Ring Of Kerry Charity Cycle 2014

killalanerr

We have just gone through registration took all off 5min
Best of luck to everyone I'm really looking forward to it. Might chance a pint now

killalanerr

We have just gone through registration took all off 5min
Best of luck to everyone I'm really looking forward to it. Might chance a pint now

buffalo

killalanerr wrote: »

We have just gone through registration took all off 5min
Best of luck to everyone I'm really looking forward to it. Might chance a pint now

Will you be in your Swords kit tomorrow?

Sitting in the car park minding the car while the missus checks us in. It's MENTAL BUSY!

madcabbage

Best of luck tomorrow everybody! Fingers crossed the rain won't be biblical!!!

moonshadow

Few guys i know cycled to killarney from co.louth yesterday as a warm up , do the ROK tomorrow but they're getting a lift home Sunday.....

dragratchet

madcabbage wrote: »

Best of luck tomorrow everybody! Fingers crossed the rain won't be biblical!!!

whats the rain situation down there at the moment.. the missus is on her way down for it on the train and wouldnt be too keen at all on the wet. couch all the way for me

madcabbage

dragratchet wrote: »

whats the rain situation down there at the moment.. the missus is on her way down for it on the train and wouldnt be too keen at all on the wet. couch all the way for me

The rain has cleared this evening but tomorrow is looking dodgy. Heavy to thundery showers are predicted but the weatherman never gets it spot on!! :rolleyes:

Jovetic

Will just stand in under a tree for the showers, I'm more worried about the Brazil game going to penalties or I'll only get 5hrs sleep

ratracer

@ blahblah06: nice to meet you, thanks for the samples and have a good day tomorrow!!

killalanerr

buffalo wrote: »

Will you be in your Swords kit tomorrow?

Sitting in the car park minding the car while the missus checks us in. It's MENTAL BUSY!

I will indeed say hi if you see me but I will be in super slow mode mwinding Mrs k.

fabvinny

Best of luck to everyone tomorrow, stay safe!!

fabvinny

Best of luck to everyone tomorrow, stay safe!!

buffalo

killalanerr wrote: »

I will indeed say hi if you see me but I will be in super slow mode mwinding Mrs k.

Getting the excuses in early, nice! :P I think I'm leaving at 7am, so keep an eye out. I'll be one of the faceless Orwellians.

flatface

Will be in boards green jersey leaving at 7am. Looking forward to some good craic. It ended in a lovely clear bright evening here, hope for more of the same tomorrow.

rob180

Good luck everyone and enjoy the day. I am doing my 1st ROK and I am supposed to start at 5am with the missus.

sann

Best of luck to all ye boadsies tomorrow. First one I will miss in 10 years. Broke my collarbone while out training last week. Hard to read through all your comments on the thread. Jealous doesn't even come near to what I feel. Will just have to stay on the recliner watching the tour with a box of Pringles and a few cool beers. I know! Poor me. Stay safe out on the roads and enjoy the day anyway.

macnab

I will not be out for what would have been my 4th ROK due to a cycling related injury, well sort of.
Whinge alert ;-)
I was rushing out for my 2nd last ROK training spin last Sunday when I knocked a glass off the kitchen worktop. That would have been the end of the story except I decided to be a hero and save the glass from a smashing end. I now have a deep "V" shaped gash in the palm of my right hand that means no long distance cycling for a while...(sobs loudly...)
I hope you all have a great day tomorrow, well today technically, I wish I could be there too. I will have to console myself with the TDF grand depart.

Wishbone Ash

killalanerr wrote: »

I will indeed say hi if you see me but I will be in super slow mode mwinding Mrs k.

It must have been yourself we passed just after Molls Gap. We were also in the Swords colours!

Very enjoyable spin. We'll done to all involved. Sitting in the car now in sweaty Lycra on the way home!

iwillhtfu

Dare I ask how long it took?

flatface

Great day out today, sun shone and any downpour was strong but brief. I was wearing a green boards jersey and got a few 'boardsie' shouts. Chatted briefly to Buffalo who isn't in fact a grumpy grey haired old man after all. And also to Outlaw was it?

