Wicklow 200 - 13th June 2010

Raam

Named and shamed. Thanks Dirk.

Planet X

Just home. Did the 100k. Cycled down n back so about 140k total I reckon. Went around with Irishmotorist. Met Blowfish n Gimmeaminute briefly on Sugarloaf. They turned off to do the 200. Well done lads.
Lovely day for it. Warm, little wind. 100k is an easy enough route. Glad I did it though.

DirkVoodoo

Raam wrote: »

Named and shamed. Thanks Dirk.

Sorry, I'll edit my post.

Raam

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Sorry, I'll edit my post.

I'm just ribbing, I don't mind

irishmotorist

Just back and had a great day. As Planet X mentioned above, we did most of the course together. Big thanks to him when I was starting to fade a little bit for the work he put in - it really gave me a bit of rest time and I was able to finish strongly enough. Met Blowfish and Gimmeaminute near the start bot broke off at the 100/200 split point. Rolling time of 3:39 which was ahead of my expectations so I'm delighted with that.

AstraMonti

Just home as well. It was nice day, but it was boring doing all by myself. The first 50k was really easy, second 50k it was so and so. 3:48 saddle time which is quite ok for my unfitness.

irishmotorist

One thing that I forgot to say was that when I was driving down the M11 towards the start, I passed a car with 2 bikes on the roof. I remember thinking to myself that I'd never trust myself to drive with my 2 wheeled P&J perched on top of my 4 wheeled P&J - I'd surely clobber it off something.

Anyway, a minute later as I'm looking in my rearview mirror, I see one of the bikes coming OFFthe car and obviously hitting the road. There was another car behind it that had to make a bit of an emergency move to prevent steamrollering it. That must have made for one disappointed man picking up pieces of his bike off the motorway.

joker77

Well done to everyone today, had a great day out.

Did the 100 - 3:34, 28km/h - happy with that

fletch

Just finished myself....feel a lot better than I did last year so that's good Weather was pretty amazin givin the forecast...the wind was a bit blustery and I never really knew which way it was blowing. I was with 3 mates who were a good bit slower than me so I managed to ditch them at about 60k and catch on to a nice paced peleton all the way back to Greystones. Have to say I was quite disappointed with the food. I don't like butter or mayo on my sandwiches so there was nothing for me at Rathrum and I was given a pathetic portion of pasta at the end....but overall it was much better organised (sign posted) than last year.

Timmah!

4:15 for me for the 100, relatively pleased with that. On my own for most of it but got in with a nice group for a while on the way back in which helped a bit.
Looks like the weather has turned, hope it's not too bad for those still out.

Planet X

Yeah, poor souls will be getting it very hard with the increased wind and rain at the moment,

http://www.irlweather.com/wxradar.php


Must be murder up in the hills.

loyatemu

did the 100, no idea of rolling time (I mistakenly did a total reset on my computer at the start) about 5 hrs total including a leisurely break in rathdrum.

organisation was fine, though a bunch of us missed the turn in Ashford as it was marked by just one arrow on the road - elsewhere junctions were well marked, plenty of sandwiches in Rathdrum, saw marshalls in a good few places. (@Fletch - I'm sure they would've given you more pasta if you'd asked)

glad I did it - only really started cycling any distance this year, I enjoyed the day, helped by the pleasant weather (God help the 200k riders though, its been pissing down since I got home.) Fair dues to the guys I saw doing it on full-sus MTBs too - that must be the equivalent of 200 on a road bike.

Biggest struggle was the hill out of Avoca - I knew it was there from the map, but didn't expect it to be so long, turned out to be tougher than Long Hill which was the one I had been worried about.

