Tell us about your cycle Yesterday.

wanderer 22

Thargor wrote: »

What is The Wall in Enniskerry?

https://www.strava.com/activities/295576814/segments/6946007353

Thargor

Yeah thats the link from the previous page that made me ask what the Wall is

The map just seems to show the regular roads you use if cycling in the area, only 100m climbing in any one place...

wanderer 22

Thargor wrote: »

Yeah thats the link from the previous page that made me ask what the Wall is

The map just seems to show the regular roads you use if cycling in the area, only 100m climbing in any one place...

Does it not link to the segement? Anyway, it's a 1.4k climb with 140metres elevation - starts at 23.3k on that route.

neris

Thargor wrote: »

Yeah thats the link from the previous page that made me ask what the Wall is

The map just seems to show the regular roads you use if cycling in the area, only 100m climbing in any one place...

if you were cycling away from the powerscourt waterfall entrance its the first turn right (at a little cross roads). You wouldnt really notice it as its a single lane road/boreen

rollingscone

https://www.strava.com/activities/296148430

Posting more or less for Novelty's sake, my slightly extended commute home tonight on the trusty Commutourer. Booterstown Ave is much less of a hill than I remembered, Mt. Anville got the old blood flowing.

terrydel

90km at 22.1 avg.
Up Gunny Hill and turn left for Killakee, on towards Sally Gap, then onto Laragh past Glenmacnass. Cracking leek and potato soup in the café, along with a cup of scald and a chocolate brownie
25-30 min stop there, then back home via the same route.
Took it handy, it was my longest cycle since last summer. Few stops along the way, at Viewpoint on the way out and Sally Gap on the return, not cos I needed to really, but as I'm training for the cycle in the Dolomites, Im being very careful just to stay within myself and not knacker myself out. Felt good today, well capable. Will look to crack the 100 Sunday if the weather's ok.
Hoping to have a couple of 140-150odd km spins in before the Wicklow 200 then have a right good crack at that.
Bit chilly in parts today, but overall a good day. But surely we could power this whole country off wind alone, the fecking amount of it!

magicbastarder

this thread is suspiciously quiet today.

MugMugs

magicbastarder wrote: »

this thread is suspiciously quiet today.

Funny that!

Got a quickie in yesterday before the rain. Woman walked out in front of me with her dog and lead ahead of her. Had to let a yell and she froze on the spot. Rear wheel locked and I very nearly hit her. Cut the spin short after that and back into the estate and some plonker just reversed out on me.

Two narrow escapes told me to just stay in bed this morning!

Unknown Soldier

magicbastarder wrote: »

this thread is suspiciously quiet today.

Im not surprised!

It's very, very wet out there. Constant rain.

Luckily I remebered to have my full winter kit on and my new Pearl iZumi Elite Barrier Jacket

My winter gloves were gift!


I still got soaked

Tbh even ducks were taking shelter this morning.

67.1km done.

godtabh

Did my first sportive today. Great to be cycling a group again. A good 100km and a decent pace. Enjoyed it

Mercian Pro

magicbastarder wrote: »

this thread is suspiciously quiet today.

A lot of the action (and some inaction) is over on the Orwell Randonee thread. Doozerie's blow by blow account is particularly worth a read.

Sounds like a good few who pulled out yesterday intend doing some or all of the route tomorrow.

longshanks

Just under 60k, but got a good gallop going at the end and found myself a few pb's on strava. Happy enough with that considering I spent half of yesterday looking out the window at rain that seemed to be falling sideways.

