Wicklow 200 2017

Saw a cyclist on the ground around 160km, looked serious, being tended to by Orwell wheelers marshals and an ambulance.

Hope he/she is ok!

A tough day for the marshals too being out in all weather for hours on end, thanks to all.

koutoubia wrote: »

....But thinking back I actually saw cyclists in normal clothes so anything is possible.

Two lads in normal clothes passed me going up Wicklow Gap. (They were definitely doing the WW200 as they had their numbers displayed.

Another lad passed me carrying a hairbrush in his jersey pocket. I've seen combs but a hairbrush!! Must have needed to be looking good at the food stops.

Seeing a comment or 2 on the W200 FB page claiming that a cyclist was hit by a car :eek:

Legs feeling pretty heavy this morning, but delighted to have finished the 200km. A rather embarrassing time of 10.5hrs but my first time cycling over 100km with any sort of serious climbing. Cycling in a group took some getting used to, even if I did the majority of it solo! The weather was pretty brutal at times as were those back to back climbs after Slieve Maan!

Big shout out to a group from Orwell who dug me out of a dark place around the 160km. Got a great tow for about 20km & it really lifted the spirits. A very sound group & some even sounder man by the name of Rory frim Orwell stopped again on his own to bring me through the last 5km....really decent chap!

Marshall's were fantastic too I thought. All in all a great event.

neris wrote: »

Pedalur de charme

Indeed! It was the first image that came into my head.

Tough day in the saddle yesterday. Much tougher than previous years - it's my fourth or fifth W200. That finish was the stuff of nightmares.

Overall, a well organised day. Marshals were top drawer. There were bound to be few teething problems with the new start / finish venue, but over all it worked out well. One comment would be the traffic coming from the south could perhaps be diverted through Fassaroe - would help split it up. Took me perhaps 30 minutes or so to get from the N11 in to the grounds. Registration was a doddle.

The food stops were a bit meh - sandwiches were nice, but some fruit cake / fruit would be nice. I find those bars they were giving out hard going to chew.

Good craic out on the road. I was on a work thing, I elected for the 200, rest if the lads did the 100. Some were novices who'd never cycled more than perhaps 20km, so kudos for completing a tough course. Stuck with the lads in work for the first 40k or so until we split for the W200. One lad joined me from the previous group - he was unsure about 100 / 200, so convinced him to do the latter...Was the two of us took on the Wicklow Gap in the p!ssing rain, against a murderous headwind. Was glad to get to the top. Got in a group soon after who we stayed with for the rest of the day. Good bunch of lads - pace was nice without being too hectic, regrouped on the climbs. Found Slieve Maam and Shay Elliott tough as ever. That climb as well coming from the Meeting of the Waters after Rathdrum - tough one fairly soon after the food stop. Enjoyed the flat sections where we could work together in a group.

Negatives for me are the rubbish - people chucking used tubes, wrappers, bottles (realise a few lost accidentally) all over the road. Also ,what's the story with p!ssing in people's gates? Saw groups of 2 or 3 lads more than once doing this. Realise we all need a call of nature every now and again, but somewhere more discrete and with respect for residents as well.

Had a few crazy passes as well. 2 of us were given a punishment pass on the Wicklow Way - WW registered car, most probably a local. I singled to single up, moved behind the guy in front, but he passed within inches of us. Made no attempt to move to the other side of the road.

Had same crazy overtaking coming into Rathdrum in almost the exact same spot last year. Two cars overtook a group of of perhaps 10, riding 2 abreast. First 2 overtook, then pulled in front of us. Spotted cars coming against us. 3rd car squeezed through, there was nowhere for him to go, as the 2 who overtook us were now in the space between us and more cyclists in front of them. 3rd car was now faced by an oncoming car - he decided to lust pull in, while blaring his horn, nearly taking the group down. Whats wrong with people?

The last 30km or so killed me. That drag out of Enniskerry and from Greystones will give me nightmares...:eek:.

The wheels nearly came off the wagon for me; I had done a decent amount of training including spins of up to 150 and covering Slieve Mann and Shay Elliot (from the wrong side as it turned out) but my knees started acting up in the weeks leading up to the event and my one attempt at doing a 160 with
Slieve Mann and Shay Elliot (Drumgoff) from the Western approach ended when my back wheel collapsed and left me calling a Broomwagon from someone’s house in Aghvanna (0% mobile coverage in that area).



