Tell us about your cycle today part III

secman

Me neither...fvking vertigo ☹😭 almost 3 weeks now.😫

^^^ hope you guys get back out there soon,

I managed to get out early this morning, before 8, up to Blessington and down to Baltinglass, headwind was strong, N81 was quiet at that hour thankfully. Over to castledermot and back up to Naas, wind on my back for the home leg, 28.3kph avg, 650M, 100k

magicbastarder

bagging some more roads i'd not been on before - went down kettles lane (from the airport road end) and did not expect that little climb and drop again as you head for the kinsealy road - had just assumed it'd be flat out that direction.

Seth Brundle

Did the Dublin Fire Brigade Cycling Club Staying in the Saddle for Prostate Cancer charity sportive yesterday.

The plan was to meet up with a clubmate and cycle into Fairview. Minutes after we met up the front of his right cleat broke but he stuck it out.

The weather was lovely but windy. A garda escort brought everyone to Sutton and we were allowed ascend at our own pace then. By then my average speed had plummeted and it was hard to bring it back up significantly.

The southerly wind would carry us from Howth up towards Julianstown but we knew that it would be facing us for the return leg. Also, I wasn't expecting that climb up to Bellewstown racecourse. It wasn't a long climb but by then my legs were feeling a little tired.

The others I was out with fell behind and I did most of the return leg on my own. Made it back to Fairview anyhow and had some pasta and a bit of craic with others.

The spin back to Leixlip was tough though. My right knee suddenly became quite sore and I was just tired overall. My longest spin to date at 161km with 1246m @ 25.6km/h. https://www.strava.com/activities/6023433070

Haven't a clue how the Audax folk manage double that distance! Maybe I'm just old.

magicbastarder

yeah, that approach to bellewstown will put manners on you if you're tired.

loyatemu

club spin in mixed weather yesterday; included this double bastard of a hill that I hadn't encountered before. Strava reckons it hits 25%, one of those where you get out of the saddle to keep going, then your back wheel starts sliding so you have to sit down again. At least it's relatively short.

magicbastarder

had a very brief chat with Sé O'Hanlon out on the road earlier. some man for one man, he turned 80 recently.

also at one point was passed by a van making a constant tyre screeching noise - the front left wheel was pointing i guess about 5 or 10 degrees off the direction the van was travelling. and yer man was still doing close to 60 i reckon.

Tombo2001

First puncture for years this morning. This specimen on Blackhorse Avenue - faced with that split second decision: Do I swerve or do I hit it. Decided to hit it, immediate flat.

Nigzcurran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953163#Comment_117953163

Yikes your were lucky you didn’t come off the bike

rushfan

Haven't posted here in a while, not today or yesterday, but earlier in the month, myself & Mrs R were in Majorca for two weeks. I hired a bike for a week, cycled a total of 240km, including climbing Cap Formentor. I have to say that the level of tolerance, patience, and allowances made for cyclists was a pleasure to see. Granted it's a major holiday destination with a higher than normal uptake of car hire driving ( myself included in that ) and no driver wants to take chances in an unfamiliar setting, but there was no close passes, no aggression, no revving, no angry blowing of horns, no fist shaking. Nothing!! And I was cycling in all sorts of road conditions, rural & urban, quiet & busy. Looking forward to next year already. 

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117956228#Comment_117956228

its a great place to go Cycling , but that tunnel really freaks me out,

wheelo01

Managed t get out for just over 50km this lunchtime, strave tells me it was 14 degrees, felt colder. Probably one of the last cycles this year in shorts and short sleeves.

Really quite cool for about 10k, intil I warmed up properly, but then it was lovely, unless I stopped at lights or whatnot, as as soon as I got going again, I could feel the cold from the sweating.

Drimnagh, out the main maynooth road, through celbridge, maynooth, and return via Leixlip on the return.

Just over 28kph, great day for it, lets hope it doesn't get much cooler too soon.

magicbastarder

i was out from about 5pm to 7pm, long (light) sleeves and i can't say i was warm. strava tells me it was 14C, it felt several degrees cooler.

DaveyDave

I think the sudden drop in temperatures doesn't help. Last week we crept back up to 20C with some sun then suddenly it's 7-9C in the mornings and there's been a fair bit of a cold breeze too for many days.

