Wicklow 200 2011

Beasty

stevie_b wrote: »

Weather looks good for the next few days!

Talk about rubbing it in ....

... actually, the rain has stopped and it's started to brighten up here. Might nip out for a spin later on ...:)

happytramp

Did the 100, having never done over 55 before. Started late (11am), and could barely bring myself to get out of the car. Half way up the N11 with nobody in sight I really wondered what the hell I was doing. Between Roundwood and Laragh I was frozen/soaked through and really felt like a complete ****, since I still hadn't met a single person. It was only meeting up with the people from the 200 that gave me hope to carry on. After that it wasn't too bad and the rain and puddles actually started to feel quite warm. Was interesting to see the order in which my various body parts gave out kneck/shoulders - wrists - knees - backside. Over all not too hard a ride but obviously pretty miserable.

MerlinSouthDub

Did the 100 in about 4 hrs 10 minutes. First time doing it and really enjoyed the cycle. Didn't mind the rain, until about the last 20k, I was just soaked through at that stage.

Worst bit was cycling 20k home from Greystones to Sandyford - wet, cold, legs not working and starting to cramp up. Ah well, a nice hot shower when I got home sorted me out.

Harrybelafonte

What day. Few crashes by bridge down from Sally Gap, I think a Boardsie was amongst them. Bad weather obviously, but managed climb ok. Some crazy descending in mist. Pushed it for the last 40 and managed to get under 9 hours. 8:56 lol

chakattack

kennyb3 wrote: »

I have to say the maddest thing about all the above seems to be the lack of proper clothing and prep given the weather - i know it would still be a miserable day for it but what about clingfilm under the overshoes, knee warmers under the winter tights, water proof and windproof gloves.

If you ve warm feet, warm hands and keep the core & chest protected will defo make a huge difference.

Going out without proper tights or overshoes is surely nuts

Still fair play to everyone finishing today!

Just back from a spin - it's not THAT bad out

Mild and wet. Although admittedly I wasn't ripping down off Sliabh Mann

Inquitus

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

What day. Few crashes by bridge down from Sally Gap, I think a Boardsie was amongst them. Bad weather obviously, but managed climb ok. Some crazy descending in mist. Pushed it for the last 40 and managed to get under 9 hours. 8:56 lol

There was no slow on the road and no marshalls waving to slow you down, I didn't see the bridge at all, locked up the rear, got sideways and only just made the turn, I came very close to ending up in the ambulance.

lob

Just finished this even in under 4 hours enjoyed getting soaked.
The food left a lot to be desired nice friendly service in Rathdrum but they could only serve what was given to them by the organisers.
We could have expected better for the €42 entry fee. Road markings were too small and in some instances on or too close to the turn. Why was there no marshalls to direct cyclists at some of the more dangerous junctions. Many clubs run better events for €20/€25 entry fee.
Rool on next week an the Burren.

Moreofthatjazz

easygoing39 wrote: »

Did the 200k.Had 2 dry hours and then it rained non stop.Had all my winter gear on,including Sealskin waterproof socks and gloves (they aint after 6 hours).Finished in around 9.30 hrs.Weather made it miserable.Threw the bike in a skip on the way home!!

sorry to hear you had a balls of a day, but it dose get easier, you stare down the barrell of your own limitations... So... em, where is this skip? :rolleyes:

531

Well done to all who did the Wicklow 100/200. It was the first time since 2001 that I hadn't entered and when I saw the weather I was glad.

You want more? Barrow Wheelers host their excellent 200/150/50km event next Sunday. See their website for details.

The toughness of today will stand you all in good stead, it can't get any harder. Well done again

Plastik

203km on the computer. Discounting the distance from home to Shoreline and back then I reckon I clocked the event in 8 20 moving. Toughest day on the bike since ..... ever.

Inquitus

One of the highlights of the day for me was the carloads of people at the top of Shay Elliot cheering and tooting like madmen, I was in a bad place at the time, frozen, legs like bloody stumps, top of climb shrouded in mist and not visible, that coupled with the 410's sprayed on the road in boardsie pink inside the last 500m helped me redouble my efforts!

bbolger

Did the 200, what an awful day! Toughest day ever on a bike.
I thought the hardest part was between 100 & 110K, the climb(s) before Slieve Mann, was mentally struggling then, only real part I was isolated.

