Ring Of Kerry Charity Cycle 2014

MajesticDonkey

A bad year for me this year. Took a bad tumble coming down into Waterville which will probably see me not doing the ROK again.

http://www.strava.com/activities/162766556

iwillhtfu

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

A bad year for me this year. Took a bad tumble coming down into Waterville which will probably see me not doing the ROK again.

http://www.strava.com/activities/162766556

Hope it wasn't to serious.

Will you not be taking part again because of the crash or just a general dislike of the event?

buffalo

Nmccd wrote: »

You had a choice to keep it or hand it in. I handed mine inin as it was full.my husband kept his as he wanted to collect more.

ah, I had a proxy collect my tag. I retract everything!

DeepBlue

J o e wrote: »

In defense of those "in the middle of the road"...

I generally tried to keep far left but there were several cyclists going very slow on the hard left, especially on climbs. If keeping hard left I'd keep getting stuck behind them, with a flow of cyclists passing on the right at the pace I'd want to be at but no way of getting out for a couple of minutes and others passing at a higher speed again on the outside when traffic or roads allowed.

So if you came across cyclists in the middle of the road, there was generally a much slower cyclist on the hard left just ahead who would otherwise be about to box them in.

Same here. There are just too many people on the roads at the same time going at various speeds for a "keep left" policy to work.

My biggest bugbear about the event though was the amount of cyclists who thought it was ok to just stop dead in the middle of the road without any thought towards the cyclists coming up behind them. Saw this too often at most of the stops. They should have pulled in off the road if they were stopping and let those behind who weren't stopping flow through.

keano25

Just with regard people saying others should stay left.

Remember now this is the ring of Kerry and the roads are not great in a lot of places cyclists have no option but to keep out toward the centre line or risk buckles punctures etc..

Lumen

touts wrote: »

I did hear two girls discussing the difference and one was saying in her club up meant up the road which was ahead of you and down meant down the road which was behind you. The other said that was the original meaning but then someone in Dublin thought it would be more fun to make it seem a bit dirty and said you take it up the ass and down the throat which reversed the meaning.

Anything is possible (and sure why not blame the Dubs) but even the Brits can't agree on a common definition, with the British Cycling website using car up=ahead but many clubs using the opposite.

From the Chain Gang (Tralee) website:

The Four Fundamental Rules of Group Riding
http://chaingangcyclingtralee.wordpress.com/training-routes/cycling-etiquette/four-fundamental-rules/

"Car up – is a car coming from behind the group and Car down is one heading towards you."

MajesticDonkey

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Hope it wasn't to serious.

Will you not be taking part again because of the crash or just a general dislike of the event?

Thanks.

Nothing too bad thankfully - mild concussion, tore my elbow open and badly grazed my hip. Nothing broken anyway.

I personally like to cycle the ROK at around 29-30km/h - not racing around, but I like to do it fairly quickly. I've come to the conclusion that the ROK is really not suitable for people who want to do it at that sort of pace because there are simply too many people of different levels which in turn makes for some hairy moments when trying to pass big groups of slower cyclists. That's unless you're willing to leave at 5 or 6am.

The event itself in fairness to it is one of the best around. When I came off, a lovely woman and her family put me up on her couch and the paramedics were there within 5 minutes and the care was top notch, so I can't fault them there. The only problem after that was that it took 3 bus transfers and about 3 hours to get back to Killarney, at which point the roads were closed and I was dropped in the middle of the town to walk 15 minutes back to my B&B. This I felt could have been better handled, but thankfully I hadn't too much difficulty in getting back to the B&B.

Overall I was happy with how smoothly it ran though.

NewCorkLad

The Davestator wrote: »

It is a charity cycle but does that mean you have to cycle slowly? Why don't you go off and do a slow charity cycle if it bothers you that much?
These club people train all year and maybe they want to beat last years time, maybe they want to put their training to the test, maybe they like cycling at their pace (which is faster than yours)

Each to their own

This is a charity event where cyclists of all abilities take part. This is not an event for clubs to come and challange themselves and beat times.

The way some of the clubs acted out there as if they owned the road was extremely dangerous. One club nearly forced my girlfriend and I into a ditch when a car came against us and instead of slowing down and waiting when the call of CAR DOWN was shouted out by their own club mates they kept passing until the last second and then 2 of them served in on me and laughed about it like kids.

