Top 10 Irish sportives 2012??

G rock · 23-01-2012 3:43pm

only did four last year:

SKT of meath
tour of louth
naas cc twin peaks
orwell radonnee

while the skt was really well organised, the route let it down a bit; just wan't that interesting. still a good day out though.

both the orwell and naas cc sportives were superb though, great routes, great food, and well marshalled.

will def try to do these two again this year

xz · 23-01-2012 7:42pm

SKT Waterford
Tour de Kilkenny
are my favourite 2.

Martin Earley Tour of Kildare (Naas CC) Burgers afterwards were magic
An Post Tour of Meath
Both very flat, good for those wanting to test out their speed over distance.

Joe Loughman (Bray Wheelers), because whilst relatively short (120km) it's tough.

Leinster Loop
OK I suppose

WW200
Done it once, have never done it again (for value for money, organisational reasons) but everyone has to do it at least once.

kayaksurfbum · 23-01-2012 10:44pm

The Carrick Wheeler's challenge was my no1 last year.

An Post Tour the Burren and Sean Kelly tour of Waterford close second.

byebye · 23-01-2012 11:15pm

Does anyone rate etape hibernia?

Cookie_Monster · 23-01-2012 11:28pm

The Helping Hand in Athy that I did last year was a really enjoyable event. Great marshalling, good roads, some testing (awful) hills, lots of nice food, really nice people at the stops.

Not sure if it's a regular one but I would definitly do it again.

The w200 is one to do to say you've done it IMO, I'd have little interest in doing it again, expensive, terrible marshalling, crap food, crap timing system

VanhireBoys · 23-01-2012 11:31pm

byebye wrote: »

Does anyone rate etape hibernia?

Too far away from "The Pale" for some

I done this last year and it was absoluely fantastic

I am doing these this year
Croi
An Post Burren Tour
Tour de Connemarra
An Post Sligo
Cancer Care Sligo - Letterkenny
Skyride Etape
Ring of Kerry

Possibly the Wicklow 200

Sportives rock :cool:

byebye · 23-01-2012 11:37pm

VanhireBoys wrote: »

Too far away from "The Pale" for some

I done this last year and it was absoluely fantastic

I am doing these this year
Croi
An Post Burren Tour
Tour de Connemarra
An Post Sligo
Cancer Care Sligo - Letterkenny
Skyride Etape
Ring of Kerry

Possibly the Wicklow 200

Sportives rock :cool:

sound like a good list!

cunavalos · 23-01-2012 11:56pm

kayaksurfbum wrote: »

The Carrick Wheeler's challenge was my no1 last year.

I agree with the above. I thoroughly enjoyed it last year and will do it again this year. I shares some of the sean kelly route so i don't think i could recommend the two of them in a top 10 because i think the top 10 should consist of a variety of terrains and locations. I personally am not fussed about food and/or goody bags once there is sufficient food available to help you get around the course that is all that matters and decent signage and marshalling.

My bucket list for this year would be (in no particular order).

1. Ring of Kerry (The route is not top class but it is still a very special day that will live long in the memory)
2. Carrick Wheelers or The Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford
3. One of the Wicklow rides (Doesn't have to be the WW200 just one of the leisure rides/ audax that goes over most of the climbs in Wicklow.
4. One of the Mt. Leinster leisure rides. (I think Barrow Wheelers and Slaney do rides at different times of the year
5. Tour of Kilkenny
6. One of the Dingle Penisula Leisure Events (The Chain Gang and Etape Mumhan both do different routes in the same area)
7. Tour de Burren ( If you can't make this the Sky Ride Etape Hibernia follows a similar route)
8. West cork 200 or any event in the West Cork region
9. One of the Connemara events
10. One of the hammerfests inside the pale (Martin Earley Tour of Kildare, Tour of Louth and others). Sometimes it is not all about the hills and pushing yourself on a flat route is a different type of challenge

I don't think there are any events in this list that haven't been mentioned before but these are just events or areas that i have cycled before.

