Tour De Burren

blueeyes22 wrote: »

I think i have solved my 108k/140k mystery..looks like after Kilfenora at about 52k mark instead of turning left and heading north for Ballyvaghan i carried on straight on the 160k route and on up into the Burren National Park!!By coincidence when i got to 2nd food stop in Lisdoonvarna my computor read 108k.If i remember correctly at the left junction i should have taken i was behind coaches/trucks turning left so must have missed the arrows.GPS present from Santa i think.
Anyway thanks to all involved for a great 140k.

I did the opposite, after kilfenore, i turned left onto the 100 route instead of straight for the 160 route and I missed the national park , Comparing with captain havocs garmin. dont know how i missed it. missing 25 K !!

I did the 108km , my second leisure cycle , did my first one the week before . Found it a good test , didnt mind castle hill too much , was off the saddle in the lowest gear and out of breath , but got up . Spent too much time at the first food stop , chatting . The second stage for me was the hardest , spent alot of time riding from group to group and no one i could really crack on with . Found the cork screw tough , wasnt expecting it cause someone told me we were goin down it . The wheels slips under me on it and i fell off but i got straight back up and finished it . I stopped at the second food stop was didnt want to go on .Took on food there even though i didnt want it , but felt i needed it . Last stage was the easiest with no real hill and the wind on my back . Came in in 4.16 ride time , so happy enough with that on that course .
Will def be back next yr .
Fairplay to the organisers for having the emergency services close by to attend to the serious accident .

ashleey wrote: »

the lazily photoshopped picture?

Do you mean this one?

Maybe it is a real photo and no wonder the lad at the front looks nervous.

For those of you cycling the burren with overshoes on, did they keep your feet dry and what brand were they? My feet were soaked and felt like they had puddles in them. Love to know if yours were bone dry!

kavanagh_h wrote: »

For those of you cycling the burren with overshoes on, did they keep your feet dry and what brand were they? My feet were soaked and felt like they had puddles in them. Love to know if yours were bone dry!

I cycle every day and I can tell you exactly how the overshoes work.
On average rain (not too heavy) my feet are dry for the first 20 min of my exciting journey and then my feet start getting soaked wet, which is not a big issue. The only thing is to have a spare pair of socks and old newspapers for the shoes to dry them off.
If the rain is very light, I can manage to keep my feet dry through the whole trip. That is using a good rain proof overshoes.

kavanagh_h wrote: »

Mmmmmm thanks for that. Was hoping theyd be better than that but thats probably asking too much in irish weather!

I am awaiting another pair of overshoes, so will test them also. But in fairness, if it is raining your feet are the first to get wet really, no matter what.

Some guys say that they do not commute by bike during the winter, as it is too wet, but honestly I got wet twice last winter and I get wet twice per week (or even twice a day) this "summer" :pac:.

michael196 wrote: »

I am giving up summer sportives as the weather is too wet in the summmer and taking up autumn winter and spring cycling when the weather is drier ( but colder !! )

The only thing during "off season" cycling (or should I say On Season) is that you need a good set of lights. But once you get it, it makes the whole difference .

never mind , please delete this post

I was on about saefty and descents on narrow roads, that crash on sat could have been fatal



but I have spent a long time writing my explination but it was lost(pressed wrong button)


never mind

CH

Enjoyed the TDB apart from the weather. Only issue I would have was Castle Hill . It would have been fine if you were in the lead , or were not in a bunch. I came into it and crashed along with a few more .There was people all over the place walking and just standing around after getting off their bikes with no consideration for the cyclists trying to get through. A little bit of intervention required from the marshals here to get people to move to the side and not pull up in the middle of the road .

Seweryn wrote: »

I am awaiting another pair of overshoes, so will test them also. But in fairness, if it is raining your feet are the first to get wet really, no matter what.

Some guys say that they do not commute by bike during the winter, as it is too wet, but honestly I got wet twice last winter and I get wet twice per week (or even twice a day) this "summer" :pac:.

Try a pair of sealskins socks. I find them great, much better than my Louis Garneau overshoes. (although they're not very Euro)

Jawgap wrote: »

"Crash" would be a strong word........a few slow falls of death would be a better description.

I think if the route could be tweaked (how, I don't know) to include a long draggy hill it would've strung things out a bit better.

As it was a large group (several hundred) hit the first big climb and when someone stalled it blocked everyone behind.

Went down for the 160km and this is the first sportiff I've not completed. Thankfully the rain held off for the start and I expected showers so was dressed for showers and not all day rain unfortunately for me.

When I first looked at the route profile I thought it would be good but as above the first climb was too early and the road too narrow with a very poor surface was not a good combination to put hundreds of cyclist up at the same time and should have been saved till later in the spin. The climb it self wasn't too bad except for having to dodge the cyclists'. On the way down I wasn't too far behind the accident and it was as bad as the uphill, some people crawling down making it difficult to judge the overtake but once back on the road it was spread out reasonably enough.

After the first climb the next few climbs got tougher as I got more tired but the down hill from the Cliffs of 'Insanity' was a nice spin and a very fast run to the food stop. By the time I reached the food stop I was wet and tired so stupidly didn't eat or drink enough and continued on, it was around the parochial house when I decided I wasn't going to complete as I was getting cold and had the West Cork the following day so decided to head straight for Ballyvaughan which luckily for me the route followed so finished with 120km by turning right into the village instead of onto Cork Screw.

It was a tough day in the saddle and the weather definitely didn't help. Good food spread and even with the weather the ice cream at the finish was nice while standing there wet to the bone!! I couldn't help but to laugh at what I'd just done and the thought of driving down to West Cork to do it all again the next day.

I think these events should consider the number of people on the road at the start and maybe not have a mass start / start in groups or have a longer run to the first climb, also as mentioned why have a slow lead car and not just let people off?

Will be back again next year so long as there is no early climbs like this year, it would have made for an interesting climb on the finishing stretch!

Captain Havoc wrote: »

Personally I think early climbs are a good chance to spread the participants out.

I agree but just think there better when they are not so early on such a narrow roadway, definitely a bit later like the Waterford or Sligo one when the climb comes later in the day which spreads out the pack and on a better & wider road imo..

A few stewards or even a bit of common sense on behalf of the riders would solve a lot of problems. If cyclists have to walk up a steep hill keep to one side, there were a few stewards at a water stop on top of that first climb on the 110 Km, just one of them further down would have solved a lot of problems.