Daroxtar

I did the 100km An Post Tour of Sligo. Had a few showers of rain and some stiff enough breezes in places but generally it was a good day for cycling. Great crowd turned out.
Met up with a few fellas from home and stuck with them at a steady enough pace till the halfway foodstop. Hungry rock was nice and nasty but short enough all the same. The last few weeks heading up Bohernabreena have definitely stood to me.
I headed off on my own for the second half as I didn't want to hang around too long and risk cramping up- didn't work, cramped just after the last long drag anyway but wasn't too bad. A little sit down and stretch and I was grand.
I'm from Sligo so I knew most of the course fairly well but I had genuinely forgotten how stunning some parts of my home county is. The roads for the course were nearly all single lane bohereens, surfaces were sketchy enough in places and there was barely a flat km to be had but tbh, slowing me down a bit made me take in the surroundings a bit more. It makes Meath seem like an awful drab unremarkable spot altogether.
The last few kms after my cramp actually seemed to fly by, a nice gentle descent to the finish line was a great piece of planning.
Food was, as usual on the An Post sportives, top notch. Pasta, sandwiches, bars and biccies at the foodstop and a proper hot tasty dinner and showers at the finishing line.
The Marshalling was excellent, a real credit to the organisers.
I will most definitely be doing this event again next year.
All in all one of my most enjoyable days on the bike:)

103.6km with 738m climbing in 3;54;52 @ 26.5kmh
https://www.strava.com/activities/297393201

rollingscone

https://www.strava.com/activities/297413281

Almost my first 100km of the year, if I'd known how close I was I would have done a loop of the park.

Headwind on the way out, oblique quasi crosswind on the way back, heat, showers, near hail and two stupidly dangerous passes by young drivers. Nice day all in all, the Boards defender (pseudo Gabba) handled the showers well although when it went blindingly mental for about ten minutes I put on a rain gilet over it.

Also, took a wrong turn onto the M3, and got back off it in short order!

JamJamJamJam

First proper cycle on my first proper bike this morning. I didn't really know what to expect, but in the end it was great craic. I intentionally chose a pretty flat route, and I guess 23.9kph is a fairly beginnery speed, but I was happy out. Had a break in the rubbish weather for it too. God, this is something I might keep up!



Speed:


Elevation (just little slopes in reality):

magicbastarder

got out for an hour just before sundown. where was the rain we were promised?

rollingscone

magicbastarder wrote: »

got out for an hour just before sundown. where was the rain we were promised?

I greedily took it all for myself

crosstownk

With the past week being spent on school recitals & exhibitions, Saturday being a washout and Sunday full of DIY jobs I was suffering from a very bad dose of cabin fever.

I had planned to go out this morning and take on Sliabh Maan and Glenmalure as a bit of recon for the WW200. Employing the old adage 'Real men don't need directions' (either this is clap trap or I'm not a real man ), I headed out on the N81 through Blessington and onto Donard. I took what appeared to be the main road through Donard but when I came to a junction that wasn't expected I found that I was not on road I'd intended. A quick check of Google Maps on the phone and I set off in the direction of Rathdangan. I'm not in any way familiar with that neck of the woods so I carried on. As we passed some defence forces land my buddy had a flashback to his youth and reckoned that we were heading towards Lug and a dead end. We asked two locals who were unloading a van and we got conflicting directions. We turned back and at the next junction we decided that time was now working against us and that we'd head back on the N81.

Today's lesson was not a bike lesson - it was a navigational lesson: Load the damn course into the Garmin - simples.

Anyway, 113km, 600m @ 25.3km/h.

devonp

didn't get to the OR on sat
went out today instead
from leixlip over to Stocking lane and did the top half of the original route(sort of)
122km (longest solo to date) 4h.40m 1800m ascent
garmins shut down in tallaght on way home, had to reboot, so strava in 2 bits
https://www.strava.com/activities/297979181 prt2
https://www.strava.com/activities/297979237 prt1
lovely day up there, loads of cyclists

happyhappy

After not making Orwell on Saturday, and feeling guilty about it I decided I do as much of it as I could today.

Went from Greystones to kilternan and up to glencullen and onto the OR route, I did the wall (yes it hurt) and was considering what I do at the lugala crossroads. Taking into consideration that I was on my tod and not in a group I reckoned the 150 original route would be too much for me so I headed straight for laragh and stayed on the 'bad weather' route.

I really enjoyed the shay Elliot today and suffered on the road from rathdrum to roundwood, turned off the OR route at the bottom of the old long hill and back out the n11 with tired legs into a stiff breeze to Greystones

135.3km 25.3 avg 2011m gain

It's the furthest I've ever gone so I'm tired but happy.

