully it returns), we are aiming to be the biggest sportive in the South East this year.

As many of you know, this is a great day out with challenging routes that have surprised many newbies.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

And we're back...

Following last years record numbers, the 2019 Tour de Kilkenny takes place on August 3rd - our 11th event.

Booking is now open at www.tourdekilkenny.com

The entry price has remained unchanged with all proceeds going to charity.

If you have any questions feel free to give us a shout.

Marble City Cyclers

Hi all. Just a quick reminder that the Tour de Kilkenny is coming up on August 3rd.

As with last year, we have 4 routes - 44,77,110 and 160k - something to suit everyone. They are also surprisingly challenging!

As usual all proceeds go to charity.

Registration is open at www.tourdekilkenny.com or through the Marble City Cyclers website.

Hope to see you all in Kilkenny for the bank holiday weekend!

Macy0161

Hi, are the routes available as gpx/ tcx? Or does anyone who has done it previously got the 160 route (assuming it hasn't changed). Thanks.

strmin

Macy0161 wrote: »

Hi, are the routes available as gpx/ tcx? Or does anyone who has done it previously got the 160 route (assuming it hasn't changed). Thanks.

I plan to do it as well. Here is 160km route I found. Hope it hasn't changed. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30513005

padyjoe

No, it's spot on. Been the same since started doing it. It wasn't last year! ;-) I mean when I started it, the route is the very same relentless one.

Wishbone Ash

Registered for the 160. Haven't done it since 2016.

Are there 2 food stops? I have a vague recollection of one at a rural school but can't remember if there's a second.

padyjoe

Going by the maps, there are 3: Thomastown(beside the road), Listerlin(Tullogher GAA pitch) and Kilmoganny(in front of the school). Sometimes it happens that there's a 4th one in Callan but to be honest, once you make it to 140 km, you just want to make the final push instead of sitting around.

Marble City Cyclers

Hi.

For the 110/160 routes there will be a water stop (with fruit, jellies, etc.) on Coppenagh, while the main food stop for both is in Listerlin. There is then another water stop for the 160 route at Kilmaganny.

For the 44/77 routes, there is one stop - in Thomastown.

There is also pasta available at the finish in the rugby club. We will also have Matt from 95degree coffee at the rugby club on Saturday morning for your pre spin caffine hit, so dont forget some cash.

There is one small change to the 160 route. Due to roadworks on the Circular Road in Kilkenny, we are going to bring the route in by the Callan Rd this year. The change affects the last 5k or so but not any of the climbs (this is after the last climb in Kilmanagh). Junctions here will be marshalled.

Saturday is looking warm and dry during the day so hopefully we get a good crowd. Online registration is open until Thursday night but there will be an opportunity to sign up on the day as well.

Hope to see you there.

CantGetNoSleep

Does anyone happen to have a GPX of the 77 & 110 routes? Not sure which to go for, was thinking of 110 but reading the comments on here it seems a tough route so might go 77

MojoMaker

Being a tough route is the whole point. Nobody signs up for flat, easy spins, do they? You can do that out your own front door for free - time to suffer with others!! :pac:

The Noble Nudge

Im going out to check the body this evening before signing up...

I never knew there was a hill in Kilkenny until last years 160km!!

Marble City Cyclers

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

Im going out to check the body this evening before signing up...

I never knew there was a hill in Kilkenny until last years 160km!!

There are plenty more hills in North Kilkenny as well!

paulie gaultieri

Looking forward to this now and having a black and amber snood / buff for the winter.

For those who haven't done the 110 / 160 before my advice is chow down on the road to Inistioge. Soon as you pass the GAA pitch there drop down to the small ring before you turn right in the village.

Next section all the way to Mullinavegas is relentless.

All I'm going to say about the last hill (Knockeenbaun) just after Kilmanagh is I used to hate walking it as a kid. Keep a little bit in reserve for this.

Lastly, the descent down the other side of the last climb is fine no need for crazy speed as I have often encountered farm machinery so take it handy enough just in case.

See ye all Saturday.

Marble City Cyclers

Just a reminder that online registration closes at 11pm on Thursday.