Was in mixed groups with SwordsCC for about 90k, doing a good pace, got into some good groups coming home too which really helped.

Total time 9.5 hrs on the Garmin, delighted with that in those conditions!

Swore I wouldn't do it next year going up Slieve Mann, but thinking differently now that I can feel fingers & toes :-)

ednwireland

easygoing39 wrote: »

Did the 200k.Had 2 dry hours and then it rained non stop.Had all my winter gear on,including Sealskin waterproof socks and gloves (they aint after 6 hours).Finished in around 9.30 hrs.Weather made it miserable.Threw the bike in a skip on the way home!!

Moreofthatjazz wrote: »

. So... em, where is this skip? :rolleyes:

was wondering that myself - did i tell you i had a nice dry spin this morning

seamus

Just home from the 200. Well 197-point-something. 8:50 moving or something like that so probably 9:30 including stops. Low points; Tops of Sally, SM & SE; freezing. Being wet is surprisingly not that bad if you can keep your HR up. I was probably the only idiot out there today with no rain jacket. Full report to follow, after a bath and food and stuff

Harrybelafonte

Inquitus wrote: »

There was no slow on the road and no marshalls waving to slow you down, I didn't see the bridge at all, locked up the rear, got sideways and only just made the turn, I came very close to ending up in the ambulance.

There were paramedics screaming at us to slow down when we got there. Someone came off right in front of us. I'd agree though, considering how many other parts had signage, it did seem odd not to include this bit.

@ROK By the Rathdrum station I heard a lot of similar comments, also involving the word ****

Plastik

That turn on the way down from the SG was mental. No one saw it in time. When I got there the guy that the ambulance eventually came for had gone straight on. I saw the bridge late, called it, put hand in the air. A guy coming fast behind braked hard, locked up and hit the ground bloody hard. Think he was from Fermoy CC.

macken04

did the 200. 8 hours 33 moving time, bout 9:30 overall. was a great spin to powerscourt mountain. Then, out of no where, came serious rain. Stayed like that until about 30 mins from the finish. Im so happy I did it, however, will not if conditions are that bad again, it's just two dangerous. Sleveman (sp?) and Shay Elliot were sickening. I believe they were a serious challenge for everyman/woman. I walked little less than a KM on each, my legs were cramping bad, very bad. Had all the winter gear on bar overshoes for feet were recked.

Sadly there were two crashes which I was aware of, one at the bottom on Sleveman looked very bad, the bed towards the end of the decent was incredibly dangerous. The other was over the bridge on the decent from sally gap, the rider was just too fast for the conditions.

The biggest problem with the even is no one was marshaling the parts where serious accidents could have happened, which would have been a much better use of resources.

Also the other issue is all the bars, gels, sweets etc i've eaten. I feel so sick now.

Arthurdaly

Difficult to sum up today, Extremely tough day but in a strange sadistic way it was very enjoyable!

The only major mistake I made gearwise was to have no full finger gloves, sally gap descent was utter torure and was an effort to use the brakes!
There were some guys on the 200 route with GAA shorts and a cotton T-shirt, if those guys made it around that 200 route i'd be amazed!

Without a doubt the toughest parts were the first 10 mins after the stops in Donard and Rathdrum, once the HR was up in zone 4 it wasnt that bad!
All 3 descents have been erased from my memory and I hope I dont have any flashbacks.

This weather was forecast almost 2 weeks ago and they got it absolutely spot, right down to the time it started and finished raining, amazing!

Toughest day I've had on a bike and will be difficult to top!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Done the 200 just over 8 hours rolling on the garmin. SG accidents looked bad one guy looked to have split is head open halfway down climbing out of a ditch. I near came a cropper on that river bend as well, just about made it around and had to stop after the corner to take some deep breaths:eek:. Gave a boardsie a shout just before rathangan (I think) they were fixing a puncture. In a sadistic sort of way I enjoyed the challenging conditions.

big mce

I'd say the guy in the coffee van on the top of the Shay Elliot (I think?) made a fortune today.

Never did a cup of Americano taste so good !!

