Snow 2010

Planet X

Snowing on Sally Gap today and Kippure is snowcapped.

Caroline_ie

Icyseanfitz

id love to get some snow down here in tralee this year snow mountain biking would be class

morana

Caroline_ie wrote: »

But Jens would like it Caroline!:cool:

macken04

i got stuck there 2day. got a flat @ the right hand turn heading down to blessington on my way home. stop to change the tube and its starts snowing. Had to call for a lift wasnt going to risk it any further.

it was a nice day out though

kenmc

yay! snow! I love snow. boo on caroline for hasing sads.

Planet X

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htaNTakXWPU

kenmc

not at all surprised tbh, I was out with Orwell this morning and we had sleet on the pine forest road between foxes and cruagh road, shortly after 10. I think the air temp dropped around 10 degrees between me leaving the house @9:15 and getting back at 11:30. Was bitter.

Quite wet out tonight, with reports of temperatures dropping over the night (clear sky). Ice might be something to look out for tomorrow.

daragh_

Planet X wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htaNTakXWPU

Was up there around 11. Got snowed/sleeted on coming up by Lough Tay. After that was just wet and cold. Very very happy to have brought my Sealskinz gloves.

seamus

kenmc wrote: »

not at all surprised tbh, I was out with Orwell this morning and we had sleet on the pine forest road between foxes and cruagh road, shortly after 10.

My hands were gonna fall off me after that descent down Stocking Lane. Honestly felt like the temps had dropped about 5 degrees between Johnny Foxes and there.

doozerie

kenmc wrote:

not at all surprised tbh, I was out with Orwell this morning and we had sleet on the pine forest road between foxes and cruagh road, shortly after 10. I think the air temp dropped around 10 degrees between me leaving the house @9:15 and getting back at 11:30. Was bitter.

seamus wrote:

My hands were gonna fall off me after that descent down Stocking Lane. Honestly felt like the temps had dropped about 5 degrees between Johnny Foxes and there.

Small world, I was out with one of Orwell groups along there too - which group were you guys with?

My lesson of the day was not to ride on a cold day with a well ventilated helmet and a one-day-old short haircut. The top of my forehead went numb about a third of the way down Stocking Lane. Almost made me long for the days of big hair to return (I'll bet these guys wouldn't have felt the cold), but that could just have been the effects of frostbite of my frontal lobe.

Saw a guy cycling in shorts near Johnny Fox's which made me feel cold generally. Mind you, he had enough leg hair to knit himself a pair of tights so maybe he was fine.

levitronix

I came down stocken lane around 2pm yesterday in a hail stone shower, had one hand over my face and one hand on the front brake the whole down was pain !! But that wasnt as bad as the descent down wicklow gap 2hours earlyer we had to stop in the hippe cafe for hot chocolate and goulash to get a bit of heat back into the body

oflahero

kenmc wrote: »

not at all surprised tbh, I was out with Orwell this morning and we had sleet on the pine forest road between foxes and cruagh road, shortly after 10. I think the air temp dropped around 10 degrees between me leaving the house @9:15 and getting back at 11:30. Was bitter.

Yes, fixing a puncture in said sleet and wind near Glencree was a character-building exercise for me. Felt more sorry for the rest of the orwell group who gallantly refused to keep going. At least I had to keep moving my fingers and keep circulation going that way.

daragh_

What route do you normally go on those Sunday Orwell spins.

I only ask as I met a young fella in your gear on his own coming down from Glencree. He seemed a bit lost - but that might have been the Hypothermia as he had forgotten his jacket. Left him in Enniskerry. Hope one of your groups picked him up.

oflahero

daragh_ wrote: »

What route do you normally go on those Sunday Orwell spins.

I only ask as I met a young fella in your gear on his own coming down from Glencree. He seemed a bit lost - but that might have been the Hypothermia as he had forgotten his jacket. Left him in Enniskerry. Hope one of your groups picked him up.

The routes vary week to week, but the general plan is posted up on the club website in the group spin roster. I'm new myself, so I just go with the flow and try not to take out anyone.

There were a few groups out yesterday all planning the same kind of route, but the weather caused all kinds of chaos - first to go was group discipline as a result of numb hands and general feeling of 'oh God let's just get home'. Hopefully said young lad knew what he was at - one of the groups had a coffee stop in Enniskerry for example I believe.

kenmc

doozerie wrote: »

Small world, I was out with one of Orwell groups along there too - which group were you guys with?

We were the 3rd group off, the "guided advanced beginner" or something. About 14 or so of us I think. I was wearing old-skool boards jersey.

doozerie

kenmc wrote:

We were the 3rd group off, the "guided advanced beginner" or something. About 14 or so of us I think. I was wearing old-skool boards jersey.

