Wicklow 200 question about average speed

barrym91 · 18-03-2010 08:18PM #1

I just bought a new Lapierre road bike there last week. Very smooth and I really like it. Cycled to work on it a couple of times. It's about a 20k cycle one way and it's on the flat.

I would love to do the Wicklow 200 this year. Took me forever to do it for the first time last year but still really enjoyed it. It was a great (painful) day out.

My question is what speed should I be looking to average on the flat if I want to finish the Wicklow 200 in a sub 7 hour time this year? - cos I know the big hills can really knock down your time so you need to be pretty speedy on the flat.

Hope someone has an idea. Thanks

Lumen · 18-03-2010 08:20PM

barrym91 wrote: »

I want to finish the Wicklow 200 in a sub 7 hour time this year

Good luck with that! What was your time last year?

ROK ON · 18-03-2010 08:44PM

barrym91 wrote: »

I just bought a new Lapierre road bike there last week. Very smooth and I really like it. Cycled to work on it a couple of times. It's about a 20k cycle one way and it's on the flat.

Greater than 35km on the flat.
Averaging 50km ondescents at least. Thus often hitting 70km. Difficult on crowded descents.
Climbing at a min of 15km/h at the very min.

Rough guess.

BTW. This is very doable. Many cyclists do it. BUt one would want to be a strong climber, descender and good on the flat. Its good to have agoal.

victorcarrera · 18-03-2010 08:45PM

That's an average of 28.5 km/h
Do you intend to do it non stop in 7hrs?
A rough guess here but I would say you should try a 7hr spin at 33km/h on the flat first and see how you get on.
For the ww200 you will need to have your gearing, food and clothing well sussed also.

blorg · 18-03-2010 09:26PM

You would want to be doing 40+km/h on the flat I think. You will only do the W200 in under 7 with bunch assistance where you need it and 40km/h is a reasonable race pace on a flattish circuit.

Do you mean total time or ride time? Do you plan to stop.

barrym91 · 18-03-2010 11:00PM

Thanks for your advice everyone. This website is great for picking up tips. Some really good bits of advice there.

Yep, I did the WW200 last year in 10 hours. That was on a bike that was too small and with 3-4 weeks training. I reckon I'm probably being over ambitious hoping for a sub 7 hour in total but it can be nice to set a target. I wouldn't plan to stop. I'm sure I'll find out over the next month or so where I'm really at. I have started to cycle to work at an average of 30kph this week, but there's still plenty in the tank and this is at a relaxed steady tempo. I don't want to injure myself from pushing myself too hard starting out. I reckon I'd have to work really hard to get it up to average of 40k.

Anyone reckon becoming a member of a club helps? I'm in the Maynooth area. Thanks for your help again.

jwshooter · 18-03-2010 11:27PM

barrym91 wrote: »

Thanks for your advice everyone. This website is great for picking up tips. Some really good bits of advice there.

Yep, I did the WW200 last year in 10 hours. That was on a bike that was too small and with 3-4 weeks training. I reckon I'm probably being over ambitious hoping for a sub 7 hour in total but it can be nice to set a target. I wouldn't plan to stop. I'm sure I'll find out over the next month or so where I'm really at. I have started to cycle to work at an average of 30kph this week, but there's still plenty in the tank and this is at a relaxed steady tempo. I don't want to injure myself from pushing myself too hard starting out. I reckon I'd have to work really hard to get it up to average of 40k.

Anyone reckon becoming a member of a club helps? I'm in the Maynooth area. Thanks for your help again.

the club training rides are a big help , were doing a 100k most sats now .done mt leinster last weekend .getting in 150k a week ,the long eves are with us in a few weeks will bump it up to 200-250k .

trying to get work local so il be home early is my problem

blorg · 19-03-2010 08:59AM

barrym91 wrote: »

Anyone reckon becoming a member of a club helps? I'm in the Maynooth area. Thanks for your help again.

Yes, definitely consider joining a club, it will help you with group riding in particular. The thing about cycling is that aerodynamics is very important and riding with a club will get you used to group riding. The 40km/h I mention is basically A3 race pace in a bunch, I would not expect you to be doing this on your own never mind for seven hours (it would be a very respectable pace for one hour in a 40km time trial, after which you would be utterly knackered.)

Even on the Wicklow 200 there are flat and undulating bits where riding in a fast group is essential for a good time.

My ride time last year was 7h02m (193km, average 27.4km/h) and I was murdering myself. Stops on top of that for a total of 8h; if you are not stopping you will really need to figure out your nutrition. Stayed in one group all the way home from Rathdrum which in particular was invaluable.

Muller_1 · 19-03-2010 02:24PM

sub 7 hours is a difficult task the fastest I've done is around 6.45 ride time not including stops, most of the time on that ride I was in a very good bunch that was keeping a very high tempo,

I think the fastest time i've see was about 6h30, and that was from some A class riders.

You should join a club to get use to training at a fast average speed. However it would be much more important to get some long distance training in at the moment instead of worrying about your average speed.

Lumen · 19-03-2010 02:33PM

Muller_1 wrote: »

sub 7 hours is a difficult task the fastest I've done is around 6.45 ride time not including stops, most of the time on that ride I was in a very good bunch that was keeping a very high tempo

Impressive.

The thing about the WW200 is you can't just hammer round it like you would with a shorter flatter event - it requires a real depth of ability to do it fast.

Last year it took me 9 hours rolling to do the 191km mostly on my own, then two weeks later I did 100km in under 3 hours mostly in a large group.

Had I done the events the other way round I would have doubled the time, added an hour for the extra hills, aimed for 7 hours, and missed the target by two whole hours!

The climbing tends to split up groups, so you need to be lucky or organised to get a benefit from drafting.

petethedrummer · 19-03-2010 02:44PM

blorg wrote: »

My ride time last year was 7h02m (193km, average 27.4km/h) and I was murdering myself.

Was I about an hour after you? ...I can't remember my time.

I went hard on the flattish bits, trying to keep up with much better riders (I'm useless on the flat) and then found the climbs much harder than normal.

barrym91 · 19-03-2010 05:05PM

I'll go for my first big cycle tomorrow on my new bike. Start in Hollywood down to Slieve Mann, over SE and then the Wicklow Gap back to Hollywood. Think it's 80k. Slow and steady as it's my first long cycle in ages. Looking forward to it now - nothing more satisfying!

Going to look into joining club now. Thanks for recommendations!

blorg · 19-03-2010 05:25PM

You might also consider trying racing; this will bring on your speed a lot. Still have to remember that the W200 is a long day and you will need to pace yourself- but starting racing certainly made me faster.

Lucan is near enough to you and are in a good club league with four other clubs including my own.

Wicklow 200 question about average speed

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