Tell us about your cycle Yesterday.

smacl

ford2600 wrote: »

BTW @smacl would you get those brakes sorted!

Just got the bike back from Expert Cycles in Rathfarnham to have the brakes checked and much improved.

jon1981

Confucius say wrote: »

Maybe I'm a pussy but I'm already needing gloves and hat on my morning commute in Dublin. It's freezing! I still see people in shorts and tshirts, mad yolks.

Ehem !

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#5

smacl

Lunchtime spin Rathfarnham - tracks by Glenismole reservoirs - Cunard - Glassamucky - Cruagh and home. Love the reservoirs and the backroads out by Cunard but very blowy on the Military road by the featherbeds making for a scary descent. A lumpy but fun 25k.

irlirishkev

Windy cycle to work this morning. Put my legs to the test.
Came out of work to a flat tyre. Not to worry, I always carry a spare. Oh, the spare isn't inflating. Arrrggghh!!

Had to get the stinkin' luas home. Not happy.

Think I may have to get some gatorskins. Too many punctures since I've been commuting. Starting to get really frustrating.

dahat

Went off at 6pm and did 33k but got murdered by a headwind and low lying sun, could barely see at times.

I used Lidl glasses with the orange Lens, should I have been using a different one?

Spin was tough but enjoyed it and the tougher sections felt a little easier than before, those 50 spins are helping the legs.

roverrules

dahat wrote: »

Went off at 6pm and did 33k but got murdered by a headwind and low lying sun, could barely see at times.

I used Lidl glasses with the orange Lens, should I have been using a different one?

Spin was tough but enjoyed it and the tougher sections felt a little easier than before, those 50 spins are helping the legs.

Guide to sunglass tints/colours here

http://www.framesdirect.com/landing/a/lens-color-guide.html

Borderfox

Out from Dunshaughlin and got my kom back on Killeen, took 8 seconds off my best time too continued on to Rathfeigh and back home on a very windy Curragha and Ratoath for a steady 31.8kmph average

They are right, it doesn't feel easier you just get faster. Hip and pelvis feel fully healed at this stage and although still over my February weight I'm generating more power. A bit of work to do on the weight and should be flying

https://www.strava.com/activities/398529946

Confucius say

smacl wrote: »

Lunchtime spin Rathfarnham - tracks by Glenismole reservoirs - Cunard - Glassamucky - Cruagh and home. Love the reservoirs and the backroads out by Cunard but very blowy on the Military road by the featherbeds making for a scary descent. A lumpy but fun 25k.

3 years in London and Dublin on Schwalbe Marathon tyres about 17k a day and not one puncture. Worth the money!

mr spuckler

link_2007 wrote: »

What route do you take?

just seeing this now...
on the way back up i just went by the old N6 as didn't have the heart to add more mileage than i needed to do! on the way down i went on the main roads to kinnegad then jumped onto the royal canal way to mullingar before joining the new greenway along the old railway line to moate. unfortunately they're not yet finished to athlone to rejoined the old N6 at that point. the new greenway surface is absolutely fantastic though!

are you thinking of doing something similar?

link_2007

mr spuckler wrote: »

just seeing this now...
on the way back up i just went by the old N6 as didn't have the heart to add more mileage than i needed to do! on the way down i went on the main roads to kinnegad then jumped onto the royal canal way to mullingar before joining the new greenway along the old railway line to moate. unfortunately they're not yet finished to athlone to rejoined the old N6 at that point. the new greenway surface is absolutely fantastic though!

are you thinking of doing something similar?

Yes I'm from between Athlone and Roscommon and live in Dublin so was hoping to do it some weekend.

I only really know the 'bus route' of Enfield - Kinnegad - Tyrellspass - Moate and on to Athlone so was wondering if there was a nicer route as I imagine that one is fairly dull. Just had a read about the Dublin Galway greenway (hadn't heard of it before) and it sounds brilliant.

