Ring Of Kerry Charity Cycle 2016 - **no entry requests/offers**

StevieGriff

monkeysnapper wrote: »

This was my 7th rok , its getting better organised every year but like a few of you have said my closest to coming off was going into Killarney on cycle track .

Great day . felt strong throughout but my time doesn't get any better any year . I'd love to give it a shot on my own some time.

Edit . 1 question , I never used strava before, mine says I did 172.5 km . it says 180 . anyone els confirm this , do I need to go back to Killarney today to finish

Organisers have said 180 for years...you'd have to zig zag all over the road to get 180 out of it.

funnights74

That's my 6th RoK done and dusted, it's never lost it's magic for me, superbly organized considering the numbers involved. The usual pitfalls of cyclists weaving/turning on road without signaling or calling out, nearly had me down twice. It's impossible to rectify that.
Weather was patchy but it's what was forecast. Came across a few accidents, before Kenmare a touch of wheels and on the drop from molls gap some guy over cooked a corner. Hope anyone who had a spill is okay. As previously mentioned that pathway we are diverted onto coming into Killarney is not fit for purpose, ideally re-surface it or at the very least sweep the gravel off of it, it's a recipe for disaster.
Notable jerseys were the mars bar crew, a bunch of about 20 had a Tom Crean themed kit going on and it looked well. Wallace and Gromit made their annual appearance.One Boardsie flew past me near Glenbeigh but i didn't catch his name. The rain gear hid away the efforts of many.
@monkeysnapper 6 RoK's and I've never done more than 170 Kms, i call it the "Missing 10 Kms", tis a mystery where they get that from, but it sounds good to say you've done the 180.
So thanks to everyone involved in Organizing this years event, no doubt it takes up a huge amount of your spare time, but your efforts are greatly appreciated. Until next year.;)

Masala

Today's weather would have ideal!!!!

Still great day out yesterday... wrll done to the organisers!!! Lots of improvements taken on by Committee from Friday checkin to food stops etc.... Credit to be given when due!! Hopefully they will get the Registration sorted better next year"!!!

tacklemore

My first ROK. Had a great day. Great experience. You get such mixed abilities on it, the lads racing need to keep their eyes peeled and let us mere mortals know when they're passing. A racer nearly came down because he wasn't looking beyond his wheel and missed a hand signal from a cyclist.
Rain was a devil at times but that's gonna happen. Started at 6.30 and got very wet on the way to Kilorglin. Did it in little over 7.5 hours, excluding stops.
Food stop in Cahersiveen was great. Thanks to the ladies who put the sugar and milk into my coffee. Ye were great. Food stop in Kenmare was a busier affair with a long queue but at least twas dry while I was there.
The finish was great. All the cheering and clapping was great. Saw the cheerleaders with the pom poms on my left as we came in.
Thanks to everyone involved. The people at the food stops and the marshalls were brilliant. Even though there were fierce busy the tea ladies were still up for a laugh and the craic which was nice.
I made sure to rehydrate in Killarney last night, not with water though!! Good buzz around the place and met plenty of cyclists, including 2 blind lads who had done it on tandems. Hardy lads so they are!!
Like Arnie, I'll be back!!!!!

seamus

First ROK myself. Very impressed with the organisation and the crowds cheering at the end. It seems like the whole county comes together to make a great day of it.
Never experienced that in an event before. In the WW200 you get the distinct impression that the locals hate the event.

I was with my brothers and a few of their mates. all out for the social day, no fast riders there. Something like 7:15 moving, 10.5 hours in total. Big stops, a pint in sneem, very easy going.

Which made the weather a pity, I was freezing when it rained. Had to hammer the two climbs to warm myself up. Then stand at the top waiting for everyone else.

Lovely route though. They add 10km on at the bottom of Molls gap, my clock read 150km and the sign said 160.

Probably do it again next year, I'll go with the same lads but motor on ahead and aim for 6 hours. Nothing like a picturesque fast route.

Nisio

On the 180 vs 170 km I've seen a map in Cahersiveen of the original route and it looked like it took the ferry over to Valentia. Trying to get everyone across on the ferry with the numbers now would be fairly tough so I wonder if that loop is the missing 10 km

powerstar

Hi, My first ROK and it was great experience. Very well organised and I will be back.

Masala

Didn't think there was 11000 there yesterday.