Anyway fine day out and my fastest ROK to date, result. Great atmosphere at finish as usual, and sweet merciful beer.

kingdomlad

Great day today. Started at 6.15. Big crowds until cahirciveen. It was grand after that. Was taken down when we all had to slam on the brakes before Glenbeigh when a photographer decided to jump out on the road. Still did 5hrs 56mins riding time. Happy out.

Rambling Man

I saw Enda Kenny was there participating. Did he do the whole thing?

veetwin

First ever cycle event for me and first time riding in a group. Started at 6.45am and finished about 1.40pm. Very happy with a 27kph average moving time. Massive well organised event and really enjoyable despite losing my brand new pak a jak bought especially for the event. Reached for it at Cahersiveen and it had obviously fallen out of my pocket. Soldiered on regardless.

wendell borton

I could have sworn I saw a blue tag on the front a mountain bike ridden by a man wearing jeans and a coat near cahersiveen.

ratracer

wendell borton wrote: »

I could have sworn I saw a blue tag on the front a mountain bike ridden by a man wearing jeans and a coat near cahersiveen.

I passed him in Muckross National Park at about 3.30! Still had the coat on, fair play to him.

Wishbone Ash

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Dare I ask how long it took?

5.36.18 averaging 30.4 km/h

http://www.strava.com/activities/162019314

bogmanfan

Did it with my wife this year (her first time). Actually enjoyed it more than when hammering it with the club. Took our times and stopped at all the scenic areas. Weather was fantastic. Wasn't going to bother bringing sun cream, but was very glad I did!

buffalo

flatface wrote: »

Great day out today, sun shone and any downpour was strong but brief. I was wearing a green boards jersey and got a few 'boardsie' shouts. Chatted briefly to Buffalo who isn't in fact a grumpy grey haired old man after all. And also to Outlaw was it?

Anyway fine day out and my fastest ROK to date, result. Great atmosphere at finish as usual, and sweet merciful beer.

Probably outfox, nice talking to you too! Great day, but a little bit flat, so I detoured around the Skellig Ring and up Coomanaspic.

I then tried to figure out if the missus was ahead of me or behind me when I got back on the course, and a clubmate said she was ahead. Pushed it head from Waterville, constantly wondering if she was just up head... until I got to Kenmare, where I met someone else who said she was well behind!

Great atmosphere at the finish, and beer! Beeeeeeer!

Jovetic

My body is broken

Left at 6am got back around 3pm. 7 hours in the saddle. Thankfully made it back safe saw one guy clip the bike in front of him and he ended up on the other side of the road. If there weren't any serious accidents today it would be a miracle. My life flashed before me so many times today :eek:

Great day out, gave a few boardsie calls, saw Dirkvoodoo a few times after caherciveen. Was rocking my cornflakes jersey this year again. Think I got around in six hours on the dot, average 28kph.

Now, pints.

killalanerr

Just back to the camp site now our first rok and I was minding Mrs kill so we took it dead handy and stopped a lot I really enjoyed my day. I did manage to brake out and hammered down from molls .....well run and th weather played ball too...beer now

circular flexing

Rambling Man wrote: »

I saw Enda Kenny was there participating. Did he do the whole thing?

Yes, he's done it for the last two or three years I think.

funnights74

wendell borton wrote: »

I could have sworn I saw a blue tag on the front a mountain bike ridden by a man wearing jeans and a coat near cahersiveen.

I saw a guy wearing a cardigan with cargo pants, lol, only on the RoK.

madcabbage

wendell borton wrote: »

I could have sworn I saw a blue tag on the front a mountain bike ridden by a man wearing jeans and a coat near cahersiveen.

Apparantly that fella does it every year in the jeans and coat! Fair play! Saw two mad yokes zip last me on a weird looking tandem on the way into Killarney!