Ah right, I went with the second group. I wasn't sure if we were the only group to submit to the weather and head down Stocking Lane. I think the planned route had been to head over to, and up, Ballinascorney but most people in our group just went home at the bottom of Stocking Lane though

kenmc

doozerie wrote: »

Ah right, I went with the second group. I wasn't sure if we were the only group to submit to the weather and head down Stocking Lane. I think the planned route had been to head over to, and up, Ballinascorney but most people in our group just went home at the bottom of Stocking Lane though

Yeah none of us were too keen on going any higher than the viewing point, towards glencree/enniskerry cos you'd have to descend through the forest on leaves and pine needles etc. Very glad we did turn back early, was very cold when got home. We had to wait a few times for ppl and that's never nice in that sort of weather.

doozerie

kenmc wrote:

We had to wait a few times for ppl and that's never nice in that sort of weather.

Yeah, we waited for a few people near Johnny Fox's but thankfully they were not long arriving and the weather at that stage wasn't too bad. Later on though someone suggested that we wait at the junction of the descent from Glencullen and Pine Forest but that was crazy 'cos by then it was colder and wetter and we were already cooling down on the downhill leg (short as it was) so it would have been the worst circumstances to stop and wait. Circling back would have been an option but we'd just have been faced with a repeat of the cold descent from Glencullen so instead people took the most sensible option and continued slowly up Pine Forest to give others a chance to get back on. We stopped again up near the junction with Stocking Lane but that was mainly just to discuss what we were going to do from there. There are circumstances where stopping and waiting is reasonable, but not in those weather conditions.

kenmc

doozerie wrote: »

There are circumstances where stopping and waiting is reasonable, but not in those weather conditions.

Agreed, but to be fair the Beginners is a no-drop group I'd say.

doozerie

Yes, it wouldn't be fair at all to drop people from the beginner's group, so in that case I'd opt to double back. Or just one person doubles back to pick them up and bring them back up to the group (assuming the group isn't moving quickly that is, which it shouldn't be if it is beginners). Having to re-do a cold descent on Sunday, by doubling back, wouldn't have been fun but certainly preferable to stopping and waiting.

Beasty

Oh - I get it now -

Sunday Orwell Spins 2010


For a moment or two I thought this thread was heading a bit off-topic ...

kenmc

miaow

doozerie

...and back on topic again.

Planet X

Get your wooly jumper on..........

CheGuedara

Minus. Ten. Degrees. Celsius.

:eek:

Edit: WTF! Is that forcast for 1pm in the day!?! :eek:

mfdc

CheGuedara wrote: »

Minus. Ten. Degrees. Celsius.

:eek:

My immense weather knowledge (lurking the weather forum for a couple weeks a year ) tell me that that's a temp chart for the upper atmosphere, not ground level. They say that lower than -8 up there is necessary for snow though, so -10 is bad news for the bikes.

Dr. No

I came a cropper twice off the mountainbike in the snowy conditions last christmas, the second time I skidded off in front of two hot women. I wasn't looking where I was going:o.
It's pretty cold over here in Scotland too. Snow forecast for during the week. Was out today on the aul rothar (I have the week off yay) and my hands were so numb I couldn't even shift the sti levers to change gear.
Moral of the story is wrap up warm and drink plenty of fluids.

seamus

I'll probably take out the MTB for commuting from this weekend.

Blasphemy.

kenmc

seamus wrote: »

I'll probably take out the MTB for commuting from this weekend.

Blasphemy.

just have it on standby sure. actually better get a second and leave that in town in case it snows during the day and you can't get home on the road bike...

Paul Kiernan

Kippure at lunchtime today. Temperature a rather chilly 2C.

Paul Kiernan

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

Kippure at lunchtime today. Temperature a rather chilly 2C.

You cycled up? How was it getting up there?

Planet X

People are heading "Lemming Like" up into the snow it seems. It's a strange attraction that I wouldn't attempt on two wheels.

Paul Kiernan

Dónal wrote: »

You cycled up? How was it getting up there?

It was absolutely gorgeous. A bright sunny crisp calm day with fabulous clear views. Ground wet but no ice anywhere until Kippure track itself, even then it was isolated and very easy to see and avoid as much of track was dry. Kippure was in a thick layer of fog i.e. from a distance you could see the top of the mast clearly but not the bottom!

niceonetom

Planet X wrote: »

People are heading "Lemming Like" up into the snow it seems. It's a strange attraction that I wouldn't attempt on two wheels.

Oh really?

Planet X

Nice one niceonetom, that wasn't planned of course. Half a mile down the road....dry. Can't be seen to wuss out, wimp list of yore et al. Ah, those were the days!

Planet X

Jeeeez, slipped twice tonight on the way home from the pub!
For a guy who holds up on 25mm. tyres.......bummer.

uberwolf

Will the roads be safe tomorrow in dublin? I'm in the city center so ignorant to how the rest of the country is coping. N81 for example?