I did the same starts and finish as last year.... And didn't feel that the numbers were the same as I went along.

vektarman

I did the Ring of Kerry cycle with my Son (first timer) yesterday, it was nearly over for him before we started. The freehub on his rear wheel went just as we approached the start line, A marshall directed us to O'Sulivans bike shop in the town. They were fantastic, not only did they remove the nearly new cassette from the old wheel and put it on a new shop wheel but they also said there was no charge and just to return their wheel after the cycle. Big thank you to the staff in O'Sullivans, they saved my Sons day yesterday and he was delighted to complete the Ring for the first time.

saranas

My first one as well.started at 8 am.there was no crowd at the start.everyone must have started early.tried to steal few extra hours of sleep but u know how it goes.woke up numerous times during the nite.got cold when the rain hit but there were few lads singing about the sun 😂😂😂 and everyone joined in.sun was lovely afterwards.thanks to everyone for the help.apologies to the lady who offered tea and i refused.took me 8 hours.and then another 7 hours at work 😆.it was great.hoping to come back next year if i get in the lottery that is!!

fillup

Saw a dude wolfing down a gel in Killorglin
This was before 7 in the morning.
I know the wrapper says to take one every 20 mins during exercise but surely you should be able to get 20 mins into the cycle before hitting the gels!

fillup

Great day out and weather wasn't too bad in the end - bit of rain before Cahersiveen and at Sneem.
Luckily I was topping up with 2 double espressos and a gorgeous slice of apple pie in Kellys Bakery in Sneem and missed most of the 2nd shower.

The climb up Molls Gap was great and some gentleman gave me a swig of his Hennessy at the top as a warmer upper before the decent down Ladys View. Cracking decent it was too.

Highlights were the scenery, the fantastic organisation, the camaraderie and the pints n Craic in Killarney on both nights.

Deffo lower numbers than when I did it in 2014 - methinks the new registration process may have back fired on them.

Eamonnator

I started at 6.00am. We must have passed six or seven hundred cyclists before we got to Killorglin.
I last did it in 2014, I thought the numbers were up this year, certainly the number of people who started before 6.00am were up.

youtheman

Woke several time on Saturday morning due to the wind and rain. Said to myself "it's going to be a disaster", even considered staying in bed. Glad I went. The weather, while not ideal, wasn't as bad as I thought. Got damp, but never got soaked or frozen.

Only downside was the 4 TdeF 'wannabees' who blitzed through the course (heard them say they did it under 5 hours). Nothing wrong with that (even though it's not a race). But on the way into Killarney they decided to stay outside the cones (just to keep the speed up), but then they decided to switch course suddendly and dive inside the cones. But they misjudged it and wiped out 2 cones, how ye man stayed up on the bike I don't know. They could have brought a big gang down (including myself). I think they were left under no illusion what the rest of us thought of them (some choice language)!.

bustercherry

fillup wrote: »

Saw a dude wolfing down a gel in Killorglin
This was before 7 in the morning.
I know the wrapper says to take one every 20 mins during exercise but surely you should be able to get 20 mins into the cycle before hitting the gels!

I think gels should be banned from these sort of events. The amount of people fcuking wrappers into the hedges is a disgrace let alone making morons out of themselves toddling along slurping them.

funnights74

That was one of the downsides of yesterday, lots of gel wrappers tossed aside, people should show some respect. Put them back in your pocket, there were plenty of bins at the foodstops.

The Davestator

On the 170 v 180 debate. Drove some of it today. The distance signs were correct unill molls gap (150k) but the 160 km sign is exactly 3.5 k from the 150 k and the 165 k sign was 8.2 km from the 150 sign on Molls gap!

wuzziwig

My second ROK yesterday. Loved it last year and was so looking forward to it this year. Unfortunately an old injury plagued me from the start line and I had to admit defeat in Cahirciveen. I was so pissed off. The gang I was with had such a great day while I was stuck in a van eating painkillers. I couldn't even enjoy my few drinks last night between the pain and feeling totally deflated. I guess there's always next year.

JK.BMC

youtheman wrote: »

Woke several time on Saturday morning due to the wind and rain. Said to myself "it's going to be a disaster", even considered staying in bed. Glad I went. The weather, while not ideal, wasn't as bad as I thought. Got damp, but never got soaked or frozen.

Only downside was the 4 TdeF 'wannabees' who blitzed through the course (heard them say they did it under 5 hours). Nothing wrong with that (even though it's not a race). But on the way into Killarney they decided to stay outside the cones (just to keep the speed up), but then they decided to switch course suddendly and dive inside the cones. But they misjudged it and wiped out 2 cones, how ye man stayed up on the bike I don't know. They could have brought a big gang down (including myself). I think they were left under no illusion what the rest of us thought of them (some choice language)!.

Is everybody Ok? My God- cyclists riding their bikes fast. You make it sound awful.
Maybe the ROK should put a speed limit on the route to stop anybody feeling bad about being overtaken.
5 hours for 170km+ is impressive.

shamrock2004

JK.BMC wrote: »

Is everybody Ok? My God- cyclists riding their bikes fast. You make it sound awful.
Maybe the ROK should put a speed limit on the route to stop anybody feeling bad about being overtaken.
5 hours for 170km+ is impressive.

Don't be silly. I did the cycle yesterday. There are thousands of cyclists out there on the day who are devoid of the experience of cycling in a group. If you want to go out and burn around the roads in those circumstances then you are a danger to yourself and others.