The other set of wheels for my 10kg road bike suffered a seized freehub a week ago so I had to make a late change to my 12kg+ Croix De Fer.


Was up at 05:15 to be collected by a mate at 05:55 then we spent about 35 minutes in a tailback to get into Bray Emmets and didn’t end up crossing the line till 0740.

The headwind and the early climbs really sapped me, and at one point descending the Wicklow gap and gust hit me so hard I felt the front wheel trying to lift.



Was completely spent at the 50km mark and struggled to keep my eyes open to the first foodstop even with taking on a bar and later the first gel of the day.


After a sandwich, a coffee and a stretch I felt like a new man and took off for the two main climbs, on Slieve Mann the 34x32 was a mixed bag as the CDF felt extremely sluggish and I quickly burned through my renewed energy reserves, the descent was wet and I was behind a guy with Triathlon bottle holders and a backpack who was an even more cautious descender than I am!



Drumgoff is an easier climb but I struggled through, at some point the metal in my right knee started to ache but the descent gave me a bit of a boost, I was in slightly better shape reaching the second foodstop, the last 60km was the point where I’d expected to start suffering instead of being the point where I’d already been clinging on for 100+ kms!

Got a tow from a group in no club gear but who were clearly club riders (very disciplined with signals etc) and a group from Swords CC gave me a rescue in the last 10k (nice bunch that I’d chatted to at the second food stop and who had a more sensible rest schedule, whereas I was flogging myself because my lift home was waiting for me)

Just when I thought I had a cruise to the finish in Bray the dual carriageway portion turned me back into that F***ng! headwind and I was back to crawling along at jogging pace. Every slight drag was a struggle after that and I mostly just freewheeled the descents to the finish.

It was a truly brutal day for me down to weather and not getting on with my choice of bike, some good folks and fantastic marshalling leavened the burden for me.



Glad it’s done but hard to feel proud of my performance.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1032210974/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-US&v=1497212834

The speed that many motorcyclists push on the roads and the overtaking moves they pull on the roads around where I live is ridiculous. Given they might be considered another vulnerable road user group, I really lose hope of any change of mindset on the roads.

Macy0161 wrote: »

The speed that many motorcyclists push on the roads and the overtaking moves they pull on the roads around where I live is ridiculous. Given they might be considered another vulnerable road user group, I really lose hope of any change of mindset on the roads.

I do hear the Wicklow Gap Motogp most weekends, especially when the sun is out...

Sure see for yourselves what's on our road.. absolutely lethal!

ThisRegard wrote: »

Some absolutely moronic riding in that video, and I only watched less than a minute.

Same here, I closed my eyes from the way some of them were riding over the white line missing oncoming cars by millimetres!

I hear the roars of the motorbike engines anytime I'm cycling up by Scarr or Laragh at the weekend...

Tenzor07 wrote: »

You'd think the motorbikers would have more respect for their 2 wheeled brethren but it seems some of the more hardcore are worse than any car/van driver....

You'd think so, but I find them much worse than motorists. I've been beeped / buzzed and verbally abused for using the bus / cycle lane on the quays by people on motorbikes. Bike lanes the same - they use them to filter up the inside of buses and cars. A part of the road that they're not even legally entitled to use - although, as fellow vulnerable road users, I've have no issues with motorbikes using bus lanes with cyclists - just with a few ground rules - not acting the d!ck being No. 1.

Tenzor07 wrote: »

I hear the roars of the motorbike engines anytime I'm cycling up by Scarr or Laragh at the weekend...

Will watch the video this evening, but this time of year it's also evenings. Speed limits don't seem to apply, and the cops even less inclined to enforce the law for motorbike drivers than they are for car drivers.

One of them nearly collects a car at 32 seconds on that vid!

Macy0161 wrote: »

... Speed limits don't seem to apply, and the cops even less inclined to enforce the law for motorbike drivers than they are for car drivers.

More difficult to enforce for motorbikes as they only have a rear plate. Even if they pass a rear capture camera, you'd sometimes see the rider place a hand over part of the plate for a couple of seconds. (Others use the tax disc cover to obscure part of the plate).