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The Reservoir Dog Sportive 2021

Corker1

As some of you may have seen in a separate 'Sportives' thread, a limited number of entries for The Reservoir Dog were made available on Eventmaster a couple of weeks back. Due to changes to Public Health measures that will be in place from 5th July we can now release an additional 300 places for this years' event on Sunday September 5th. You can book your place here from 7pm on July 5th;

https://eventmaster.ie/event/7QOdsyeFdv

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Keep_Her_Lit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117826554#Comment_117826554

I presume this information is still correct ...

Cyclists can arrive from 07:30 onwards on the Sunday morning in Russborough.

Note however, that the 125km Reservoir Dog route starts at 09:00, and the 65km Reservoir Pup starts at 09:30

See here: https://www.reservoircogs.ie/faq/

NeedMoreGears

Thanks Keep_Her_Lit.

dastardly00

According to the Reservoir Cogs Facebook page, they are planning on sending out an email with details of start times etc.

Seth Brundle

Reservoir%20Dog%20information.%202021%20Final.docx

Just got it...

Dear Riders,

We hope that you are looking forward to riding this year's Reservoir Dog Sportive as much as we are looking forward to hosting it. Whether you are riding our event for the first time or you are a returning rider it is always a challenge to complete both routes. But if you pace yourself, eat and drink regularly along the way, you will get to the finish with a smile on your face.

The start time of the events is as follows; 125km Reservoir Dog roll out is 9am. 63km Reservoir Pup rollout is 9.30am. Gates to Russborough open at 7.30am. The registration area will be open from 7.40am. We will send a link for online sign on closer to the event.

We have attached an information document which should answer any questions you may have. As there is no safety briefing permitted at the start line this year, safety advice is instead contained in this attachment. Please take time to read it.

This year due to Covid 19 restrictions there have been some unavoidable changes that we have had to make; All food stops will be outdoors, There is no tea / coffee at the start. The 125km Dog event rolls out in two waves 5 minutes apart. We have attached a set of rider Covid 19 rider guidelines which you will need to be aware of. We have all been doing our best to keep each other safe for the last 18 months and these guidelines are just a extension of this approach. It is an outdoor event but we still need to watch out for each other.

We would like to thank you for supporting the Reservoir Dog Sportive 2021. Whether you ride the Pup or the Dog we want you all to have a fantastic day on your bike.

Ride Strong, Ride Steady and Ride Safe.

We look forward to seeing you there on Sunday.

Thanks.

The Reservoir Cogs.

jethrothe2nd

I signed up to do the 125km, but for a number of reasons have not done the right type of training. I've done about 4,300km this year but that largely represents spins between 50 and 80km around Co Kildare with very little in the way of hills. For those that have done the 125km before, am I foolish to consider taking it on?

dastardly00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117834901#Comment_117834901

I did the 125 km sportive back in 2019. If you have 4,300 km in your legs so far this year (well done!), then you are going to have no issues at all with the route. You have the strength and conditioning for the distance and climbing.

I have only ridden about 700 km so far this year and I'm doing the 125 km route!

Corker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836698#Comment_117836698

Hiya Weepsie, I was up there route marking on Tuesday and the descent towards Manor Kilbride off Sallygap is fine. I also descended it on the bike last week and there are no problems with it. I was in contact with the county engineer a couple of weeks back to check if there was going to be any 'surprises' along the route from fresh chippings. There are two places on the route that road works have impacted in the last few weeks. The Road towards Kilbride at 3Castles was resurfaced and chipped a couple of weeks back. I was out for a spin on it at the weekend. There are some loose stones at the edge of the road but it has settled and is better than the crater strewn mess that was there before. The N81 between Russborough and Blessington has been undergoing major ripping and resurfaceing for the last few weeks. The County engineer tells me that it will be left in a good enough state to cycle on over this weekend. All riders will get an email with any late updates including course conditions 24hrs before rollout. I am heading out now in the next hour to complete signage and road marking on the Eastern side of the route from Sally Gap to Roundwood and Laragh stretch. Our Club Spins last Sunday rode both routes in full and there were no major issues to report. Though watch out for a bad pothole at the bottom of the first big descent off Sehan, just before Stone Cross. We have marked the F@!k out of it with yellow paint. Also the road up the back of Ballynultagh Gap - the last big climb is in very poor condition. But most riders will have plenty of time to pick their line as the climb the 8% stretches here. Just don't be admiring the view too much 😉

Gavlor

@Corker1 i don’t suppose you have a garmin route?? I can’t seem to get the strava one to upload!

