Wicklow 200 - 13th June 2010

Muller_1 · 12-10-2009 01:22PM

jwshooter wrote: »

on a good day , what was the best time recorded for it .

I've done it in 6h50 cycling time, I know some guys sho have done 6h30

Muller_1 · 12-10-2009 01:26PM

bbosco wrote: »

First time I did it was 2003 and it was a tougher route, I reckon, mostly because it left some of the toughest hills to the end. The last couple of years the route home after Rathdrum has been relatively straightforward. Back then it included Devil's Glen and Trooperstown Hill on the way to Rathdrum. Then Slieve Maan and Balinabarney Gap on the way to Donard for the second stop. Then home by the Blessington Lakes, Ballysmutton Bridge, Sally Gap and Luggala.
The year before that, it started in Tallaght and went out by the Embankment, over Sally Gap from Kilbride. Can't quite remember where it went after that though.

If I remember correctly in 2003 it was something like Sally Gap from Kilbride, then Luggala, Wicklow Gap, Slieve Maan, Rathdrum, Sally Gap again via Glenmcnass, Feather beds, Kilakee, back to Tallaght.

bbosco · 12-10-2009 02:11PM

Muller_1 wrote: »

If I remember correctly in 2003 it was something like Sally Gap from Kilbride, then Luggala, Wicklow Gap, Slieve Maan, Rathdrum, Sally Gap again via Glenmcnass, Feather beds, Kilakee, back to Tallaght.

Sorry, you're right. My first was in 2004 so I was out by a year on both counts.

barrabus · 12-10-2009 02:22PM

rottenhat wrote: »

Did I say I was never doing this one again? Well, I meant it.

+1 Ireland's worst sportive by a long way .

Might go for a spin in Wicklow that day but wouldnt grease the organisers palms for such shabby service.
I call on all here to do the same in the hope the organisers get the message and up their game.

Captain Havoc · 12-10-2009 02:27PM

Get 10 us pay someone €100 to wait at certain points along the way with our food, everyone's happy.

Izoard · 12-10-2009 04:52PM

kincsem wrote: »

World Cup 2010

Three matches that day: 13:30; 16:00; 20:30.

I remember the W200 in 2002, when, you've guessed it, it conflicted with the Ireland-Spain game.

And it lashed rain all day....:)

JacksonHeightsOwn · 12-10-2009 05:12PM

barrabus wrote: »

+1 Ireland's worst sportive by a long way .

Might go for a spin in Wicklow that day but wouldnt grease the organisers palms for such shabby service.
I call on all here to do the same in the hope the organisers get the message and up their game.

really? im looking to do my first sportifs next year and would have thought the WW200 to be the best, well, most known anyway

what would you reccommend then?

if its as bad as people say, i think ill steer clear

bbosco · 12-10-2009 05:22PM

chrisbonnie wrote: »

really? im looking to do my first sportifs next year and would have thought the WW200 to be the best, well, most known anyway

what would you reccommend then?

if its as bad as people say, i think ill steer clear

It's not that bad. If you do it as your first sportive you'll likely think it's grand. It's just that when you do other events which cost less, provide more in terms of food and amenities for your money and are better organised, you find yourself wondering why the W200 costs so much.

The pros are that it is one of the toughest one-day sportives and coupled with the fact that by now it's very well-known, the sense of achievement when completing it is fantastic. You get to cycle through some stunning scenery in the company of thousands of cyclists. Leaving aside the pain and suffering, or perhaps because of the pain and suffering (depending on how you see things

) it's a great day out.

The cons are that it has grown in popularity so fast that the organisers are struggling to catch up, leading to long queues at check in and the foodstops for some fairly unsatisfactory food. Also, because there are so many people, there is often less of a sense of cameraderie on the road than you get on some smaller sportives.

Pherekydes · 12-10-2009 09:17PM

I'd like to do a sportif next year, too. I was thinking of doing the WW100 for starters, but now I'm not so sure.