JacksonHeightsOwn

myself and fran oconnor from here did the 100

it was my first sportive, so did in just a little over 4 hours, (including a few stops for stretching), so im happy with that

we left greystones at about 7, so nice and early ,i thought the food stop was great myself, very well organised, clean toilets, and nice cold water, again, seeing as we where there early, the place wasnt overly busy

my only complaint, and im just being a wee bit fussy here, was when we where leaving Newcastle, there was a V in the road, with no sign to kilcoole, myself and fran where second guessing ourselves for a few k's but thankfully we where grand

i also thought the grub at the end was pretty good, all the drinks where cold, and the food was fine, obviously not michelin standard, but it did me

and im chuffed with my little medal

loyatemu

and courtesy of the Greystones/Charlesland board, someone did do it on a db:



photo by pixbyjohn

Drapper

100km in 4hrs 20mins and 23kmph avg speed, bit windy for the later starters..... but lovely day...

hurricane147

I did the 100 for the first time today. I thought it was well run with one exception: confusion over the location of the start. I and lots of others arrived at the Shoreline Leisure Centre good and early only to find no sign of any registration. Eventually someone established that there was another Shoreline Leisure Centre in Greystones. I think this confusion could easily have been avoided by a bit of foresight by the organisers.

loyatemu

hurricane147 wrote: »

I did the 100 for the first time today. I thought it was well run with one exception: confusion over the location of the start. I and lots of others arrived at the Shoreline Leisure Centre good and early only to find no sign of any registration. Eventually someone established that there was another Shoreline Leisure Centre in Greystones. I think this confusion could easily have been avoided by a bit of foresight by the organisers.

there's one in Bray and one in Greystones - I think the organisers fairly clearly stated that the event started in Greystones, but I can see how anyone coming off the N11 at Bray might have got confused.

fenris

Did the 100 in 5:10 enjoyed it apart from the Avoca - Glenealy stretch, very inconsiderate of the organisers to put hills where I hit my 60km wall! That being said last year I just wanted to throw my bike in the ditch at Moneystown and go asleep in the hedge so bitching is progress!

Check in was much better this year and the route was well marked.

Blowfish

First sportive and only 4th spin over 100k this year. Met a fair few boardsies and a few lurkers (hi all!).

The only disapointing thing about the day was that I didn't get in all that many decent groups. I had a group up to Sally Gap and one from Donard to Sleive Man. The rest of the time I was pretty much solo.

The highlight for me though definitely had to be the last part. Despite already having cycled further and done more climbing than I had before in a single sitting, with about 50k to go I realised that if I managed to do the last bit in an average speed of about 32kmh I could break the 7.30 mark, even though I hadn't managed anywhere near that average so far.

The legs wanted to give up, back was in bits, chest was burning, I was soaked to the skin as it was pouring down and my backside and nether regions were completely numb. Despite this, something in me didn't want to let go and I pushed on. Total rolling time:

7h23m.

F*cking epic.

Planet X

^^^^^

Well done.

seanhunt

did the 100k on my full sus GT mtb on fat tires in just under five hours, and very very happy to get in before the rain!! back got pretty sore coming into newcastle but otherwise fine. Great morning for it and great event, really enjoyed it.

robs1

great day all round i got in a group(a team based in meath)from start to rathdrum so the first 50k was grand.the second fifty was hard but good crack.saw one guy hit a ditch on a descent but later on he finished with us.fair play to him he was cut up and all but kept going.we got lost near the finish as well but got back to graystones with a detour.again great day and well organised

Nietzschean

Horrible, horrible weather...shivvering enough to make the bike jump around......

Blowfish

robs1 wrote: »

great day all round i got in a group(a team based in meath)from start to rathdrum so the first 50k was grand.the second fifty was hard but good crack.saw one guy hit a ditch on a descent but later on he finished with us.fair play to him he was cut up and all but kept going.we got lost near the finish as well but got back to graystones with a detour.again great day and well organised

Was that on the Sleive Mann descent? I passed a guy there picking his bike off the ground, but I was going about 50 at that point and there were a couple of people right behind me so braking to see if he was ok would have just caused a pile up.

robs1

no it was on the 100 route just after avoca.

daragh_

Just back after my first 200. Really enjoyed it apart from the last 50k. Saw a few Boardsies and got to follow Sean Kelly down off Slieve Mann (for about 30 seconds!). Great day. 9 and a bit hours in the saddle.