Don't mind the cooler weather this time of year but it was very sudden.

rushfan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117956403#Comment_117956403

Yeah, I'd forgotten about that. Actually, it was surprising how many cyclists had rear lights on at all times. There was a two way protected cycle lane right outside our hotel so it was very handy for the auld bit of bike porn!! Hopefully I'll do something similar next year, probably bring the lights next time too.

triggermortis

Fairly damp out this morning. Haven't been on the bike in a week as my shifts went crazy and I didn't feel like cycling home after a full 12 hours of graft. Luckily the main culprit contract there has ended, so I can get back to commuting by bike. The morning varied between damp and wet, without a proper downpour, but being with a group, my bike and kit are now filthy

Nigzcurran

Planning on cycling to the seefin passage tomb for the first time on Saturday , Is there any hills involved coming from the n81 direction?

NamelessPhil

Yes! It's on top of a hill!

wheelo01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960441#Comment_117960441

This Strava route covers a bit of your route, you could compare the hills to your experience of hills. There is a steep hill climb bynfoot after Kilbride Army Camp (according to google).

https://strava.app.link/AO1L3URRYjb

hope this helps you in some way.

Nigzcurran

Sorry folks I’ve never been anywhere near the Dublin mountains on a bike and my brother wanted us to cycle from blanch to lough Tay and back which sounded a bit too hilly for me so I managed to get him to comprise on going as far as that seefin place! I’m ok at cycling on the flat, I’ve never really tried more than a few minutes climbing at once so a bit nervous about Saturday now!

Wildly Boaring

Take it handy.

Keep in a gear that you can turn your legs easily.

It's not a race. You'll get there. We all started somewhere.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960838#Comment_117960838

You'll need to take a few stops but it is manageable. If you're unfamiliar with climbing then you'll also be unfamiliar with the descents. Just be careful for dodgy surfaces (gravel, potholes, etc.) and for oncoming traffic.

Bear in mind that the weather tomorrow is pretty crap (windy and wet)!

What route have you planned from Blanch to Seefin?

smacl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960838#Comment_117960838

As above, the climbs are very manageable and there's no law to say you can't stop and take a breather if you want to. If it is very blowy, I'd tend to descend the same route you came up, via Kippure holiday village. While the Ballinascorny descent is fun, not a great one to start on for someone new to descending on a windy days. On the narrow section ending at Kippure holiday village watch your speed wherever your line of sight is limited as you do get the odd car booting up that road. Also, enjoy, it is a lovely route to cycle.

smacl

Not out much recently but took the lunch time spin to Enniskerry yesterday, pleased with averaging 25.2kph after many annoying 24.9 efforts,31k with 320 of up. Warmer than expected and saw the goats our on the Scalp road for the first time in yonks. Not a big fan of the new sections of protected cycle lanes, guess they'd be a real PITA for groups.

MrMojoRisin'

This cycle wasn't today it was 3 weeks ago, but I'm posting about it today because I learned something new about it today.

I was in Tenerife and rented a gorgeous BMC bike for several days. The first of these days I was going up one of the many climbs there, (from Los Gigantes to Tamaimo if anyones familiar) and this guy in Alpecin Fenix gear passed me by at a quick pace, I tried to get on his wheel but that lasted about 2 meters before he continued on up the climb never to be seen by me again. He had the full gear on, same aplecin fenix helmet and white canyon bike so I assumed it one of their riders or else some kind of weird superfan. Anyway, randomly looked at Jasper Philipsons strava today, and he had a post in Tenerife going up the same climb as me on the same day, so I'm going to assume it was him!

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117962911#Comment_117962911

it's a south westerly today though, so crossing the kilbride road rather than along it, i'd have thought?

magicbastarder

yeah, they're resurfacing it. they've been doing a decent amount of resurfacing around the area for a while.

no harm that they're resurfacing that road; i came close to losing the front wheel at over 40km/h on it a few years ago.

The Silver Branch

My cycle was back in my home place, as i was on leave from work. A 50k one criss-crossing the scenic hills of the Laois/Carlow/Kilkenny border. Windy and hilly and tough enough in spots. A cool breeze, much cooler than at sea level where I now live. At it's height I was 336m above sea level in a few spots.

Some of the areas covered were Gortahile Wind farm, Laois, Old Leighlin Hill, Carlow (a 1.5 mile killer), Coan, Kilkenny, Coolcullen on the Kilkenny/Carlow border where Jim Bolger, race horse trainer has his elevated gallops.

Above view over Carlow town and to the east, taken on a hazier day, much clearer 7 county view today.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117963181#Comment_117963181

cough! 😏

https://www.velominati.com/comment-page-8/

Nigzcurran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117962043#Comment_117962043

That’s what we were thinking, maybe do the return leg back through the city centre. We are both on touring bikes so carrying a bit of weight compared to you lads on the speed machines! Any advice on what to wear in the morning regarding the weather? I don’t mind the wet at all, just not used to cycling in wet and cold yet so not sure if I should stick with shorts and t shirt or go for tights and rain jacket