Interesting thread. I'll keep my eye on it.

Moar infos and opinions, please.

niceonetom · 12-10-2009 09:33PM

No one should be thinking of the Wicklow 100 with more than 7 months to prepare. HTFU. 200. Do it.

There are many better sportives than the WW200, but I intend to do them as well as, not instead of, the Wicklow. I'd feel no guilt about going guerilla though and having some boardsie only food stops laid on.

Edit: hey, 2000 posts, woo!

sy · 12-10-2009 10:09PM

ROK ON wrote: »

@Sy. What was the route like back then. Reason I ask is that I saw an old route map somewhere (maybe from 8 or 10 yrs ago) and it looked a much tougher route with more climbing than last year.

@ ROK ON I did the W200 on 3 occassions, first time around 89/90, can't exactly remember which year, and again in 2008/2009. To be honest I had no idea of the route at the time as was not familiar with the climbs. I was racing that season and met up with few guys and rode literally into the unknown. There were about 200/300 participants that day. I know we crossed Sally Gap, Wicklow Gap and Slieve Maan but don't remember the rest except that short kick near the end which is kindly? referred to as "The Poggio" ! as all hell broke loose. Skip on to 2008/2009 and unfortunately the head still thought the body was 20 years younger:( however must say I enjoyed the company and still love the climbs. Have to say organisation was dreadful compared to the SK 2008 which is the only other sportive I have done. THe W200 should be the flagship for all other sportives in Ireland but unfortunately it is rapidly loosing its popularity and the competition has really highlighted how it is not able to cope with the number of entrants.

DirkVoodoo · 12-10-2009 10:19PM

I think sy got it spot on. When you show up at the first feed stop in good time and there are still people dismounting when you are ready to leave, it's not a good sign when they say they have run out of snack bars.

Maybe they should try and control the numbers better and close registration earlier to give them more time to setup the logistics. It was a bit like a night in coppers; get them in and pile 'em high.

Esroh · 12-10-2009 11:30PM

Is the real problem with W200 not that its been run by the Vet Assoc.
These are hardened Knights of the Road who would ride 200km on a 500ml Water bottle and a Banana. This is what they always did
You can see them thinking the rest of us should HTFU and do it on a few mars bars and a sambo.
The SK and all the other Newbie Sportives are only pandering to the spoilt Celtic Kittens who want their hands held after riding a few Charity rides where they were fed cake.;)

CheGuedara · 12-10-2009 11:33PM

chrisbonnie wrote: »

really? im looking to do my first sportifs next year and would have thought the WW200 to be the best, well, most known anyway

what would you reccommend then?

if its as bad as people say, i think ill steer clear

If this years successes are followed upon there should be a series of 5 An Post sponsored sportives, each offering a choice of 3 circuits - typically a 50-60km, 100km and 150-160km. They've been the best organised cycles I've attended in a long time and would be the gold standard of how to run a sportive in Ireland (by and large).

Outside of that many/most clubs host at least one sportive in the year - watch the Cycling Ireland calendar when it comes out in the run up to January, and Irishcycling.com for full listings.

You might also consider getting a standard cycling licence from Cycling Ireland also - the first one is e10 and e35 subsequent years and they usually afford a discount (e10) at C.I. sanctioned events so you can save a tidy sum if you take part in a lot of events.

sy · 12-10-2009 11:39PM

Esroh wrote: »

Is the real problem with W200 not that its been run by the Vet Assoc.
These are hardened Knights of the Road who would ride 200km on a 500ml Water bottle and a Banana. This is what they always did.......;)

Actually a few jam sambos. Bananas are too euro;)

The tax man · 13-10-2009 01:01AM

chrisbonnie wrote: »

really? im looking to do my first sportifs next year and would have thought the WW200 to be the best, well, most known anyway

what would you reccommend then?

if its as bad as people say, i think ill steer clear

By all means do the WW200. Apart from the food stops it's a good and challenging day on the bike.

