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The Blog/Log of g0g
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31-10-2010 10:43pm#1Well I found it interesting reading other logs when training for running events in the past, so I thought I might start my own cycling one now! I just took up cycling earlier this year and have decided it's much more fun than running so am going to stick with it! I'm hoping to use this log to keep track of any bigger cycles and maybe seek advice from people!
Past Events: Dublin Marathon 2008, Gaelforce West 2010 and (if it counts!) the Joe Loughman Randonnee (my first cycling event of any sort!) earlier this year.
Current Goal: Complete the 2011 Wicklow 200
Bike: Boardman Hybrid (went with a hybrid as I was doing GFW)
Equipment: I'm using a Garmin Forerunner 305 with HRM to log any training.
Any comments/feedback/advice much appreciated, and hope to meet some fellow boardies at any events I make it to, or just out on the road in general!0
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Sunday 31st October 2010 - 09:00
Route: Home – Dundrum – Sally Gap – Brittas – Tallaght - Home
It’s kinda a little bit inaccurate as I pressed stop on GPS at a garage before the big climb and only restarted about 30 minutes later! Oh well, I still got the essentials I think!
Despite the problems and the weather I really enjoyed the cycle today! Headed around the canal to the N81 and turned right. Thought I had the right route for the Dublin Mountains but missed a crucial right turn which added a few km’s to the trip! Tough work on the ascent as always on Edmonstown and Cruagh Road, but at least it warmed me up! I have to say the scenery was fantastic today with autumn colours everywhere!
Started the ascent from the viewpoint there and everything was going well, despite minimal visibility. I’m about to pass two cyclists when I hear that dreaded noise. PPPPPPSSSSSSSSS. It can only mean one thing....
Having only started cycling again in June my puncture repair experience is limited to one go on each wheel in the warmth/comfort of my home! Oh well, good to get some practice! As per below, it was so nice that every group to pass while I sorted it slowed down and offered help. It’s a really nice “warm” feeling for a new cyclist to get, knowing that everyone seems to look out for one another! Thankfully also it was the front wheel, so at least a little easier than the back!
No problems the rest of the way to Sally Gap. Visibility poor at times, and I’m also a bit nervous going any way fast in the wet when there are corners ahead!
God I love the start of the descent from Sally Gap! You can see a fair bit ahead and it’s nice and straight! Makes all that climbing worthwhile to fly down stretches like that! Again the scenery was lovely along the way here given the time of year! It’s a long enough cycle from there down to the N81, but at least the weather was dry!
Looks like I spoke too soon! When I reached the N81 it started to pour! Today was the first time I wore a buff as a balaclava, and I certainly was grateful for it! I laughed at the idea in the past and normally just bring the buff for no apparent reason, but today it was a lifesaver! Rain poured on me from here to Tallaght! Didn’t enjoyed that second descent into Tallaght as much as previous times due to rain/wind, but it was still good!
Feet very cold at this stage as I headed up Belgard Road to Newlands Cross. Didn’t have a clue what it’d be like heading in the N7 across the M50. Luckily there's a pretty good bikelane setup so I survived it!
Finally made it home sometime around 12:30. What a pain it is storing your bike in an apartment! I’m ground floor, but anytime I cycle in the rain I have to dry it on the balcony before taking it inside!
Jersey Sightings:
Daragh_ (near Sally Gap) and one other one down at the Bottle Tower earlier on.
Highlights of the cycle:
1) First 1km of the descent from Sally Gap towards Brittas
2) Descent from Brittas towards Tallaght
3) The number of help offers when I got the puncture
4) Successfully fixing the puncture!
Low points of the cycle:
1) Getting the puncture
2) Realising my back disc brake won’t work properly and not understanding why!
3) Realising my shoes aren’t very waterproof at all!
Thoughts for the day:
1) What’s the etiquette for puncture tubes? I brought mine home as would have felt guilty leaving it there. Do people abandon them normally or what’s the done thing?
2) What’s the big advantage of a racer over a hybrid? I prefer my cycling position and I seem to have better gears for going up hills!
Random Videos from the Day!
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gOg - you posted that we had similar goals. Problem is we appear to be coming from very different starting points - DCM'08, GaelForce'10 .... :eek:
Let me get some more mileage on the legs, get back from Westport in one piece and I might join you for part of your "Dundrum to the Hills and back" spin (but on a fair day
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Saturday 6th November 2010 - 08:45
Route: Home – Pine Forest - Johnnie Fox’s - Glencree – Sally Gap – Kilakee Road - Home
Well I saw the Boards Spin being organised for today and contemplated trying to join in, but I suspect my average speed (22.4km/h today with all the hills!:o) might be a little less than theirs! Hopefully in the future will tag along for one of those spins for as long as I can keep up with them!
This morning I decided it was time to try out some hills. Rather than starting each day with one tough climb and then coasting home for the next hour and a half, I decided to be a little cruel on myself and try to do a set of hills! I think for the whole cycle there was nearly 1,000m of climbing.
Turned left after Cruagh Road and headed over towards Johnnie Fox’s. To be extra cruel I then headed down the Devil’s Elbow which has a good climb on the far side. Headed up through Curtlestown to Glencree. Was tempted to turn right and head back at that stage, but instead pushed for the climb up to Sally Gap and back. It had been glorious weather up as far as Glencree, but by the time I reached Sally Gap there was fairly minimal visibility!
It was :eek:COLD:eek: up in the fog today! First time I’ve really suffered in the temperature. I think it’s time to start wearing winter gloves and look into some sort of shoe covers/warmers. By the time I got home I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes! Anyways from Sally Gap back to home absolutely flew by. Apart from the climb after Glencree it was downhill most of the way! Came down Kilakee Road which I haven’t cycled before, so I was a bit nervous and on the brakes a lot!
Total time was in the region of three hours in the end. It’s mad because when I was running anything over an hour felt like a serious run, but with cycling I think you have to be sitting on the bike a lot longer to use up the same amount of energy! Or maybe I’m just not pushing hard enough yet on the bike!
Overall really enjoyed it out there today anyway and already looking forward to next weekend's spin!
Jersey Sightings:
Passed a lot of cyclists, but no Boards jerseys! Ordered my own this week so am looking forward to receiving that soon!
Highlights of the cycle:
1) Not getting a puncture!:cool:
2) The views throughout the day!
3) Not getting rained on after last week!
4) Thawing out afterwards!!!
5) The peace and quiet up there early in the morning!:)
Low points of the cycle:
1) Losing feeling in my hands and wondering if they’d work on the brakes!
2) A car on the way home passing me way too close and nearly knocking me off.:mad:
3) Not even managing to hit 50 km/h once!
Thoughts for the day:
1) Just how cold am I going to get when the temperature drops more!? Need to invest in something that will keep my feet warm. Only just bought the shoes recently, so hopefully I can find some sort of cheap covers! Are these the type of thing I need?
