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

I went out, did hard intervals and I'm dead now....

Lovely evening and a pity summer is closing in on us.

Did the Steepest street in the world over the weekend. Nice little village in Wales.

Average of 37.45% and peaked at 40.8% according to my Garmin.

Took the bike specifically to tackle it! Drove to the village, took the bike out, did it, almost fainted, put the bike back in and had an ice cream.

Its only 300 metres and very doable.

magicbastarder wrote: »

hmmm.

Ha Ha!

I did it in walking boots (forgot my cycling shoes) with no warm up and I'm not great on hills.
HR shot up so felt rough after.
I.E; If i can do it, its doable

magicbastarder wrote: »

what gearing did you use?

34/12

smacl wrote: »

Seriously??? I doubt I'd mange that with 34/32 and would be probably still suffer in my low Deore gear of 26/36

Sorry - typed on my phone! 34/32

54km around the Phoenix Park a few times. Hoping to do around 20km more but 4hrs sleep after a night shift doesn't help.

Last Monday bank holiday I did an 80km spin around Wicklow.
On the way back near the powerscourt estate in enniskerry I came across what looked like a car crash but a few car has stopped after hitting a baby deer on the road. This little fellow was only a couple of months old and I ended up holding it in my arms while a kind lady arranged to bring it to a Vet a couple of hundred yards up the road. As the deer was in my arms it was crying like a baby. A tender moment.
I was glad i hadn't hit it while on my bike!

triggermortis wrote: »

Just cycled home from work. Drowned rat!!!

No lightening?? I was up at half three feeding the baby and a clap of thunder nearly lifted me out of it.

The wind changed yesterday evening and was with me on the cycle home from work.

Nice.

Mini bike trip in Co Cork this weekend. Got the train from Dublin to Cork city, on the Friday, cycled out to Skibbereen, stayed overnight and back to Cork the next day. About 85 km each way (plus or minus a few wrong turns). Had a bikepacking saddle bag which worked pretty well for most of the clothes etc and a small back pack for the rest. Backpack is handy but even nearly empty it does grate on your shoulders after a while.

It was reminder that local knowledge is a must when planning touring routes. First of all, Cork city: it ain't easy to get out of by bike. It seems every route out of the city is a really busy dual carriageway. I ended up taking the N71 as far as Bandon, which was frankly pretty terrifying. Plus there was a biblical downpour the whole time. After Bandon I got on the road to Enniskeane which wasn't so bad but still pretty busy (and the rain got worse) before finally finding some quiet roads via Drinagh to Skib.

On the way back I followed the R roads and after Bandon took the road through Crossbarry, which to be honest was also pretty busy. Then took the airport road back into Cork. Sweated over the climb which wasn't too hard, but the always seem harder when you're not expecting them. A nice long descent into the city followed, albeit on the N27 dualer, which was again, pretty scarifying.

Good little trip but I think to get the most out of touring you need to plan really well and use the little 'L' roads so that you can just potter along at your own pace. The dual carriageways are dicing with death and the R roads, while better are not that much better!

One more kind of wider observation ,while Skibbereen is beautiful prosperous looking town, towns like Bandon appear to be very run down and economically depressed. All the shops and cafes on the main street (which is dug up) seem to have closed down? Any insight Cork folks?

Deleted User wrote: »

Passed through Bandon this morning on a spin to Clon and back to Cork, and you're right it's been badly hit. My understanding is that it's been badly flooded a number of times over the last decade and has struggled to get back on its feet. Businesses closed down and nothing replaced them as insurance was way too high or impossible to get with the constant threat of flooding. As you probably noticed they have done major works on the river which should hopefully solve the issue, but as you also probably noticed they did a really ugly job and what was once a beautiful river looks like a concrete canal now.

Yep. But also the main street is totally dug up and looks like it's been that way for months? The place needs some major investment. Which is a shame as its a very historic town.

Cycled on part of the Royal Canal for the first time, joined at lock 5 around Phibsborough. Made it out just past the M50 where the surface wasn’t really suitable for my road bike. Enjoyable none the less, 39km.