Caroline_ie

202km for me. Cycled over Sally Gap on the way back to add a bit more climbing with Nietzchean and niceonetom and it was HORRIBLE: Hail, rain, cold, was shivering all the way down.
Saw a good few boardsies, Donal, cadex, buffalo, unionman to name a few. RAAM and Dirk wimped out at Kilbride ... I guess having no body fat is not always ideal when it gets cold ( I don't blame them though, you lucky feckers )

mfdc

283km total for me. Most cycling I've ever done in a single day. Oddly enough I felt pretty good coming home even with the rain. Think my whole body has just gone into shock tbh, have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a bad day. Gonna be the slowest commute in history

Did the 200 in 7:13 which I'm really happy with, I wanted to get a sub 7:30 so hooray! Did lots of it alone too which makes me happier about the time, no group to help out pretty much from Aghavanna to the end. The reason I had no group though... the dudes from Drogheda CC were machines!! 3 times, once at the start and once after each foodstop I ended up in a group with them, and every time they shot me out the back like I was standing still. Fair play to them.

BTW was there another person who did it on a DB?? When me and ryaner were cycling down this morning we passed a guy on the N11 heading south who was in full cycling gear on a DB. At 5:45 on a Sunday morning I doubt he was going to work.

levitronix

That almost turned into a disaster !! Had planned on a 6:30 7:00 ish start, that didnt happen 9:00 start way to late couldnt find anyone good to cycle with so done about 120km solo , the saddle sore on my hole drove me crazy i sat sideways for 150km.

But after everything going wrong felt great on the two climbs sleive m and shay e and passed about 100 people on each climb

All in all 7h 20min

Caroline_ie

Forgot to mention that I did not recognise Daniel Day Lewis at the hippy cafe in Laragh when he was sitting just in front of me ... he later overtook us up Sally Gap as well.

Toblerone1978

Blowfish wrote: »

I realised that if I managed to do the last bit in an average speed of about 32kmh I could break the 7.30 mark

How did you manage to calculate that on a bike!!

levitronix

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Raam A Belgian pro in San Marco kit who was expecting warmer weather and myself decided it was too cold and left down the N81. Got a nice little training spin in, wore my fred-tastic kit and still had enough in the legs after yesterday which suprised me.

Weather seems to be picking up now so hopefully all you guys get a good day. It was really miserable going over the Sally Gap, I'm very much a fair weather cyclist.

Looked like the organization jumped up a few notches after last year, more marshalls about, motorbikes, support vehicles (I think).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fWvub_WBho

this is one is for you dirk !!

gimmeaminute

Good day, had a great Sally Gap, disastrous Slieve Mann, but found the legs again for Shay. 7'08 rolling.

I'd echo Blowfish about the lack of decent groups, I suppose we set off a little early, but given that the serious rain was starting as I arrived, it was probably all for the best.

Well done all.

buffalo

7h 21' excl. stoppages for 209km for me on the W200 - I only realised I was following the W100 course when I got to Roundwood, so I doubled back and up the east side of the Sallygap to rejoin. Really enjoyed it, despite losing my shades (Aldi's finest, now it's time to splash out!). 244km including getting home - longest I've ever cycled, and first proper century.

Various boardsies made my day much more pleasant - I counted six jersies I think - three at the start that I could only wave to, then caroline, blowfish and git101. Also found montak, Conor20 and NeedMoreGears undercover. Loved the scattered cheering crowds too, and the organisation seemed pretty good - I encountered a few super-nice marshalls, but the queue for food in Donard put me off.

Was today's spread the usual distribution? Didn't notice many bunches - seemed to be mostly pairs, or 3/4 in a small grouping. I spent most of the time solo, hanging out with some lovely randomers. Superb day altogether, barring the saturation on the way home.

Blowfish

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

How did you manage to calculate that on a bike!!