But when you take part in others during the year you'll understand what people mean. Just make sure you enter the Tour of Kilkenny. I did some excellent sportifs this year but the TOK was the clear winner.(Dying cow doesn't count due to numbers involved;)) Excellent organisation and as for the food laid on at the stops...OMG,more fresh sandwiches and cakes than you could shake a stick at. I think any of us that did it came away saying 'now that's how it should be done.'

Nova_era · 13-10-2009 01:04AM

It'll take an awful lot to top the orange squase and warm pasta in the SK tour though, what a lifesaver!

CheGuedara · 13-10-2009 07:21AM

Tour de Burren FTW!

and Conor Pass Challenge!

tunney · 13-10-2009 09:14AM

niceonetom wrote: »

No one should be thinking of the Wicklow 100 with more than 7 months to prepare. HTFU. 200. Do it.

There are many better sportives than the WW200, but I intend to do them as well as, not instead of, the Wicklow. I'd feel no guilt about going guerilla though and having some boardsie only food stops laid on.

Edit: hey, 2000 posts, woo!

With 7 months to prepare no one should even be thinking of doing the W200.

If you started to prepare I'd expected everyone to have done a similar ride to the W200 4-5 times By March.

Captain Havoc · 13-10-2009 09:19AM

CheGuedara wrote: »

Tour de Burren FTW!

and Conor Pass Challenge!

Agree, I loved the Tour de Burren and the main food stop was properly laid out so everyone could easily access the food. I also thought the Tour de Burren had the best cake. ROK was fantastic as the entry fee is decided by yourself (I'll probably give more next year as I didn't realise how much food I was going to eat) and I bet they made a fortune. I know it's only a small event but the Tour of the Knockmealdowns had an unbelievable spread laid out for us afterwards also.

sy · 13-10-2009 09:20AM

tunney wrote: »

With 7 months to prepare no one should even be thinking of doing the W200.

If you started to prepare I'd expected everyone to have done a similar ride to the W200 4-5 times By March.

You forgot to mention that those "4-5 times" should all be in the 53 ring

Ryaner · 13-10-2009 09:45AM

tunney wrote: »

With 7 months to prepare no one should even be thinking of doing the W200.

If you started to prepare I'd expected everyone to have done a similar ride to the W200 4-5 times By March.

Honestly, how many people spit out a 200km cycle when it isn't on a sportive day?

tunney · 13-10-2009 09:54AM

Ryaner wrote: »

Honestly, how many people spit out a 200km cycle when it isn't on a sportive day?

An interesting poll perhaps? (A good few I'd reckon)

My point was merely that if you are preparing for 7 months for a 200km cycle then you'll most likely do quite a few W200 style rides before hand.

Captain Havoc · 13-10-2009 10:07AM

tunney wrote: »

An interesting poll perhaps? (A good few I'd reckon)

My point was merely that if you are preparing for 7 months for a 200km cycle then you'll most likely do quite a few W200 style rides before hand.

There's the Mick Byrne 200 before it in April I think run by Sorrento. I did the 100km and loved it. It'd be really good preperation for the WW200

Ryaner · 13-10-2009 10:10AM

tunney wrote: »

An interesting poll perhaps? (A good few I'd reckon)

My point was merely that if you are preparing for 7 months for a 200km cycle then you'll most likely do quite a few W200 style rides before hand.

I started back cycling last December, W200 was the longest day I had of cycling up till that point by over 60km. In fact I think I've only once done a 200km+ cycle in a day that wasn't someway related to a sportive.

Def do a poll. I'd be very interested to see the results. Would expect lots of people do lots of 100-140km cycles with Wicklow and all, but 200km+ is a bigger event in my mind.

bcmf · 13-10-2009 10:20AM

havent done that many sportifs but never was a food stop more welcomed then on the Mt. Leinster this year. more cake/sambos/tea then any Boardsie's could eat (though they did give it their best shot).

niceonetom · 13-10-2009 10:42AM

tunney wrote: »

An interesting poll perhaps? (A good few I'd reckon)

My point was merely that if you are preparing for 7 months for a 200km cycle then you'll most likely do quite a few W200 style rides before hand.