That is not to say this is all the clubs, the majority of the clubs take the day as it is meant, they challenge themselves while enjoying the day as the social event that it is, while being aware of other cyclists on the road. It is just the clubs who act like they own the road, who come in a swarm and treat other cyclists like dirt.

Rant over. Other than the above I had a really enjoyable day I met some great characters out and about. There was a great buzz around the Cahersiveen and Kenmare food stops. The finish line was unreal great athmosphere created by the crowds and music.

outfox

A few posters have noted that they didn't hang around afterwards as the music was too loud. I have to agree. I'm probably showing my age now, but the music made conversing difficult. If the organisers could get it turned down a notch, that would be great. Now that I think about it, maybe the music was deliberately loud, to keep people moving on.

iwillhtfu

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

Thanks.

Nothing too bad thankfully - mild concussion, tore my elbow open and badly grazed my hip. Nothing broken anyway.

I personally like to cycle the ROK at around 29-30km/h - not racing around, but I like to do it fairly quickly. I've come to the conclusion that the ROK is really not suitable for people who want to do it at that sort of pace because there are simply too many people of different levels which in turn makes for some hairy moments when trying to pass big groups of slower cyclists. That's unless you're willing to leave at 5 or 6am.

The event itself in fairness to it is one of the best around. When I came off, a lovely woman and her family put me up on her couch and the paramedics were there within 5 minutes and the care was top notch, so I can't fault them there. The only problem after that was that it took 3 bus transfers and about 3 hours to get back to Killarney, at which point the roads were closed and I was dropped in the middle of the town to walk 15 minutes back to my B&B. This I felt could have been better handled, but thankfully I hadn't too much difficulty in getting back to the B&B.

Overall I was happy with how smoothly it ran though.

Good to hear it's only cuts and bruises and no broken bones hopefully not to much damage to the bike either.

I'm sure come next year you'll be coasting into Waterville

What time did you leave at? There must have been people on the route from before 4am from the sounds of it. What's the big rush to finish early is there an end of event party from 16:00-18:00 that folks are afraid to miss or something?

I understand the quicker cyclists wanting to go at their pace and also the same for the slower ones but why start early if you're going to be an hour or two slower why not let the crowd get on the road and then take your time and enjoy it. The same for the quicker cyclists getting out earlier to avoid the masses.

funnights74

eoz wrote: »

I saw a lad on strava did it twice as well. Did it in 12hrs with an average speed of 28km/h

A group from the Tour de Munster leave Cork at 5'ish for Killarney. Cycle the Ring to Kenmare take a detour through Kilgarvan and back up to Cork. The guts of 400Km. They've been doing it for a few years now,Mighty stuff, Chapeau.

Max_Charger

sullzz wrote: »

Hmmmm , I think I may have spotted you doing it too :rolleyes:

There are over 50 people in our club, one in his 70's and has been in more clubs than he can count, when I joined I was told Car back - car coming from behind, Car up - car coming from in front of you. The rolleyes are always a classy touch to end a post.

Wishbone Ash

NewCorkLad wrote: »

...This is not an event for clubs to come and challange themselves and beat times...

A lot of inexperienced cyclists are also challenging themselves and hoping to do it in a better time than last year. Several people I know (who do not cycle regularly) were attempting to get personal bests.

(I'm not condoning any dangerous actions from club riders but in my experience almost all dangerous moves were provided by slower riders).

sullzz

Max_Charger wrote: »

one in his 70's and has been in more clubs than he can count

Maybe he was thrown out of the other clubs for giving wrong calls

BailMeOut

3rd ROK and really enjoyed it and already looking forward to 4th July 2015. I am as always blown away at the sheer size and organization of this event that is a credit to everyone involved. Weather was fantastic other that a downpour before Kenmare but cleared up nicely after that. ROK road surfaces are excellent and you roll along them so easily so very strange you saw so many people with punctures all the way around.