Corker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836965#Comment_117836965

I put a Strava route and a Ride with GPS file for both routes on the rider info that went out this week. Sorry no Garmin route, but we are also going oldschool this year with a mapcard using this map prepared by EastWest Mapping in everyone's envelope which you need to collect before the start. One for the 63km Pup route too. Also lots of detailed route info on the website if you want to map it on Garmin for yourself.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836965#Comment_117836965

This is the 125km route on Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/75649880

Corker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117841820#Comment_117841820

Sheep Shite?

Corker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836935#Comment_117836935

UPDATE, I was speaking with the Wicklow Co Co roads engineer this morning and he informs me that 1) He had the road to Kilbride swept of chippings yesterday so it should be fine. 2) The Roadworks on the N81 should be cleared by Sunday.

gmacww

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117841820#Comment_117841820

The lads at the top of cunard :)

Macy0161

I'm more bothered by wheel slippage - everyone grinding up probably won't throw up too much (at least if they're at my pace up!).

dastardly00

I'm very much looking forward to this tomorrow. I'm pretty sure my last sportive was the Dog in 2019.

Corker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117842864#Comment_117842864

Drove up Cunard today. Mostly dried sheep shite on the upper stretch along Glassamucky. The 'Crux section lower down on Cunard is largely unaffected. as long as the weather stays dry it'll be grand.

Daroxtar

See ye there in the morning. I'll be the lad with the skinny legs and fat belly in the Clonard jersey 😜

Corker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117847984#Comment_117847984

We hope you enjoy it Dastardly. Hopefully we won't be too out of practice after our enforced year off hosting in 2020. Really looking forward to experiencing the Buzz of a Sportive again!

Corker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117848164#Comment_117848164

See ye then Daroxtar. I'll be the lad with the fat legs and the fat belly in the Hi Vis....😆

Keep_Her_Lit

So here’s my event "report", of sorts.

I was paid up for "The Dog" and was really looking forward to it but unfortunately picked up an injury a few days ago which has put me off the bike for a while. So I decided I would head out to the course this morning anyway and offer a few words of encouragement to the riders as they battled their way up that savage ramp on the approach to Cunard Road Upper, identified as The Wall on the course map.

I spotted a couple of Boardsies and issued the required salutation. I took a couple of snaps on my phone, not very good, but here they are anyway. Fair play to everyone who hauled themselves over that kicker!

I also got a warm greeting from one KenMc of this parish, who was in fine form as he horsed his way up that hill! Good on ya, Ken! No photo of Ken, unfortunately, cos I was standing there thinking "Is that KenMc?", "That looks like KenMc" and Ken is looking at me and I’m looking at Ken, etc.

As some of the last riders in the group came through, I witnessed an unfortunate incident. Two chaps were riding together and there was a bit of weaving going on, on account of the brutal gradient. Wheels touched and one of the riders fell over very heavily, landing on his hip. Coincidentally, the course ambulance happened to be travelling up the road behind them at the time, so professional assistance was on hand immediately. The fallen rider was in a lot of pain, so I hope his injury isn’t serious and that he makes a speedy recovery.

I winced as the ambulance driver got under way again, as the poor clutch was not enjoying that gradient one little bit. But no sooner had he got moving, than he had to stop again because of an oncoming car. The car driver seemed to have significant difficulty creating enough room for the ambulance to pass and there was a whole load more clutch slipping before the ambulance got moving again (I think I may also have heard a few words of "encouragement" from the ambulance driver to the car driver!).

As I walked up the hill back towards my car (which was parked safely off the course on Cunard Road Upper), I was treated to the exquisite scent of burnt clutch. Then when I crested the next brow in the road, there was the ambulance pulled over to the side with a hape of shmoke bellowing out from under it. The smoke had cleared by the time I walked up to it and a course car was in attendance. Not a great start to the day for the ambulance crew or that poor rider. I hope all worked out OK.

And hopefully I’ll be joining KenMc and the Boardsies for the 2022 edition of the Reservoir Dog! Meanwhile, I look forward to reading a few proper reports from those who participated today.

Seth Brundle

There was another incident coming down from Sallygap on the return leg. I think the fella was trying to avoid a sheep but had too much speed and came off. Gardai were quickly on the scene and I believe he is bruised but not broken thankfully.