Hani Kosti

Didn't see a single boardsie today, so sad =/
What a fab day, had a ball!!!
Hope everyone had a great time

stonemanic

First Ring of Kerry, great day. Started at 6.30am and finished at 3.30pm. took plenty of stops. Brilliant atmosphere and extremely well run. The weather manged to behave itself also. Was surprised by the amount of punctures that I saw on my way around though.

sullzz

Great day today , I was expecting worse weather than what we had , I saw a few boardies , spoke to flat face and I think his name was Doc o7 , I also have a shout to a boards or in a green jersey who was with a girl wearing the green kits bib shorts , I also gave a shout to a lad in a pink jersey near the top of mols gap , I was waiting near the top to take pics of the rest of my group you seemed to be flying up .

thesimpsons

Fabulous day. 2nd year doing it and did so much better than last year. Sailed up Coomakista and Molls Gap wasn't too bad either, actually passed people out going up which so surprised me. Found it a major drag in to Sneem. Back in killarney by 4pm - great atmosphere there. Well done ROK committee

bazzer86

buffalo wrote: »

Probably outfox, nice talking to you too! Great day, but a little bit flat, so I detoured around the Skellig Ring and up Coomanaspic.

I then tried to figure out if the missus was ahead of me or behind me when I got back on the course, and a clubmate said she was ahead. Pushed it head from Waterville, constantly wondering if she was just up head... until I got to Kenmare, where I met someone else who said she was well behind!

Great atmosphere at the finish, and beer! Beeeeeeer!

Wow, that's some going, so you turned right towards valentia, through portmagee and up Coomanspic? Out of interest what are your thoughts on coomanaspic in terms of toughness... I'm a novice, and have done it a few times... Can't imagine there is much harder out there... Is there? :eek:

buffalo

bazzer86 wrote: »

Wow, that's some going, so you turned right towards valentia, through portmagee and up Coomanspic? Out of interest what are your thoughts on coomanaspic in terms of toughness... I'm a novice, and have done it a few times... Can't imagine there is much harder out there... Is there? :eek:

Yeah, it's one of the reasons I wanted to do it. I went up it from the other way back in 2011 (when I didn't know it existed, I was just trying to go from Waterville to Portmagee), and wanted to have a go at it again because I remembered it as so bloody horrendous.

Only problem was a last-minute bike change meant I only had a 12-23 cassette, so was swinging out of the handlebars all the way up. There was an odd squeaking, which I thought was the front brake rubbing. Loosened the caliper a bit, realised it was my shoe against the crank. Stopped at the top for recovery and photos, then headed down the other side. As I hit the first hairpin, I realised I hadn't reconnected the front brake, but there was enough to slow me down enough!

Much prefer doing it the other way - hairpins for the ascent, and that lovely long straight descent into Portmagee. And the scenery around there is just magnificent.

mossym

glad everyone enjoyed it.

personally, fine cycle, was fun, but didn't enjoy it any more than a 6 hour spin anywhere else. likely my last one, it's just becoming too much hassle. would do the 160km at the burren or connemara next year instead. to me it seems the organisers have the opinion cyclists should feel lucky to be doing the race, rather than they feeling glad so many want to show up to do it.

also, i think the ROK is ideal for those who train for months with it as a focus, and for whom it's a big deal. it's just not the same buzz if you're regularly doing 100km+ cycles. watching those roll in for whom this is a major achievement yesterday was great, and i think that's where it is best. the sportives i mentioned are more focused on the regular cyclist, think 'll stick to them next year.

anyway, congrats all on it. back down to kenmare for me tomorrow, 100km over healy and caha in preperation for a half ironman down there in august.

ford2600

buffalo wrote: »

Yeah, it's one of the reasons I wanted to do it. I went up it from the other way back in 2011 (when I didn't know it existed, I was just trying to go from Waterville to Portmagee), and wanted to have a go at it again because I remembered it as so bloody horrendous.