Still sore this morning but feeling great.

codie

A great day even if we got a little wet .I'd consider myself experienced enough cyclist and would have a fair idea of the do's and dont's .But I have to agree with some here regarding some of the teams/club behavior and I know the arguments could go on all day regarding this is a charity cycle etc... etc...
but 1 club in particular I found fairly arrogant and didn't seem to have any respect for anyone else.A shout "COMING THROUGH" just doesn't work in an event like this.Stuff everyone else we are coming through regardless.There isn't simply enough room to give way as bikes are 4-5 across the road.I was as good as taken out of it by this club after Cahersiveen I had no where to go and was pushed against the person inside me,the 2 of us managed to stay upright but it could of been nasty.The same club passed me 3 times in total so I don't know why all the speed.

PeadarCo

This club cyclist v non club cyclists comes up every year.

If your are in a club you have to expect a lot of inexperienced cyclists doing stupid stuff. If your on the other side be prepared to deal with people who may be going a lot faster and have far better bike handling skills.

There are ejets on both sides but if you put 8,000+ people together and they're not all going to be angels.

Its part of parcel of the event if your not prepared to deal with it don't do it.

ROK ON

I didn't do the event this year as I left it too late to get an entry.
The complaints this year are the same as the past six years.
Some people hate been overtaken - I base this on experience on the road from sportifs to training to charity rides to commuting.
The event committee have tried to mitigate some of the anti social cycling by having cycle marshals but like a ref in a match or a commisaire at a race they cannot be everywhere or see everything.

I think that what might be safe overtaking to some is way too close for others.
I am an experienced cyclist and know the roads of the ring like the back of my hand.
I have been safely and dangerously overtaken last year. One memorable one was last year when a group of three had to pull in on me as they overtook me going around a corner and when they saw a car they could choose to hit it or pull in on me.
Asshats exist everywhere .
The mature thing to realise with the ROK is that it is simply not that enjoyable or challenging for experienced cyclists to go fast.
Fast is relative but if you need to be continually overtaking about 80% of the time maybe find a more suitable ride.
If I was to do it again I would be forced to accept that the speed that I can do this at means I would have to spend the day overtaking.
It is a great day out but it is not really meant for continual overtaking. People will have to begin to accept this.
Plenty of races and sportifs on the calendar.

buffalo

ROK ON wrote: »

The mature thing to realise with the ROK is that it is simply not that enjoyable or challenging for experienced cyclists to go fast.
Fast is relative but if you need to be continually overtaking about 80% of the time maybe find a more suitable ride.
If I was to do it again I would be forced to accept that the speed that I can do this at means I would have to spend the day overtaking.
It is a great day out but it is not really meant for continual overtaking. People will have to begin to accept this.
Plenty of races and sportifs on the calendar.

This. It was my first time, and this resonates. The never-ending overtaking grated after a while - really enjoyed my solo detour.

Reckon if I was doing it again, I'd dress up in a onesie and stop at every café and ice cream shop I passed.

Tourman

Max_Charger wrote: »

Ya this. Except it's the complete opposite :pac:

Does it really matter. Car up or car down, keep left.

killalanerr

Im with ROK ON on this,can we please change the tone of the thread
I am an experienced club rider but this weekend i was with my wife who is not,we got passed by every one keep left pass right worked of us without a problem,what i seen at this event were lots of ordinary people doing an extraordinary thing 180km with 2 decent hills is not to be sniffed at by any standards, and in the process raising a huge amount of money for some well deserving causes.
Complements to all involved 10k people all well fed and watered some gig ,we will be back

PeadarCo

buffalo wrote: »

This. It was my first time, and this resonates. The never-ending overtaking grated after a while - really enjoyed my solo detour.

Reckon if I was doing it again, I'd dress up in a onesie and stop at every café and ice cream shop I passed.

I'd agree. I've done the Ring 3 times and on the 3rd time(2012) I spent the entire day passing out people. I was with group of 4 other people but there wasn't much craic between us as we spent most of the time single file passing out people. Haven't done it since.

I did it first back in '10 when there was half the number of people on the road compared to '12. Far more enjoyable. Great atmosphere still but plenty of periods where your group could potter along at is own pace. Not that I would ever expect the organisers to reduce the numbers doing it to that level.

If I was to do it again I'd do it differently from how I've approached it in the past.

Still its a good enjoyable event if seen for what it is. The atmosphere alone is unlike any other cycling event in Ireland and has to be experienced.

