Bobby Powers Carrick Wheelers Challenge Sportive 2011

seve65

Cant make the event, SO did the ride today,6 and a half hours of torture... well some torture !

My ride: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/254703

All the challenges are just that !! lots and lots of 10% plus, and quite a few 15% plus. Tikincor is a long old hard slog I have to say, anybody who wants to test themselves need look no further than trying to burn it up that climb.

Couple of wrong turns, so managed to accumulate 2580m and 165k.

I couldnt do Courraghmore (being a private estate), what I was not f*****g prepared for was the near 200m climb at the side of it which hardly deviated under 10%, I was well and truly not psyched up for that one, I resigned myself to crawling at 7k and hoping it wasnt going to go on too far. The legs were definitely hurting then (as if they were not already!)

I have to say the roads are in a lot better condition than Cork.

Scenery I am guessing was great...as It was either shrouded in cloud or I was being battered by the wind and rain. Managed to accidentally do a small wheely at the top of mahon falls, and the wind whipped the wheel to the side, decided to not hand around up there and go very very slow on the descent !

You have a lot to look forward to, hope you get a sunny day, but with some wind so ye can suffer even more.:D

dowtcha

Hey Seve, no expert on garmin data, but care to comment on how your heart beat soars to 216 at the start of the ride??? is it a GTi you have instead of a heart

seve65

im assuming its a dodgy contact from the strap. u can see from the rest of the ride more sensible numbers.

michael196

Well done, 6.5 hours, a similar time to What I believe Martin O loughlin of Carrick Wheelers set several months ago.


Could not have been easy with the weather in the (sunny) south east over the last few days, and doing it solo, my hat off to you sir.

seve65

jeez thats made my morning. I had better be precise though, as I am definitely not in that league of cyclist ! Time was 6.35 rolling, +12 mins of map reading and eating half a sandwich. And I can tell you I felt like i was crawling up Seskin, Mahon and 'Courraghmore'. Going up Tickincor made me realise just how strong the guys who have raced up there in the past are. Slievenammon drive was tough, but mostly because I didnt realise I was in the big ring, what a f****g donut.:o I dont think I was in anyway likely to make that mistake again as the climbs took their toll. To be honest though I found the 'flat' sections into the wind on the bigger roads the hardest :eek:, as I was struggling at times to keep to 20k on a flat or 1-2% gradient.

more to the point, anybody half thinking of doing the sportif who hasnt committed to it, should definitely go for it. You will be pretty pleased by the time you hit the top of mahon falls and there are a couple of long straight descents after the main descent where you can motor fairly safely. I expect there will be a fair amount of re-grouping and not too many flying straight over the top of these climbs; so those who dont want to be totally isolated should be ok.

Enjoy ! (PS I'd love to buy one of those t-shirts!)

michael196

I understand Carrick are accepting entries up to late tonight.


Go for it lads ..............

quintana2

seve65 wrote: »

jeez thats made my morning. I had better be precise though, as I am definitely not in that league of cyclist ! Time was 6.35 rolling, +12 mins of map reading and eating half a sandwich. And I can tell you I felt like i was crawling up Seskin, Mahon and 'Courraghmore'. Going up Tickincor made me realise just how strong the guys who have raced up there in the past are. Slievenammon drive was tough, but mostly because I didnt realise I was in the big ring, what a f****g donut.:o I dont think I was in anyway likely to make that mistake again as the climbs took their toll. To be honest though I found the 'flat' sections into the wind on the bigger roads the hardest :eek:, as I was struggling at times to keep to 20k on a flat or 1-2% gradient.

more to the point, anybody half thinking of doing the sportif who hasnt committed to it, should definitely go for it. You will be pretty pleased by the time you hit the top of mahon falls and there are a couple of long straight descents after the main descent where you can motor fairly safely. I expect there will be a fair amount of re-grouping and not too many flying straight over the top of these climbs; so those who dont want to be totally isolated should be ok.

Enjoy ! (PS I'd love to buy one of those t-shirts!)

seen as you have done the ride enter now and you can get the tee shirt;)

quintana2

michael196 wrote: »

any sticky bottles with you ?

Sticky bottles can be arranged but i know you wont need one micheal196 ,i think a cattle prod may have a better effect!!!! the way you were riding on the coast rd in feb you will be tearing the legs of guys.

