Gaelforce West 21/8/10

Wonkagirl

healthygirl wrote: »

I got one in the outdoor shop on Liffey st for €6.99, got a whistle for €2.99 aswell!!

Very helpful bunch in there

they were doing combined whistle/blanket packs most places for a fiver, i got mine in Mahers in cork about a month ago. nice small packs too. they were doing them in great outdoors too.

raging for poor smurphy and the lack of registration... i checked and double checked a few times since registering with the same fear. Disaster for you! You should do the Frank duffy 10miler in the phoenix park instead. And sure achill will be amazing anyway, i enjoyed it way more than gaelforce last yr.

smurphy29

Cheers guys, suffice to say I was the one largely to blame! Anyway, enjoy the event, I look forward to seeing the reviews.

rebelreded

smurphy29 wrote: »

Cheers guys, suffice to say I was the one largely to blame! Anyway, enjoy the event, I look forward to seeing the reviews.

Of course you were, I know the feeling

I don't know how much help this is but 4 friends of mine (all male) are not doing the event but have registered and paid up. If you wanted to chance you arm with one of their registrations then you are welcome...

watergal

healthygirl wrote: »

I got one in the outdoor shop on Liffey st for €6.99, got a whistle for €2.99 aswell!!

Very helpful bunch in there

I have one from a bupa run ( a thermal space blanket).. that should be ok shouldn't it ? It's just those foil wrap things ?

ronanmac

One of the lads in our group of five has pulled out of Gaelforce. We are booked into Glassilaun Beach B and B, which is right at the start of the race, and there is now a single room available. So if you're looking for accommodation at the start line, and want an extra hour or two in bed, PM me!

Youngatheart

Hi everyone, as a first timer, and an inexperienced cyclist, I thought I'd better follow the advice of several posters, and try fixing flat tires on my bike. I had also bought Gatorskins, so last night I decided to change the tires, and combine the two jobs. No problem with the front wheel - I got the tire off, tube changed, new tire on, all fairly quickly. But when it came to the back wheel - disaster! The little ring that secures the valve was jammed, and nothing I could do could get it off. I tried pliers, vice-grips etc, but it wouldn't budge, so I was stuck with the wheel off, bits of the bike all over the kitchen floor, and a lot of frustration. I brought it to the local bike shop (Jimmy Stagg in Lucan - very knowledgeable and helpful if you need hep or advice, and anything to do with bikes) this morning and they sorted it out in a jiffy.

But boy, am I glad I found this out last night, instead of mid-way through the bog on Saturday! The advice the guy in the shop gave me was to leave the valve ring OFF altogether - you don't need it, and it could get jammed, leaving you stranded.

My training has gone reasonably well, though I feel I haven't really done enough, and I'm taking it easy this week, as advised - my right knee has been giving me grief the last two weeks anway, so I'm hoping it doesn't misbehave on Saturday. I'm really lookng forward to it all, and the weather forecast seems pretty good too! Sorry to hear of others misfortunes, like having to pull out, or not getting registered - that would kill me! Good luck everyone! And, taking deep breath - my time prediction: 5 hours 25 minutes! ( excluding waiting for the kayak and barring punctures, falls etc!!!):)

Trotter

Im back in the game.. I think..

Did a very slow 10k this morning. (1.07) but feel absolutely fine now. Gonna keep taking the cold medicine and drink buckets of water. I think I could go out now and do 20 or 30k on the bike easy enough but now that my head thinks I can finish Gaelforce, I'll rest up and leave it think that way til Saturday

ThisRegard

Youngatheart wrote: »

But boy, am I glad I found this out last night, instead of mid-way through the bog on Saturday! The advice the guy in the shop gave me was to leave the valve ring OFF altogether - you don't need it, and it could get jammed, leaving you stranded.

That would be a kicker alright if it happened on the day. Mine have always been very loose since I got the bike so I never tightened them beyond one little twist. I got my bike from Staggs so maybe they were forewarning me of potential trouble in the future ! I'm usually one of those people who tighten things as tight as possible, usually leading to things like the ends broken off radiator valves and things like that.

new2biking

Anybody got directions to registration? I think I seen an earlier post saying to head for Galway rather than Westposrt if travelling from Dublin.

Cheers,

r0nanf

Am definitely out now, stoopid ITB & knee tendons. Best of luck to you all, hopefully I'll get back on track for WAR Glenmalure.

c montgomery

r0nanf wrote: »

Am definitely out now, stoopid ITB & knee tendons. Best of luck to you all, hopefully I'll get back on track for WAR Glenmalure.

Sorry to hear that man, ill see ya at war

2 Wheels Good

Weather forecast update from accuweather
windy. Winds from the WSW at 33 km/h
If it's like that should make a big difference on the cycle!

yop

pat_hurley@yaho wrote: »

Weather forecast update from accuweather
windy. Winds from the WSW at 33 km/h
If it's like that should make a big difference on the cycle!