Jovetic

My legs are killing me today







Not from the cycling but the fecking midges bites before Sneem :pac: Stopped at that house for refreshments just before the slight climb before Sneem and got bitten alive

Masala

Agreed... lets get back to 'positives' for the next few pages!!

Anyone got any funny stories from the day???

Didn't see the 'Mar Bar' kit this year.... bit the 'Natural Harvest' kit of green and yellow was cool!!

Sackman

Well after some good training I compelted the ROK in 5hrs 36m. There were two of us and it felt like we were constantly overtaking people. We started at about 7.30am and I could not be;ieve how busy the fist half of the race was. Caherciveen we were caught in a shower and due to crowds we gave up on trying to get tea. The toughest part for me was Sneem/Kenware, legs gave way for a while there.

If I do it next year I think I will take it less 'serious' and enjoy the views more.

Thanks to all at ROK for their time.

funnights74

Masala wrote: »

Agreed... lets get back to 'positives' for the next few pages!!

Anyone got any funny stories from the day???

Didn't see the 'Mar Bar' kit this year.... bit the 'Natural Harvest' kit of green and yellow was cool!!

Yeah saw a group in m+m's/mars bar kit, cookie monster gang, I think they're from waterford. 2 from the San fransisco cycling club. Standout feel good story a couple with the Tour de Munster got engaged, he proposed just after the finish!!!

Some finishing line pics posted from last weekend in Killarney, there's a mix from the 4th of July parade and the RoK which are from number 28.
http://www.thewandererphotos.com/FeaturedGallery/4thjuly-ringofkerry2014/i-n7dnrqc

Also The Irish Examiner have plenty up if anyone wants to trawl through and purchase,Photo supplement with tomorrows paper btw.
http://photos.examiner.ie/v/photos/ring-of-kerry-charity-cycle-2014

mylittlepony

I saw 3 Ghostbusters dress up that was fun to see

Cool cycle kits I saw:
Mars Bar
Heinz Beans
Cookie Monster
team USA group of ladies
Prisoners I think one was for Coke dealer (Cola Cola logo back of saddle),
Corn Flakes & something couldn't read it better as saw them near the end of descent.
Did anyone see it better what was the other 'crimes' lol

killalanerr

buffalo wrote: »

Reckon if I was doing it again, I'd dress up in a onesie and stop at every café and ice cream shop I passed.

Oh good god that i would have to see,ya it would be the way to go for sure maybe we will pick a theme and make it a group ride could be fun

Sackman

I noticed a good few Philippines cycling team en route.

Jovetic

Best cycle shirt I was was Ireland Euro 88 soccer jerseys

RayCun

I'm curious, why don't they have start waves? Dublin marathon has lots of serious runners and lots of less serious runners. The faster ones go off first and everyone's happy

outfox

codie wrote: »

The same club passed me 3 times in total so I don't know why all the speed.

Maybe they were lapping you?

funnights74

Jovetic wrote: »

Best cycle shirt I was was Ireland Euro 88 soccer jerseys

I saw them as we approached Sneem, the basically bullied their way along the road, a lot of people used "colourful" language as they sped past. They had a total disregard for fellow cyclists. One had tri-bars!! really on the RoK :mad:

Sackman

funnights74 wrote: »

I saw them as we approached Sneem, the basically bullied their way along the road, a lot of people used "colourful" language as they sped past. They had a total disregard for fellow cyclists. One had tri-bars!! really on the RoK :mad:

There were two of them right? Saw them also but did not see them pushing their way through.

funnights74

Sackman wrote: »

There were two of them right? Saw them also but did not see them pushing their way through.

Five or Six as i recall, they were stopping for no one.

Chips Lovell

RayCun wrote: »

I'm curious, why don't they have start waves? Dublin marathon has lots of serious runners and lots of less serious runners. The faster ones go off first and everyone's happy

Unlike the marathon, this isn't a race.

MajesticDonkey

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Good to hear it's only cuts and bruises and no broken bones hopefully not to much damage to the bike either.

I'm sure come next year you'll be coasting into Waterville

What time did you leave at? There must have been people on the route from before 4am from the sounds of it. What's the big rush to finish early is there an end of event party from 16:00-18:00 that folks are afraid to miss or something?

I understand the quicker cyclists wanting to go at their pace and also the same for the slower ones but why start early if you're going to be an hour or two slower why not let the crowd get on the road and then take your time and enjoy it. The same for the quicker cyclists getting out earlier to avoid the masses.