Deisetrek

Deisetrek wrote: »

I have an entry for this if anybody wants to PM me . Can't do it myself due to injury . Entry transfer was cleared by the late Bobby Power R.I.P. with whom I had correspondence in the last few weeks .

Had a number of enquirers for this entry , it is now gone to dowtcha .

cantalach

seve65 wrote: »

Cant make the event, SO did the ride today,6 and a half hours of torture... well some torture !

My ride: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/254703

Wow! Well done, sir. Rotten weather for it. Hey, why don't you upload your ride data to Strava so that you can see how you went on the climbs compared to the rest of us when we do it in two weeks time.

michael196

quintana2 wrote: »

Sticky bottles can be arranged but i know you wont need one micheal196 ,i think a cattle prod may have a better effect!!!! the way you were riding on the coast rd in feb you will be tearing the legs of guys.

this drives me bananas !!! :D

who are you ?? :D:D: PM me please !!!


I can remember most people on that ride on the coast road. Never been down there before, boy that was a horrible road I think from kilmeaden back to Carrick.

I went off the back with only a mile to Carrick, not realising I was so close, then did not know where i was at the final t junction and I took a left heading away from carrick back up into the hills !!!

you are so right, a cattle prod !! just waiting for John Dempsey to show up with a cattle prod one of these days. :D

Am afraid its been somewhat down hill since February, and this past week particularily bad with hayfever completly knocking me out.


the best one with carrick over the winter was the first planned 140 K spin scheduled to go to the vee and mellary; remember a very windy morning, I overate for breakfast ,and was fine approaching knocklofty hill ( ardfinnan hill ) , then the body started screaming no ! no ! no !......as we turned into the bottom of the hill. I got a lot of prodding from marco for that one: LOL

seve65

cantalach wrote: »

..why don't you upload your ride data to Strava so that you can see how you went on the climbs compared to the rest of us when we do it in two weeks time.

mmm, hadnt use strava before, great tool !

but, I am now bottom of the pile on Strava in terms of comparison with other's times climbing up Mahon and Seskin :mad::mad: u do realise I have 2 go back now 2 get myself further up the list

anyway here it is
http://app.strava.com/rides/603976

with the 8 (/9!) graded cat 3/4 climbs in order:

---

Asct---Grad---Dist--Time

---

VAM--HR---Speed
Skough

---

123----7.1----1.7---06:39---1108-154--15.6
Rathclarish---143----8.8----1.6---07:56---1080-151--12.3
Slievenamon--182----6.9----2.6---11:22---960--147--14
Tickincor

---

263----8.8----3

---

15:40---1006-150--11.4
Glendalough--147----6

---

2.4---11:00---800--147--13.2
Knocknaree---218----7

---

3.1---13:35---962--145--13.7
Seskin

---

131----8.8----1.5----07:45---1011-143--11.4
Mahon-Falls--320----6.6----4.9----23:00---835--139--12.7
Portlaw

---

148----8.9----1.7----09:23---948--142--10.6

michael196

2 weeks : jaysus better get training, now that we know the broom has a cattle prod !!!!

feckin cattle prod !!


no dignity on being last in carrick, they wont even let u in the broom !!


sportive lads sportive.....no such thing as last !!!!


come to wexford for a much more laid back sportive...................no hills......Tour of Wexford......

michael196

michael196 wrote: »

this drives me bananas !!! :D

who are you ?? :D:D: PM me please !!!


I can remember most people on that ride on the coast road. Never been down there before, boy that was a horrible road I think from kilmeaden back to Carrick.

