Gaelforce West 21/8/10

Trotter

Just signed up! Never did a race like this before. 10 miles is the furthest I've run.

Myself and a mate are just in it to finish the thing in one piece, before it gets dark!

Orion

I got around Connemara on a Trek 7.5fx. With the tyres pumped up hard it got me through the trail section and was great on the road too (my crap times were down to me not the bike ). I bought it with GFW in mind. Might get climbing bars for that race though - I believe the hills are not easy.

kwalshe

Wonkagirl wrote: »

and that it's finishing in westport town instead of westport house, to get more participation from the locals??

I did it last year, stayed with a friend who cramped from the start of the bike transition 'till the end. It was so hard and long and after 7.5 when we went over the finish line , we did'nt get even a cup of water or well done from anyone. For me it was a tainted end to a great but challenging day.
I've ran 5k races and the goody bag would feed you for the day with a nice shiny medal.
Maybe in town might be better criac with the local instead of the clique at Westport house.
I don't sound a bit bitter do I?:rolleyes:

Vitamin C

CKWPORT Let us know the verdict on what the road is like will ya?

Does anyone know how climbing the Sugar Loaf compares to the Croagh Patrick section of Gael Force?

I know CP is a lot higher, but I'm gonna add a cycle to the Sugar Loaf into my training and wouldn't mind knowing how much easier it is...just so I'm prepared...mentally if nothing else!

Cheers

Vitamin C

wli wrote: »

hey,
this will be my first GF, I was thinking of using a mountain bike but I can get the lone of a racer for training and for the event.
Any ideas on which one I should use,
Thanks Guys

This is the bike I'll be using:

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/road/2299/32184/

But I've never done Gael force so I can't tell you if it's right or not. But what I do know is that it's fairly quick on the road and can be taken on a not too bumpy trail without any bother.

Luckily I a good while ago when I had the funds! No chance I'd be able to pick it up now..

Wonkagirl

Vitamin C wrote: »

CKWPORT Let us know the verdict on what the road is like will ya?

Does anyone know how climbing the Sugar Loaf compares to the Croagh Patrick section of Gael Force?

Cheers

yeaaaaaaah, the sugar loaf is OK training- but you'd get to the top of SL in 20 minutes.. you'd need to get a few higher mountains in. we did CP twice last yr in prep, and also slieve donard up north a few times. You need the persistant climb experience on the legs. SL is similar to CP in that it's rocky and that, but it's just too short a climb. you coudl do it twice though, that would help- then get on your bike and do a bit of a cycle.. try and get down west beforehand though and climb CP if you can.

be careful with your car around the SL too btw- mate of mine had her car broken into there and her laptop and bike taken- and a few other cars nearby had their windows smashed in too- apparently it happens all the time around there

thehamo

so.............. did the Conemara Adventure challenge at the weekend, Loved it, found it tough going, but really enjoyed it. Did it in 4hrs 16 BUT could knock an hour off that cause my bike broke half way through the cycle and had to push it the last 6 miles all uphill!.:mad:

Anyways, the little mouse is going like 90 in my head wondering if I should do the GFW in August! Do I have enough time to train, considering I found the Conemara pretty taxing too??

yop

Vitamin C wrote: »

This is the bike I'll be using:

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/road/2299/32184/

But I've never done Gael force so I can't tell you if it's right or not. But what I do know is that it's fairly quick on the road and can be taken on a not too bumpy trail without any bother.

Luckily I a good while ago when I had the funds! No chance I'd be able to pick it up now..

That bike will do you no bother. I have the same and it worked fine for GF

yop

thehamo wrote: »

so.............. did the Conemara Adventure challenge at the weekend, Loved it, found it tough going, but really enjoyed it. Did it in 4hrs 16 BUT could knock an hour off that cause my bike broke half way through the cycle and had to push it the last 6 miles all uphill!.:mad:

Anyways, the little mouse is going like 90 in my head wondering if I should do the GFW in August! Do I have enough time to train, considering I found the Conemara pretty taxing too??

If you did Connemara you are sound for GF. You have a load of time to train. Get your legs used to 10/12km runs and see if you can get 30/40 km bike spins into the legs.

Good luck with it.

Vitamin C

Cheers Yop, one less thing to be thinking about so. I love that bike. It's the first new bike I've ever owned...she's a beaut. Need to get a smaller saddle than the standard one that comes with it though I think.

Wonkagirl, that's crap about you friend getting stuff getting piked from the Sugar Loaf car park, f*cking scumbags ruin everything good about this country. Might be a good spot to catch them in the act and punish them vigilante style (I wish I had the balls).