I can't really figure out the bike situation - punctured back tyre but there's barely a scratch on it. I reckon I was doing between 45 and 50km/h when I came off, which is why I can't figure out how both myself and the bike came off so lightly.

When it comes to it - you're right - I'll probably be there next year in full form again, but there's an event late in September as part of Killarney Cycling Week called "The Wrong Way Round" which caught my attention. It's essentially the same day out, doing the Ring in the other direction, but there'll obviously be less people which would appeal to me more, so I might give this a go next year instead.

I left at 7am this year - I was in Caherciveen for 9am and it was just after 10am when I had my spill. Regarding the rush, I hate being on a bike all day - I like to get out early and get home early. I had to be back for the Tipp-Galway match at 7 which didn't disappoint

Oscar Gateaux wrote: »

Unlike the marathon, this isn't a race.

Yeah, but the organisers need to do something, in my opinion, to deal with the crowds. It's not any one group's fault that there are problems, it's the simple fact that there are 10,000 people on the same road at essentially the same time.

simonrooneyzaga

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

there's an event late in September as part of Killarney Cycling Week called "The Wrong Way Round" which caught my attention. It's essentially the same day out, doing the Ring in the other direction, but there'll obviously be less people which would appeal to me more, so I might give this a go next year instead.

I was gutted to miss out on registration for ROK this year, payday issues!

This sounds very interesting - which way round is harder??

Tourman

Overheard a club cyclist comment that the club in the light blue and green jerseys had a lot of members taking part.
I had a little chuckle as his colleague enlightened him that it was the ROK 2014 .

Roll on 4th july 2015 when I will no doubt be both annoyed by some participants and annoying others. Its a great event the fast versus slow/ inexperienced debate comes up each year. A little patients and understanding by all.

RayCun

Oscar Gateaux wrote: »

Unlike the marathon, this isn't a race.

no, but there are still a whole lot of people trying to use the same road. If the faster people start first they don't have to do as much overtaking, which is better for them and the people being overtaken.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

brownetara

When it comes to it - you're right - I'll probably be there next year in full form again, but there's an event late in September as part of Killarney Cycling Week called "The Wrong Way Round" which caught my attention. It's essentially the same day out, doing the Ring in the other direction, but there'll obviously be less people which would appeal to me more, so I might give this a go next year instead.


Have you got a link to this?

simonrooneyzaga

brownetara wrote: »

When it comes to it - you're right - I'll probably be there next year in full form again, but there's an event late in September as part of Killarney Cycling Week called "The Wrong Way Round" which caught my attention. It's essentially the same day out, doing the Ring in the other direction, but there'll obviously be less people which would appeal to me more, so I might give this a go next year instead.


Have you got a link to this?

https://twitter.com/CycleKillarney just twitter at the moment - you can head to http://t.co/k4DfI6NBYs and they will email you when the site is live.

New2bike

Jovetic wrote: »

Best cycle shirt I was was Ireland Euro 88 soccer jerseys

Those guys were eating road flew past me a couple of times but always said on your right and I moved left no hassle

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

BailMeOut

anyone see the lady on the Brompton? I passed by her after Sneem.

2 Wheels Good

Great day out! Got caught in a couple of the showers but nothing major. Joined in with Midleton CC as far as Cahirciveen (Thanks for that!) which was handy as I had to catch up with a few people.
Busy roads, but most of the time it was fine. With the numbers doing it they'd probably need to do a rolling road closure for all the course for the main couple of hours to make things a bit safer at the busiest times.
It really is a day for the experience, craic and banter so I hope it doesn't lose that!

Grassey

mylittlepony wrote: »

Did anyone see it better what was the other 'crimes' lol

Robin' Banks

mylittlepony

Is there a list of photographers that were taking pics at the event?
Would be great to have a link to their ROK 2014 page similar to the irish examiner ROK photos website.
And where can I see the drone video in cahervieen cant find on youtube or maybe not uploaded yet?

Doc07

Oscar Gateaux wrote: »

Unlike the marathon, this isn't a race.

In reality the marathon is a race for about 200 out of 10,000. For everyone else it's a mass participation event for fitness, charity, achieving a goal etc just like ROK really.