Orwell Randonnee 2016

bazermc

Well holy sweet jebus that was torture..........no energy to type anymore

meisce

bazermc wrote:

Well holy sweet jebus that was torture..........no energy to type anymore

Me legs are hanging off and I didn't even finish the whole route

fat bloke

That was indeed very hard. 155km on the clock by the time I got home. Thanks very much for the vegan falafel! Was yum, and totally unexpected

Awesome marshalling. Felt sorry for a lot of lads and lassies standing on wet 'n windy corners.

Shedite27

That was a tough day. Weather was pretty horrible, but great course (in hindsight).

Top work Orwell, great event. Fair play to the marshals who probably had a worse day than any of us did, and fair play to the Orwell lads who let me draft off them on the Lake drive.

Wishbone Ash

That was very enjoyable (except for the lake drive bit - my least favourite road in Wicklow!). Well done Orwell CC and special thanks to the marshals standing around in the wind and rain.

(Now I have to face into cleaning the bike for the Slieve Bloom Challenge tomorrow).

AmboMan

Very tough ! Well done to all those involved, excellent event !

Buzwaldo

Great day. Got through it better than I hoped for the preparation I had. 6.40 or so rolling for 22kph average, and not too knackered at the end (elated actually - put that down to getting bidon filled with coke at last water stop).
An army of marshals - credit to Orwell all round.
Thanks to @ilikefood for the entry.
We got a bit lucky with the rain we had - got wet & cold before lunch, but the break helped. Rain in the afternoon didn't last too long.
Good to do these gaps and walls that I hear the metropolitans going on about. Tough but enjoyable.
Met Crocked of this parish at the burger bar, and plenty of other friendly folk going around.
Great event. A good day on the bike.

NeedMoreGears

Well done and thanks to Orwell and all the people handing out food and to the marshals. Tough old day but the burgers were fantastic. Back for more next year.


Met Devonp wishbone ash and Mercian pro sorting pink and pink/green kit. Only had a cap myself

lissard

Well done Orwell on a brilliantly organised event, all the marshals greeted us with a smile despite standing out in pretty grim conditions. The food and water stops were up to their usual level of excellence. Having last done this 2 years ago I think the new course is a fair bit more testing. After Luggala I was a broken man and was suffering with cramp for much of rest of the climbs. Think I need to improve my training! I was pretty sure lake drive would be the hardest bit and sure enough it was (for me at least). Anyway well done to anyone who participated, it was one tough day on the bike.

terrydel

I was out over the Gap into Laragh and back with my brother for just over 100k, was poxy for most of it bar the bit from Laragh back to the Gap up past the waterfall. Saw loads of folk out doing this sportive, fair play to all who did it and got thru it. Another 55k today would have finished me off!
Hats off.

goldenboots

Once again, a superbly organised and marshalled event. Better than any other sportive I have been on. Well done again Orwell.

A really tough day. Much harder route than two years ago, even allowing for the weather and my lower fitness level. The constant up and down around the lake drive followed by sally gap was extremely testing, as was what seemed like constant climbing for the first 20k.

Was shattered when I got home. I think the technical term is 'rubber-ducked'. 15 minutes on the foam roller has worked wonders and should enable me to walk to the pub for a few guilt-free pints!

Wishbone Ash

I had a very surreal conversation with a chap who happened along side me at around the 35k mark (I hope he's not a regular here! :eek:)

"We have the worst of it over", he says. I presumed he was referring to The Wall, so I said "We have a bit to go yet".

"Yea", he says "but at least we have the Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap done".

I looked at him incredulously. He didn't know the area at all, didn't know the length of the ride or the profile and he thought The Wall was The Sally Gap and the the Old Long Hill climb was The Wicklow Gap.

....and we were heading for Luggala!

The mind boggles!

Inquitus

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I had a very surreal conversation with a chap who happened along side me at around the 35k mark (I hope he's not a regular here! :eek:)

"We have the worst of it over", he says. I presumed he was referring to The Wall, so I said "We have a bit to go yet".

"Yea", he says "but at least we have the Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap done".

I looked at him incredulously. He didn't know the area at all, didn't know the length of the ride or the profile and he thought The Wall was The Sally Gap and the the Old Long Hill climb was The Wicklow Gap.