There are undoubtably hundreds of rides that i have not mentioned that are also highly recommended Comeragh CC's Copper Coast Sportive, Billy's Trip To Tipp , Carlow CC put on two very tough but enjoyable events. The Viking ride in Waterford was a good route that was surprisingly tough.

I am not really familiar with the events further norther but from the time i did the Tour of Island i remember some great routes up around ulster. The only caveat is that the entry fees all add up and if you factor in accommodation and transport costs it really can be an expensive hoppy. I think the best advice is to pick 2 or 3 definites from that list and then keep a lookout for other events close to home that can be cheaper and just as enjoyable. The Audax events are very reasonably priced and invariably present a far greater challenge than most leisure events.

Hope this helps

at1withmyself · 24-01-2012 12:20am

Looking forward to the Sportiff season again this year, Irish ones I'm hoping to complete:

An Post Tour of Sligo
Croi
Tour De Connemara
West Cork 200
An Post Tour De Burren
An Post Sean Kelly Tour
Blasket Blast

Outside of Ireland
Celtic Series Wales ride
L'Etape
Vitus Road Sportiff (prob the Wales one)

Have never done any road sportiffs down the Wicklow mountains so will aim for something there as well, maybe the Mt. Leinster Challenge. Does that cover the Wicklow mountains?

I'm sure there'll be more to pop up again so ouwl be interested in one in Donegal as well.

torturedsoul · 24-01-2012 8:49am

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there. Tour de kilkenny,tour de munster etc. Its sounds wrong! Why do we have to borrow a french word when we have our own "of" to use.

sounds much better and less cringe worthy. (anyway just a small matter)
Ring of Kerry is great for the obvious reasons

xz · 24-01-2012 12:30pm

torturedsoul wrote: »

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there. Tour de kilkenny,tour de munster etc. Its sounds wrong! Why do we have to borrow a french word when we have our own "of" to use.

sounds much better and less cringe worthy. (anyway just a small matter)
Ring de Kerry is great for the obvious reasons

Fixed that for you

torturedsoul · 24-01-2012 12:37pm

xz wrote: »

Fixed that for you

Bit of a rant alright

check_six · 24-01-2012 12:38pm

torturedsoul wrote: »

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there. Tour de kilkenny,tour de munster etc. Its sounds wrong! Why do we have to borrow a french word when we have our own "of" to use.

sounds much better and less cringe worthy. (anyway just a small matter)

The An Post Tour De Burren must give you multiple cultural crossover cramps then

Last year I did:

Tour of Louth - Crazy high average speed, one big hill, nice scenery once you get to Carlingford (so long as it's not foggy/misty, which it was when I did it). Also, you get a medal based on your time.

Ring of Kerry - Great day out, beautiful countryside, a lot of people on the road (this can be a problem with constant overtaking).

Orwell Randonee - Brilliant event, really well organised, some great photos made available to the participants, but you need to be in the whole of your health for those blasted hills (which are awful and great at the same time!).

Etape Hibernia - There are drawbacks to this event, it's expensive, you have to register the day before, and the photos that they try to sell to you after the event are no great shakes (especially compared with the excellent free photos from the Orwell one). However, there are big positives too. The route is good and challenging, the area is beautiful, the roads are closed, and the thrill of blasting into the finish line in Ennis with barriers, crowds, and a few other cyclists chasing you, but not quite catching you is amazing.

I did the Wicklow 100 on my mtb in 2010, and found it much as described previously, there is no group start, the food stops aren't worth bothering with, and I missed a badly signed turn at one point. The 200 would be worth doing to say you'd done it, but don't choose it over the raft of other better (imo) events available.

