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Boards Beginners Spin: Saturday 15th May
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11-05-2010 10:46am#1Right, carrying from this thread, we're gonna go for a beginners' spin this Saturday in Dublin/Wicklow
The Spin
This will be a very easy spin, primarily for people who've never done anything more than about 20km in one go, or for people who've never ridden in a group before and who have always wanted to go on a club or boards spin but never had the guts so far
Of course everyone is welcome. You can't be too old, fat, slow or weak to join us, and when you get there you'll probably find someone is older, fatter, slower or weaker than you
All or most of the people on the ride, like me, won't know eachother and will have never ridden in a group before, so there's no need to feel intimidated.
This isn't a boards-only spin. Bring a mate along if you want.
The Route
This is the proposed route. It's roughly 36km (not including the distance taken to get there). That sounds like a lot, but it's really not. We will be taking an easy pace. Even if you've never done more than 5km in one go, you will be surprised at how well you cope with this distance.
The route effectively has two legs:
1. Leopardstown to Bray via Dun Laoghaire and along the coast (~18km)
2. Bray to Sandyford via Enniskerry and Kilternan (~18km).
The first leg is a nice leisure ride, great views and that, and fairly flat. If you want to head back after the first leg, then work away, no-one will think badly of you.
The second leg takes in some hills, but nothing insane and should be a good introduction to riding in the Wicklow hills. Note: I've never ridden the route, I'm relying on OS data to tell me how hilly it is, so I take no responsibility for errors
Timing
I'm taking 20km/h as the average pace. This is a deliberate lowball; better to be ahead of schedule than behind it. This means that including short breaks at Bray and Enniskerry, the spin should take no more than 3 hours at the worst. In reality, I imagine we'll be about 30 minutes ahead of schedule by the end.
There are two groups heading out with the aim to meet in Leopardstown (Junction of Leopardstown Rd and N11) at 10am.
One group is meeting at Connolly station, leaving at 9.15am
The other group is meeting in Dundrum, leaving no later than 9.30am. We'll gather in the usual boards spot here.
On the other hand, if you want to meet us at Leopardstown at 10am, then that's cool.
I'll be leaving from Hunterswood at 9:10, so if you don't fancy going to Dundrum on your own, wait for me in Woodstown village and I'll spin in on my way down to see if anyone is there.
If you arrive late, don't panic, just follow us, we'll be following the above route.
We'll be at Leopardstown at roughly 10am, leaving probably before 10:10.
We should arrive in Bray around 11am, probably heading on at 11:15 - 11:20.
We'll hit Enniskerry around 12:15, heading on by 12:30. And so we should finish in Sandyford outside the entrance to Aiken's Village at 1pm.
We could be well ahead of these timings or a bit behind (but most likely the former).
Guidelines, etc
See this thread for guidelines on group riding. We will be obeying the rules of the road. Whatever your opinion about breaking the lights on your own; ten or fifteen riders breaking the lights at once is a whole other beast and we won't be doing it.
Since the intention here is not to scare anyone away I think the most sensible thing is to go on relaxed guidelines. Most club spins move at the pace of the fastest person, but considering that we've no idea what level everyone else is at, I think it's best if everyone goes at their own pace. We'll probably find that everyone's pace is actually fairly close and riding in groups usually inspires you to up your effort somewhat. If you notice that you're much faster than the group and you want to maintain that pace, then don't feel pressured into staying with the group and burn off if you want to.
What you need
- A road bike or hybrid with road tyres, two working brakes and at least 6 gears (!). Flat bars are fine for this spin, but most club spins insist on drop bars. We can't/won't turn anyone away for turning up on an MTB, but if you turn up with knobbly tyres and 700mm bars, you will find the ride very hard going.
- Tools. The bare minimum of most tool kits has at least one spare tube, a pump, tyre levers for removing your tyre and a selection of the most common allen keys; Usually 3mm - 6mm on a multi-tool. You can pick up a multi-tool (they're like a swiss Army knife with allen keys) in Halfords for a tenner or so. If you don't have quick-release wheels (again, most club spins insist on these), you absolutely must bring with you, the spanner(s) to remove either of your wheels. Sometimes the nuts on the back and front wheels are different, so check them first.
Your own tools are essential because if you have a flat halfway between Bray and Enniskerry and can't repair it, we're going to assume you turned around and went home, and leave Enniskerry without you. Don't assume you'll be able to borrow someone else's tools.
The advisable minimum tool kit is two spare tubes, tyre levers, a pump and a multi-tool.
- Your mobile phone. In case you have to ring your friend/mum/wife to get picked up
- Money
- A water bottle.
What's not required (but nice to have)
- Gloves. If it's anything like this week, you can expect temperatures to be quite chilly for the first 90 minutes or so, so long-fingered gloves are a good idea. You can then change into half-finger gloves (or no gloves) as the temps increase and you start to sweat.
- A rain jacket. They can be cumbersome to carry, but if it rains you'll be glad of it.
- Shorts and a t-shirt (or tights & cycling jersey, etc). Yes, it might be cold when we start out, but as we move you will warm up. If you turn up in a full tracksuit, you will be melting by the time we get to Bray.
I think that's it. No doubt someone will point out something, and I'll add it to this post which is about 3,000 characters longer than I expected. No need to stick this and clutter up the stickies, we'll just keep it bumped.
So far, the people who are in, we have
Lethal_Bullet
Wingman2010
Blowfish
sweetswing
littleredspot
seamus5
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Specifically didn't mention it. Personal choice, but if you ever intend on joining a club spin, they won't let you out without one (insurance and such).funkyjebus wrote: »so whats the stance on helmets. do you guys wear one.i never wear one, but is there an etiquette? should i break it out and dust off?
Not sure where that it, but I would have though the North-East corner was the easiest one to meet up at. I'll be in boards kit too, and no doubt a couple of others.Grand, if you spot someone in the boards kit there, poke me. Easiest spot to meet there is probably at the picture of Mary.
rasher, if you get there and there's no-one there, then you're either too early or too late. If it's 10 o'clock you're probably too early. If it's 10.15 you're probably too late, so you can chase us 0 -
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scottreynolds wrote: »Would it be okay to bring a friend - His name is Peter Doyle. He thinks he's all that on a bike.... wears euro kit for his 10km ride to work. I think he may be interested?
Yeah but..............they're going up Vico Road. It's very steep! 0 -
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scottreynolds wrote: »make me fell like driving everywhere.
I'm confused, is it your whale like stature makes you want to drive everywhere? 0 -
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Grand, if you spot someone in the boards kit there, poke me. Easiest spot to meet there is probably at the picture of Mary.Not sure where that it, but I would have though the North-East corner was the easiest one to meet up at. I'll be in boards kit too, and no doubt a couple of others.
rasher, if you get there and there's no-one there, then you're either too early or too late. If it's 10 o'clock you're probably too early. If it's 10.15 you're probably too late, so you can chase us
Picture of Mary should be the north east corner. Seems like the best spot since people coming from town/Dundrum along the N11 will be on that side.
I'll try to be there a bit early to make sure I don't have to try catch up
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