Surf & Turf 300, Clonmel, 14/8/10

rottenhat

I've had confirmation that this is definitely on (the organisers recently had a baby so I thought they might have other things on their mind) and I've just booked myself into McCarthy's B&B. Anyone else care to join me for this one? Very nice route, taking in some of the prettiest towns in the country before taking an eastward sweep along the Copper Coast and back inland to Clonmel. It's by no means flat, but I would say it's one of the easier Irish audaxes and an excellent choice for anyone who wants to move up from doing 200s, or might simply have a 300-shaped hole in their SR series.

I can give one person a lift down but I have to be at work in Blackrock at 9am on the Sunday so you may prefer to find your own way back - cycling to Thurles and taking the train would be an option.

cunavalos

rottenhat wrote: »

I can give one person a lift down but I have to be at work in Blackrock at 9am on the Sunday so you may prefer to find your own way back - cycling to Thurles and taking the train would be an option.

another option, jjkavanagh (rapid express coaches) take bikes at a fiver each way and they operate 6 buses a day on the clonmel - dublin route. have used them loads and never had any trouble getting bike on the bus

rottenhat

Are you going to join us again Cunavalos? It'll probably be more fun without the broken fingers.

cunavalos

rottenhat wrote: »

Are you going to join us again Cunavalos? It'll probably be more fun without the broken fingers.

currently recovering from torn ligaments in my shoulder and badly bruised ribs, so am confined to short spells on turbo and some light jogging but two weeks is along time and we will see closer to the day.

rottenhat

From Aidan:

Dear all,

The "Surf & Turf" 300km will be taking place on Saturday 14th August 2010.
The event will start at the Apple Green petrol station on the Dungarvan Road in Clonmel at 0600. I would expect an average finishing time of around 2030 (but the time limit is 0200).
One of the most important things is to ride the route at a pace you feel comfortable at.
I strongly recommend accommodation in Clonmel unless you live nearby as you could be too tired to drive home.

Do not be daunted by the 300km distance. If you can do a 200km you can do this, however be aware that if you go out too fast going home may be difficult.
There are a good few short steep hills a couple of long drags and a rolly section around the coast.
The last 50km of the route is flat so if you get that far you will be okay!

The Route:
The Route roughly is as follows:
Clonmel-Cahir-Rossadredhid-Anglesborough-Kilbehany-Araglin-Lismore-Knockanore-Youghal-Ardmore-Bunmahon-Dunhill-Waterford-Kilmacow-Carrick-Faugheen-Grangemockler-Fethard-Clonmel.
Generally I have tried to keep to minor roads.
From some comments last year I will try to make the route sheet a bit easier to read.

This Year’s Route:
Some changes have been made to the route for safety reasons and due to road alterations in the Waterford area.
A lengthening in the middle has also allowed us to remove the unpopular long way round at the very end!
If you are one of the GPS folk please contact me and I can advise you of the changes beforehand.
If you are a non-GPS person then you will get the route on a sheet with a map at the start.
So the route currently on the Audax Ireland site is a little out of date.

To enter:
Official singing up will be on the morning. Please turn up at least 15mins before the start if you are signing up in the morning.
Start is the Apple Green petrol Station at the Dungarvan Road.
Signing up will also be available a some venue in town the evening before to be decided.
The cost of entry is 5 or 10 Euro you need to be a member of cycling Ireland or else buy a day licence.
With an event of this length you may end up cycling some of it on your own.
We won't have a team car so you will need to be fairly self sufficient.
However due to recent events here I expect to only do about 100km so I may be able to provide assistance with the car.

We will all start together but it is very likely that the group will split into several different bunches as we go.
You will be given your own "brevet card" and a route description.
The brevet card has a list of towns or villages where you need to stop to get a receipt or information to prove you went through within the time limits.

Bring:
Since the event will start at 0600 I would recommend some warm clothing that can be removed later on in the day.
Since it's summer you should also bring sun screen and rain gear.
You must bring lights as the start will be in poor light, we are a bit later on in the year that we were the last couple of years, and you get may caught out after dark if you get delayed.
Bring money to buy food and water as you go.

The controls:
In order to verify that you have done the route we have several villages that we stop at to get a stamp or a receipt. The name of the village is written on the card and you need to get a receipt or a stamp in the shop or petrol station to prove you were there!
There are two information controls where you will be required to write down the name of a particular pub or shop.
Your card will be sent to France to be verified and you get a 300km medal in return.