Plastik

Lee Scarce Hatchback wrote: »

Done the 200 just over 8 hours rolling on the garmin. SG accidents looked bad one guy looked to have split is head open halfway down climbing out of a ditch. I near came a cropper on that river bend as well, just about made it around and had to stop after the corner to take some deep breaths:eek:. Gave a boardsie a shout just before rathangan (I think) they were fixing a puncture. In a sadistic sort of way I enjoyed the challenging conditions.

Just before Rathdrum The guy that punctured broke his chain twice - just before Slieve Mann and just after Shay Elliot ... and then punctured there aswell! Lots of standing around getting cold(er) and wet(ter) !

Eamonnator

Did the 200,for the first and last time today.
Marked off "my to do, before I die,list". In fact I nearly did die on Slieve Mann.
My total time was just over 10 hours.
NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If I ever even think about doing this again, you all have my permission, to beat me, until I get sense.

For the first time in my life, I feel my age,

See you all next year.

coastwatch

Did the 200 and it was utter misery from about 7:30 onwards, cold, wet and windy. Anybody i spoke to on route (20-30) felt the same. Thing is we all had the weather forecast, knew it wasnt going to be nice or event close to it, but did it all the same, so why go through it?
Dont know, the challenge, the experience, "it's the W200", "maybe it wont be that bad".

i hope the 2 riders who crashed at the bridge coming down from sally gap are ok. i dont know anything about the crash other than it happened at that new bridge. The bridge/ ninety degree turn is hidden below the crest of a hill, and comes into view with only about 50m before it. I think it needs to be marshaled / red flagged (I didn't see one when i passed before the crash happened). No harm to put a load of straw bales around the bridge structure. This is the normal setup on the decent from Mahon Falls on the Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford

ROK ON

I think this event sucks in terms of foodstops and marshalling. (20m queue at Donard in freezing rain to have the card swipped.
Bollox.

To be fair the Liffey bridge on descent from Sally gap was marshalled and there was a sign sayin Brake Now.

That said there was about ten people around the ambulance when I passed.
2 guys in slings.
1 guy in an insulation wrap.
I saw no marshals on descent from Aghavanngh or Slieve Maan, however they were on SM descent.

It's poor value for money but I won't hold that against IVCA as I have done this before and knew the score.
I was very annoyed at the queue. There is no need to swipe people. There Arent that many freeloaders out there ffs.

Some crazy driving by locals I presume between Donard and SM.
Almost clipped by some prat in a stationwagon whilst climbing SM.

irishmotorist

irishmotorist wrote: »

I was mostly on my own for it but was spotted in Rathdrum by Iregs - or something like that. Sorry I'm not sure.

Ah - Oldlegs. That makes sense now. When I was leaving you said something about you feeling like your name. My outdoor shivers had just started so I didn't really understand. Sorry again, and good to meet you!

G rock

fair play to all you heroes who completed both courses today.

i sat at home and ate cake in your honour!

oflahero

In hindsight, great craic. At the time, eh, maybe not so much.

Though by the 120km mark everything was just so comprehensively sodden that the only way was up, and it became sadistically enjoyable. Could've dumped a bucket of water over me and it'd have made no odds.

Slieve Maan and Shay Elliott were a fantastic challenge in those conditions. Have never done a pair of savage climbs like that in quick succession in quite such utterly horrible weather. The icing on the cake was seeing that the iconic 'He Loves The Cock' graffiti lives on on the SM, and is now joined by those spiffing pink '410's.

No punctures, thank jebus - how anyone managed to fix one of those mofos with numb fingers in the driving rain is beyond me.

Cookie_Monster

9h 4mins on GPS, not including stops. Dunno what official time was...
Don't care about the time though on a day like that, finishing the 200 (195.1:p) was the achievement in itself, first organised event I've ever done too.

What a ****ing miserable day, but got through it, without waterproofs too :eek:

Had a change of kit in Rathdrum though and about 30 mins sitting in a car getting heated up. Wouldn't have gone on without that!

Only saw one boardsie at the start,none throughout, though I was on the road at 6.30.

Had the boards jersey on for 2/3rd of it, then changed. Decent of the two back to back climbs were deadly dangerous with that weather.