I went off the back with only a mile to Carrick, not realising I was so close, then did not know where i was at the final t junction and I took a left heading away from carrick back up into the hills !!!

you are so right, a cattle prod !! just waiting for John Dempsey to show up with a cattle prod one of these days. :D

Am afraid its been somewhat down hill since February, and this past week particularily bad with hayfever completly knocking me out.


the best one with carrick over the winter was the first planned 140 K spin scheduled to go to the vee and mellary; remember a very windy morning, I overate for breakfast ,and was fine approaching knocklofty hill ( ardfinnan hill ) , then the body started screaming no ! no ! no !......as we turned into the bottom of the hill. I got a lot of prodding from marco for that one: LOL

Quintana 2 / KS ur busted : thanks to marco


I guess now we wait for the big day

dowtcha

A novice enquiry : the difference between a cat 1 climb and cat 3/4 as defined by Stava above, because the SK website claims Mahon Falls and Seskin Hill are cat 1??? :

The Kelly Comeragh Challenge is the tough, tough part of the tour and not for the fainthearted. Almost 160 km (100 miles) in length, it includes two Category One climbs (Seskin Hill and Mahon Falls) and is suitable only for very experienced and very fit full-time cyclists. It follows, in large part, the route of the Kelly Legacy but dips into the Comeragh Mountains on a couple of occasions to fully test the strength, perseverance and stamina of the riders.

seve65

dowtcha wrote: »

A novice enquiry : the difference between a cat 1 climb and cat 3/4 as defined by Stava above, because the SK website claims Mahon Falls and Seskin Hill are cat 1??? :

Dont know, perhaps because of the point (e.g late on = more difficult) it comes in the ride, some subjectivity, and different average gradient calculation ? At least according to the below mahon falls should be a cat 3. Map my ride has it as 2, strava as you say a cat 3.

• "The easiest is a Category 4, which is typically less than 2km long and about 5 percent grade, or up to 5km at a 2-3 percent grade.
• A Category 3 can be as short as one mile with a very steep grade, perhaps 10 percent; or as long as six miles with a grade less than 5 percent.
• A Category 2 can be as short as 5km at 8 percent, or as long as 15km at 4 percent
• A Category 1, once the highest category, can be anything from 8km at 8 percent to 20km at 5 percent.
• An hors catégorie (“above category”) rating is given to exceptionally tough climbs. This could either be a Category 1 whose summit is also the finish of the stage, or one that is more than 10km long with an average grade of at least 7.5 percent, or up to 25km miles long at 6 percent or steeper."

dowtcha

At this rate Seve, is it safe to say there is no such thing as a Cat 1 or 2 climb in our fair island, eg cat 2 = 5km@ 8% = an elevation gain of 400m aka 1200 ft, or a 15km climb @ 4% = an elevation gain of 600m or 1800 ft, Cat 1 = 8km@ 8% = an elevation gain of 640m or 1920ft. It doesn't seem that these distance of climb are present, even on MAhon Falls, though it sure feels like it

cantalach

dowtcha wrote: »

At this rate Seve, is it safe to say there is no such thing as a Cat 1 or 2 climb in our fair island, eg cat 2 = 5km@ 8% = an elevation gain of 400m aka 1200 ft, or a 15km climb @ 4% = an elevation gain of 600m or 1800 ft, Cat 1 = 8km@ 8% = an elevation gain of 640m or 1920ft. It doesn't seem that these distance of climb are present, even on MAhon Falls, though it sure feels like it

The Priest's Leap from the Cork side is 5.4km at an average 8.2% (and that only tells half the story because there are two places on the climb where you lose height!).

Morrisseeee

dowtcha:
At this rate Seve, is it safe to say there is no such thing as a Cat 1 or 2 climb in our fair island, eg cat 2 = 5km@ 8%

No, there's definitely a few Cat 2's around this fair isle, and if you added in the roads up to the TV masts you might even have a Cat 1 !

Back on topic, I took a slight detour coming thru Clonmel yesterday evening and drove up the Tickincor climb, I passed 2 guys on bikes making (struggling) their way up, one had a HTC jersey (fair play lads ), and it's a heck of a climb, really steep at the bottom and then eases out a bit, but it's a roller-coaster of a climb as it gets steep at different sections.
Just read your report Seve65 and well done, that's a savage route.

seve65

dowtcha wrote: »

At this rate Seve, is it safe to say there is no such thing as a Cat 1 or 2 climb in our fair island, eg cat 2 = 5km@ 8% = an elevation gain of 400m aka 1200 ft, or a 15km climb @ 4% = an elevation gain of 600m or 1800 ft, Cat 1 = 8km@ 8% = an elevation gain of 640m or 1920ft. It doesn't seem that these distance of climb are present, even on MAhon Falls, though it sure feels like it

Mahon falls has to be Cat 2, as its one of the most famous climbs in Ireland !!!