Only problem was a last-minute bike change meant I only had a 12-23 cassette, so was swinging out of the handlebars all the way up. There was an odd squeaking, which I thought was the front brake rubbing. Loosened the caliper a bit, realised it was my shoe against the crank. Stopped at the top for recovery and photos, then headed down the other side. As I hit the first hairpin, I realised I hadn't reconnected the front brake, but there was enough to slow me down enough!

Much prefer doing it the other way - hairpins for the ascent, and that lovely long straight descent into Portmagee. And the scenery around there is just magnificent.

Priests leap audax in August, would be the job for you. Takes in that climb and a few others; Borlin, Ballaghbeama being the nicest imho

Masala

My thoughts on my 5th ROK:

1. Traffic coming down against us on Coomakiska could cause major accident. Met a 40-ft Lorry yesterday and you should have seen the scramble towards the ditch for safety....
2. There were a lot of people hogging the center of the road....similiarly couple 2 x abreast covering the whole lane. Maybe a few sighs of KEEP LEFT would cure this ??
3. Kenmare was a letdown... where was the 'buzz' this year
4. As was Molls.... no music, Red Bull van etc.....just stopped for water and off..
5. AND.. can anyone explain to me WHAT IS THE POINT ON THOSE CLUB RIDER 'BOMBING' DOWN THE RIGHT AT BREAKNECK SPEEDS. They seem to think they have rights of some sort? Some smart b...ix roared at me to keep left and he got a series of foul language back from me that he wont forget.. and if he is reading this...he is lucky I didn't see him later!!

But a major pat on back to all organisers and stewards... you are a credit to Kerry! See you next year!

mossym

Masala wrote: »

[*]There were a lot of people hogging the center of the road....similiarly couple 2 x abreast covering the whole lane. Maybe a few sighs of KEEP LEFT would cure this ??



[*]AND.. can anyone explain to me WHAT IS THE POINT ON THOSE CLUB RIDER 'BOMBING' DOWN THE RIGHT AT BREAKNECK SPEEDS. They seem to think they have rights of some sort? Some smart b...ix roared at me to keep left and he got a series of foul language back from me that he wont forget.. and if he is reading this...he is lucky I didn't see him later!!
[/LIST]

i know the point you are trying to make, but those two points are in direct contradiction to each other. if you have keep left signs it's to give people rights to pass, but if people are going faster than you they have no right to pass?

thesimpsons

We didn't stop in Kenmore this yr but it did seem bit dead. Sneem was great Craic, big bottleneck of cars people and bikes. I didn't realise what I missed about molls gap until u said it but ya, no music there.

Jovetic

mossym wrote: »

glad everyone enjoyed it.

personally, fine cycle, was fun, but didn't enjoy it any more than a 6 hour spin anywhere else. likely my last one, it's just becoming too much hassle. would do the 160km at the burren or connemara next year instead. to me it seems the organisers have the opinion cyclists should feel lucky to be doing the race, rather than they feeling glad so many want to show up to do it.

also, i think the ROK is ideal for those who train for months with it as a focus, and for whom it's a big deal. it's just not the same buzz if you're regularly doing 100km+ cycles. watching those roll in for whom this is a major achievement yesterday was great, and i think that's where it is best. the sportives i mentioned are more focused on the regular cyclist, think 'll stick to them next year.

I agree with a lot of this. I had been building all year towards this, and now it's done I'm gonna dump the bike in the shed for a good while. Was my second ROK, didn't really enjoy it as much this year. Coming into Killarney was a great highlight though. The organisers and volunteers deserve a lot of credit.

However the sheer numbers on the road frightened me. I usually go cycling on my own so I'm not that comfortable in groups. It kept hitting me going around how much my safety was in the hands of others. All it takes is one person to switch off and you could be in serious trouble. The descent from Molls Gap was seriously quick, a fall there and it could be curtains. There was one section after a narrow bridge where everyone was penned in, a girl in front of me got distracted by a bottle on the road, slowed down and weaved to the side. The number of people who moved out without looking over their shoulder :mad: "Oops sorry" isn't much good if you've to spend a week in hospital. Think I'll stick to cycling on my own.