I haven't felt that miserable in years, but got to the end so totally worth it! :D:D

Edit: as an organised event I was disappointed, marshalling and road markings were crap, guy at Liffey bridge should have been much further up the road (as was proven with the accidents). No queue with swipes cos I set off early but still a stupid system, why can't they have chips the register like the mini marathon?

mloc123

The w200 could learn alot from the large european HIM and IM race food stops/feed stations.

The feed stations are maybe 500m long on the side of the road with volunteers handing out bottles, gels, bannanas, power bars etc..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S08boRdM3o

As for swiping your card... chip it and do like every other event and stick a timming mat/strip in donard and rathdrum.

DirkVoodoo

I ended up going for a spin today with the intention of getting to Laragh and then following the route from there back home.

It didn't seem quite so bad when I left. The choice between mitts and sealskin gloves turned out to be a poor one, like "I really shouldn't have scored the bride" poor. Things were fine until I hit Djouce and the weather really became miserable. The rain wasn't particularly heavy and it wasn't incredibly cold, but it was persistent and the wind made it feel worse on any exposed sections. By the time I reached Laragh I was a shivering mess, attempting to take a natural break after a latte and a hot chocolate was a bit of a nightmare, if you can visualize one of those garden sprinklers that rotates about an arc then you are on the right track.

I headed off to Rathdrum where I waited for half of MAWS to show up. The staff there were very kind, my repeated arm waving and cries of "I'm not on the route, I'm just out for a cycle" were ignored and I was given a cup of tea and taken back to the "warm room", which seemed to be reserved for the elderly and people with no body fat. I think my walking stick gave me away.

What's a derailleur arrived and after removing all the bars from her pockets, shorts, chest (pretty sure she was hiding them everywhere, needless to say the good people at cycle surgery are redirecting powerbar stock to their dundrum store in preparation of her next sportive) and taking a brief tea break (country thing, as is removing half your clothes, lying them on the radiator and then pressing your face against said clothes - for warmth) we headed off.

I didn't have many miles in my legs at that point so my training spin became an escort mission for WAD, although after her impressive placings in last week's races she didn't really need it. I actually really enjoyed the rain, I mean there is a point of maximum saturation and on a somewhat warm day like today, it can be quite pleasant after a while. It only gets bad when you stop. So, like Mr. Gump, I just kept going and going until we reached the finish in Greystones. Then I stopped. Then I started to get cold and cranky.

Yes, the W200 is not really enjoyable. It's eternally unlucky with the weather (whenever I have done it - maybe it's me?), the feed stops are a bit of a joke like ROK ON says and some junctions, like Rathdrum (hello!) are unmarshalled. But all the volunteers involved were extremely upbeat and friendly, can't fault them at all.

English Bob

Tough day. 200km finished with no punctures, falls or any walking!
Not sure I agree re comments about organisation etc.,..
This is the Wicklow 200 & it's meant to be fecking hard. If you want pretty t-shirts & ala carte cuisine then you shouldn't sign up for it!!!!
A big fat congrats to all who got through today!!

monkeyslayer

Definatly the hardest day i've ever had on the bike, if only for the weather. I couldn't feel my hands anymore after donard. Had to get others to open my bars! Glad I'd fixed my brakes up to be quite loose. Went out in full winter kit, except gloves. Sleive mann was pure misery and the one after it. Some dainty little fecker with a jockeyesque body drafted me the whole way up and I didn't mind until he didn't even say hello when he passed me toward the top. Grrrr... The sheer misery of the Rathdrum foodstop lifted my spirts a lot, to see people suffering even worse gave me hope. Some guys were shivering quite violently. Hope the guy I was chatting too who had bonked completly got through it. No conditions to get the bonk. But yea drenched and have never been so cold in my life. Legs felt great all throughout so really happy with that, tho i'm not sure if the weather and sheer need to ride hard to stay warm had the adrenaline pumping. Don't remember enjoying myself at any point but I'd do it again in the same conditions. Just not anytime soon. Good atmosphere at the end, something very surreal and sadistically worthwhile about the day as a whole. Next year they really need to reconsider some of those roads, just not safe and too many people fixing punctures for my liking.

oconnpad

English Bob wrote: »

Not sure I agree re comments about organisation etc.,..