That's the end of that then, the plan was to cycle there with some of the lads, and another mate comes in his van, we throw the bikes in the van and all run it together. Defo can't afford to buy a new bike so won't be taking the risk...cheers for the heads up!

Wonkagirl

thehamo wrote: »

so.............. did the Conemara Adventure challenge at the weekend, Loved it, found it tough going, but really enjoyed it. Did it in 4hrs 16 BUT could knock an hour off that cause my bike broke half way through the cycle and had to push it the last 6 miles all uphill!.:mad:

Anyways, the little mouse is going like 90 in my head wondering if I should do the GFW in August! Do I have enough time to train, considering I found the Conemara pretty taxing too??

you have PLENTY of time to train for GFW- sign up!

in all honesty, while GFW is harder, there's not a huge difference- the longer biking section being the main difference, and obviously CP is about 2-3 times the height of the little mountain we climbed on saturday ('maum turks', is that right?).. so with a little climbing training and some longer cycles, you'd be sorted. I did the race on sat in 3.09- did GF last yr in exactly double that (and i mean exactly- 6.18!) , but aiming to knock an hour off that this yr and do it in 5.15 or so.

The longer the races the less frenetic they are in a way- you know? you can take your time (within reason), but with training there's no reason why you shouldnt do it between 5-6 hours. NO WORD OF A LIE, i only did 6 weeks training for GF last yr- broke my elbow in may 09, so was completely out of action til early july- then started doing runs 3 times a week and long cycles (2 hours)at the weekend, did a GF training weekend down in killary, climbed CP twice and climbed slieve donard once.. honestly, ul be grand- it's only May! this time last yr i was in plaster!! ur sooo much better equipped than i was and i still did GFW in an acceptable time

sign up before it's too late- it was sold out last yr dont forget!

spurscormac

Its selling out pretty fast - all the "nice" start times are now gone, I got one of the last few places on the 6:00am runner wave.
Only 4 waves now to choose from, Elite @ 5am, Runner @ 5:30, Walker @ 8:30 or 9am.

I just have to sort out a bike now :-)

thehamo

Right. Signed up. Thats it im in, walker category 8.30. Heres to training solid for the next few months! At least im blessed with July and August off..........

toomuchdetail

I'm in , choking at the expence if it -bigger fool to pay it I suppose .:(
Can 'tbelieve how fast it is selling , could only get the 5:30am start but its only a half our earlier than last year I think .
Achill Roar was a better event last year and tougher (in my view) and at a fraction of the cost.

Peterx

but you still paid up for this one...
maybe Achill ROAR is too cheap so:)

Mr Freeze

Peterx wrote: »

but you still paid up for this one...
maybe Achill ROAR is too cheap so:)

Shhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Mr Freeze

Vitamin C wrote: »

CKWPORT Let us know the verdict on what the road is like will ya?

Cycled the bog road today. Here is the garmin link to the route.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33318003

Going the bog road adds just over 2km compared to going up the route Gaelforce has gone in previous years. And its rough as hell. We did on MTBs this morning, I had slicks on mine, didn't find it too bad, but it will be a different story on the racers. Could be a lot of punctures on this on the day.

So here are the pics anyways of the new route. All the images are massive so Dialup will die trying to load them.
The start of the climb:
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/7673/cimg1674.jpg

Closer look at the surface here:
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/990/cimg1673r.jpg

It continues on for a few kms on this rough surface:
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/3515/cimg1675n.jpg

Then there is a few 100 metres of tarmac, that has a few large potholes:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/5356/cimg1677aj.jpg

It gets rough again, and there is a small bit of downhill, into 2 tight bends, before climbing again towards the woods:
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8765/cimg1679g.jpg

Surface is really rough on this downhill too:
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/8185/cimg1680b.jpg

Couple of gates in the woods, one entering them and one on the climb out, they'll be open on the day anyways.
http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/9746/cimg1681.jpg

Surface is fairly bad again in the woods, lots of photoholes but not as much gravel and stones, so bit easier to cycle.
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4216/cimg1682p.jpg

One last climb out of the woods then, not too long, only a few 100 metres, but its all loose gravel, so there was a bit of skidding on the back wheel going up it.
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1714/cimg1684y.jpg
http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/8392/cimg1683p.jpg

We went over Scelp then, the only bit of offroad previously in Gaelforce, and as expected its as bad as ever:
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/1282/cimg1686w.jpg

Mountain Rescue

hav to agree wit ck,done the route today cycle is tough going seriously rough,gonna be a lot off punctures on it,should be intrestin on the day,

Trotter

I'm a complete newbie to this.. and I've got a hybrid bike.