2) Not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to keep the bike in the apartment! Am a bit nervous about using the underground carpark, but it’s such a pain having to clean it down after every cycle before bringing it inside!
Other Training Last Week (to help me keep track)
Badminton league match on Thursday night (tough going!) and a few walks.0 -
Saturday 13th November 2010 - 08:30
Route: Home – Sally Gap - Roundwood - Bray – Donnybrook - Home
Very lucky spin weather-wise this morning! Glorious sunshine up in the mountains and then I think the first drop of rain started to fall about 20/30 minutes after I got home! After last week’s hilly cycle I opted for a few less hills and a little more distance.
Since last week I made the very sensible investment in BB Overshoes which were an absolute blessing and kept my toes warm this time around. I also started wearing my Aldi winter gloves which appear to do the job!
It was tough heading into the mountains today with what felt like a bit of a headwind on the uphill. That said, it was worth it for the views. I headed up a little earlier than previous weeks and barely met a soul on the loop right back to Bray.
Turned left at Sally Gap for a change to pop down to Bray as part of the loop. The scenery along Lough Tay really is incredible, and I’m finding relative to being in a car you really do appreciate the views so much more on a bike! It’s a steep downhill just after the lake and was great fun!
From Roundwood back towards the Sugar Loaf I did my best to keep up towards the 30 km/h mark. I haven’t really done all that much flat cycling recently so have no idea what my average speed on flat is! Stopped in Bray for a while (55km) and got some energy before the ~25km trip home. The N11 hills felt so tough earlier in the summer, and it’s nice now after more Wicklow Mountain cycling to find those hills a lot easier!
Overall a great morning. Just under 80km in total so was delighted with that. However, as per thought 1 below I think maybe I’ll need to start thinking of some new routes soon! Took a few videos along the way and will put them up at some point.
Jersey Sightings:
Nada
Highlights of the cycle:
1) Not coming back with freezing toes!
2) The views
3) The descents (as always!)
Low points of the cycle:
1) Nearly going flat on my snot at Loughlinstown roundabout. Completely my own fault - nearly went into roundabout without realising another car was coming around. Stopped quickly fine but then realised both shoes were clipped in! Just about managed to get unclipped before bike fell over!:eek:
Thoughts for the day:
1) At what point in the year do the Wicklow Mountains become a no-go area for morning cycles? I’m beginning to wonder if it’s gonna start getting icy up there pretty soon!
2) Am I carrying too much in the saddle bag? Currently I bring levers, one tube, puncture repair kit and multitool thingy. Would I be better with 2 tubes and no repair kit, or is that too big a risk in case I get 3 punctures!!!
3) Do taxis hate cyclists more than other car-users? They all seem to come so close when overtaking bikes!
4) Today just before finishing I had gone through my 2 800ml bottles! What am I going to do on longer runs where it’s not an official event with water-stops!?
Other Training Last Week (to help me keep track)
One badminton league match (close one!) on Tuesday evening, but otherwise not a whole lot. Am also hoping to do some sort of short cycle tomorrow!0 -
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Sunday 21st November 2010 - 08:45
Route: Home – Bray – Coast Road to Rathnew – N11 to Bray - Home
I’m afraid my luck with the weather ran out this morning, although it was a nice dry stretch from Bray back to home to give me a chance to dry out a little bit! I’d been thinking all week that I’d like to do a really long cycle this weekend and maybe avoid the Dublin/Wicklow Mountains completely for a change! I was checking distances on Google Maps and realised it’d be ~40km to Newcastle or ~52km to Wicklow so decided that’d be a good challenge. I’ve done 100km before with a friend, but I didn’t realise that distances feel a lot longer without someone to chat to along the way!
So anyway I headed out at 08:45, hoping also that my average pace ended up a little higher than the hilly days! All was fine as far as Cherrywood, and then the first drops of rain fell! I donned my (cheap/flimsy) windsheeter and battled on, as I thought I read on the forecast that it’d be just a couple of showers. It was fairly on/off from there on, and it didn’t bother me all that much!
It’s quite a climb from Superquinn in Bray all the way up to the top of Wine Gates, although it’s worth it for the hill from there down to the outskirts of Greystones! When I hit Kilcoole I still felt good so kept going. At this stage though the drizzle was heavy enough and my not-so-waterproof-windsheeter pretty much gave up on me! J Actually, the biggest problem of all was my hands! Aldi’s winter cycling gloves may keep you warm, but they’re absolutely rubbish once it starts raining!
By Newcastle I started thinking about the fact that this was still the outbound leg, but I was just determined not to give up and try pushing for Wicklow. The rain was heavy enough by the time I got to the petrol station in Rathnew, and the GPS was saying just about 50km so I decided enough was enough for the moment and stopped there for my break! Two bottles of lucozade (with a free bobbly winter hat!) and 4 Freddo bars later I started to feel a little bit warmer again! Got a few sympathetic nods from drivers at the garage seeing me sheltering there looking fairly soaked!
Realised at that stage my back disc brake is kinda banjaxed again. It’s really annoying because I have no idea what’s wrong with it. The suggestion is contamination, but when I brought it to Halford’s recently yer man got it working again, so I’m guessing maybe it’s something else.
Took the main road back towards Bray after that. I must say it’s quite confusing heading North from Ashford trying to find your way. There are quite a few roundabouts with signs for all these random local areas, but never telling you which way for Bray/Dublin (despite being from Bray it’s ages since I’ve been down on that road!). Found my way to the N11 in the end and continued on. Some amount of spray off the cars passing me and I got fairly manky!
Tired by the time I reached Bray and was quite tired so stopped home for a break. When I leave the bike/GPS in the porch it keeps on thinking it’s moving again which annoys me because it affects my timing no doubt, but thankfully the Garmin site seem to give you a figure for both average speed and average moving speed, so I assume that’s the correction.
Wasn’t a pleasant experience putting back on my wet gloves leaving Bray, and it took me a few km to warm back up again, but at least it wasn’t raining! I pushed myself a bit more than usual on the N11 run as I wanted to get my average speed above 25km/h for the whole cycle. As I got closer to home I realised the GPS wasn’t quite going to hit the 100km mark, so I added in an extra lap of Inchicore for good measure! Was delighted to get back in less than 4 hours total!
Jersey Sightings:
Nothing again! Didn’t meet many cyclists the than two friendly ones along the coast road who gave a wave!
Highlights of the cycle:
1) Once again the overshoes did a MAGIC job! Toasty feet all day, and my shoes were dry too! I think a little bit of water is coming in the top because it’s not tight enough, but I’ll easily be able to fix that I reckon!
2) My free hat!
3) Reaching 100km solo for the first time!
4) The sun coming out for the first time around Kilmacanogue
Low points of the cycle:
1) A couple of cars passing me out WAY too close in Shankill and again along the canal.
2) Realising the back brake has a problem again.
3) Seeing the filth of my bike when I got back and knowing I had to clean it before it went into the apartment!