+1 on this, it was my first experience in fairness but seem good to me.

Did you see the poor guy taking photos on the right hand side after avoca under the umbrella as you took the sharp left hand turn. I wouldn't envy him on that.

daragh_

Did the 200. Was grim. Time was a lot slower than last year. My wife and kids met me at the top of SE with dry kit as a surprise. I have an awesome wife!
That was them shouting and beeping at any Boardsie who passed.
Hi to all the Boardsies I met. Glad you like the stencils.
D

kenmc

English Bob wrote: »

Not sure I agree re comments about organisation etc.,..
This is the Wicklow 200 & it's meant to be fecking hard. If you want pretty t-shirts & ala carte cuisine then you shouldn't sign up for it!!!!!

I think you'll find most of the criticism is directed at having to wait in the cold in a queue for 25 mins in Donard or Rathdrum for a miserable sandwich and a cup of tea; after paying 42 euro for the 'privilege'. There are many many other sportives which cost far less and manage to get this vital bit of the organisation right. "Hard" and "poorly organised" do not necessarily go hand in hand.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Eamonnator wrote: »

Did the 200,for the first and last time today.

See you all next year.

Love it Eamonn:)

monkeyslayer

anyone take any photos?

Inquitus

kenmc wrote: »

I think you'll find most of the criticism is directed at having to wait in the cold in a queue for 25 mins in Donard or Rathdrum for a miserable sandwich and a cup of tea; after paying 42 euro for the 'privilege'. There are many many other sportives which cost far less and manage to get this vital bit of the organisation right. "Hard" and "poorly organised" do not necessarily go hand in hand.

I think peoples experiences vary drastically, I went off at 6.40am and never had to queue once, and got a seat at both stops, however on my way out queues were beginning to form. I wholeheartedly agree that queues of 25 minutes at any point are unacceptable.

ckeego

First time doing the 200, having done the 100 2 years ago.

Tough day for sure!

We had a great plan to go straight on at SG and have a trough of hearty soup in Laragh..that plan went out the window thanks to the devil on the right shoulder overruling the left shoulder angel!!

The stop in Donard nearly killed me with all the waiting and the stop in Rathdrum saved me...Thank you SO much to whomever turned on the heat!! Donard was like the chilled isle in M and S!! A huge thums up to all the volunteers as well as the clapping party at the top of Shay!

Met some great riders along the way...Well done to all!

I hope the riders involved in the falls on the descent from SG and SM are ok. Some savage speeds ridden coming off SG in particular-surprised there wasn't worse prangs.

I thought the organisation was good considering the large amount of entrants..Need some 2k to go and 1 k to go on the SM ascent though!!
For me that was the most difficult up...I flatly refused to walk though!!

More next year??:)

macken04

monkeyslayer wrote: »

anyone take any photos?

i could barley change gears in with a decent pair of assos gloves on.

neris

i did the 200. Was possibly the worst most unenjoyable day ive ever had on a bike. 3 layers and still cold. Brought my leg warmers but left them in the car for some syupid reason. the saying "bettr looking at them then looking for them" was rining in my ears up those climbs and descents. Did in 9 hours 56 mins which I was happy with as I was aiming for 10-11 hours. Glad to have gotten both Slieve Mann & that particular side of Shay Elliott finally done. As somebody who just wanted to get around at any speed the descents were not the most enjoyable part. I dont know how no one crashed near me on them. Met 3 other boardsies. Think it was Darragh heading up Rocky Valley towards powerscourt someone in an old jersey at the top of powerscourt mt and someone else in full kit coming through kilcoole near the end.

stas

Torchure200 - DONE.

I don't think I'll be doing anything bigger than 120km any time soon. As a matter of fact, it's nice I'll go on holidays for two weeks next Wednesday, can't even look at the bike now

rat_race

Did the 200 today too, my first time; no regrets. Due to circumstances I didn't get to prepare as much as I wanted, but I finished in 8 hours 50 mins, which, given the weather, is okay?