There is a climb going west of Clogheen, Tipp, first or second left. That comes up as cat 2 on both mmr and strava, it doesnt quite fit the criteria above. It is longer and slightly higher average gradient than mahon falls, but is it more difficult than Mahon falls, probably not.

seve65

mmmm on the Ras they have the Windy Gap as second category, and Healeys Pass as first category ? Which seems a bit on the generous side to me. Perhaps these arent uci ? Anyway this is getting a bit off topic.

Carrick Wheelers Sportive, gla.

cantalach

seve65 wrote: »

mmmm on the Ras they have the Windy Gap as second category

Agreed. That's just wrong. Those boys will probably do it in 5 minutes or less and in the big ring all the way. That surely wouldn't compare with a 2nd category climb in a big Continental stage race.

michael196

prediction time, for completion, looks like 7 hours is there or there about the target ? plus or minus probably 1 hour,

then if rain or strong wind persist, .....


what do you think ? 7 hours about right ?

Morrisseeee

seve65 wrote: »

mmmm on the Ras they have the Windy Gap as second category, and Healeys Pass as first category ? Which seems a bit on the generous side to me. Perhaps these arent uci ?

Yeah, I presume they have their own ratings, ie. there is a Cat3 'climb' between Ballyhooley>Fermoy tomorrow and all I can say is............WTF ? it's a Cat6 at most

michael196

Get the Frank O rourke out of the way this sunday may 29th, then some league training races, then into the carrick sportive next sunday

the time is finally arrriving

531

Unless I am mistaken, when Le Tour de France was in Ireland, the first stage proper went over Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap. These are well categorised for the Wicklow 200 etc but that was certainly not considered anything but a flat stage of Le Tour.

So is there any categorised climbs in Ireland? By continental (Alpine, Pyrenean) standards? Non!

cantalach

531 wrote: »

So is there any categorised climbs in Ireland? By continental (Alpine, Pyrenean) standards? Non!

I'm not sure where you're going with that...did you mean to say that there are no category 1 or 'beyond category' climbs? There are lots of category 2-4 climbs in Ireland. Even within 10km of Cork City there are lots of climbs that would meet the category 4 definition and possibly even some that would meet category 3 criteria.

TheBlaaMan

Mahon Falls is surely Cat3 in an Irish context and would come very close to TdF or other such C3 standard.

Mahon Falls
Distance: 4.4 km
Start Elevation 92m
Finish Elevation 378m
Maximum Grade 36.4%
Average Grade 7.5%
Ascent 286m

Ignoring the MAX gradient (these from ridewithgps.com) which is seriously screwed in this case, the 7.5% average is believeable (IMO) and at 4.4km its just under the 5km 'recommendation'...

"In general terms, Category 4 climbs are short and easy. Category 3 climbs last approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), have an average grade of 5 percent, and ascend 150 meters (500 feet). Category 2 climbs are the same length or longer at an 8 percent grade and ascend 500 meters (1,600 feet). Category 1 climbs last 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) with an average 6 percent grade and ascend 1,500 meters. Beyond category climbs include an altitude difference of at least 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from start to finish and have an average grade of at least 7 percent."

Read more: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/tour-de-france-time-trials-mountains-stages-prolog.html#ixzz13OjQQuB9

When Seskin Hill was used as the stage finish in last years Ras, it was referred to as a Cat 1 climb.....it is 1.9km long, max gradient suggested to be 16.1% (feels a LOT more!) and average 4.6%

seve65

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Mahon Falls is surely Cat3 in an Irish context and would come very close to TdF or other such C3 standard.

Mahon Falls
Distance: 4.4 km
Start Elevation 92m
Finish Elevation 378m
Maximum Grade 36.4%
Average Grade 7.5%
Ascent 286m

Statistics, damned lies and statistics::

Mahon Falls, Cat 3, 320m Av grd 6.6%, 4.9Km (max grade 25%)
http://app.strava.com/rides/603976#8991167

And by comparison, a slightly easier 'Cat 2' climb
Clogheen, Cat 2, 398m, Av grd 7.1%, 5.6Km (max grade 12%)
http://app.strava.com/rides/614696#9156856

marcofan

after sunday ye can all apply your own rating to the climbs