4) The paintwork on the bike seems to chip so easily. It no longer has its lovely new look. I guess it was never going to last forever!
Thoughts for the day:
1) Aren’t some cycle lanes in a right heap!? My least favourite are the ones along the N11 near RTE and Belfield.
2) I realise now the scale of a 200km cycle (Wicklow 200). Thinking of doing twice what I did today PLUS the fact that’s it’s very hilly is a bit scary.
3) Need to research some not-too-expensive waterproof winter gloves.
Other Training Last Week (to help me keep track)
Badminton practice Tuesday and Friday plus played in a tournament yesterday.
More next week hopefully!0 -
Well as I assume is the case for many others, the weather has put a temporary halt to my cycling these past couple of weeks! not having a turbo, exercise bike or gym membership I don't really have any other options!
In positive news I registered for the WW200 yesterday!
Definitely committed to it now and working on talking a couple of friends into it!
Hurry up and thaw, snow!0 -
Sunday 12th December 2010 – 10:00
Route: Home – Charlesland – Bray - Home
Ok so I haven’t exactly been punctual with this one, but the bike and I aren’t quite on speaking terms again just yet! It’s been over a week since the cycle and I just haven’t had a chance to do much writing about it!
So with all this snow I was getting more and more frustrated not being able to get out on the bike. With the first batch thawing and more expected on the way I decided it was time to get back up on the saddle! I had seen cyclists during the week and was happy enough that it’d be fine.
Got wrapped up and set off around the Canal towards Leeson St Bridge. I’d say within about 2km of leaving the apartment both me and the bike were absolutely filthy! Now I know where all that grit and dirt that gathers on road-snow ends up….. splattered all over poor cyclists!! It was literally everywhere! Each time I picked out the bottle for a drink I laughed at how manky it was! Apart from the dirt though I found the conditions fine all the way out to Charlesland.
Little bit tough on the up-hills having not done much recently. My knee was at me, especially for the long haul from Superquinn Bray right up to Windgates. Hopefully just a sign of un-fit-ness as opposed to some sort of injury! I decided anyway not to push it too far and target a total of about 70km with nothing hugely major in the way of hills.
I met a fair bit more ice on the cycle up the N11 back to Bray. Patches around the place were a little bit dodgy, and yes there was lots more muck to contend with. Stopped in Bray for a while, which was a little bit messy given the general filth of me!
Things were fine from there right in as far as Belfield until I heard that dreaded sound…… ppppppsssssssssssssssssssssss….. etc! Parked bike near bus shelter on ice. Turned it upside down and started work. Hands manky already and now worse. Hands also freezing cold. Replacement tube looked a little skinnier than my normal ones (never figured out if it was wrong or not!). Tough checking the inside of the tyre with my filthy and cold hands. Starting to get very cold so lost interest in pumping at about 40psi or maybe it was 50. Everything seemed fine so I set off again.
I was smiling at this stage. Although it’s a pain in the bum, fixing punctures has something manly about it – I suspect the novelty will wear off very quickly! Looks like I spoke too soon anyway – halfway around the canal and the same f….ing wheel went again. At this stage I just lost all morale! Too cold to bother with the repair kit and I only had one spare tube. From there I just walked home.
It wasn’t until the middle of last week that I could face washing the thing. My usual brushing it with a manky t-shirt didn’t work, so I took it apart and put it in the bath! This of course led to me having a manky dirty bathtub now!
To add to my problems, neither brake seems to be working right now. I’m told it’s this same contamination problem, but I don’t like either of the suggested solutions – either baking the pads in the oven or buying new brake pads. I’m hoping if I take em apart again and give a good clean that might do the job!
In positive news, as per previous post I’m now registered for the WW200. That said, do they send you details at this stage? Because I didn’t get anything other than a payment receipt! In other good news a friend seems closer than ever to investing in a bike at last!
Jersey Sightings:
None, although I’ve since last week collected my own boards jersey to wear when the weather gets better (as it seems pretty thin!)
Highlights of the cycle:
1) The weather was nice and clear.
2) Managing to keep an average speed over 40km/h for a relatively flat kilometre.
3) Reaching 100km solo for the first time!
4) The sun coming out for the first time around Kilmacanogue
Low points of the cycle:
1) Neither brake working properly anymore!
2) Puncture #1
3) Puncture #2
4) Not realising that walking home with my overshoes on would put two holes in the front of each of them under where the stud thingies are. Am annoyed coz they’re still so close to new!
Thoughts for the day:
I had some really good ones, but I’ve forgotten them since the cycle!
Other Training Last Week (to help me keep track)
A few badminton matches once again, although I suspect nothing much will happen for the next week.
Happy Christmas all!0 -
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Sunday 9th January 2011 – 14:30
Route: Home – 3 laps of Phoenix Park - Home
Bless me bike for I have sinned – it’s been nearly a month to the day since we’ve been out on the road! Oh well, I’m guessing I’m not the only one who feels that way at the moment. Between the hell that was my last cycle plus the recent weather and Christmas season I simply haven’t been able to get away until today! For anyone who cares about the brake pad saga, I gave up in the end and passed the problem on to Halford’s (given that my purchase included 1 year of servicing). The funny thing is yer man said they’re grand and showed me which knob he twisted to get them working. I was so sure I’d tried the exact same thing that I’m not sure if I believe him! Either way the brakes are back working so I don’t care!
The good news since last time is that for Christmas I treated myself to a brand new Garmin Edge 500 with HRM and Cadence sensor. I was able to sell my Forerunner 305 for € 120 today and the 500 only cost € 220 delivered from Handtec, so I reckon € 100 wasn’t a bad deal for a great new gadget to play with! Took me a little while to figure out exactly how to set up the cadence/speed sensor but I got there in the end! Loving it so far and would highly recommend it to anyone. Yeah, lots of the information is probably useless, but I just love gadgets! The only purchases I’ve made so far were a cheap base layer and cheap summer jersey from M & M Direct (great value if anyone’s looking for a bargain!). Lastly I got a STG£ 50 Wiggle voucher as a present, but I simply can’t decide what to spend it on. I was torn between putting it towards a turbo, a workstand or bib tights. I’ve knocked turbo off the list for the moment so it’s kinda between the other two!
There isn’t really a whole lot to report about this cycle to be honest other than that it’s great to be back in the saddle again! Was worried I might only last two laps when my arse started to ache after about 3km, but once I got back into the swing of things I just didn’t want to stop. Was nervous enough that there might be ice everywhere, but I only saw a little bit in one area and avoided that. There were actually quite a few cyclists out today, most of whom gave the usual friendly nod!
Jersey Sightings:
Nada.
Highlights of the cycle:
1) Data on the Edge 500
2) Actually being back cycling again!
3) Winter gloves kept me very warm, as did the new base layer.
4) Seeing so many other people out running/cycling on a cold enough day!
Low points of the cycle:
1) Probably should have worn the overshoes - toes numb on return home!