If you are interested in entering the event please let Aidan Brosnan brosnanaidan@eircom.net or 086 242 0548 know by Wednesday 11th August to assist with copies of maps etc.
Also if I had a good idea of numbers I can try to organise a nice place to eat for after the cycle.

The Audax Ireland website or the Sorrento Cycling Club website contains more information on Audax Cycling which I would recommend reading if you are new to a 300km event.

For those looking for somewhere to stay.
The following are a list of places I would recommend.
McCarthy's 052 612 3691
Befani's 052 617 7893
Ashbourne House 052 612 2307
Benuala 052 612 2158 about 1 mile out of town.

If these are full let me know and I can get name of others.

I hope you can join in.

Regards,

Aidan Brosnan

LastGasp

rottenhat wrote: »

have a 300-shaped hole in their SR series.

I have one of those, but unfortunatey I'll be on Holidays for this one. I'll have to catch one of the later Dying Sow or Dying Light 300s (or both).

rottenhat

The Dying Light is a mere 200 - maybe you're thinking of the Three Rivers down in Midleton? I'm out for the Dying Sow alas but I should be on for the Three Rivers. I'll be spending the day of the Dying Light firing food into the lot of ye, stamping cards etc but I've already ridden the route a couple of times and will be doing so at least once more to finalize the routesheet.

LastGasp

rottenhat wrote: »

The Dying Light is a mere 200

Thanks for pointing that out ! I had transcribed my own list of events and had it down for a 300. I'd better make the Dying Sow so, I doubt if I'll be able to get to Middleton.

rottenhat

Well, I wouldn't worry overly in your case - you already have the Fleche for a 300 so your series is complete. Not that I'd want to put you off doing the Dying Sow, of course, though it nearly killed me last year.

penexpers

Is Dying Sow hard then? I was definitely planning on trying to make my Audax debut for it.

rottenhat

Well, I was probably losing some conditioning at that point as it's quite late in the season and I think it was also pretty windy, but it does take you over some of the less well-known parts of the Wicklow mountains and Mount Leinster, and the climb by the Dying Cow is very steep - hard enough, I suppose. Certainly the toughest 300 in Ireland, unless Kevin has some really unpleasant surprises up his sleeve for the Three Rivers. But I wouldn't let that put you off - I'd certainly be riding it again this year if I wasn't going to be out of the country.

penexpers

Aha! Just realised I'll only be doing the Dying Sow in any case.

rughdh

Originally Posted by rottenhat of this parish
I can give one person a lift down

Thanks for the offer, rottenhat, but I think I'll hold out for the Dying Sow. Have a bit of lurgy that needs fixin'.

Toblerone1978

Feck it, I'm going to throw my hat into the ring for this one. The weather can't be anymore miserable than the last one I done!

LastGasp

rottenhat wrote: »

Well, I wouldn't worry overly in your case - you already have the Fleche for a 300 so your series is complete. Not that I'd want to put you off doing the Dying Sow, of course, though it nearly killed me last year.

I thought the Fleche wasn't a BRM event ? Or does that not matter for an SR series ?

CramCycle

rottenhat wrote: »

Not that I'd want to put you off doing the Dying Sow, of course, though it nearly killed me last year.

your all doing it, because i am, and if I complete it and you don't, it's a terrible sign for (all of) you

rottenhat

penexpers wrote: »

Aha! Just realised I'll only be doing the Dying Sow in any case.

That should be a bit easier all right - you don't have the pleasure of Mount Leinster on that one.

LastGasp wrote: »

I thought the Fleche wasn't a BRM event ? Or does that not matter for an SR series ?

No, I think the Fleche is BRM all right, and at some point we'll be getting a classy-looking certificate from ACP for it. I know it's been homologated already. And you can always substitute a longer event for a shorter in your series, so I'm pretty sure that will stand you as a 300. But I'll check with Paul to be sure.

CramCycle wrote: »

your all doing it, because i am, and if I complete it and you don't, it's a terrible sign for (all of) you

Glad I'll be out of the country for this one...it's been a while since we had an earthquake but if that's what it takes to stop CramCycle from finishing....

CramCycle

rottenhat wrote: »

Glad I'll be out of the country for this one...it's been a while since we had an earthquake but if that's what it takes to stop CramCycle from finishing....

May have been a tad tipsy when I wrote that.