I'm not gonna be able to do that route on a hybrid am I....

toomuchdetail

Will be fine Trotter : Slicks with high pressure in the tyres should be order of the day , you could go for rougher tyres but the preceeding 30km on bike would make this a poorer option.
Nothing stopping you getting off and running with the bike -worst case .. I did this last year on the scelp - paid for it on time but saved the bike.

spurscormac

Interesting info on the bike route - looks pretty rough, but I still think overall, the road bike is the best choice.

At least I hope it is - investing in one through the bike to work scheme, so that will be my choice for the day.

Will have to get over that side to scope out the route for myself over the next couple of months.

Vitamin C

Cheers CKWPORT, Jesus some of that looks pretty bad. There'd be no getting down that really bad downhill bit on a road bike that's for sure, I wouldn't take my cross bike down that...definitely gonna be doing a bit of carrying but sure what harm.

elchupanebrey

I did the cycle with the two lads yesterday, it was rough surely, but the right tyres and a bit of cop regarding pace and people should get through it sound. I hope.

ronanmac

CKWPORT wrote: »

Cycled the bog road today. Here is the garmin link to the route.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33318003

Fair play, CKWPORT. Fantastic stuff. I kind of regret trading in the Trek 1000 for the shiny new carbon bike when I see that though! It looks like rough going. I hope to check it out soon, was planning to do what I did last year and do the cycling leg before heading up the Reek. Looks like some Kevlar tyres will be needed!

yop

It is looking towards the puncture proof tires, if anyone spots a good bargain on these fire it up here.

Then again maybe walk/run part of the track as a lot of people will be well fubar by the time they get to that section anyway!

Mr Freeze

yop wrote: »

It is looking towards the puncture proof tires, if anyone spots a good bargain on these fire it up here.

Then again maybe walk/run part of the track as a lot of people will be well fubar by the time they get to that section anyway!

I am going to chance it on my racer with slicks one of the days just to see, I need to get new tyres anyways, so I might have to pick up these supposed puncture proof one and see what they are like.

Grip is gonna be a problem on it though, there is a lot of gravel in spots, and you can loose grip especially on the last hill out of the woods, on my MTB with slicks, I had to jump off on the last bit of the hill and run up, not too bad I suppose.

Jip

yop wrote: »

It is looking towards the puncture proof tires, if anyone spots a good bargain on these fire it up here.

I've pair of Bontrager Race Lite Hard Case tyres, from reading all reviews on various forums it seems that nobody has had a puncture on them, but I'm not sure if they've been on roads like those pics posted above but they're not too expensive. The Gaelforce website also recommend a couple of similar tyres.

greenplain

Hi, just signed up today and have a few questions.

My background is running, road running at that (marathon, half marathons and all the rest under my belt). I do about 30 miles per week. I never done trail running. Will i need to get special trail running shoes or will my trusty asics nimbus do the trick.

I will be able to do some trail runs before the event, on a day to day basis, I can get some "uphill" running done on a treadmill. Can anyone suggest what distance I should be covering doing the uphill sessions ?

The biking is a complete new area for me. At the moment I can get my hands on a mountain bike. Would I be better off using a road bike for the event.

Cheers

Mr Freeze

With that running background, you will be in a lot better shape than most doing it.
Definitely use a road bike, get a few 40/50k cycles under your belt, hilly ones if possible.
The more hill running the better, some people here say thats the most important thing.

Wonkagirl

greenplain, well done on signing up! ul love it.

Trail shoes (salomon or similar cross trainers) would be better than asics. asics would be ****e on croagh patrick, and anyone i saw using asics last yr were skidding all over the place on the trail runs (which were really muddy)..

TBH i'd go with a road bike. there is a change to the bike route this yr to make it slightly more off-road, but even taking that into account, most of the 44km is on the road.. i'd rather the road bike for the 40km and go slowly for the 4km, than a mountain bike that'll REALLY slow you down for the 40km but be great for the 4km. know what i mean?

as for training for the trails- i didnt bother my arse with any of that last yr, i ran the flat bits and walked (quickly) up the hills.. as did a huge % of the people around me.. and i did it in an OK time (6 hrs). having said that, this yr i am going to incorporate some hill training alright. like out the the 12km first section (run), only about 3km (would that be right guys??) of that is uphill, so if you ahve to walk it, it's not the end of the world and ul not lose that much time.. it's a long race dont forget, no point in exhausting yourself too early!