2) Whilst I don’t mind kids not being able to get out of the way on their bikes, it kinda annoys me when groups of 2-4 people on the Phoenix Park cycle lanes look shocked when you expect them to make room for you to pass (when they have their own footpath!!)
Thoughts for the day:
What should average cadence be? Must research!
What’s the craic in places like the Phoenix Park on the main stretch when there are cycle lanes on each side of the road, but away from the road. Is it like normal cycle lanes and the one on each side should follow the flow direction of the traffic, or are they like footpaths and both sides can be used in either direction?
Other Training Last Month (to help me keep track)
Getting much more back into the badminton now, and have a couple of matches to play this week!
More hopefully next weekend! Still working on convincing a few friends to do the Wicklow 200!0 -
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Thanks for the feedback lafors!I'm no expert but I try to aim for a cadence of between 80-90 on the 90 side of it. Your avg HR looks like your training in the right zone to me.........but I'm sure the experts will be along to put me right soon Will keep that in mind re cadence. As for my heartrate, well it was higher than usual I think due to how banjaxed I was from recent lack of exercise! guess that means once I get fitter again I can pedal faster, or something like that..... 0 -
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I'm afraid it's the Forerunner 305 I had, not the Edge 305. If you dig a couple of pages or so through the main forum there was a thread discussing this very question recently I think. I'm a huge fan of the 500 anyway!Hi, I'm torn between the 305 and the 500, and as a man who's had both, any thoughts? As far as I can tell, the 305 tells you where to go and the 500 tells you where you've been, does that about cover it0 -
Saturday 15th January 2011 – 08:45
Route: Home – Rathfarnham – Glencree – Enniskerry – Stepaside - Ranelagh - Home
Talk about picking the wrong day of the weekend for your cycle! :rolleyes: I nearly shed a tear when I saw how much nicer the weather was today, but alas I picked yesterday for my mad mountain adventure! I find it’s nearly impossible to change your mind on a cycle once you have all the gear on and head out the door. It was still dark enough at half eight and seemed grand outside so I continued getting ready. A little bit of rain was falling as I headed out the door, but I decided that wasn’t good enough an excuse to head back to bed and continued on. The headwind on the way out the Rathfarnham Road gave me a taste for what was to come. Wind seemed pretty much South/West – i.e. headwind for the big climb.
Decided to try Kilakee Road / Stocking Lane instead of the usual Cruagh Road for a change. I’m not sure which of the two I hate more just yet (!!):pac:, but my god the wind made the climb torture! The combination of not having a hilly cycle in a while, plus rain, plus wind made it a tough experience. But the worst was yet to come! I stopped for a drink just before heading up the Pine Forest Road at the carpark there. By this stage the wind was so strong it was hard for me to keep the bike standing straight as I took the break. If I wasn’t so bloody-minded about doing things the sensible thing would have been to turn back at this point, but no, I had picked my route and was sticking to it.
It actually wasn’t bad from there for a while, but I guess that was just because of the shelter from the forest. Once the trees were gone I was met by weather like nothing I’ve ever tried to cycle in before! The wind was howling across the road, and the raindrops were horizontal and SORE on the eyes! :eek: I’m not sure which was toughest between the gusts nearly blowing me into the ditch, the raindrops stinging my eyes/face or the effort of peddling against it all! The rain quickly became too sore so I had to put on my misty wet shades – as you can imagine this didn’t help visibility greatly! It was probably a dumb thing heading up there on my own in those conditions and not turning back, but it was an “experience” anyway! Didn’t meet another soul up there walking or cycling, and only saw three cars. I was very grateful for the buff yesterday – it saved my ears from filling with water!
Got yet another :mad:puncture:mad: on the descent after the long flat bit at the top. This most certainly wasn’t welcome, but at least the timing was good-ish as it was just before the woods above Glencree so I had some shelter. I’m getting better at this whole puncture thing now! Air temperature wasn’t as cold as it’s been this winter, but my hands were still completely numb by the time the job was done!
The descent from Glencree to Enniskerry was good, but the potholes and very wet road made it challenging enough. The narrowness and windiness of the road also mean I’m nervous about flying down it! And as for the last hill before you hit Enniskerry Village – do any cyclists go down that full pelt? If so, how do you manage to stop afterwards!?
From here to home I actually met a few cyclists, so it was nice to know that others were out and about yesterday. Despite heading into the wind all morning it somehow felt like it was against me coming home too, but maybe that was just me being banjaxed! For a change I came in through Dundrum and Ranelagh to get back to the canal. I have to say I don’t think they’re great roads for cycling – way too much stopped traffic and narrow roads. Coming back via N11 or Harold’s Cross seem to be much more bike friendly!
I made it home in one piece in the end. Soaked and pretty filthy, but I still enjoyed the experience!
Jersey Sightings:
Not a sausage, didn’t even see another cyclists until >30km!
Highlights of the cycle:
1) The satisfaction of completing the cycle!
2) I’m getting better at fixing punctures!
3) Strangely I quite enjoyed cleaning the gears after the cycle. I got a cleaner brush for Christmas and found doing the job quite rewarding!
Low points of the cycle:
1) Horizontal rain blinding me!
2) Rear wheel puncture!
3) Trying to put back on my soaking wet gloves anytime I need to take them off!:(
4) Bad traffic in Ranelagh and Dundrum
Thoughts for the day:
1) Is there a cycling expression to describe cadence relative to speed? Given that people can have all sorts of different sizes of gears on the front and back there are lots of combinations, but surely this all comes down to a relationship between how fast your legs are moving relative to the wheels? Or does wheel size have to be factored in also?
2) I may have asked before, but what do people do with punctured tubes? Does no one at all bother repairing them? Are they weaker once repaired? Given that they come in packs of 10 I’m kinda guessing what the answer might be here!
Other Training Last Month (to help me keep track)
Badminton match on Friday but got beaten pretty badly!0 -
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Saturday 22nd January 2011 – 08:55
Route: Home – Bray – Roundwood – Bray – Home
Finally on Saturday I had my first bit of company for one of the cycles, hopefully a sign of things to come! Although I’ve been enjoying the solo cycles it does make it easier having someone else along the way to talk to (when I’m not gasping on the hills!:eek:) and enjoy the journey with!
It was the other lad’s first cycle of the year, so I decided to meet him in Bray and do the ~50km round trip from Kilmainham to Bray on my own. That was probably pushing myself a little bit more than planned, but there were loads of breaks during the day so I survived it fine!:)
I discovered a danger on the way to Bray – buses with regular stops have roughly the same pace as me. This led to me (without realising it!) pacing myself against a 145 from the Stillorgan Park Hotel until beyond White’s Cross. Now that may not sound like very far, but it’s lots of uphill and without realising it I found myself cycling a lot faster than normal! Needless to say I was shocked by the top of the hill when I glanced at the Garmin and saw my HR in the 170’s:eek:! Was delighted with the pace on the way out to Bray – think I averaged nearly 28km/h which is above my norm!