Saturday is looking warm and dry so why not come along and try out Coppenagh or Woodstock hill?

We'll post information about sign on, foodstops, etc before the event.

Mercian Pro

Should have a good few along who last cycled together on the Hospice Costa Verde cycle to Santiago de Compostela in June. Some will be doing the 110 and others the 160 routes. Looks like it's the same route as far as Mullinavat although there's a dotted line on the 160 map that seems to say otherwise. Say hi if you see us in our red & yellow Hospice jerseys.

Marble City Cyclers

Mercian Pro wrote: »

Should have a good few along who last cycled together on the Hospice Costa Verde cycle to Santiago de Compostela in June. Some will be doing the 110 and others the 160 routes. Looks like it's the same route as far as Mullinavat although there's a dotted line on the 160 map that seems to say otherwise. Say hi if you see us in our red & yellow Hospice jerseys.

The 110 and 160 do go as far as Mullinavat together

Buzwaldo

Mercian Pro wrote: »

Should have a good few along who last cycled together on the Hospice Costa Verde cycle to Santiago de Compostela in June. Some will be doing the 110 and others the 160 routes. Looks like it's the same route as far as Mullinavat although there's a dotted line on the 160 map that seems to say otherwise. Say hi if you see us in our red & yellow Hospice jerseys.

The dotted line on the 160 map is the old 110 route (changed in 2017 I think). As stated, the 110 & 160 now divide in Mullinavat.
Looking forward to it now.
Briefly met you down here in 2016? I think. Same year Wishbone was complaining about the route not being tough enoughðŸ˜ðŸ˜.

Wishbone Ash

Buzwaldo wrote: »

... Same year Wishbone was complaining about the route not being tough enoughŸ˜.

That must have been someone else. It was tougher than I expected (as I thought Co Kilkenny way relatively flat!).

The Noble Nudge

You'll still take walk ins tomorrow morning?

marvin80

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

It was tougher than I expected (as I thought Co Kilkenny way relatively flat!).

I made the same mistake but luckily was advised to go into the smallest gear when we were about to hit Woodstock!

Marble City Cyclers

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

You'll still take walk ins tomorrow morning?

We will. You can sign up between 6.30 and 8.30 this evening, 7.30 to 8.30 tomorrow for the 110/160 routes (leaves at 9) and between 9.30 and 10.30 for the 44/77 routes (leaves at 11)

The Noble Nudge

What exit (number) do I take to get to the rugby club coming off the N9 from the Atha Cliath..

Marble City Cyclers

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

What exit (number) do I take to get to the rugby club coming off the N9 from the Atha Cliath..

Junction 9

paulie gaultieri

Tough day in the saddle as always with tour de kk I've definitely earned a few pints of ale tonight.

Putting the last hill after Kilmanagh at the end is just sadistic by the organisers

Well done MCC.

Wishbone Ash

Had a dodgy stomach last night and this morning. No appetite for a breakfast so chose the 110k route instead. Met Buzwaldo and had a bit of banter. Well done to all involved. Very well organised. I don't know how you manage to get enough marshals to cover 4 routes!

(A lad crashed in front of me on a descent a few kms after Woodstock. He overcooked a tricky bend at a bridge. He said he was ok but I stayed with him for a while . Unlikely to be reading this but I hope all is well.)

CantGetNoSleep

Went for the 77k in the end, fairly miserable weather when I woke up so didn't fancy the 110 (wasn't staying in KK so would have had to leave at 7am). Fantastic event though, will be back next year

Colm_D

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Had a dodgy stomach last night and this morning. No appetite for a breakfast so chose the 110k route instead. Met Buzwaldo and had a bit of banter. Well done to all involved. Very well organised. I don't know how you manage to get enough marshals to cover 4 routes!

(A lad crashed in front of me on a descent a few kms after Woodstock. He overcooked a tricky bend at a bridge. He said he was ok but I stayed with him for a while . Unlikely to be reading this but I hope all is well.)

Spoke to him at the food stop, shook but generally ok, lucky considering the toss he took. He didn't go any further than that.