....and we were heading for Luggala!

The mind boggles!

He was in for a rude awakening!

bazermc

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I had a very surreal conversation with a chap who happened along side me at around the 35k mark (I hope he's not a regular here! :eek:)

"We have the worst of it over", he says. I presumed he was referring to The Wall, so I said "We have a bit to go yet".

"Yea", he says "but at least we have the Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap done".

I looked at him incredulously. He didn't know the area at all, didn't know the length of the ride or the profile and he thought The Wall was The Sally Gap and the the Old Long Hill climb was The Wicklow Gap.

....and we were heading for Luggala!

The mind boggles!

Such a wally gap !

Zen0

Fair play to all those hard men cycling in shorts today. I was in my full winter gear and I felt like an icicle. Tough day. Great organisation, superb marshalling. Well done Orwell.

Wishbone Ash

Zen0 wrote: »

Fair play to all those hard men cycling in shorts today..

It's almost May - tights and leg warmers are put away at the end of January. :pac:

Unknown Soldier

Well done to everyone who made this happen!

The Scott Orwell peeps and all of them who did marshaling. Plus the people at the base doing coffee etc. You did yourselves, and the club proud. I did try and get around a lot of you before I left to say thanks! Even though i couldn't feel my feet I more hobbled around!

Some great climbing on the route, I'd defo do some of the ones that were new to me again, soon, in better weather.

The weather today was a disaster.

I think some of the faster people missed the worst of it but us slow people had to endure hail/sleet/Stabby in the face cold rain, for HOURS.

I couldn't feel my hands at Laragh! So glad I had a second pair of gloves with me.

Anyways, tough day on the bike but well worth it. Considering I decided yesterday evening I wasn't going to bother my ass, I'm glad I did it. happy out.

We are all officially "Badasses" for the rest of the weekend

Nice meeting Mr Ash, M Pro again, as well as spinning a lot of the first half with Crocked!

BTW, when I was leaving the base at the end there was a group who had just reached Sally gap, estimated time of arrival, 19:00

Fair play to the marshals for letting them at it!

Again, well done to all who made this happen, and all who did it.

coastwatch

Just to echo everyones comments, well done to the Orwell volunteers for putting on another great event, top class again.
I think the new venue worked really well, much less traffic hassle around so a big thanks to Landsdowne and Old Wesley RCs for the use of their clubhouse.

I must get a new calendar, the one I have must be wrong, it says summer starts tomorrow..didn't feel much like it today.

Unknown Soldier

Some photos!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sportslifephoto/sets/72157665433398173

nilhg

Despite the weather I quite enjoyed today, as usual great organisation and food stops by Orwell and a great atmosphere among the riders at the start/finish and on the road.

Briefly met Wishbone Ash and Mercian Pro on the road to the Sally Gap, and saw at least one other boardsie outfit around about but didn't get the chance to say hello.

A few firsts for me today, had never seen a rainbow from above before but there was one away under me in Glencree as I was coming down past Lough Bray and then a Red Squirrel got a bit confused as I was coming down through Glencree, tried to climb up a leylandii hedge to get away off the road but fell back, first one I've seen this year and first one I've ever seen fall.

Started conservatively enough today, wasn't really sure of how I'm going but felt good in the second half and came home feeling strong.

Wishbone Ash

nilhg wrote: »

...Briefly met Wishbone Ash and Mercian Pro on the road to the Sally Gap...

Good to meet you and put a face to a name.

doozerie

Short version: Great event, well done again Orwell!

Very long version:

I spent the last few days making a fuss of mulling over both whether I should really do this with my contrary knee, and what kit to wear. The answer to the first one was always going to be yes,my contrary knee has been healing well (and my physio told me mid-week to “maybe try a little hill work at the weekend but nothing serious and ease of at the first hint of discomfort”, which I liberally interpreted at “yerra, bate away mad at the hills”). And the answer to the second one was always going to be “yer deep winter kit”. So I was well wrapped up today.