Didn’t stop for long in Bray and then headed for Kilmac. We contemplated staying away from any sort of hills in case there might still be icy patches but decided Roundwood should be safe enough a run in the end. It was my first time in ages heading up the hill beyond Kilmacanogue – only a few exciting minutes to come down it, but a different story going up! That said, it was the only real hill of the day, so didn’t kill me! The trip from there to Roundwood was actually very easy going – it was only on the way back that I realised we had the wind behind us most of the way up! Passed lots of cyclists throughout the day, and even spotted a Boards jersey.
Stopped in Bray for a good while then hit the road home. Once again the wind was a bit more in my face and I struggled along the stretch there near Cornelscourt. I didn’t mind the struggling though provided I avoid punctures for the day, and thankfully I made it back puncture free!
In other random news I made a few videos on the little gadget I got before. I also ordered bib tights last week and they arrived today. My god these things are so snug I might just start wearing them around work!!! Looking forward to a cycle hopefully this weekend with warm knees for a change!
Jersey Sightings:
One on the way to Roundwood coming in the other direction around 11ish.
Highlights of the cycle:
1) Having some company!
2) Can never leave out the Sugar Loaf descent to Kilmac!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxJzlK94DVg
3) Not having to queue through Bray like everyone stuck in their cars!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxguXjG72oA
Low points of the cycle:
1) Approaching Foxrock on the N11 coming back and struggling on the little incline!
2) A dog launching itself over the gate to where I thought it was safely locked away and scaring the sh¦[@ out of me!
Thoughts for the day:
1) Does it make any difference to energy usage between carrying things in your jersey versus on the bike? Does having things on yourself help because the mass is added to your body, so if you’re standing on the pedals you have more weight to push down with and the “bike” is lighter?
2) Does not using bike lanes make me a bad cyclist!? I’m using them less on the N11 because some of them frustrate me so much – they stop/start all the time, they’re manky dirty, they’re full of debris to puncture tyres and there are all sorts of potholes and other obstacles along the way!
Other Training Last Month (to help me keep track)
Badminton training Friday, Inter-county Sunday and league match (4-0!) Monday!0 -
Sunday 30th January 2011 – 09:25
Route: Home – Rathfarnham – Sally Gap – Lough Tay - Enniskerry – Home
Another week another cycle! Starting to get into a routine now at this stage! What an absolutely fantastic cycle – hardly a single problem the whole way, good company and great views! It only hit me heading out the door what I’ve been missing not having bib tights until now! My knees have been freezing every cycle over Christmas – it was bearable but not comfortable. I doubt I’ll ever want to cycle without these new yokes now they’re so snug! Good job too as it was a cold one on Sunday morning I must say! Had an eventless cycle to the roundabout at the bottom of the Edmondstown where I met the other lad. It’s nice to have company for the climb!
It was a slow but steady ascent, and the first time ever I haven’t stopped at the carpark up the top (where they often have an icecream van) before continuing on up! The only scare on the way was an upside-down crashed car on the Cruagh Road. The three lads who had been in it looked fine (and said they were too), but we might not have been as fine had we been cycling that route half an hour or so earlier. I guess there’s nothing you can do to protect yourself from things like that and just hope you’re not in the wrong place at the wrong time…. Contemplated stopping to take a photo of the car then realised how inappropriate that would be
On the cycle across from the top to Glencree we came across two unexpected things. Firstly two massive (and thankfully obvious) patches of ice on the road in a non-shaded spot, and secondly a crowd of about 15 people cycling down the hill on those little fold-up bikes!? Very random, and I doubt they cycled up the hills on them! Does anyone know is there some sort of tour where they drive a bus up the mountains and let tourists fly back down the roads on these things?
Anyway we proceeded with caution on across to Sally Gap given the bare-above-freezing temperature! No ice noticed on the road at all, although at the crossroads I could see a puddle beside the road had about 1-2cm of solid ice on top of it! We decided to head down via Lough Tay so I made myself a random little video on the first descent!
My god the hill along the lake there after the first woods is a steep one up – you just turn the corner and are hit with a tough battle! We even passed over two patches of slush on the way up! But it’s worth it all for that last downhill! I finally managed to break the 70km/h barrier on that stretch. I reckon I could’ve gone faster but I’m always nervous because there are cars parked at the bottom of the hill and you can’t see the traffic in the distance. Either way it’s a lovely stretch from there for a couple of kilometres or so!
Took the first left and down by Djouce Woods – two huge crowds of mountain bikers along the way. Is it just me or do all road cyclists feel a little bit inadequate passing groups of muddy bruised MTB-ers!? They just look like they’ve come off a battlefield, whilst I’m sauntering along with my tights on!
Had a welcome bar of chocolate in Enniskerry before continuing on through Kilternan and Stepaside and over past Lamb Doyle’s. I left the other lad at Marlay Park and continued on my own from there. At that stage the average speed was showing as 19.3km/h and I was determined to average 20km/h overall, so that gave me some energy for the solo trip home. Was glad in the end because I think my average was 20.1km/h! A great cycle anyway and can’t wait to get back out there again! Lots of cyclists around the place too!
My mission for the week now is to get off my bum and join Bray Wheelers. Will hopefully make it out for a few of their spins during the year!
Jersey Sightings:
Seeing a few more now these days. Defo one on my way into Enniskerry plus I think some Boards.ie shorts passed me out on the road from there to Kilternan. Someday one will pass me slowly and I’ll say hello!
Highlights of the cycle:
1) Breaking the sound barrier (or 70km/h as it’s more normally known!)
2) Feeling the need to stop much less than previously!
3) Stunning views up in the mountains!
4) Some friendly hellos from others on the road!
5) I have to mention the tights!
6) Still loving all the stats from the Edge 500!
Low points of the cycle:
1) My gloves are still pants! They’re the one last piece of inadequate gear I have! Am trawling the internet in a hunt for a sub-€30 pair of warm waterproof gloves!
Thoughts for the day:
1) See note above about people on foldaway bikes!
Other Training Last Month (to help me keep track)
Bit of badminton again on Friday night.0 -
Sunday 6th February 2011
Route: Woodenbridge – Shay Elliott - Laragh – Sally Gap – Kilmainham
This week’s cycle planned itself in a strange last-minute way, and it was a great one! During the week I spotted the pigsback.com deal for one night in Woodenbridge. I bought a voucher right away and suggested using it at the weekend. My wife came up with the great idea of putting my bike in the boot of her car and me cycling home from the hotel on the Sunday. Fantastic idea as it’s the exact sort of distance I was looking to cover, plus it gave the option of two great climbs on the route home! It was also a great idea to spend a Saturday night away together and then get a nice one-way route home instead of the usual loop. I wasn’t sure on directions, but thankfully manwithaplan, michael196, david, smacl and paddymacsporran replied and gave me some great pointers!