The tax man

Seeing that I wussed out of the Orwell Randonnee on Saturday I had planned to ride the original route today.
Joined the route at the top of stocking lane and headed over the feather beds. My only concern of the day would be a solo ride and that wind,no wheel to shelter behind and I started thinking which sections would be into a headwind,which would be tailwind or cross wind.

Started the decent towards Powerscourt so stopped thinking about wind directions and concentrated on the twisty road ahead.
Plenty of people out on bikes today, all seemingly going in the other direction to me. My "Hello" hand was getting tired. Passed a group of riders stopped at the top of the climb out of Powerscourt and an on oncoming car decides to overtake them oblivious to me and another rider on the other side of the road. Cue arm waving and plenty of WTF from me.

Time to hit the wall, which I found fairly handy compared to my previous efforts up it. Passed a fellow club member on the accent,if you're of this parish,there was no point in slowing to have a conversation because I'd only have made grunting noises. Then just before Old Long Hill a lovely lady on a horse decides to turn her beast across the road towards the forest, while on her mobile phone and not looking around. Shook my head in disbelief, laughed to myself at her stupidity and carried on up the climb.
Cue plenty more hello waves, everyone still going the opposite direction.
Got over the top of Djouce and my mind came back to the wind direction, Sally Gap to Laragh will be a slog, Wicklow Gap god knows. It was along this stretch of road I just went sod it, I'm not feeling it today. Got to Sally Gap and turned right for home.

Again another oncoming car went to overtake a rider while trying to run me off the road. I held my line, car has to brake sharpish, told the driver as I passed, you ****ed that manoeuvre up didn't you?

Back up over the feather beds enjoying the tail wind and down to the viewing point, will I go straight on or turn right? In hindsight I wish I'd turned right.

Went around the tight right hander just after the car park,followed by the sweeping left that opens up onto a nice long straight.
I can see a car stopped on the left brake lights on. I start to bring my bike towards the white line to overtake. Then the reverse lights come on, me thinking they'll maybe just reverse straight back or stop but to my horror the car reverses across the road towards a field entrance to make a U turn.

At this stage I'm already on the right side of the road desperately trying to scrub off speed. Full width of the road is blocked by car and I'm staring at slamming into the car or a granite wall and wire fence. No option but to lock up the rear, dump it and take my chances with the scenery. I'm now sliding towards the same opening the car is heading for and the car is still coming.
I closed my eyes as I'm about 5 feet from the rear left corner of the car. I hit the rough surface of the ditch and just started tumbling. Came to rest against the gate with my legs above my head and my bike on top of me.

Driver jumps out and said he never saw me. No **** sherlock.I picked myself up and checked the body. Chunks of skin gone of my knee, calf muscle cut up, must've tagged some barbed wire or some heavy duty thorns. Plenty of road rash on the hips...again:mad:

After sitting down for a while I really didn't want to inspect the damage on the bike,I had visions of getting a lift home in the back of the car that nearly killed me. Thankfully I think I broke the bikes fall, bars took a beating and seeing as they're carbon I don't think I'd trust them. Wheels and frame look OK and all the components I'd just replaced got away without damage.

The elderly couple in the car were from Holland over on holiday. I joked with him about the fact that you'd think being from Holland you'd have a sixth sense when it comes to cars and cyclists. I think they were in as much shock as I was,so there was no point in a shouting match on the roadside. No bones were broken and the bike was ok.

As we sat there plenty of bikes whizzed by, I told him the roads around here are very popular for cyclists and that it's not a road you should even be trying to perform a U turn on. Picked myself up, we shook hands, wished them a safe holiday and got myself home to pick the gravel out of my wounds.

https://www.strava.com/activities/297938032

Garmin reading 64.4km/h when I came down.

