The Wicklow 200 (2009) Thread

Greyspoke · 06-06-2009 11:56AM

Yes, the 200. I'm going a couple of inches higher than last year, 46-17. The main focus of the challenge will be getting up (and down!) Slieve Maan and the Shay Elliot.
Don't think it's going to be easy!

DirkVoodoo · 06-06-2009 12:00PM

Great, now I have 2 problems: I can't clean my bike and the the hair on my legs only really shows up in the wet.

Gotta go buy a razor now.

72hundred · 06-06-2009 12:03PM

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Gotta go buy a razor now.

Haha Dirk, this is boards.ie not twitter!

rughdh · 06-06-2009 12:18PM

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Great, now I have 2 problems: I can't clean my bike and the the hair on my legs only really shows up in the wet.

Gotta go buy a razor now.

I dye my leg hair black, gel it and brush it upwards.

Caroline_ie · 06-06-2009 12:34PM

Greyspoke wrote: »

Yes, the 200. I'm going a couple of inches higher than last year, 46-17. The main focus of the challenge will be getting up (and down!) Slieve Maan and the Shay Elliot.
Don't think it's going to be easy!

same gear i did the swords 160 with ... and it was just the swords 160 with no major climbs or descents.... u're my hero!

Ghost Rider · 06-06-2009 01:10PM

Folks, I just heard the forecast before the 1 o'clock news on RTE Radio 1. Apparently it will be brighter and drier tomorrow, though there will be some showers. Should be a wee bit warmer too i.e. 13-15 degrees.

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/#

Unionman, if you're reading this, you may not recognise your fellow Kraftwerker tomorrow as I might be in a long-sleeve jersey. I'm number 338, though, so if you see me, just do a loud rendition of the grunt-and-pant sequence from "Tour de France".

Actually, wait... we'll all be doing that anyway...

72hundred · 06-06-2009 01:15PM

Actually feic the rain if this wind keeps up I'll bring a parasail!

Greyspoke · 06-06-2009 01:17PM

Caroline_ie wrote: »

same gear i did the swords 160 with ... and it was just the swords 160 with no major climbs or descents.... u're my hero!

Thanks, but honestly, if you remember not to look up you can convince yourself that you're not really going uphill!
Also, embarrassingly, I've got no.1 on my back as my brother, who got it originally, didn't want to wear it and figured riding one gear deserved no.1!
Your Swords 160 on the fixie was pretty impressive too - at least in the hills you get a lot more opportunities to get up out the saddle for a change of position.

unionman · 06-06-2009 01:18PM

Ghost Rider wrote: »

Unionman, if you're reading this, you may not recognise your fellow Kraftwerker tomorrow as I might be in a long-sleeve jersey. I'm number 338, though, so if you see me, just do a loud rendition of the grunt-and-pant sequence from "Tour de France".

Actually, wait... we'll all be doing that anyway...

Indeed and we will:D

I'll probably wear my boards.ie jacket over mine, at least in the early part of the day. No.43

bcmf · 06-06-2009 01:22PM

RobFowl wrote: »

Shorts, arms warmers, base layer, gillet and will bring a rain cape. Was going to do the 100 with BCMF but he wussed out so doing the 200 now (there's logic there somewhere:rolleyes:)

I did not wuss out. I have work to do (get money to buy stuff) and I have no cranks or BB on the bike.
All of the above are perfectly good excuses to which i am sticking by.

Raam · 06-06-2009 01:23PM

bcmf wrote: »

I did not wuss out. I have work to do (get money to buy stuff) and I have no cranks or BB on the bike.
All of the above are perfectly good excuses to which i am sticking by.

Can someone please lend this man a bike?

bcmf · 06-06-2009 01:26PM

Well I was hoping RobFowl was gonna offer to lend me the Noah but I know ordinary people arent even allowed to touch it never mind park their fat hole on it.:D

Caroline_ie · 06-06-2009 01:27PM

Greyspoke wrote: »

Thanks, but honestly, if you remember not to look up you can convince yourself that you're not really going uphill!
Also, embarrassingly, I've got no.1 on my back as my brother, who got it originally, didn't want to wear it and figured riding one gear deserved no.1!
Your Swords 160 on the fixie was pretty impressive too - at least in the hills you get a lot more opportunities to get up out the saddle for a change of position.

Brilliant! ... was wondering who was 1 ... boards.ie is most of the top 10

1 Greyspoke 1
2 Caroline_ie 2
3 TinyExplitions 3
4 Aquinas
5 ___
6 kenmc
7 blorg
8 ___
9 Gavin
10 ___

TinyExplosions · 06-06-2009 01:36PM

bcmf wrote: »

I did not wuss out. I have work to do (get money to buy stuff) and I have no cranks or BB on the bike.
All of the above are perfectly good excuses to which i am sticking by.

You can use my Focus if you want -56cm

bcmf · 06-06-2009 01:48PM

Thank God I still have the work excuse to still fall back on.:rolleyes:

FrankGrimes · 06-06-2009 01:49PM

Man it ain't pretty out there. Only thing worse than >9 hours of pain is even more hours of pain in sh1tty rain and wind. But I'll say it again, for the likes of myself doing the 200 for the first time, completing it in crap weather would only add to the sense of achievement....at the end, not during.