JK.BMC

shamrock2004 wrote: »

Don't be silly. I did the cycle yesterday. There are thousands of cyclists out there on the day who are devoid of the experience of cycling in a group. If you want to go out and burn around the roads in those circumstances then you are a danger to yourself and others.

And if you are devoid of cycling 'in a group' then what in all fairness are you doing cycling with 11000 others????

Anyway, I know lots of people had lots of fun. So good for them. Regardless of how fast they went.

PukkaStukka

My third ROK yesterday and as enjoyable as the previous ones. On the plus side: the organisation was world class and none more so than at the food stops. Equally the Friday sign on was a totally fuss free affair.

Large sections of road seem to have been resurfaced too in some places, particularly between Killorglin and Cahirciveen. That was welcome!

The car parking around the church in Killarney seem ample too

Down sides are few but worth a mention as indeed some have done already:

Gel wrappers casually discarded was bad form.

Using the "cycle lane" coming into Killarney was ill considered given its condition, width and for little advantage. At the very least, it could've been swept to remove the sand and grit thereon. If I do the cycle next year, I won't be using that lane irrespective of whether I'm to directed or not.

The "funnelling" with traffic cones and flag marshal coming into Sneem was somewhat hairy as cyclistist seem unsure as whether to stop, and if so, they tried to pick a spot to pull in. I saw a few minor collisions and near misses there.

And finally, and on the dreadful subject of collisions, there was a nasty one at the finish line around 4:15 yesterday. My wife was there when a young lady cyclist came down on her face and badly injured herself. I just hope she's ok.

shamrock2004

JK.BMC wrote: »

And if you are devoid of cycling 'in a group' then what in all fairness are you doing cycling with 11000 others????

It's a public charity cycle.

youtheman

JK.BMC wrote: »

Is everybody Ok? My God- cyclists riding their bikes fast. You make it sound awful.
Maybe the ROK should put a speed limit on the route to stop anybody feeling bad about being overtaken.
5 hours for 170km+ is impressive.

You missed the point. I have no problem with a bunch blitzing around the place. But these guys decided they wanted to go outside the cordoned off area bacause they were too good for the rest of us, and when it suited ithem they just veerd left, knocked over two cones and nearly took down a peleton of us ordinary cyclists who were inside the cones (as we were supposed to be).

JK.BMC

shamrock2004 wrote: »

It's a public charity cycle.

Well- that's one way to describe it

JK.BMC

youtheman wrote: »

You missed the point. I have no problem with a bunch blitzing around the place. But these guys decided they wanted to go outside the cordoned off area bacause they were too good for the rest of us, and when it suited ithem they just veerd left, knocked over two cones and nearly took down a peleton of us ordinary cyclists who were inside the cones (as we were supposed to be).

Well I hope you reported them for dangerous riding.

And for being too good for everybody else, the inconsiderate so-and-so's... .

seamus

JK.BMC wrote: »

Well- that's one way to describe it

To be fair, if you're a club cyclist and you rode that yesterday you would quickly see that it's very a heavily a tourist/leisure charity cycle and not one to try and get your KOM on.

Five minutes in you will instantly spot the people with very little experience - individuals riding on the white line despite nobody being around them, and pairs of cyclsts with one in each lane, chatting away.

And 99% of people had clearly no experience or understanding of riding in a group, no concept of how their movements affect other riders - acting more like cars where it's generally OK if you suddenly pull left or right without notice.

And if you maintain a sane pace that's generally OK. It's frustrating on fast flats when six people are blocking the road and on descents where someone is sitting on the white line holding onto their brakes and you can't get by.

But that's what the ROK is. It's a tourist charity cycle, not a challenging sportive. None of the climbs are challenging, even the descents outside of Moll's Gap are fairly tame. It's meant to be just a "nice day" on the bike.

If someone wants to go out and hit the whole thing at 34km/h, then they should probably leave at 5:30, or choose another event. There's not really any excuse for doing stupid things just because you're in a rush. At best you'll end up tarnishing your day and the day of whoever else falls over you.

Chuchote

Did Enda do the whole cycle or just the photoshoot?

The Davestator

I don't mind what speed people want to do it at - the thing that really annoyed me was people shouting at others to move to let them through. These weren't 'top' cyclists either, they were just marginally faster than the people in front of them.

I know people were all over the road, but that's the reality of the cycle and annoying yourself all day is crazy

If you want to go through, go through or around, but don't expect a parting of the waves to allow you through.

Masala

The Davestator wrote: »

I don't mind what speed people want to do it at - the thing that really annoyed me was people shouting at others to move to let them through. These weren't 'top' cyclists either, they were just marginally faster than the people in front of them.

I know people were all over the road, but that's the reality of the cycle and annoying yourself all day is crazy

If you want to go through, go through or around, but don't expect a parting of the waves to allow you through.

Every year its the same.......and no-one ever changes. I had a few of those shouts directed at me over the years and I just gave the customary 2-letter reply beginning with the letter 'F'. I think the Committee should put a lists of DO's and DON'TS up on the site next year highlighting how to cycle properly.