I'm based in Dublin, so I'm going to do the Tour of Louth and the Orwell Randonnee again for definite. The further away ones I'll have to think about. The SKT of Waterford always gets great reviews, so I'd like to do that one.

sheepfield · 24-01-2012 6:19pm

Sportive riders generally seem to love murdering themselves on the hills: yet in my opinion, the best of the year is the Martin Earley Tour of Kildare. Yes it is a hammerfest as they say and is over fairly quickly, but there is a superb buzz zipping along in a big group, which then shatters to pieces once we hit Boston Hill:o and most especially The Wall.:eek:
The apres-match with the burgers etc right in the heart of town gives it a lively feel and Naas CC do a great job getting the thing on and running smoothly.
Not everyone loves 34x28 for long periods on a Sunday..... :P

daragh_ · 24-01-2012 6:37pm

Mick Byrne - Hand made sambos and more hills than any sane person should contemplate.
Orwell Randonee - Great route and love-bombing by Orwell.
Tour de Kilkenny - Mainly so you get to meet Captain Havoc.
Etape Hibernia - I enjoyed this despite the expense and hassle. We stayed in a friends house right in the middle of the Burren and communed with nature, red wine and manky big steaks afterwards. Sitting outside the pub at the finish watching folks come in was very enjoyable. YMMV

I really like the look of the Carrick Wheelers Sportive in June.

Sr. Assumpta · 24-01-2012 7:58pm

torturedsoul wrote: »

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there. Tour de kilkenny,tour de munster etc. Its sounds wrong! Why do we have to borrow a french word when we have our own "of" to use.

sounds much better and less cringe worthy. (anyway just a small matter)
Ring of Kerry is great for the obvious reasons

Ok, we'll change it to 'De Tour of Kilkenny' then.

Happy??

thebouldwhacker · 24-01-2012 8:52pm

torturedsoul wrote: »

Christ it really bugs me when Irish races put the word "de" in there.

You seem to have picked a very apt user name.......

michael196 · 24-01-2012 9:27pm

byebye wrote: »

Does anyone rate etape hibernia?

it is actually a race with a prize for the fastest. great scenary but I much prefer the tour of de burren...( goes the opposite direction, clockwise around Co.Clare ). your individual time for completion is electronically recorded , down to milli seconds. A brutal tough circuit also.

in 2011 a lot of people dropped bidons and kept going, its that kind of competitive, not lesiure.

there is only 3 etapes left, so I recommend doing one at least. this year it clashes with de sean kelly tour of waterford last yeat the etape clashed with the leinster loop.

biggest advice for de etape is to be food self reliant, as only one brand of bar available en route, and no 'real food'.

torturedsoul · 25-01-2012 10:27am

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

You seem to have picked a very apt user name.......

Am I wrong?

daragh_ · 25-01-2012 10:42am

michael196 wrote: »

byebye wrote: »

Does anyone rate etape hibernia?

it is actually a race with a prize for the fastest. great scenary but I much prefer the tour of de burren...( goes the opposite direction, clockwise around Co.Clare ). your individual time for completion is electronically recorded , down to milli seconds. A brutal tough circuit also.

in 2011 a lot of people dropped bidons and kept going, its that kind of competitive, not lesiure.

biggest advice for de etape is to be food self reliant, as only one brand of bar available en route, and no 'real food'.

How is it a Race? It's promoted as timed Leisure Sportive.

LCD · 25-01-2012 2:15pm

Tour of Louth by Cuchulainn CC. Voted best sportive in 2010. Platnium, gold & silver finishing medals.

Yes I ride for Cuchulainn so biased

byebye · 25-01-2012 2:54pm

LCD wrote: »

Tour of Louth by Cuchulainn CC. Voted best sportive in 2010. Platnium, gold & silver finishing medals.

Yes I ride for Cuchulainn so biased

how tuff is the 100km course?

LCD · 25-01-2012 2:58pm

There is 1 significant climb on the course, not long after the half way stage. It is about 1.5miles long. The copurse is sort of a figure 8, it loops out of Dundalk & back into town before the second loop which includes the climb. Platnium time is under 3hrs and I think 15 +/- got that last year.

byebye · 25-01-2012 3:41pm

LCD wrote: »

There is 1 significant climb on the course, not long after the half way stage. It is about 1.5miles long. The copurse is sort of a figure 8, it loops out of Dundalk & back into town before the second loop which includes the climb. Platnium time is under 3hrs and I think 15 +/- got that last year.

