Sportives 2022

Bang on! Our main event is the Galway Classic men’s and women’s races, this year held on May 15th. In European “classics” style we also run a sportive on the same course to give all cyclists a flavour of the race route. Typically the sportive is the day before however calendar restrictions meant we had to move it to May 21st. 3 route options, 70/100/150km! 3 food stops and a well earned BBQ&Beer afterwards!

Sign up at www.ridetheclassic.com

Great to be back after the two year hiatus - it's a lovely, challenging route and another windy one for sure (although I felt it was more of a side-wind at times rather than the relentless, full-on headwind of 2019). Arrived back at HQ in much better shape this time around and even managed to start topping up my cyclists tan lines with a wee bit of sunburn too :) Thanks to all the folks who volunteer their time and effort for events such as this.

The Orwell Randonnee Lite route was showing Sold Out this morning, so you won't be stuck for company. Signed up for the longer route myself, though I may have bitten off more than I can chew ...

Meanwhile, the weather forecast is almost perfect. Almost. No rain at all for the next 7 days ... except on Saturday afternoon! Fingers crossed that will change over the next few days.

The weather for Saturday is looking better for Saturday now. Potentially a few light showers but not much wind which is great.

I have signed up for the first time. I did a recon of lake drive the other day. It's going to be interesting doing that and then the Sally gap again after so many kilometers in the legs

Yeah I've found that Lake Drive really saps the legs alright, the food (mainly Haribos) stop at the end of it is very welcome!

Once you haven't lost your burger ticket/voucher 😐️

I'll be starting my 7th Randonee on Saturday. It's a toughie, but in a perverse way, I've always enjoyed it.

One year was particularly satisfying. I overtook another cyclist on the wall.

The ridewithgps route indicates that the steepest section of The Wall has a 12.3% gradient. It's definitely steeper than that. As billyhead says, if you're not in the right gear when the gradient kicks up, you could get caught out and end up grinding to a halt. Indeed, there's a risk of grinding to a halt even if you are in the right gear. It ain't called The Wall for nothin!

I'm looking forward to it too. I did it in 2011 & 2012 and Orwell Wheelers did a great job on those occasions. The organisation was spot on, very professional, while maintaining a very friendly and informal atmosphere. You could really sense that the club put their stamp on it and that you weren't being fleeced by some corporate outfit. The grub afterwards was top notch! So good luck to Orwell Wheelers too, I hope it's a good day for the club.

only the top half of the wall is on the route, I'd have said the steepest bit is at the very bottom, it's got to be 20%+ (though in fairness the bottom half is then easier after that first bit).

where is this famous 'wall'?

The surface on it is pretty rough to add to the fun. It's quite a narrow lane as well

For those not familiar with the route of the Randonnée, there is a fast and potentially dangerous descent from the Military Road at Glencree down to the gates into Powerscourt Waterfall. Shortly before the gates, there is a steep and sharp right turn. Knowing Orwell, it will be well marshalled but please take their advice and slow down. A colleague misjudged it on a club spin last year and had a very bad crash resulting in him having to give up cycling.

After the gates you have about 0.8k of uphill before the right turn at the crossroads onto The (Upper) Wall. That's where you really do need to be in the small ring.

The email I got from them today (assume everyone that's registered got it) said that parking at De La Salle is limited so they recommend carpooling or making alternative arrangements. My plan is to arrive early, hopefully well before any overspill.

I find Old Long Hill nearly tougher than The Wall. You know what coming on The Wall but as soon as you finish it you turn the corner and before you catch your breath there's another bloody kilometer hitting 10%.

Unfortunately I can't make the Randonee this year but it's a great spin. Good luck to all taking part.