Mec-a-nic

Seeing the nice sunshine, took the long way into work this morning. Stopped on the canal route to help another cyclist with a technical, but it was a disaster. Derailleur had got caught and bent up into wheel breaking spokes and twisting its hanger inboard - it was (is?) a lovely vintage F.Moser with Campy gruppo and wheels. Couldn't even triage it, had to be carried off the field (and hopefully to eventual repair).

mr spuckler

link_2007 wrote: »

Yes I'm from between Athlone and Roscommon and live in Dublin so was hoping to do it some weekend.

I only really know the 'bus route' of Enfield - Kinnegad - Tyrellspass - Moate and on to Athlone so was wondering if there was a nicer route as I imagine that one is fairly dull. Just had a read about the Dublin Galway greenway (hadn't heard of it before) and it sounds brilliant.

yeah it adds a few km to the journey but certainly worth taking it in for a look. i think the mullingar to athlone stretch is meant to officially open in october but most of it is currently usable. i've a thread below on it where there's a bit of detail. biggest problem is that the stretches from westmeath/meath border up to dublin and the section west of athlone could be years getting finished.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057490409

the old main road isn't too exciting tbf! still nice to be able to tick off the towns as you go along though

Luxman

At last I kept a promise to tackle kellystown lane and cruagh. Wandered out through town to give myself a geography lesson and did the two climbs and then around to viewing point. I was on the clock at that point and also located Gunny hill (descending though). Got home for school pick up just in time. 92k with almost 900m climbed. Makes a change from my usual jaunt to Howth. I will be going south againðŸ˜႒

D3PO

went for a spin at lunchtime up towards blessington and then looped back over balinascorney and up bohernabreena. Bike got a bit twitchy on the decent of balinascorney, was my first time decending in greasy road conditions ended up twice crossing the centre line onto the wrong side of the road. thankfully no traffic the other way, but defo something I need to learn from.

Intention was to climb all the way up to the military road and back down but the crosswinds nearly blew me into the ditch twice and as im still fairly new on the roadbike I didn't have enough faith in my bike handling to keep going knowing id have to descend again after reaching the top so I got to the featherbed forest and turned back.

still a nice spin of 33.6km with 546m of climbing, The longest distance and most climbing I've done so far. I'm now a the point I can confidently think about joining a club to do beginner spins.

https://www.strava.com/activities/399167681

Luxman

D3PO wrote: »

went for a spin at lunchtime up towards blessington and then looped back over balinascorney and up bohernabreena. Bike got a bit twitchy on the decent of balinascorney, was my first time decending in greasy road conditions ended up twice crossing the centre line onto the wrong side of the road. thankfully no traffic the other way, but defo something I need to learn from.

Intention was to climb all the way up to the military road and back down but the crosswinds nearly blew me into the ditch twice and as im still fairly new on the roadbike I didn't have enough faith in my bike handling to keep going knowing id have to descend again after reaching the top so I got to the featherbed forest and turned back.

still a nice spin of 33.6km with 546m of climbing, The longest distance and most climbing I've done so far. I'm now a the point I can confidently think about joining a club to do beginner spins.

https://www.strava.com/activities/399167681

I'd say you might be leading the beginners out with that spin, well done!

Confucius say

Anyone else go on that stretch in mornings between pearse St Garda station and trinity college in mornings? Absolutely mare and dangerous. There's no room for bikes with the luas line dug up.

mr spuckler

Confucius say wrote: »

Anyone else go on that stretch in mornings between pearse St Garda station and trinity college in mornings? Absolutely mare and dangerous. There's no room for bikes with the luas line dug up.

yeah it's horrible, i come down d'olier st as well which is also a mess and ends up with 4 lanes trying to get into that one bus lane around trinity. i heard 2 of the gardai that keep an eye on the junction there saying one morning that they're amazed that nobody has been killed off a bike there yet.
i'd say the fact that the guards are there may well be the reason for that.

smacl

D3PO wrote: »

Intention was to climb all the way up to the military road and back down but the crosswinds nearly blew me into the ditch twice and as im still fairly new on the roadbike I didn't have enough faith in my bike handling to keep going knowing id have to descend again after reaching the top so I got to the featherbed forest and turned back.