I think i might try it out this year!

check_six · 25-01-2012 4:09pm

LCD wrote: »

There is 1 significant climb on the course, not long after the half way stage. It is about 1.5miles long. The copurse is sort of a figure 8, it loops out of Dundalk & back into town before the second loop which includes the climb. Platnium time is under 3hrs and I think 15 +/- got that last year.

byebye wrote: »

I think i might try it out this year!

Beware! The start of this sportive is broken up into four groups to represent the different medal levels of performance. There is a gap of 2-4 minutes between each group starting, but the overall clock starts when the first group goes. So you could be rolling back to the finish thinking you are going to make the time for your medal when you suddenly realise you've run out of time.

This is not a negative thing about this sportive, it's a great spin and I'll be doing it again this year, but it's worth knowing how the clock is operated. I believe there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth the year before last when a denizen of boards thought the clock would stop for the food break. The clock never stops... and neither should you!

EPireland · 25-01-2012 7:13pm

For scenery you won't match the Giants Causeway Coast Sportive, cutting through the Glens of Antrim and along the famous shore road. Torr road near the end is steep and undulating with amazing views over the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland.

Dermot Illogical · 25-01-2012 8:09pm

EPireland wrote: »

For scenery you won't match the Giants Causeway Coast Sportive, cutting through the Glens of Antrim and along the famous shore road. Torr road near the end is steep and undulating with amazing views over the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland.

Steep? As I heard someone say at last year's event, "You could hang your calendar on it"

Keep_Her_Lit · 25-01-2012 10:09pm

LCD wrote: »

Platnium time is under 3hrs and I think 15 +/- got that last year.

That's a brisk pace alright!

A few questions, if you can answer them ...

Does this group typically work together or do things tend to get a bit more competitive than that (informally, of course, since it's not a race)?

What's the total vertical ascent around the course? [edit: just looked at the garmin report and see it's 588m]

Do you know what date it's on this year?

What's the entry fee?

Ta!

G rock · 25-01-2012 10:39pm

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

LCD wrote: »

Platnium time is under 3hrs and I think 15 +/- got that last year.

That's a brisk pace alright!

A few questions, if you can answer them ...

Does this group typically work together or do things tend to get a bit more competitive than that (informally, of course, since it's not a race)?

What's the total vertical ascent around the course? [edit: just looked at the garmin report and see it's 588m]

Do you know what date it's on this year?

What's the entry fee?

Ta!

I went in the "silver" group last year but got in with a really good group, everyone did a bit on the front, and we came in at 3 hr 11 min (think that was a "gold" time)

Was good fun coming in from carlingford, were flying along!

check_six · 26-01-2012 12:58pm

G rock wrote: »

I went in the "silver" group last year but got in with a really good group, everyone did a bit on the front, and we came in at 3 hr 11 min (think that was a "gold" time)

Was good fun coming in from carlingford, were flying along!

I must have finished somewhere near your group so, I rolled in at roughly that time too. I had been more or less on my own and banjaxed going over the top of the climb. My descending 'skills' had allowed a group of 7-8 to catch up with me and I hung onto their tails trying to recover heading along Carlingford. Then the group got split at a junction and try as I might I couldn't get back onto the group. I got frustratingly close (<30m) but couldn't quite latch on.

Eventually, I just tried to roll at my own pace and wait for the next group as the route was turning back into the headwind. Linked up with two strangely untalkative lads, but I made a complete mess of a turn in front. We had hit a slight uphill patch and I just ploughed along and by the time I looked back for support (because I was banjoed again) they were off in the distance. I suspect they had never followed my wheel at all.

So I was all alone again until I hit Dundalk and a group working well zoomed up to my wheel. They were doing all the 'proper' calls and whatnot. This was all new to me and I got rightly confused when doing a turn at the front coming up to a crossroads going past some potholes. Someone shouted "Left!" behind me... and I turned left. Frantic shouting from the rest of the group as they went straight on indicated that I may have misunderstood the call somewhat. I hung on with them till the finish, so, G rock, if there was a tired and very confused looking fellow in the group with you at the end, that was me!

Top 10 Irish sportives 2012??

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