Daroxtar

Recovery(ish) spin after the Tour of Sligo yesterday.
44km with 443m climbing in 1;44 @25.5kmh.
https://www.strava.com/activities/298016790

Felt great for the first 15 minutes or so but once the initial buzz wore off I definitely knew I'd had a long spin yesterday. There's a hill not far from where I grew up. Rooskey hill, Glanduff- near Attymass in Mayo. It's an absolute cúnt. Had to stop half way up and take a breather and then had to stop again just below the summit to let a van past and couldn't get clipped back in. Strava says 115m in 1.2km @ 9.9% but that doesn't take into account the fact that there's a good stretch at about 3% and the rest is just brutal ramps- my garmin read 29% briefly and I genuinely don't doubt it. It's fúcking torture. http://veloviewer.com/segments/2853779
I will go up it without stopping the next time but until then I have to admit it's one of the toughest short climbs I've ever done- harder than the top of Kippure IMO.

crosstownk

The tax man wrote: »

Garmin reading 64.4km/h when I came down.

Jebus :eek: Glad you're OK. You might have the customary aches and pains tomorrow. Fair play for not getting involved in a shouting match - it can be hard to keep a cool head in such a situation.

I don't reach the speeds I could coming down hill anymore because of possible incidents like yours. It sort of p1sses me off as I like a bit of speed but I also like being uninjured and alive. Although there are certain roads where I've a perfectly clear line of sight that allow me to let loose!

The tax man

Cheers crosstownk. Yeah I'm not the type to get confrontational with someone, even if they did nearly kill me. If it was some dick in a souped up shopping car,maybe. This was an elderly couple visibly shaken by what happened. What's the point, it's not going to change what just happened.
The hip is nice and tender already. Bandaged up the knee but it'll be a bugger to heal due to skin movement on the knee.

Wishbone Ash

Wishing you a speedy recovery and fair play on your very measured attitude.

The tax man wrote: »

....Driver jumps out and said he never saw me. No **** sherlock..

For a second there I thought you were going to say Ryan Sherlock was driving!

OleRodrigo

Best wishes Taxman - a bit soon after your last tumble, a speedy recovery. Not a fan of that particular stretch as there always seems to be someone about to do something stupid.

Just as an aside, there's a spectacular descent for anyone willing to travel a bit - the Spelga Dam climb from Hiltown Co Down, with a smooth 15km descent into Kilkeel. Am not great on downhills but a few weeks ago I averaged about 64 for the whole thing and hit about 78 ( few of the other lads were hitting mid 80s/90kmph ).

ridewithgps.com/routes/7760374

Esroh

OleRodrigo wrote: »

Best wishes Taxman - a bit soon after your last tumble, a speedy recovery. Not a fan of that particular stretch as there always seems to be someone about to do something stupid.

Just as an aside, there's a spectacular descent for anyone willing to travel a bit - the Spelga Dam climb from Hiltown Co Down, with a smooth 15km descent into Kilkeel. Am not great on downhills but a few weeks ago I averaged about 64 for the whole thing and hit about 78 ( few of the other lads were hitting mid 80s/90kmph ).

ridewithgps.com/routes/7760374

Is the Spelga on the GrandFondo route. Did it in 08 ToI cycle challenge and still my pb ;-)

Speedy recovery Taxman

OleRodrigo

Esroh wrote: »

Is the Spelga on the GrandFondo route. Did it in 08 ToI cycle challenge and still my pb ;-)

Speedy recovery Taxman

It is, but it comes in from Castlewellan taking a right to into Hiltown which I would think is not the better road to come off it from. If you come up from Hiltown and take a right after the reservoir ( a left would be towards Castlewellan ) its a nicer way down.

Nice 60km spin around Sallygap, Roundwood and Enniskerry. Weather was nice for the most part.

Is it just me or were there lots of idiots on the road today? A handful of close passes and some gentleman who decided to sit on his horn because I wasn't in the ditch to let him pass.

magicbastarder

i like to think that the chap beeping at me from behind when i was coming down off howth hill at 70kph, past the graveyard at sutton, was beeping at me in encouragement. cos otherwise i'd have to assume he was being an asshole.

also, i passed a chap in a boards jersey on an orange trek at the wooden bridge.