Orwell/Lucan/Usher/UCD/Tiernans league race 05/08/10 - Sally Gap

velo.2010

Question to those who are doing the Sally gap race tommorow. Some confusion about start/sign-on point. Is is Brittas or Blessington?
Thankyou.

zzzzzzzz

velo.2010 wrote: »

Question to those who are doing the Sally gap race tommorow. Some confusion about start/sign-on point. Is is Brittas or Blessington?
Thankyou.

It's the usual sign on in brittas

godihatedehills

Sweet mother of all divine. Is it actually going OVER Sally Gap??!!

Caroline_ie

godihatedehills wrote: »

Sweet mother of all divine. Is it actually going OVER Sally Gap??!!

I think the finish is at the top of SG ... I predict I'll be last.

godihatedehills

Route. Appears to go right up over it.....

Caroline_ie

godihatedehills wrote: »

Route. Appears to go right up over it.....

Orwell Admin wrote:

The route can be seen here. The original plan was to include a lap of the Kilbride circuit, but there were worries of Caroline slower riders finishing in darkness, so it has been cut to 18.5km

So thoughtful

Lumen

Moved from Broomwagon.

Can't do this unfortunately, but looking forward to reports.

shaungil

hahahahahahahahaha

niceonetom

Jesus. Without a lap before the climb it's going to be murderous right from the off. I doubt there'll be much of a bunch to sprint this one out.

velo.2010

Thanks for moving that Lumen. I was confused about the start after I met an Usher scratcher up there last weekend who thought it would start from Blessington. Probably got it mixed up with the race on saturday.

Lumen

So tonight's the night for sandbagging climbers then?

If only DirkVoodoo had managed to avoid getting promoted to SL.

Will Niceonetom reestablish his former climbing prowess?

Can Diarmuid manage a whole race without shouting at anyone?

Chips Lovell

It would be a great race to watch. From the top of the Gap you can right the way down.

Diarmuid

Lumen wrote: »

Can Diarmuid manage a whole race without shouting at anyone?

quite possibly. Once the road pitches up I don't have much breath left for talking. Don't worry, should be back to normal for Saturday

My money is on Patrick O'Brien if SL work hard enough before the climb really kicks off.

tawfeeredux

el tonto wrote: »

It would be a great race to watch. From the top of the Gap you can right the way down.

What time does this start at? I'm heading for the hills this evening anyway so it'd be interesting to see this on my way.

levitronix

Its going to be heart break but fun all the same

levitronix

It pays to be a wippet for this race !

DirkVoodoo

Should be fun, looking forward to doing something different although I don't hold much hope of anything except finishing it, I haven't been on the bike since last week.

I think Diarmuid called it right, Patrick was eyeing this one up last week. Although I wouldn't put it past Levitronix.

Anyone going to be heading home via Glencree?

Chips Lovell

Going on previous form, I reckon Tom, Diarmuid and the two Pats will give this a good rattle. Don't talk yourself out of it either Dirk. Remember, you're getting a bit of a headstart on some of your rivals.

DirkVoodoo

Is aidan racing this? It would suit him a lot if the SS catch everyone.

niceonetom

I have no climbing form these days so I'm going with no ambitions other than some good old fashioned suffering.

Mike, you should be targeting this one. It's a really short race and the handicaps seem pretty good. You, P O'B and whoever else has the legs in SL have a good chance...

It's going to be horrific.

Chips Lovell

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Is aidan racing this? It would suit him a lot if the SS catch everyone.

Almost forgot about him. Another man to watch. Is Tom Hanks in Castaway Blorg around?

Caroline_ie

My money is on Diarmuid ( as well as the usual Favourites )

DirkVoodoo

el tonto wrote: »

Almost forgot about him. Another man to watch. Is Tom Hanks in Castaway Blorg around?

Ha, he should carry a football around with him: "Nelsssoonnnnn!"

DirkVoodoo

niceonetom wrote: »

I have no climbing form these days so I'm going with no ambitions other than some good old fashioned suffering.

Mike, you should be targeting this one. It's a really short race and the handicaps seem pretty good. You, P O'B and whoever else has the legs in SL have a good chance...

It's going to be horrific.

Jeez, I can't ever hope to compete with this level of sandbagging. I'm learning though, the way you sign it off really nails down the "hopeless" theme.

Caroline_ie

el tonto wrote: »

Is Tom Hanks in Castaway Blorg around?

He said he wasn't racing it, he's a bit sore from last week's crash.

godihatedehills

Isn't it Wilson?

DirkVoodoo

godihatedehills wrote: »

Isn't it Wilson?