There's over 50 Boardsie names listed on the spreadsheet and so far I've only seen mention of a slow group and the assumption is there'll be a fast group aswell. What about the inbetweeners?

I know these things can't be planned too much as groups will form naturally on the road, but would be good to get an idea of any fair-to-middlin groups there might be. Main reason is with that weather and the hassle I'm still having with my saddle and back, I need to get as much of the road behind me as early as possible and then struggle through the remainder, so I'd hope to join a decent group early, get dropped on Sally Gap but hopefully catch em and stay with them for as long as possible and then likely be picked up by the Slow group as I crash and burn in the latter stages.

Seems the importance of riding in a good group can only be increased by the wind and rain, so would be good to get an idea of what people are thinking.

blorg · 06-06-2009 01:49PM

Greyspoke wrote: »

Yes, the 200. I'm going a couple of inches higher than last year, 46-17. The main focus of the challenge will be getting up (and down!) Slieve Maan and the Shay Elliot.
Don't think it's going to be easy!

You were freewheel last year? The tough bit will be getting down from my own experience. Will not be fixing it myself

xz · 06-06-2009 01:54PM

Did Slieve Mann and Shay Elliott last week,have since changed my cassette from 12-25, to a 12-27

DirkVoodoo · 06-06-2009 01:55PM

Slow group wont be THAT slow, not taking the high viz and mountain bike out just yet! I think we will be trying to keep it tight enough but it will be more about waiting for people at the tops of climbs rather than going at the speed of the slowest person.

There will be plenty of groups for you to catch onto anyways.

Lumen · 06-06-2009 02:12PM

xz wrote: »

Did Slieve Mann and Shay Elliott last week,have since changed my cassette from 12-25, to a 12-27

I popped into Staggs for some stuff, and Jimmy is doing the 200 on his new Cervelo R3SL with a 11-23 standard double.

I believe he's just turned 50. I wasn't sure how to react.

or

72hundred · 06-06-2009 02:18PM

Lumen wrote: »

I popped into Staggs for some stuff, and Jimmy is doing the 200 on his new Cervelo RS with a 11-23 standard double

Jebus! Fair play to him, hope his knees don't explode on the climbs, the shattered pieces of patella could puncture tyres!

DirkVoodoo · 06-06-2009 02:27PM

You seem to have a genuine fear of exploding knee caps, dont you?

72hundred · 06-06-2009 02:36PM

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

You seem to have a genuine fear of exploding knee caps, dont you?

They're a ticking time bomb, just when you least expect it - bang.

AstraMonti · 06-06-2009 02:46PM

Funny post in w200 forum: http://www.wicklow200.ie/discus/messages/2/103.html?1244292618

Greyspoke · 06-06-2009 04:21PM

blorg wrote: »

You were freewheel last year? The tough bit will be getting down from my own experience. Will not be fixing it myself

Yes, freewheel last year so going fixed seemed to be a natural/unnatural progression/regression (delete as you feel applicable!). I've been riding the Langster and a Tricross fixed all year and I agree, the downs will be quite hard. I'll be taking it pretty handy on the descents as my biggest fear is a repeat of what happened two years ago when I got really bad cramping in quads and hamstrings at the same time (interesting experience!) - wouldn't like that to happen while I'm spinning fast downhill!

c0rk3r · 06-06-2009 04:41PM

Cool, with a few sunny spells, but some occasional showers too. Moderate NE breezes

Went into cycleways to buy some rain gear for tomorrow. In the space of 5minutes 3 people had bought rain jackets + overshoes. Including myself. With more people coming through the door as i was leaving. All the chatter was about the W200 tomorrow. They must be the only people happy about the predicted weather conditions.

ROK ON · 06-06-2009 04:44PM

If last years Ring of Kerry and Sean Kelly are anything to go by, we will all be fine tomorrow.

The day before both events last year was a total washout with very high winds. I recall driving to Waterford late the night before the Sean kelly and seriously wondering with my mate, whether the event would actually go ahead. We got uo in the morning to sunshone and a fine day.

I am hoping that tomorrow will bring more of the same.

72hundred · 06-06-2009 05:00PM

ROK ON wrote: »

If last years Ring of Kerry and Sean Kelly are anything to go by, we will all be fine tomorrow.

The day before both events last year was a total washout with very high winds. I recall driving to Waterford late the night before the Sean kelly and seriously wondering with my mate, whether the event would actually go ahead. We got uo in the morning to sunshone and a fine day.

I am hoping that tomorrow will bring more of the same.

I remember that Sat too, was coming on the bike with a overly full backpack!

blorg · 06-06-2009 05:05PM

ROK ON wrote: »

If last years Ring of Kerry and Sean Kelly are anything to go by, we will all be fine tomorrow.

At least one of those events had a bishop, I don't think the vets have arranged that for tomorrow morning.

short circuit · 06-06-2009 05:07PM

Lumen wrote: »

I popped into Staggs for some stuff,

How many bike shops have you been to today ... spreading around the dough equally to all .. I see.

The Wicklow 200 (2009) Thread

Comments