Plomber

Short note to say thanks to all involved in putting this great event on. This is a favorite of mine because it’s just about good cycling. On some level I enjoyed my 125km of torture, and am enjoying a beer now. Well done and thanks again for a great day.

Gavlor

first time doing this and it’s a really well organised event. Thanks very much to the army of marshals and volunteers!

the course itself is a real challenge, I almost threw my bike off the mountain before the top of Cunard! Some lovely fast descents and a lovely stretch along the mountain a few km after the food stop.

fell into a good group towards the front and finished with just over 29kph avg although Iwas towed home for the last 20k!!

despite hating every meter of Cunard, I’ll be back next year for more punishment!

Daroxtar

Excuses at the start: Busted my coccyx a little over a month ago and have only done 3 spins since then. Also went on holidays and was forced to eat a heap of food and drink buckets of Guinness. To say I was undercooked and overweight was putting it mildly and I suffered like the proverbial Dog. The headwind going up Cunard and right the way over to the Sally gap crossroads must have added about 500m extra to the climbing. I was pushing 250w and struggling to get above 25kmh on the downhill before the crossroads!!!

Made it around in 5.36 , solo for the first half then along with 2 other gents from the tea stop. Despite the pain it remains my favorite spin of the year and I'll be back next year for my 6th.

Also, met and had a lovely chat with Lissard from this parish both before and after the spin. Chapeau

jethrothe2nd

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the climbs came close to breaking me, and I nearly sh** myself on a couple of the descents, but it was a great day. Lessons learnt from today are do more hills and become a more confident descender. Thanks to a lad called Owen/Eoin from Bray Wheelers who gave me a few tips and the benefit of his local knowledge, and also thanks to some unknown dude cycling the other way who shouted well done at me just at the right time on one the climbs. Also, up yours Garmin who told me I actually did 175km with an average speed of 32.2km/h and a top speed of 207.

Brilliant day, thanks to the organisers and marshalls.

this.lad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117850380#Comment_117850380

You are forgiven!

It was a great day out, I tried to pace myself throughout but still half blew-up with about 5k to go. I got it into my head that we were going up over harristown and the head dropped. Once I realised it was straight on past humpreystown and tulfarris I dug in and managed to do it in 5:15 24km/h

I have done plenty of cycling in wicklow but more around the west like glenmalure the wicklow gap etc, never up on those roads before but just kept grinding it out until I got home.

My descending is dreadful, I need to work on it in a big way.

It was a very well run event, marshaling, signage, food all top notch. Well done to the club.

Thanks to those, including weepsie, I chatted to along the way. I was there as a lone ranger so the few words helped to break it up.

Seth Brundle

also thanks to some unknown dude cycling the other way who shouted well done at me just at the right time on one the climbs.

I actually really appreciated the marshals and others along the way cheering us on. Felt good and was just at the right time.

I found the climbs as far as Laragh tough. The spin from Annamoe towards Laragh had topped 50km/h. Anyhow, maybe it was the break but the climbs from Laragh felt fine for me and I was up with the climbers in our group (some others were falling behind on the climbs). Chuffed with myself for that.

Keep_Her_Lit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117850464#Comment_117850464

29kph!! Blinkin' 'eck, that is some pace over that course! I thought in training that 5hrs would be a tough nut to crack and I had it in the back of my mind as a "maybe, if I'm lucky, target". So the top dogs came home in less than 4h20m. Kudos! Plenty of the early riders who came up Cunard looked very comfortable alright and were moving at an impressive pace.

What was the lead out like from the start to Blessington? Were you able to get cracking or was the pace heavily controlled?

fader123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117850294#Comment_117850294

Delighted to hear this. Was very worried having seen him lying on the ground with emergency services all around.

That aside, was a great day out on the bike. Not the furthest I have ever cycled, but by far the most climbing! I was struggling a bit after the Glenmacnass climb until l fell in with a couple of super sound lads, their friendly chat gave me the boost I needed at that moment.

Fantastic organisation and great enthusiasm from all the volunteers. The burger at the end was delicious too!

Gavlor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117850726#Comment_117850726

Thanks! Just checked there it was 4hrs 16 mins. If it’s any consolation pretty much everybody in the small lead group was suffering by the end.

lead out car was spot on, nice decent pace right up to maybe 40kish. Mid 30s till the bottom of the first climb.

the wind on Cunard was a nitemare, I made it up in good time but was looking and feeling far from comfortable!!