Darn you are right! I was trying to avoid any copyright issues for Blorg, grizzly adams is already filing something against him.

You can add Jesus to the list too, I think he did the whole beard, sandals and wandering across the desert for 40 days a while back. And he didn't use a bike!

Caroline_ie

godihatedehills wrote: »

Isn't it Wilson?

I think Blorg has his own Wilson called 'Lance ball'.

niceonetom

el tonto wrote: »

Almost forgot about him. Another man to watch. Is Tom Hanks in Castaway Blorg around?

He's afraid to race with the (impressive) road rash he's still nursing. The beard has passed from 'lumberjack' to 'Ronnie Drew circa.1970' level.

godihatedehills

Btw, I have the battery for my lights charging.....

Chips Lovell

It's like him and Emty have joined some secret cult.

Diarmuid

epic sandbagging there! I'm going home over Stockin Lane. Aidan has definate potential too. It'll be like the hillclimb except at someone else's (faster) pace. doh.

stevie_b

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Ha, he should carry a football around with him: "Nelsssoonnnnn!"

(sorry, had to be done!)

Chips Lovell

It's a great climb to finish a race on. Easy at the start and then gets harder as you near the top. Got the potential to ratchet up the pain in a big way.

Diarmuid

Diarmuid wrote: »

My money is on Patrick O'Brien if SL work hard enough before the climb really kicks off.

Where do I collect my money?

SS never caught SL, the handicaps were too generous at the start. Having said that, Patrick is a class climber regardless and would have been up there at the finish.

DirkVoodoo

Diarmuid wrote: »

Where do I collect my money?

SS never caught SL, the handicaps were too generous at the start. Having said that, Patrick is a class climber regardless and would have been up there at the finish.

I called it too! It was a very enjoyable race, pretty fast from start to finish. Well done to velo 2010 too who grabbed 4th spot!

levitronix

Great race My legs are still sore think next year they should deffo do something similiar just a bit longer and have it mid june, that way no excuses about finishing at midnight.

Caroline_ie

I got dropped, and I got cramps as well, and I was slow. I am such a sh!t climber anyway, so racing up SG was deffo not going to suit me, but sure I still gave it a go ... I noticed a few 'non' climber didn't show up :P Wimps!

velo.2010

Ah that was great fun and a big thanks to the organisers involved in setting this up.

A good effort for my first road race. I sat at the back when the limit group took off, I wanted to get a feel for pace early on. As we got onto the Sally Gap road I took to the front and actually had a mini break for a moment though quickley they had tagged onto the back of me. I stayed up towards the front and did IMHO the majority of work. This is frustrating, only a few would come through while the rest waited for the inevitable.

Semi-limit caught us after halfway and quickly zoomed by. My complete lack of race-experience began to tell. I couldn't hold my place. As the drags started though, I started to make my move accelerating past people. However as soon as the road flattened out or descended slightly I was soon passed by many. Again I had to do the same thing and make my way up to the front. In all I think I passed Dirk Voodoo(recognised his killer looks!) 3 times to get to the front. No doubt this constant accelerating told in the end.

Anyway the 'final selection'(nice to use that phrase) was formed approaching the final dip before the last steep part of the climb. There were 5 or 6 of us. I felt OK, but then bang- My seat tilted down at the nose as I sat forward with some pressure. It obviously wasn't tight enough and it cost me a chance at third. I couldn't sit for the steep part-as I usually would at the beginning, before standing for the last part- and had to stay out of the saddle for most of it.

Excuses aside the lads up front were brilliant, congrats to Patrick O'Brien and the other placers. Fair play too for anyone else involved in the race. Many said that was the hardest thing they've done all year.

Cycling 101- must learn to hold place in a race. I wasted energy having to push to keep up near the front. Maybe next year. Shame Diarmuid complains about the handicaps. I still say I'd cane your candy ass up any steep climb brother:D.

Cheers.

godihatedehills

velo.2010 wrote: »

Shame Diarmuid complains about the handicaps. I still say I'd cane your candy ass up any steep climb brother

Time for a race?

velo.2010

godihatedehills wrote: »

Time for a race?

Ah lads, my comment about Diarmuid was purely tongue-in cheek. The guy is a semi-scratcher who's been racing all year.

Still a TT uphill would be cool. I did mention Tallagh Hill as an alternative to the Howth TT.

Dura Ace

There were a few people at the top taking photos. Does anybody have any links to these?

Lumen

velo.2010 wrote: »

Ah lads, my comment about Diarmuid was purely tongue-in cheek. The guy is a semi-scratcher who's been racing all year.

Back-pedalling race?