And that 14-L jeep that was going around :mad: What sad cycling club needs a team car to follow them around. Can they not carry their own spare tubes? I kept getting stuck next to it and it penned in a lot of cyclists to one lane. Sad sad bunch of people.

Also some seriously obese cyclists out there. :eek:

ht9zni1gs28crp

Jovetic wrote: »

I agree with a lot of this. I had been building all year towards this, and now it's done I'm gonna dump the bike in the shed for a good while. Was my second ROK, didn't really enjoy it as much this year. Coming into Killarney was a great highlight though. The organisers and volunteers deserve a lot of credit.

However the sheer numbers on the road frightened me. I usually go cycling on my own so I'm not that comfortable in groups. It kept hitting me going around how much my safety was in the hands of others. All it takes is one person to switch off and you could be in serious trouble. The descent from Molls Gap was seriously quick, a fall there and it could be curtains. There was one section after a narrow bridge where everyone was penned in, a girl in front of me got distracted by a bottle on the road, slowed down and weaved to the side. The number of people who moved out without looking over their shoulder :mad: "Oops sorry" isn't much good if you've to spend a week in hospital. Think I'll stick to cycling on my own.

And that 14-L jeep that was going around :mad: What sad cycling club needs a team car to follow them around. Can they not carry their own spare tubes? I kept getting stuck next to it and it penned in a lot of cyclists to one lane. Sad sad bunch of people.

Also some seriously obese cyclists out there. :eek:

From the tone of this post its probably better you cycled on your own from now on, or maybe, just maybe this is the root of the problem

Also would you suggest the obese people stay obese on the couch?

Max_Charger

Masala wrote: »

1. AND.. can anyone explain to me WHAT IS THE POINT ON THOSE CLUB RIDER 'BOMBING' DOWN THE RIGHT AT BREAKNECK SPEEDS. They seem to think they have rights of some sort? Some smart b...ix roared at me to keep left and he got a series of foul language back from me that he wont forget.. and if he is reading this...he is lucky I didn't see him later!!

It was my first Ring yesterday, and probably my last. I was with my club and on a slight decent somewhere, I remember being on the front of a 5 man train behind me, "bombing" or what I would of called cruising, down the right when some guy in all black near the centre just started moving right without looking over his shoulder. I'm not saying it was you, I don't who he was but I had to let out a shout of "on your right" to him, If I didn't more than one of us would of been waking up in hospital this morning.
I know this issue is brought up every year but when near 10 thousand people are nearly always in a group somewhere and a lot of people have never riden in a group, shouts have to be made sometimes for everyones safety. A simple look over your shoulder is all that's needed but many many people yesterday had no awareness of what was going on around them. I don't know who was right and who was wrong in your situation but don't take it personally.

Jovetic

Ana Rough Slammer wrote: »

From the tone of this post its probably better you cycled on your own from now on, or maybe, just maybe this is the root of the problem

Also would you suggest the obese people stay obese on the couch?

I think I will stay on my own. Too many people (and too many novices) do the ROK. In the interests of safety they should cap the numbers at 6 or 7k but the $$$ would be down :rolleyes: It's great that so many people of all sizes are out cycling, just not sure if their ticker would handle Molls Gap, I saw one guy who was at least 25 stone

davgtrek

well done to all on the ROK. I was the guy on the mic with drummers just after that cycle patch coming into Killarney. I saw everyone who passed between 12:45 & 6:45 and it's incredible how some people make it around or get setup for such a long cycle.

I saw lads with massive rucksacks, panniers, one chap on a real high nellie, lads in jeans, 29er Mountain bikes with big nobbly tyres, a few tandems, one guy on a tandem with his son sort of recumbant in front and yea a couple of guys carrying serious weight. Fair play to them all !!!
You do definitely get all sorts for this event and thats why its so successful I guess.

I also saw 2 or 3 people with no helmet....probably the worst day ever to go without a helmet.

Saw 1 guy in a kellogs shirt and saw a girl in one then too.
I'm not tuned into the Boards jersey so didnt know to keep an eye out for it.

some day though !!