You sure?
http://www.accuweather.com/ukie/forecast.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&postalcode=castlebar&metric=1


more weather here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/208

rebelreded

pat_hurley@yaho wrote: »

Weather forecast update from accuweather
windy. Winds from the WSW at 33 km/h
If it's like that should make a big difference on the cycle!

Excuse my ignorance but what difference is it going to make? Is that mainly a tailwind or headwind?

Mr Freeze

rebelreded wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but what difference is it going to make? Is that mainly a tailwind or headwind?

Thats a tailwind (maybe a bit from the side) for the most of the cycle, as we will be heading north for most of it, then turning west to climb the bog road to the reek, so we might get that wind from the side again or a bit of a headwind.

rebelreded

new2biking wrote: »

Anybody got directions to registration? I think I seen an earlier post saying to head for Galway rather than Westposrt if travelling from Dublin.

Cheers,

AFAIK the best way to go is Galway, Moycullen, Maam Cross then turn right for Leenane. When you get to Leenane turn left and Killary Adventure Centre is on your left a few km's out the road..........

Then back into Leenane and head for Delphi for the Bike Drop

new2biking

rebelreded wrote: »

AFAIK the best way to go is Galway, Moycullen, Maam Cross then turn right for Leenane. When you get to Leenane turn left and Killary Adventure Centre is on your left a few km's out the road..........

Then back into Leenane and head for Delphi for the Bike Drop

Cheers, would have wasted a couple of hours going to Westport then asking for directions:D

2 Wheels Good

rebelreded wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but what difference is it going to make? Is that mainly a tailwind or headwind?

Oops, yes, mistake on the forecast, but wind still from the sw. (Winds from the SW at 19 km/h.)
If it's from the sw it'll be a tailwind and make the valley a lot less of a pain in the backside than last yr! Will probably be against on the climb up to CP but shouldn't too strong (i hope)

g0g

CKWPORT wrote: »

Gog, there is no problem with the upload, thats the way it does it for multi sport, it uploads each activity separately, they are even stored separately in the watches history. It states in the manual somewhere that is does it this way you can better analyse each activity.

What I do now, is just press lap when I come out of each transition, I don't bother timing my transitions or using multisport. Multisport has to be setup before the race, and one wrong press of the lap button means you are fecked.

Also if you use multisport and allow transitions on the watch, when the watch is in transition this time is not included in your overall time when you upload. It only uploads the activities, the time is transition is not, this isn't accurate for a race like Gaelforce as all your transitions are included in your overall time.

Thanks again for the reply! Another stupid question then: do you leave Autolap on while doing this method with pressing the lap button or does that only confuse things? And did you say transitions form part of your overall time? I thought we were timed out at the kayaks etc as there might be a waiting queue?

watergal wrote: »

I have one from a bupa run ( a thermal space blanket).. that should be ok shouldn't it ? It's just those foil wrap things ?

It better be enough because that's all I'm using too! I'm making the rest of my first aid kit thingy from a cheapy kit I bought in Lidl before - it also contains an "emergency blanket" which is the exact same foil wrap type thing, so I'm sure we'll be fine!

Mr Freeze

g0g wrote: »

Thanks again for the reply! Another stupid question then: do you leave Autolap on while doing this method with pressing the lap button or does that only confuse things? And did you say transitions form part of your overall time? I thought we were timed out at the kayaks etc as there might be a waiting queue?

Sorry the Kayak transition is the only one that is timed out.

Autolap can be used to automatically do a lap when you pass the same point, like if you were running on a track, each time you pass where you started it will automatically mark a lap.

The other autolap option is by distance, you set how much distance you want to cover before it will autolap, a km or mile, etc.

toomuchdetail

CKWPORT wrote: »

The other autolap option is by distance, you set how much distance you want to cover before it will autolap, a km or mile, etc.

Would recommend autolap as per CKWPORT by distance (km) and set the virtual partner to a set km time on a single sport -e.g 70km @ 5m per km race has you home in 5:50hrs approx -- may fall behind on the run but will be faster on the bike etc.
I fiddled with my watch last year and got annoyed trying to switch between sports , turned it off in the end.

On the wind , if there is a tail wind , it will cool you down but less likely to notice if your sweating/dehydrating so hydration needs to be thought about more.