As we all know it will be a great day when I actually finish an event

rottenhat

Couldn't have been a better day for that, really - certainly the first time the Surf & Turf has come off without significant rain. We had a few drops when Toblerone1978 was foolhardy enough to predict we'd have a dry day of it but by Bunmahon it was clear blue skies and golden sunshine. Jim F rounded out the Marble City posse, and Jim R (Barrow), Paul O'D, Andy K and John O'S (Sorrento) and Paul P (Swords) made up the group. The two Jims were finishing out their SR series with this 300 (EDIT as was Andy). Aidan headed out with us, saying he'd just go a few miles and see how he was feeling - fifteen hours later he was polishing off his first ride of over 100k in two years. He was walking pretty funny when he arrived at the restaurant for the victory celebrations, mind you.

The route takes you out west through Cahir and over some long, gentle climbs to Lismore where the group broke up a little bit, the Kilkenny boys pushing on, John and Aidan having been tailed off a bit, and the rest of us standing outside the Summer house cafe salivating until they opened the doors and let us in. Great cake, friendly staff - highly recommended if you're ever in the area. After Lismore we joined the Blackwater for a while with some short but steep climbs along the bank of the river around Knockanore before turning east along the estuary to Ardmore. Leaving Ardmore the sun finally broke through the cloud, making for postcard views of the coast. We made good time along the undulating road through Dungarvan to Bunmahon in spite off a stiff crosswind, where we found the Kilkenny lads soaking up the sun and examining an ominous looking rip in Toblerone1978's rear tyre. Paul fixed him up with his spare folder and after a monumental faff (no-one seemed that keen to move on from the cafe some reason. Well, except for the owner who was keen to shut up for the day so he could head up to Dublin to Croke Park) we headed on.

From there things started feeling a bit more challenging - the off-shore breeze was getting stronger and the rollers over the headlands were getting steeper though fantastic views of the sea to the right and ruined old buildings to the left helped make up for. When we turned inland, we were straight into the face of the wind, and ran into a road closure which naturally we ignored. After that I mainly remember a lot of rough roads although the stretch from Waterford to Carrick can't have been that bad. We got trapped behind some monster piece of agricultural hardware going along a narrow lane towards Pilltown but mercifully he pulled over after a few kilometers to let us through.

After Carrick the route takes you through Faugheen and Ahenny over the shoulder of Slievenamon - as Paul dubbed it, the land that time forgot, although given the state of the roads, it seemed more like the land that the county council forgot. The sun was sinking as we went around the mountain, an increasingly ragged group struggling to stay together along the backroads to Cloneen and Fethard. When we finally made it back onto the main road for the fast run into Clonmel, the relief was incredible, and the revised route around the west side of Clonmel was an immense improvement over the old route. We made it into the petrol station on the Dungarvan road at 8:30 to find Toblerone1978 still sitting there, drinking coffee and trying to muster the energy to get back into his car and crawl home. We finished out the evening with a meal in an indian restaurant, and the usual sitcom scenes involved in utterly exhausted randonneurs trying to order food and drink from waiters for whom English is a second language. To be fair, they did their best with us and probably we were no more incoherent than their average customers at that hour.

Looking back, I think I was probably overstating the easiness of the Surf & Turf - the overall climb figure is on the low side for a 300 at under 2400m but there's very little of it that's flat, and wind along the coastal sections is more or less guaranteed. That said, it's also a very well thought out and scenic route and I'd rank it with the Mick Byrne 200 and the REK 400 as one of the best in the country.

Toblerone1978

Excellent report rottenhat.

rottenhat wrote: »

Looking back, I think I was probably overstating the easiness of the Surf & Turf

Overstatement of the year. For future purposes, it's not flat for the final 50km and it's not all downill for the last 20km!!

rottenhat wrote: »

That said, it's also a very well thought out and scenic route

Here, here.

I was looking forward to this, to see how I'd fare more than anything else after sticking to the shorter distances this year. I found it very enjoyable (although Jim F might have notice that I was getting a bit temperamental in the last 25km) and echoing rottenhat, although it's flat, it's still challenging. To come up with a route that good over 300km must take alot of work, so kudos to Aidan.

Of course the good weather was a help - I would like to clarify that the rain I predicted two minutes earlier of not showing was soft, very soft.

I went home after this with a bit of a sun burn and a wee graze on the knee and crashed out on the bed by 10pm (I don't know how ye managed the whole restaurant thing). I was adament that I would make the club spin for 9am this morning but at 8.15, I knew not a hope. I went for a "recovery" spin later in the morning - it was grand, I was able to draft off a 90 year old on a high nelly (although she dropped me after 10ks).