Orwell Sportive 2010 August 15th

manwithaplan

It's on a sunday. I sent an e-mail to the organisers about parking and they said there would be loads around the industrial estate.

Ghosty669

brayblue24 wrote: »

Ghosty,

I'm registered for this but will be driving there. I know St. Olaf's but haven't been there for a while. Any idea re parking? Also does anyone know is the industrial estate itself Pay & Display on saturdays? I know there is a Luas car park where Atlantic was but I'm cheap:D

Hey BrayBlue24, as mentioned the sportive is on a Sunday and we basically have an entire industrial estate to ourselves so there'll be no problem regarding parking. There's plenty around the start finish so no need to worry about Pay and Display.

brayblue24

Thanks lads. Don't know where I came up with that one sure I knew it was Sunday:rolleyes:

I'll just go and sit quietly in the corner

Ghosty669

Update on the weather : Sunday will be another dry, warm day with temperatures reaching 20 or 21 degrees in much of the country, there will be some bright and sunny spells however there may be some misty periods at times too. Winds will remain light to moderate and northerly in direction. In other words : perfect cycling weather!

buffalo

All registered. Now I have just have to pick up my new boards.ie kit to wear with my Orwell kit, and I'll be set!

Planet X

Who's doing this from here? Doesn't seem to be that many of the regulars going out? I must / might be wrong.

neris

im going. be my 1st spotive and dreading it after my attempts on the hills last week

godihatedehills

Planet X wrote: »

Who's doing this from here? Doesn't seem to be that many of the regulars going out? I must / might be wrong.

I'm in anyway, I heard there's a climb called 'the wall' (insert danger music here....) and that was enough for me

I think frenchie is too, after that I don't know.

Neris, don't worry if there's anyone to start with it's the Orwell tourers, they're a great bunch of lads.

DirkVoodoo

I'm all signed up for this. Orwell sportive and SK tour are my 2 goals left for the year!

Leroy42

I'll be doing this, haven't signed up yet, but then I reckon I'd be late for me own funeral!

Like DirkVoodoo, this and the SK are the last goals for the year....oh and the big one... the Howth TT of course:)

godihatedehills

Leroy42 wrote: »

I'll be doing this, haven't signed up yet, but then I reckon I'd be late for me own funeral!

Like DirkVoodoo, this and the SK are the last goals for the year....oh and the big one... the Howth TT of course:)

€5 off if you sign up before 5pm on Saturday.

manwithaplan

Looking forward to meeting you all. I'll be in a light blue Salvarani jersey - do say hello before you burn off into the distance.

I have cycled all the hilly bits of this at one time or another (actually no - did the Shay Elliott from the other side) but have no idea where "the wall" is. There's a bitch of a short climb on the back road from Roundwood to Laragh and a very steep bit approaching Lough Tay but I have never heard them called that.

Leroy, I hope you will be united with me in milking every drop out of this for Howth TT excuses.

Leroy42

Sure will. Already have a few done up.

I'm an endurance cyclist, short TT's are not my bag

The climb was too short, was only getting into my rhythm and it was over.

I more an explosive climber, climb went on for too long.

Damn tri-bars snapped - damn chainguard failed

Steep bits were too steep and other parts weren't steep enough to make use my undoubted talent (talent may be the incorrect term!)

Took so long to finish the Orwell that I missed my starting time

The butler did it!!

levitronix

I have this boxed off, will be my first venture over the 100k since june haha i ve turned into such a wuss

godihatedehills

manwithaplan wrote: »

I have cycled all the hilly bits of this at one time or another (actually no - did the Shay Elliott from the other side) but have no idea where "the wall" is.

Ok, here we go....this is the wall apparently.

And this is what you're lookin at when yer baytin yer way up it.....

Ghosty669

You'll see from the elevation guide that some of it is around 20%. However if the weather is wet, there's no way you'll get up there so we may have to change the route to avoid this 'wall'.