I've a bad habit of working out random maths/physics/logic problems in my head when out on the bike. I think it comes from College when if I was stuck on a particular programming assignment I'd be chewing it over in my head on the commute home and would more often than not come up with an answer.*

This particular problem was straightforward enough, all I needed was the number of minutes left until 7h 30 and the distance left to go, both of which my little Garmin friend gave me.

*Yes, I'm a nerd.

NeedMoreGears

Enjoyed that. Even the drizzle over Sally Gap didn't matter too much as I got in ahead of the very heavy rain. Started early and was well chuffed with a rolling time of 7.42. Much better than last year. Met a few boardsies including Buffalo - was riding in disguise (team Crivit from Aldi/Lidl as usual so can't wait for some "proper" ger when the new boards order arrives). Was very lucky to get into some great groups - even had a go at the front for a while but was very happy to be towed home from the a few km after the top of the hill at Avoca - well worth killing myself to get on.

Thought the organisation was much improved over last year but was at Donard fairly early and there was a bit of a queue when I was leaving. It looks like the organisers really listened to people after last year.

All in all great craic

jimmyjacob

What a day! Never done a cycle like this before so had no idea what to expect.

Brilliant atmosphere all along the route with rabbits to hunt down all afternoon. And when the sun came out I felt I could cycle for days. That is until 170km when it started raining and, as Sean Kelly would put it, I started "suffering big time".

Thankfully managed to get into my first group of the day at that point to drag me home. Did a few turns on the front, but I was spent. Thank god I live around the corner from the Shoreline. Don't know how you lads cycled home after. Fair play.

7.05 total time including stops. Only a few 100k cycles under my belt until now, so pretty happy with that. As others have said: an epic experience. Really hope it's in Greystones again next year (for selfish reasons )

Toblerone1978

Definitely think the organisation has gone up a few notches. More marshals, cheering people, well marked and the fact that you didn't have to negotiate the Dublin traffic at the end was nice!!

Still very unimpressed with the food stops in Donard and at the end, I didn't bother with Rathdrum.

leftism

What a day! First off i've just got to thank Mr. Highway_To_Hell for the entry and the oppertunity to take part in my first WW200. Even though my initial opinion is that this event should be banned under the Geneva convention, i enjoyed the whole thing no end.

Highlights were getting to chat to Sean Kelly for a bit after i joined up in a big group after Rathdrum. Low points/depths of dispair were halfway up Slieve Maan, and the final 20km after my sprockets came completely loose and left me riding one gear into horrible wind and rain all the way to Greystones.

Great day out though! Rolling time was 7.06.40.

Saw a good few boardsies out during the day! Fair play to everyone who finished!!!

Vélo

I ended up doing the WW200 at the last minute. I'm glad I did, I took it really handy as I did no hill training at all this year and hadn't been on the bike in 10 days.

I was also the furthest I 've ever cycled.

Exhausted. Think I did it in 7.5hrs or so, computer died at Sally Gap though so that's based on the people who I started and ended the day with. Had a pretty good day, followed some Lucan Cycling Club for a good bit after Donard 'til around Rathdangan, where the pace was just too much for me. Took it easy heading up SL & SE, refound my companions in Rathdrum. Saw Sean Kelly in Rathdrum too.

Basically I spent a good bit of the day wheel sucking, and wouldn't have gotten around as quick as I did without it. After dropping back in Rathdangan I was tired and couldn't take the lead for a good while, though around 15km out I had enough energy to push.

Horrible for the last few hours, just horrible. Glad I've done it, but most of the second half of it I just wanted to get it done which isn't the best way to use my time I think, so I'm still unsure if I want to do the WW200 again.

Saw a few boardsies out, not as many as last year though, lowest boardsie number I saw out was 2 (I was 5!).

Was very happy with the marshalling everywhere except for leaving Rathdrum, lots of confusion there again. Lack of any chocolates in any of the stops was annoying (went to the shop instead), and the giving of nutrigrain bars at the start made no sense to me, as my pockets were already full so I left them at the start but could have done with them later.