I know that a fair few regular posters here think nothing of a 200, and do 100s at least once a week. A larger contingent could certainly manage a 200 right now if they wanted to (I could, but it would be slow, and there would be complaining). This is not normal behaviour. To the average bar-stool-jockey 200km through the "mountains" is about as plausible a short term goal as eating a car.

It's those people I'm talking to when I say forget the 100, do the 200. A lot of those first timers are there because they've read about it on boards, they've read about the camaraderie, or the suffering or the sense of achievement (remember your first long spin tunney? your first mental milestone? C'mon, even you had to start somewhere) and said, usually over a pub table, fukit, I'll give it a lash.

I really like that this forum is responsible for getting otherwise sensible but sedentary people out there on the bike for the first time.

7 months is enough for them to get it together, given inevitable procrastination and backsliding, for those who only need enough time to check their tyre pressures and fill their bidons, well, forget about it till June I suppose.

tunney · 13-10-2009 11:05AM

niceonetom wrote: »

I know that a fair few regular posters here think nothing of a 200, and do 100s at least once a week. A larger contingent could certainly manage a 200 right now if they wanted to (I could, but it would be slow, and there would be complaining). This is not normal behaviour. To the average bar-stool-jockey 200km through the "mountains" is about as plausible a short term goal as eating a car.

It's those people I'm talking to when I say forget the 100, do the 200. A lot of those first timers are there because they've read about it on boards, they've read about the camaraderie, or the suffering or the sense of achievement (remember your first long spin tunney? your first mental milestone? C'mon, even you had to start somewhere) and said, usually over a pub table, fukit, I'll give it a lash.

I really like that this forum is responsible for getting otherwise sensible but sedentary people out there on the bike for the first time.

7 months is enough for them to get it together, given inevitable procrastination and backsliding, for those who only need enough time to check their tyre pressures and fill their bidons, well, forget about it till June I suppose.

Thinking back to my first W200, perspective definitely lost, or at least screwed up.

If W200 is your goal and 7 months is a little long to try and focus on one event, I'd throw a series of lesser goals in for the short to medium term to help maintain motivation and focus.

Lumen · 13-10-2009 11:11AM

The challenge with the WW200 is that it's really quite hilly.

I live 25km ish from the Dublin mountains, and my normal (time restricted) training loop is about 95km to Sally Gap and back. Half of that is getting to and from the mountains, so I'm only doing ~45km of hills, and half of that is downhill.

To train properly for the WW200 (by which I mean train such that I could complete it enjoyably at decent pace) I'd need to be doing at 200km training rides (50km flat + 150km in the hills), and that'd take all day - time that not everybody has available.

Training to finish is obviously much easier. I did a handful of 100km+ rides last year and crawled round the 200 in 9 hours with much whining.

AstraMonti · 13-10-2009 11:26AM

niceonetom wrote: »

It's those people I'm talking to when I say forget the 100, do the 200. A lot of those first timers are there because they've read about it on boards, they've read about the camaraderie, or the suffering or the sense of achievement (remember your first long spin tunney? your first mental milestone? C'mon, even you had to start somewhere) and said, usually over a pub table, fukit, I'll give it a lash.

I really like that this forum is responsible for getting otherwise sensible but sedentary people out there on the bike for the first time.

Well i am a perfect example of that. I had knee issues all the winter and a very few long rides. I haven't signed for it because i though i couldn't do it. Then i decided that i have to at least try the 100. I posted it here and everyone pushed me to the 200, and i am glad i i did it. I suffered much and i whined double as much (and thanks god Lastgasp was there to share the pain), but i completed it, and i felt like the king of the world with the medal on the chest. And i did it because i had guys like Tiny, blorg, Tom, emty (and a bunch more) saying that i could do it and i should go for it. Cheers again guys

Wicklow 200 - 13th June 2010

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