Now it seemed like a great idea to book the hotel without looking out the window, but on Saturday I was a little nervous on the way down with the weather! But having dragged my (7-months-pregnant!:pac:) wife all the way down there and squeezed my bike into an Opel Corsa, there was no going back on this “great idea”! Google Maps was great to look at the day before the cycle to be visually familiar with the turn-offs. I was a little too nervous to let this be the first time I navigated with the Edge 500, and anyway I had Nokia Maps on my phone as backup!
The other great benefit on the day was the timing. I mapped the route on my wife’s GPS in her car, and we managed to time it perfectly that she caught me at top of Shay Elliott and followed on the descent to Laragh, where we had a break, then she left later and caught me at Sally Gap and then again at that carpark overlooking Dublin that I can never remember the name of after coming across from Glencree.
So anyways I set off early enough. The one disadvantage was not being able to enjoy a nice big brekkie
and instead needing to go for a healthier option!! Lovely road from Woodenbridge up to Meetings, and then from there it became a much narrower road with a few hefty potholes in places! I found myself eating up the distance pretty quickly to be honest. In no time I was in Ballinaclash, then Greenane, then Glenmalure. It was such a scenic route but I barely saw more than 5 cars all the way to Glenmalure and not a single other cyclist!
Then it was time to take on “Shay” for the second time in my brief (to date!) cycling career. Tough hill, but not as bad as last time! I can imagine it must be scary done as a downhill! I was looking forward to being blown up the hill, but the wind never showed up until about the last 100m, by which stage it frustrated me :mad: as I felt I did the rest without being blown along (or so I told myself!!!) and then this pushed me over the line when I didn’t need it! To say it was windy when I reached the top would be a major understatement! :eek:
The descent from there is absolutely brilliant!
Really enjoyed it, and just one dodgy patch for potholes along the way! There was wind and rain but I didn’t care! The journey from there to Laragh absolutely flew by. At this stage I still hadn’t met another cyclists and was sure I’d see a few in Laragh, yet all I saw was two of them passing while I was stopped. We went to Anne’s Café – is that where all the cyclists stop during the summer? Nice place!
By the time I left there the rain was heavier, but the bike was too wet to put in the car and I was determined not to quit! Despite the clouds and bad weather the scenery up that way is so amazing, so I can only imagine what it’ll be like to cycle up there on a nice day. With all the recent rainfall the waterfall-type-thingy towards the top of the first big ascent was gushing down, and that gave me a good distraction from all the climbing.
I don’t think I realised how far it was from Laragh up to Sally Gap – around 15km I think. But again it was quiet (traffic-wise) and I had the wind roughly behind me a lot of the time. Couple of very big potholes towards the end there. Soon after Sally Gap I hit a patch with the howling wind right behind me and I found myself hitting around 50 km/h on a flat-ish part without much effort at all.
Unfortunately from here to the end of the cycle I had a major problem which caused a lot of grief. Both brakes stopped working properly, and it took a huge amount of pressure on them to slow the bike down. This was hugely frustrating as it’s happened a few times since I got the bike and it takes the enjoyment out of the descents. I don’t know what the hell is wrong!? People have suggested contamination, but I haven’t replaced them yet and gotten them back working, so surely they can’t be contaminated. I presume it’s not the rain so what else is there? If I could be sure that replacing the pads would sort it I’d gladly buy them, but I don’t want to spend money for the sake of it unless I know it’ll solve the problem!
Back to the cycle….. it was POURING rain the whole way down along Lough Bray (think that’s what it’s called) and on past Glencree. Along that last very high patch after Glencree it was also very foggy, but I had a smile on my face knowing the uphills were all behind me at that stage! That said, the banjaxed brakes meant I had to take it very carefully. After stopping at the carpark for a minute I headed down the Cruagh Road slowly enough, not knowing how I’d stop at the bottom. When I got to the roundabout at the very end of it I needed my nice cycling shoe to stop myself. I felt a bit irresponsible cycling without proper brakes, but I was too cold to attempt fixing them and it was too far to walk home from there.
Nothing very eventful happened from there on and I was delighted to complete the trip! By the time I was back down from the hills my gloves were so wet I could get a lot of water from them just making fists with my hands. I know I sound like a broken record, but I really need to get a waterproof pair sorted soon!
Overall I thought it was an absolutely fantastic cycle. The worse the weather is the more I feel I've accomplished! I tell myself there's no point skipping the bad weather days because I won't get to pick what the weather's like on the day of an event, so may as well get used to it!
In random news I finally sent in application form for Bray Wheelers and Cycling Ireland this week. Hoping to go along for some BW weekend spins and then do that cycle in a couple of weeks time with them.
Jersey Sightings:
Only saw 3 bikes all day! The last one was heading up across towards Glencree as I was coming back down out of the fog/clouds/rain, and I felt a little sorry for him! It was a long sleeve jersey with pink sleeves – is that a Boards.ie one?
Highlights of the cycle:
1) Not having to stop on any of the hills
2) Successful navigation from Woodenbridge to Glenmalure
3) Descent after Shay Elliott
4) Warming up when I got home
5) I have to mention the tights!
Low points of the cycle:
1) Soaking gloves
2) Mechanical Disc Brakes
Thoughts for the day:
Great to see a thread in the cycling forum about other first-timers for W200. Sounds like no shortage of people to train with, so hopefully will meet a few of them over the next few months!
Other Training Last Month (to help me keep track)
Bit of badminton again on Friday night and a match on Monday.
I've got to start doing more concise summaries!0 -
I've got to start doing more concise summaries!
Not at all, they make great reading for the rest of us on a similar journey. Glad to see you cycled on the Sunday, and fair play for making it through the weather. Saturday was pretty hairy. I've enjoy those long one way trips myself, but tend to take the cycle on the way out to feel free to go on the lash on arrival 0 -
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Sunday 13th February 2011
Route: Bray Wheelers Sunday Spin (long version) incl Ashford, Annamoe, Laragh, Rathdrum, Ashford
Lots to talk about from today’s cycle! Having sent in my cycling club application form during the week I decided to join Bray Wheelers for their long Sunday spin this morning. I thought at first I might just go with the short one and cycle out from Kilmainham, but decided it’d be interesting to see what the long version was like. Most of my cycles tend to head towards Sally Gap direction and BW seem to head further south, so I thought it’d be nice to have a change! It was both a tough day on the road pace-wise plus I learnt a lot about group cycling today!
We joined the group from the club at Kilmac at 10:00 and set off. My first lesson of the day was this whole thing about everyone waiting when someone gets a puncture. On the positive side it’s so nice to know that people stick together and help is nearby, but on the flipside it means I can expect to have 30 times as many puncture stops!!!! :eek: We’d had 2 stops before reaching Kilpedder, but thankfully after that only a couple more all day!