So a good day, I think.

Arthurdaly

My first sportive and went for the 200, it was tough enough particularly when we hit slieve mann. Very enjoyable day considering the weather at certain key spots (sally gap).

Astounded at the level of fitness and determination of some of the older guys (50+). Was tipping up slieve mann solo with sweat literally pouring from every pore and finally found some restitude behind some unsuspecting suckers. Two guys 50+ casually discussing gardening whilst I gasped for dear life!!

Great occassion and will back for more!

LastGasp

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Forgot to mention that I did not recognise Daniel Day Lewis at the hippy cafe in Laragh when he was sitting just in front of me ... he later overtook us up Sally Gap as well.

Ruari Quinn was there last time I was in. Not nearly as exciting as DDL I know.

Hermy

I was in Greenan for the day so I decided to take a spin up to the crossroads to see what I could see. Not long after I arrived Mr. Kelly passed and a while later I spotted only my second Boards jeresy of the day. I ended up hanging around Glenmalure for the afternoon with track pump in tow, directing traffic and explaining to tired riders which way is up. No-one needed air but I did assist one rider with a rear derailer which wasn't selecting first gear.
When the steady stream of cyclists was eventually reduced to a trickle I decided to leave my post at the crossroads and drive as far as Rathdrum and just as well too as I encountered a couple of riders struggling with punctures which I can imagine aren't the easiest thing to deal with at the latter end of a 200km event and the rain is p!ssing down.
Not the day I had planned but enjoyable nonetheless.
Maybe I should get more involved in marshalling now that cycling is off the agenda.

LastGasp

Started at 7.00 with a few guys from work who were doing the 100, stayed with them until the spilt and headed off on the 200. Sally Gap was a bit damp but OK. Stopped in Donard for 20 minutes for a quick cuppa, and Hang Sanger, and topped up a bottle at the top of Slievemann. Apart from that I kept moving for the rest of the day. Got in a decent group for the leg from Manor Kilbride almost to Slievemann which was great. Climbs all went fine, although not very fast ! Got together with a guy in all Italia gear for the last stretch from Ashford to the Finish, we were suffering a bit but kept up a decent pace. Got in at 14:50 thankfully missing out the heavy rain. 7:30 rolling, 7:50 total. Fair dues to the IVCA, everything was very well organised this year as far as I could see. Passed a boardsie stopped with someone else just coming out of Avoca and gave a shout - not sure who it was.

Hermy

Hermy wrote: »

I was in Greenan for the day so I decided to take a spin up to the crossroads to see what I could see. Not long after I arrived Mr. Kelly passed and a while later I spotted only my second Boards jeresy of the day. I ended up hanging around Glenmalure for the afternoon with track pump in tow, directing traffic and explaining to tired riders which way is up. No-one needed air but I did assist one rider with a rear derailer which wasn't selecting first gear.
When the steady stream of cyclists was eventually reduced to a trickle I decided to leave my post at the crossroads and drive as far as Rathdrum and just as well too as I encountered a couple of riders struggling with punctures which I can imagine aren't the easiest thing to deal with at the latter end of a 200km event and the rain is p!ssing down.
Not the day I had planned but enjoyable nonetheless.
Maybe I should get more involved in marshalling now that cycling is off the agenda.

Stooppid, stoopid, stoopid! Me, me, me!
First thing I should have said was well done to all of ye who cycled this event today. I envy of you your suffering.
Secondly I should add that everyone I spoke to at the crossroads was in good cheer despite what they had already endured and the fact that Shay Elliot climb was dead ahead. I also include here the motorists who showed great patience when confronted with my attempts at points duty.:o
Finally I wonder does anyone know the plight of the cyclist who crashed on the way down Slievemann? Cyclists I spoke to at the time of the incident seemed very concerned but I later heard that it wasn't quite so serious. Hopefully she's okay.

pixbyjohn

pixbyjohn

pixbyjohn

pixbyjohn