An Fear Fada

Total Boards newbie here, have got loads of info from this thread and can really sense the anticipation building now!
Did GFW for first time last year and used cycling shoes. Really unsure if I should stick with these or change to pedals using toe straps on Saturday. The new cycling section before Croagh Patrick might mean a bit of on and off the bike. Also is there a running section at the finish line?, last yr it was on grass and didn't need to change the cycling shoes. Is there a concensus?

g0g

CKWPORT wrote: »

Sorry the Kayak transition is the only one that is timed out. Autolap can be used to automatically do a lap when you pass the same point, like if you were running on a track, each time you pass where you started it will automatically mark a lap. The other autolap option is by distance, you set how much distance you want to cover before it will autolap, a km or mile, etc.

toomuchdetail wrote: »

Would recommend autolap as per CKWPORT by distance (km) and set the virtual partner to a set km time on a single sport -e.g 70km @ 5m per km race has you home in 5:50hrs approx -- may fall behind on the run but will be faster on the bike etc.
I fiddled with my watch last year and got annoyed trying to switch between sports , turned it off in the end. On the wind , if there is a tail wind , it will cool you down but less likely to notice if your sweating/dehydrating so hydration needs to be thought about more.

Ok nearly there now I think! Yes I currently have the autolap set to 1km intervals so that I can know details for each KM. What I'm wondering is will this auto-feature then impact on my doing "laps" to split the sections during the race - i.e. if I press lap each time I change from one mode to the next I'll have 6-8 sections. That would be ideal. But will the 1km splits then complicate this further or will they break each of my 6-8 "laps" into detailed parts? Sorry I hope this isn't over-confusing things, but I find the GPS watch really interesting after being out for a couple of hours!:rolleyes:

toomuchdetail

An Fear Fada wrote: »

Also is there a running section at the finish line?, last yr it was on grass and didn't need to change the cycling shoes. Is there a concensus?

It will be down to personal choice but I did the same as you last year and I am definately doing it in clips and my trail runners, might lose a little on the bike but will gain more on transitions and the off road,
There may be a small run at the end I believe.

An Fear Fada

toomuchdetail wrote: »

It will be down to personal choice but I did the same as you last year and I am definately doing it in clips and my trail runners, might lose a little on the bike but will gain more on transitions and the off road,
There may be a small run at the end I believe.

Did the clips take much getting used to?

toomuchdetail

An Fear: clips are easy enough to get use to but you would notice the reduction in power transfer when cycling . the trail runners are good as the toe is smaller than my normal runners so they fit better.
Have noticed a little cramp setting in on the right foot a little but I can usually stretch it out on the bike easily enough

2 Wheels Good

An Fear Fada wrote: »

Total Boards newbie here, have got loads of info from this thread and can really sense the anticipation building now!
Did GFW for first time last year and used cycling shoes. Really unsure if I should stick with these or change to pedals using toe straps on Saturday. The new cycling section before Croagh Patrick might mean a bit of on and off the bike. Also is there a running section at the finish line?, last yr it was on grass and didn't need to change the cycling shoes. Is there a concensus?

Did it in my spds last yr, think it wastes too much time changing from runners to spds and back 3 times, especially when you're wet/muddy, and having to carry said wet/muddy runners with you on the bike. Going with trail runners/clips this year. Will lose a bit but don't think the cycle is long enough to justify the spds

Mr Freeze

g0g wrote: »

Ok nearly there now I think! Yes I currently have the autolap set to 1km intervals so that I can know details for each KM. What I'm wondering is will this auto-feature then impact on my doing "laps" to split the sections during the race - i.e. if I press lap each time I change from one mode to the next I'll have 6-8 sections. That would be ideal. But will the 1km splits then complicate this further or will they break each of my 6-8 "laps" into detailed parts? Sorry I hope this isn't over-confusing things, but I find the GPS watch really interesting after being out for a couple of hours!:rolleyes:

If you are pressing lap and using 1km about laps, then you are going to have 70+ sections on your route when you view it.

I wouldn't use autolap.

I would just press lap when exiting a transition and that way your route will appear like this (connemara adventure race) as opposed to this (GF cycle 1 where I forgot autolap was on).

I think what I did in Connemara was the best way, as it is much easier to read the splits/laps afterwards and it will correspond with the splits when the results go up on site or if we get a print out at the finish line.

Hope this helps!

greenplain

Hi,

Quick question about salt. For the event I have a camel pack that holds 2L of water and I also have a 1L bottle of water on my bike.

To avoid cramps I want to put some salt into the water. Can I use normal salt and how much will i put in, just a pinch ?

nerraw1111

greenplain wrote: »

Hi,

Quick question about salt. For the event I have a camel pack that holds 2L of water and I also have a 1L bottle of water on my bike.

To avoid cramps I want to put some salt into the water. Can I use normal salt and how much will i put in, just a pinch ?

Just pop into your local pharmacy and ask for diarolyte. It's less than a euro.

To make your own, you add two heaped teaspoonfuls of sugar and two or three pinches of salt and mix them thoroughly.


On another note.

Regarding potential chain breakages. I popped into local bike store to get a power link. The mechanic said power links cannot be used on the chain of my bike.

He said if my chain breaks, I simply click it back in place? Is that correct? Not sure if the mechanic believed I had a greater knowledge of bike mechanics than I actually do, and skipped over a few steps etc.