This was my first time cycling in a group so an interesting experience! It’s a bit unsettling the first time you realise how close the bikes to your left (or right!) and both in front of and behind you are! I very quickly learnt how to look behind me without swerving my bike and all that stuff about shouting when cars or obstacles show up! I really like the way the group is constantly rotating around – in addition to everyone spending a fair amount of time at the front/back you also get to meet lots of people. I found them to be a friendly bunch, and chatting eats up the kilometres! Have to confess I might not have spent my fair share of time up the front, but hopefully that’s acceptable on a first group spin!:o
The pace was definitely much faster than I’m used to, especially on the way up the hills. My heart was racing trying to keep up, but overall I was happy with how I did on the day! Someone did mention that a couple of people in the group who normally go on faster cycles pushed the pace up, so fingers crossed on future cycles it might not be quite so hectic!
My one frustration during the day as that I missed the chance to split into the short distance group – I got to the top of a hill only to be told they’d broken away a while back! Oh well, I guess this 100% made the decision for me to do the longer route! Another benefit of the group cycle is that I’m still not really very familiar with the Wicklow back roads. Much of the route today I’d never been on in my life!
I did feel a little bit like the odd one out on my hybrid with every single other person on a road bike, but it doesn’t really bother me that much and there’s not much I can do about it given that I only bought the bike last year! I’m still not sure how comfortable I’d feel with the brakes being that far away from me anyway!!!!
Apart from the place names above I can’t really describe the route in that much detail. There were a couple of reasonable hills. They weren’t really all that steep/long compared to the Sally Gap roads (or so I thought) but as I mentioned above it was the pace that got me so tired!
Unfortunately we lost my friend in Laragh. He was in a different part of the group and a good bit after Laragh I realised he must have broken off. Felt bad about that, but I’m guessing this is part and parcel of cycling – I suspect you just accept the odd time that you lose someone!
It was strange towards the latter end of the cycle. One minute there were 8/9 of us, and then next thing I knew everyone headed off different directions and there were only 3 people left! The other pair were stopping at Mount Usher but I knew I’d never be able to get back up on the bike so continued alone. It was a struggle from there back to Bray! I couldn’t believe the difference between cycling in a group and cycling on my own. Suddenly it felt like the wind was against me and every hill was upwards! That said, I pressed on and made it back to Bray, just under 100km and a little bit under 4 hours.
I was absolutely filthy from the spray of people around me in the group so a good hosing of the bike was required afterwards! And that’s all for now until the randonee cycle next Sunday. If the weather’s good I might even give my boards jersey its first outing!:)
Jersey Sightings:
Cyclists everywhere but not one boards jersey! Don’t suppose any of you lot were on the Bray cycle too today?
Highlights of the cycle:
1) Learning about group cycling
2) (Just about) managing to keep up with the group all day
3) Not being one of the people who got a puncture!
4) New gloves seem slightly better than old ones, but haven’t been rain tested yet!
Low points of the cycle:
1) Losing one of the lads on the cycle (and not going back for him!)
2) Knee was at me a little bit on some of the uphills.
3) Those little dogs at the halting site just north of Ashford on the old road!
Thoughts for the day / Random News:
Finally picked up new gloves yesterday in Cycle Surgery. I was gonna buy them online and use a shop to pick them, but the guy there was so helpful with my questions that I was happy to pay the few extra quid!
Turns out I was able to fix the disc brakes myself during the week. Embarrassingly it seems like I just needed to move the non-moving pad in a bit closer to the disc!
Other Training Last Month (to help me keep track)
Badminton (nearly 3 hours!) on Friday.0 -
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Sunday 20th February 2011
Route: Paddy Martin Randonee 2011 (long version!)
In some ways it’s a pity the event wasn’t on Saturday with the lovely weather we had, but I was coming back from a wedding so was very glad the event wasn’t until Sunday! I was really looking forward to this one after how enjoyable my previous BW was last year!
Got signed in early and it was nice to already be recognising a combination of friends, friends of friends plus a few club members were familiar from last week too! Unlike the Joe Loughman event where a couple of us headed away on our own, this time it was a group start with Garda escort out of Bray, so it was a nice novelty for a change! We headed off at 10:00 as planned, all one hundred and eighty-something of us (or so I heard!).
Once again the pace down the N11 was a lot faster than what I’d do on my own, but not having the wind in my face helped so much! Someone was telling me you use 30% less energy in a group!? Sounds like a high figure but I reckon I might believe it! Every now and then I got a blast of the wind and appreciated the work being done up the front! Unlike last week on the club spin, this week when someone got a puncture they were pretty much on their own, although it’s nice that everyone passing by seems to offer to help!
I broke my first rule somewhere between Kilmac and Newtown when I undertook two ladies who were going a bit slower and I didn’t want to lose the bigger group. They weren’t impressed and made it known, but I guess I deserved it for doing what I did! Oh well, lesson learnt! At least I can say I’m getting better at this lark of shouting when there are holes, gravel, cars and pretty much anything else on the road!!!
The journey all the way down to Ashford absolutely flew by! As someone pointed out on the thread about the event, I did get the impression that people up the front kinda flew off into the distance, but if that’s their normal pace you can hardly blame them! We were thankful to have a good few people of similar pace around us! We ploughed on at Rathdrum, feeling grand and able for that extra 20K! The distance to Avoca passed in no time at all, but no one ever mention a big hill after that!!! Once again I have to say I’m grateful for discovering all these new routes that I might not have ever found myself, but my god some of the hills go on forever! Jokes apart I did enjoy the challenge there, but I’m becoming increasingly frustrated by dogs on these back roads! When I first saw some threads about dogs I couldn’t see what the fuss was about as I rarely meet them on the main roads, but it seems to be once you leave the main roads that they’re more of a problem!
So eventually we got back to Rathdrum – once again no one told me about the (albeit short!) near-vertical hill to the food stop!!! The van with drinks and food was a very welcome sight I have to say! It was only at that stage that we realised we were pretty much the back of the “fleet”! Most people had either flown ahead at some point or taken the shorter route I guess. I made the mistake of assuming it’d be a nice indoor stop like the JL event, but in the absence of a toilet there was a well-used wall!
The stop was a quick one as I reckon no one wanted to be last one to leave! At this stage we were fairly spread out so just myself and a friend stuck together from there back to Bray. The hill out of Laragh was tough enough going, and it was eerily foggy the whole way back to the Sugar Loaf, never really being able to see that far in front of us. A couple of times I had fast people (who must have had punctures) catch up behind and slipstream (or whatever it’s called) behind me. I always find it makes me kinda nervous and I speed up, only to feel absolutely banjaxed a couple of KM further down the road, at which stage the other person disappears off into the distance!!
As always the descent down to Kilmac didn’t disappoint! This time a car ahead of me was averaging about 50-70km/h so I just tucked in (not too close!) behind. Am I right in saying you get a similar effect here to hugging behind a group of cyclists? I felt I could fly down the road with very little effort!
Thankfully there was still a crowd at the clubhouse when we got back. I’d seen a fair few cars leaving with bikes in/on them and was hoping not to find the place closed up! There was even a good bit of food left for me to stuff my face with – god bless whoever made the krispie / mars bar cake thingies! Got talking to a few people in the clubhouse including some boardsies!