Leroy42

I thought the Wall was the climb heading into Enniskerry on the way home. Thats what they called it on the W200 when they did that part of the route.

Doesn't matter I suppose, both look like fu3kers!!!!

Ghosty669

Leroy42 wrote: »

I thought the Wall was the climb heading into Enniskerry on the way home. Thats what they called it on the W200 when they did that part of the route.

Doesn't matter I suppose, both look like fu3kers!!!!

Think you're talking about the 'Poggio' as we call it. Not to frighten anyone but 'the wall' is much worse! At least you'll have that to look forward to the Poggio on the way home!

need4speedy

Looking at this pictures I am wonder about my response to the man in the shop when he asked if I wanted a triple and I of course responded with absolute indignation "no way man". It looks real tough for a 39 / 25!!!!

doozerie

From a ride earlier this year my Garmin recorded the highest gradient on "the wall" as 16.7% and that was just for a very short distance. I'm not sure how accurate the Garmin measurements are, or how accurately they are interpreted (on ridewithgps.com), though. My Garmin shows it as being a little over 1% steeper than the steepest part of Devil's Elbow, by comparison, though personally I think Devil's Elbow is actually a tougher climb.

manwithaplan

Ah - never been up it. I've been on the two roads it connects but didn't really know it was there to be honest. Didn't notice it on the route - thought it went "round the block" to get to that point. Something to look forward to!

The main problem with the Poggio (nice name) is that it always comes right at the end of a long spin when you are in wind-down mode and dreaming of ice cream.

Good man Leroy - I had written up my own list of excuses but then the dog ate it.

2x4

godihatedehills wrote: »

Ok, here we go....this is the wall apparently.

And this is what you're lookin at when yer baytin yer way up it.....

To really appreciate "The Wall" try starting the climb further down at Balinagee Bridge.

niceonetom

I'll be doing this as well. Sure I'll probably win the fecking thing.

2x4 wrote: »

To really appreciate "The Wall" try starting the climb further down at Balinagee Bridge.

Yeah, it's one of those roads where you have to stand up to keep going but as soon as you do you run the risk of spinning the back wheel on the gravel and eating your stem. Fun.

neris

if you have to go up it do you not need to come down it aswell? just trying to be positive

Ghosty669

neris wrote: »

if you have to go up it do you not need to come down it aswell? just trying to be positive

No. We'll be bringing you back down Djouse hill fully so you won't have to face this beastie until next year! Hopefully the route will explain it better than I can.

brayblue24

I'm actually a bit relieved to hear all this. I've tried this climb four times since I first saw the route and no matter how hard I try I just can't do it in one go.

And then at the top you turn right and then....:rolleyes:

velo.2010

Participation for me is lift dependant.

Question for Ghosty if he is there. Will there be waterstops along the way or support cars providing fluids as we cycle along. Sunday looks like a warm one and the lunch stop is quite a distance!

Ghosty669

velo.2010 wrote: »

Participation for me is lift dependant.

Question for Ghosty if he is there. Will there be waterstops along the way or support cars providing fluids as we cycle along. Sunday looks like a warm one and the lunch stop is quite a distance!

Hey Velo,
The way we're working this is that each marshal will have a few cases of bottled water in their cars so you'll be able to stop at any point and fill up. We also have a PowerBar liquid stop organised on the way up to Sally Gap which is about half way to the feed stop.
Finally, there'll be 2 cars following the riders : one will float up and down the group while the second will be a broomwagon. Again these will also have water so you can stop these at any time and fill up.

lafors

Another question Ghosty, how many riders are you expecting to do this?
Still not 100% on it yet shaking this cold is a pain though feeling better today

Ghosty669

lafors wrote: »

Another question Ghosty, how many riders are you expecting to do this?
Still not 100% on it yet shaking this cold is a pain though feeling better today

Hey lafors : the numbers are creeping up at the moment so I would expect to have between close enough to 100 riders on the day.