Crosswinds are pretty horrible up there at the moment, but you can get a good amount of climbing in with the shelter of the mountain on either side. Coming from Ballinascorney you can take the back roads to Kippure village here, or on the other side you can take back roads from the old long hill from outside Enniskerry to Laragh and beyond. Loads of othee options are this area too.

D3PO

smacl wrote: »

Crosswinds are pretty horrible up there at the moment, but you can get a good amount of climbing in with the shelter of the mountain on either side. Coming from Ballinascorney you can take the back roads to Kippure village here, or on the other side you can take back roads from the
old long hill from outside Enniskerry to Laragh and beyond. Loads of othee options are this area too.

thanks smacl all these routes are new to me as I've never had a need to use em before. will give the kippure one a crack tomorrow. thanks

smacl

Lunchtime spin up Kilmashogue as far as the woods, fire roads up to Ticknock, and back down Kellystown road. Short and sharp, but a nice way to break up the working day all the same.

OldBean

Dublin to Carlow. Bit of wind and temps going up and down. I had grabbed a base layer from Aldi yesterday, and was really happy with it today. Money well spent.

Ran out of water a bit early and struggled to find a shop/pub/petrol station that was open for about 20km which had me in a bad way.

My mudguards need some serious working on. If I hadn't several episodes of 99% Invisible and How Stuff Works to catch up on.

Only encountered 3 other cyclists between Dublin and Carlow, which I found strange. Then again, they probably heard me coming with my mudguards and cleared off.

smacl

OldBean wrote: »

Ran out of water a bit early and struggled to find a shop/pub/petrol station that was open for about 20km which had me in a bad way.

Know that feeling, got half way up Kilmashogue, reached for my bottle and swiped clean air. Found it full by the sink when I got back. Amazing how much thirstier you get in a drought.

OldBean

I'd just eaten a banana and all. Was gasping.

When I finally got to a shop, I reckon I'd have paid a tenner for water if I had to.

retalivity

Quick hour long spin round Phoenix Park...Its an absolutely gorgeous day for cycling, topped off with a few PRs so i'm happy.

https://www.strava.com/activities/400387232

ford2600

OldBean wrote: »

I'd just eaten a banana and all. Was gasping.

When I finally got to a shop, I reckon I'd have paid a tenner for water if I had to.

Enter farmers field, locate water trough.

Undo 1/2" connection, fill water bottle, reconnect. Sorted

quozl

Last one of the weekly Summer leisure spins that I run for my club :-(

Kilmashogue, Kippure, full Wall, Djouce and Lugalla. Gorgeous weather and a decent 23.4 kph average.

rushfan

Headed out intending to do approx 50km. Swords to Malahide, Donabate, and while north of Ballyboughal decided to take a right & head to Garristown. From there back to Swords via St Margarets & the airport. 75km in 3 hrs. Crackin weather for cycling.

smacl

quozl wrote: »

Last one of the weekly Summer leisure spins that I run for my club :-(

Kilmashogue, Kippure, full Wall, Djouce and Lugalla. Gorgeous weather and a decent 23.4 kph average.

That's not a leisure spin, that's a torture session!

Hauki

Today I had my beast-mode on so took on both Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap. Lots of ups and downs along the way and in an absolutely gorgeous weather.

I was quite surprised that I'm still feeling pretty good. On my way back I was actually thinking if I should go up to Sally one more time from Blessington side. Well, probably it was best to leave it for now. Who knows, maybe next week?

139km and 1440m of climb.

https://www.strava.com/activities/400654224

smacl

Another mooch around the mountains today, and what a day to be on the bike. Rathfarnham, Ballinscorney, Scurlocks leap / Kippure estate, Liffey bridge, Blessington, back roads to the Wicklow gap, Sally gap and home. Three attempts to add some off road ended up with two dead ends and one rocky descent well beyond my pay grade that ended with a walk of shame back up the hill. Just under 110k with 1.9k of climbing over six hours. Highlight was the long straight empty l-road descents at the back of the Wicklow gap, which more than rewarded the rather rampy climb up.