A great day out overall, although the knees are feeling it today. My knees suffer a little bit after long cycles so I’m wondering maybe the saddle isn’t the right height or something – either that or I’m just not fit enough yet!
Looking forward to hopefully travelling to some events around the country during the year now if possible!
Jersey Sightings:
Me! Also I saw at least one jersey – I think it might have been Seamus? If so then sorry for not saying hello!
Highlights of the cycle:
1) Chats along the way with various people
2) Descent to Kilmac
3) Completing the long version of the event
4) The post-event feast!
Low points of the cycle:
1) My undertaking mistake!
2) Dogs
3) Lot of mud in the face / mouth / eyes today – I just try not thinking about what the brown fluid flying at me is as we cycle past farms!!!
Thoughts for the day / Random News:
I’m considering investing in a Topeak Road Morph pump – seems like a good gadget with two benefits I lack at the moment – tube rather than direct connection to the valve and the ability to kind be a standing up pump!
Other Training Last Week (to help me keep track)
Nada!0 -
Sunday 20th February 2011
Route: Balbriggan – Skerries – Rush – Malahide – Howth Head – Ringsend – Phoenix Park - Home
Bit of a change this week as my cycle took me to (well, “from” really!) North Dublin for only the second time since I got the bike! Similar to a couple of weeks ago, we got a good deal through boardsdeals to stay (this time in the Bracken Court Hotel) away for Saturday night and I decided it’d be a great chance to try another route. The direct route from Kilmainham seemed a bit flat and short so I decided to add in an extra hill for good measure with the option of Phoenix Park if I had energy left at the end! I should mention for anyone looking to do similar that again this hotel was bicycle friendly and let me put my bike in the office behind reception overnight!
After my previous venture out that way when I ended up on an off-road coastal path north of Swords I did my research this time to make sure I stuck with paved roads! Had a bit of a scare on Friday when I mangled myself in a badminton match – dived across the court and have a very sore/bruised hip, but strangely enough the action of cycling doesn’t bother it at all so I decided to go ahead with the trip!
I headed out after breakfast along the coast road, kinda following a mental map and kinda following my nose! The GPS thought it was -69m outside the hotel so I corrected it there and then. Thought – does higher indoor temperature when you turn the edge on affect its perception of the altitude somehow? It seems to get it wrong a fair bit! The frustration is then guessing the local altitude – I guessed 20m, but then for much of the cycle I found myself underground! I know you can do correction via Garmin Connect, but I find sometimes then you get other errors where their maps don’t exactly match the road and you have mad dips/hills in your route sometimes!
So yeah I followed the coast road around through Skerries and on south to Rush. From there the road went back to Lusk, after which I recognised the old road back from Skerries to the N1. With the lack of Dublin/Wicklow Mountains my pace was faster than normal – by around Swords I realised I was averaging about 30km/h. I have this annoying part of my brain that is always working out averages, and more often than not I manage to figure out that if I kill myself for the next 10-15 minutes I’ll hit a certain average. I guess it’s good to challenge yourself with little things like this – keeps me motivated when cycling solo! Anyway I pelted it until nearly Malahide to bring my average to 30.7km/h for the first hour. What does that achieve!? Absolutely nothing, but it was fun!
As others have noted in the main cycling forum there really were people everywhere on bikes over the weekend. Although some seemed to be concentrating too hard, most gave a nod/wave/smile! I especially like the (brief!) sympathetic look from someone flying down a hill towards you as you struggle up it!
Along the coast road to Portmarnock and towards Howth there were lots of distractions as usual including being distracted by planes overhead and kite-surfers in the distance! I hit one speed bump badly and stopped near Howth. It seemed to knock my front wheel slightly off being straight. Is this the kind of thing you can fix out on the road with a multi-tool? The brake disc seemed to rub for a minute or two then fixed itself (that’s my expression for when problems I don’t understand thankfully disappear!).
I was really looking forward to my first try at Howth hill. Unfortunately it was interrupted by two things – first I missed the correct turn from the village and took the very last turn and then re-joined the hill on the way up. Secondly I had to stop and take a phone call along the way. Either way I have to say I was hoping it’d be a bit tougher. I think I’ve been spoilt with the hills up from Rathfarnham to the Dublin Mountains. Do people in North Dublin not have any good steep hills then?
The descent back down the hill was good fun. I flew past a garda check point near to the bottom. Out of interest do they pull bikes over if speeding in say a 30km/h zone!? A speeding ticket on a bike would be funny! Granted I think I passed them in a 50 zone doing about 25!
It really is bliss cycling in from there to Clontarf with all those cycle tracks, although a little bit frustrating when pairs of people take up both sides of the track or when groups of cyclists come to a complete stop in the middle of the track. Rant over! Found someone sucking to the back of me for a few minutes to hitch a life (or whatever the cycling expression is!). I know this sounds sad, but there’s something nice about it as a newbie(ish) to cycling to be helping someone else out on their cycle. I guess it means I’m going fast enough now to be of use to someone else!
I cut across the East Link bridge for the first time on my bike, and my first time to not have to pay the toll! From there my route took me home through the City Centre. With the rain just about holding off and me having some energy left I threw in a lap of the Phoenix Park for good measure! I haven’t been in there in a while. Strangely I found the long hill in the park more strenuous than Howth Head, but granted this was at nearly 80km into the cycle.
Once again at this point I noticed that my 3-hour average was just about 27km/h, so once again Gareth takes off to make sure the challenge is beaten! Sad, I know!
And that’s it once again! The bike still sits in the sitting room kinda wrapped in a double-bed fitted sheet because I couldn’t be bother wiping it down just yet!
Jersey Sightings:
No jerseys but millions of cyclists out there!
Highlights of the cycle:
1) >30km/h for an hour on my own!
2) Not getting lost
3) First cycle in ages not needing the windsheeter at all – Spring is here!
Low points of the cycle:
1) A few people blocking cycle lanes
2) Not quite a “low point”, but the hill at Howth was a bit of a let-down!
Thoughts for the day / Random News:
Don’t get me started on random purchases! After receiving the £ 10 CRC and 15% Wiggle emails on Thu or Fri I had a hole burnt in my pocket to spend some money! I got back after the badminton match disaster a little bit in shock from the fall/dive and then seemingly went mad on my credit card. I bought the stupid morph pump and 2 Gator something puncture proof tyres. There’s a certain irony in buying puncture-proof tyres and a new pump at the same time! And sure I haven’t had a puncture in a few weeks anyway! Oh well, it could’ve been worse I guess!
I also just figured out I've done over 600km so far this year in my 8 cycles - happy with that!:)
Other Training Last Week (to help me keep track)
Badminton Tue and Fri.0 -
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnPFy4ZCT_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBN4CRulYeA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLiapE0NA9k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB5luF8y-Zg
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