Galway Cycle

case_sensitive

I've just finished my first Galway Cycle (galwaycycle.ie) in aid of Stepping Stones school for Autism, and I had a brilliant time, I was wondering if any other boardsies were on it? There were 90+ cyclists and another 100 or so collectors.

We headed out from Maynooth at 7am, made the 205km to Galway by about 6pm (almost exactly 8 hours cycling time, plenty of food breaks etc), and to my surprise, stayed out drinking till all hours.
Up the next day shaking boxes for the charity in Galway city, for which there was a great response, 200 uniformed collectors shook down just about every person in Galway city for a few quid, and we raised €16k during the day. I think the total amount raised is going to hit €75k when all's said and done.
Cycling back was a good bit harder, there was a slight headwind which made all the difference, that and the 3-4 hours sleep most people got before the 8am kickoff on sunday.

I've totally got the bug for it now, not even too sore, definitely going to do it next year.

daymobrew

case_sensitive wrote:

I've totally got the bug for it now, not even too sore, definitely going to do it next year.

Sign up for the Wicklow 200km cycle in June. The Lap The Lough (Neagh) 140km cycle is at the end of August.

Mucco

daymobrew wrote:

Sign up for the Wicklow 200km cycle in June. The Lap The Lough (Neagh) 140km cycle is at the end of August.

Then an etape next year!

case_sensitive

I signed up for the Wicklow 200 the same night I got back after talking to some of the other riders, going to get in training for it over the next few weeks, and the etape.. well, it's a goal certainly, but I'm not sure if I have the time to dedicate. Mind you, it'd be a story for the grandkids!

junii

case_sensitive wrote:

I've just finished my first Galway Cycle (galwaycycle.ie) in aid of Stepping Stones school for Autism, and I had a brilliant time, I was wondering if any other boardsies were on it? There were 90+ cyclists and another 100 or so collectors.

We headed out from Maynooth at 7am, made the 205km to Galway by about 6pm (almost exactly 8 hours cycling time, plenty of food breaks etc), and to my surprise, stayed out drinking till all hours.
Up the next day shaking boxes for the charity in Galway city, for which there was a great response, 200 uniformed collectors shook down just about every person in Galway city for a few quid, and we raised €16k during the day. I think the total amount raised is going to hit €75k when all's said and done.
Cycling back was a good bit harder, there was a slight headwind which made all the difference, that and the 3-4 hours sleep most people got before the 8am kickoff on sunday.

I've totally got the bug for it now, not even too sore, definitely going to do it next year.

How long have you been cycling? Ive only been cycling for a few months and my arse is always sore after two hours and my neck still gets stiff after about 2 hours. Perhaps its my saddle thats causing the sore arse problems.

Has anyone got any tips on dealing with headwinds. How do you keep yourself from getting frustrated?

case_sensitive

I've just started long cycles about 2 weeks ago, but I've been going to and from work etc for 15 years or so, and yeah, my butt got pretty sore on the Gorey trip. Got a pair of padded shorts for the galway cycle, and it helped a fair bit, though they're fairly dodgy-looking!

mloc123

If your arse is sore after an hour or so, or even a few minutes your saddle probably isn't setup correctly... I'm not cycling that long now but I no longer suffer from 'barse' pain. I have my saddle at the correct height and tilting down slightly to the front along with a pair of padded boxers. I could easily cycle all day now(if I was fit enough ) without getting a sore arse.

gingrrr

Slightly OT

Yeah you just need to build up to the longer rides gradually.

I used to do club cyling and we did 90 miles on a Sunday, I did 40 on a Saturday, and some 10-15 mile stints (up to 3 times) during the week, in addition to cycling to work.
You get used to it quite quickly - you should be ok after 2 - 3 months.

I was using a quite hard racing saddle on roads, which is different from off road - your whole body gets jolted around lots more off road, and some of the tiredness you get is from your internal organs getting battered around your insides.

I mainly use my mountain bike off road now on fairly good cyle ways, but I am now unfit (mostly) :mad:
I recently cycled from Altrincham to Liverpool and back from Warrington Station to Altrincham, mostly off road and my Arse is sore, my back is a bit and my neck is.

I think my bar head is not long enough, but my saddle height is perfect. It's a fairly hard saddle, but I wear proper cyling shorts with the insert inside ( a good move ).

It's very important to get your saddle height correct.

I have always set the angle so that it is horizontal from the highest parts, otherwise I find I slip to the front or the back - I also move the saddle back as far as I dare - as I am 6'1".

Bar ends do aid comfort, but I think they would be better with padded tape on.

Suspension - I believe most people use for comfort, not for big jumps. The thing with full suspension it that if you cant lock it out, road riding becomes more of an effort, as the energy lost through it can be significant. Aslo you need to spend an enormous amount of money to get a good set up. If you don't spend, the enrgy lost will get higher, and the bounce factor can eaasily put you off your rhythm. Front suspension is quite good though - even the cheaper shocks can be adjusted for road and off road - although they tend to be heavier.

Regards

Steve