Yeah, crap weather, but that makes it more challenging. Like one guy said, it's not meant to be happy happy fun fun, it's meant to be hard. I would have preferred sun, yeah, but I took the weather as a challenge and am happy to have completedin the conditions. I just wanted to finish, but I found I had energy to go a fairly reasonable rate right to the end.

Have to say though, being queued around like a bunch of cattle at the checkpoints is a bit dissapointing. I've done much lower key sportives which had huge halls and great facilities...but yeah, the high numbers probably makes it hard to manage.

No major complaints though, I'll do it again and again and again. I'm so tired now though that I can't really enjoy the feeling of achievement...

manwithaplan

Quite enjoyed that despite one blow out, one puncture and pprendeville, my partner in crime for the day, also getting two punctures.

Headed off at 7 and we pushed fairly hard to the top of the Sally Gap. Saw a poor chap with some serious road rash on his thigh and another guy bleeding from the head at the bridge. We hooked up with some fellow Swords lads and shoved it on towards Donard. Hung around at Donard a bit too long and got quite cold but shook it off quickly enough.

Kept the pace reasonably high and felt fine going up Slieve Mann (although not fine enough to stay with pprendiville). I didn't realise he had stopped at the top and I pushed on through the floods to the Shay Elliott. This was tougher but the distant sound of cheering and car horns from the top kept me going. Hooked up with a few lads and the bottom and hammered it for Rathdrum. That's when the puncture gremlin decided to accompany us for the rest of the day.

Left the bike outside and went in for the tea and sangwich (quite nice actually). What I didn't know was that my rear tyre was exploding outside. I went out to find a flat and a burst sidewall but I was blessed that a bike mechanic had the van set up. E25 for a tube and tyre was decent value and we were on our way quickly enough. We were still moving fine but I think pprendiville would have pulled away on the drags after Avoca if he wanted to. Picked up a nice quick group on the road up from Ashford but then my comrade punctured. When we got to the outskirts of greystones I punctured and then pprendiville did again.

Just under 9 hours on the road and 7:45 rolling. pprendiville claims we weren't passed all day but I think one or two probably did.

sy

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

.......By the time I reached Laragh I was a shivering mess, attempting to take a natural break after a latte and a hot chocolate was a bit of a nightmare, if you can visualize one of those garden sprinklers that rotates about an arc then you are on the right track.

Best description of taking a leak that I've heard in a long time Dirk.

L'Enfer du Nord

Did the 100, didn’t sleep a wink last night, not cause of the cycle, I just never sleep well when I know I have to get up early, and I had to get up before six because I had to cycle 20 km to Greystones for the start. Anyway enjoyed it apart from the rain, very glad I wasn’t able to train for the 200. I hate descending at the best of times.
A friend of mine also did the 100, he refuses to wear gloves, even mountain biking. I took leave of him after Avoca, later found out that at the finish he was treated for hyperthermia, his hands turned purple and he couldn’t change gears because he couldn’t move his thumbs.
He really suffered, I want to buy him a pair of gloves, any recommendations, money no object, I want to get him the Rolls Royce of cycling gloves, I kind of talked him into doing the Wicklow 100 (though I did encourage him to ware gloves), I feel I owe him.

kellt

i would have preferred sun. I completed the 200 today and found it quite a challange decending sgap was fun and hairy would be great on a sunny day. the food stops i found were well stocked as i got to them early no long q's but also noticed longer qs when i was leaving. tough climbing and freezing at top of SM & Se nearly froze on decent. met with pprendiville on SM. the last 50 k was the hardest cycle that i have ever done. the medals and certifiates were a nice touch. i found dressing rooms and changing areas good. the pasta at the end was not tasty. will not be completing next year as 150k is enough at any one time

chakattack

Well done to all who completed a tough day. I gave it a miss - thankfully



“He who suffers much will know much” Greek Proverb

irishmotorist

It's funny - I was wearing newish (fingerless) gloves today and had no problems with them. They're Look gloves from Cycle Superstore incidentally. In the past, after rain, I've found my hands freezing cos the gloves are full of cold water. Once I take them off, my hands just regulate themselves. I wouldn't beat myself up about it - it was his own choice...

RacoonQueen

All these reports make me really regret no doing this. Well done all. Hopefully I'll have the guts to get out there next year.