I had to drop my daughter off at my parents-in-law for the day - my wife was up at 04h30 to head off on a 400km ride today, I’m in the ha’penny place when it comes to cycling in my house. We were running late as I piled bike plus daughter into the car. I’d like to say I was not the cause of the delays, but amid strong competition I am at the bottom of the list for punctuality in my house too. I probably have some redeeming feature or other, I haven’t figured out what it is yet.

Anyway, I threw me and the bike together in a rush outside my in-laws house. As I quickly stuck my helmet on, a chunk of the plastic head-gripping mechanism at the back fell at my feet. Lovely. Too late now to get home and grab an alternative, and sure “it’ll be grand”. Maybe blind optimism is my redeeming feature.

When I got to Kilternan I saw lots of riders heading up towards Johnny Foxes so I jumped in. I had no idea whether I was closer to the back or the front. I worked my way up through riders on the climb, both in an effort to look for clubmates and also because I wanted to get round as much of the route as possible before my legs realised what I was doing and staged an all-out strike.

My choice of kit was working out well, I wasn’t really getting cold and by the time I hit Laragh I was feeling okay. Ish. The instruments of High-Carb Satan were on the road outside the carb brothel in Laragh. I could see drooling riders ahead just following their directions in there. What would low-carb Jesus do, I wondered. It occurred to me that he might go into the brothel and fling the carb-laden tables every which way (low blood sugar makes him constantly cranky), but I’m not that much of a zealot so I just rode straight past instead. One of the marshals/instruments said “fancy a slice of cake?” as I passed and my resolve weakened. Low carb diet is all well and good but… cake! I held tough though and kept on going.

The LCHF gods were pleased. And then they noticed the contents of my pockets and were very displeased. My training has been rubbish over winter, this was going to be the longest ride I’ve done since last year, it was also going to be the most climbing I’ve one since last year. And the weather wasn’t being very helpful. All of which had me stuffing my pockets with bananas and a couple of energy bars (*gasp*) before I left home. If I could have concocted a rudimentary sugar cake, with sugar dressings, this morning, I’d probably have packed that too. “Just in case”, “I won’t eat them unless I really really have to”, etc. I’m terrible for hedging my bets. To placate the LCHF gods though I’d also packed a couple of handful of nuts. Tasty, but chewing on handfuls of nuts is not compatible with taking in air while cycling, who knew? …well, I knew, from previous experiences but as my parents routinely told me as a child, sure I may as well be talking to a wall as tell me anything.

Anyway, on to Wicklow Gap. Fat bloke came past with some clubmates and I latched onto his wheel all the way up the climb. He’s not fat, if he were I could have had better shelter from the wind, I may lodge a complaint with the boards.ie username stewards. And he could have gone a bit slower too, this slacker had to work hard to hang on you know! Down the other side I couldn’t hold their pace at all, I watched their club jerseys disappear into the distance, it was like a re-run of far too many interclub league races, life is so unfair.

Round the back of the lakes I was really feeling it, my neck ached, my arms ached, my legs ached. I seriously considered just heading home via Brittas rather than going back up Sally Gap. Then I remembered that my parents-in-law live on the other side of the mountain so even if I skipped Sally Gap I’d still have quite a bit climbing ahead of me. Gah! So up Sally Gap I went. That hurt. I had to verbally coax myself upwards, I spoke out loud to myself more than once, I spoke harshly to my gears when they skipped, I actually yelled at my foot when it decided that spells of severe pain were a reasonable way to express its displeasure at this long ride (first time I’ve experienced *that* pain in quite a while, bloody ouch!).

The descent down Glencree was surprisingly cold, one half of my face felt numb. But at least it got drier as I descended. I felt pretty good on the last leg. I rode straight past the finish and headed back to collect my daughter. I’d originally said I’d be back around 16h00, at points I was thinking that was highly optimistic but in the end I made better time than I expected and got there around 15h30. When my father-in-law opened the door he said “oh, you’re early, is something wrong?”. “Yes”, I thought, “the weather is wrong, my legs are wrong, my poxy foot is all wrong, etc.” but I didn’t verbalise any of that. I could have offered to ride off for another 30 minutes, but no, just no. And then my mother-in-law said I could have just ridden straight home instead and she could have dropped my daughter off. Lovely idea, if expressed earlier. Families have been torn apart forever for far less grievious misunderstandings. My rational mind was telling me that they were just trying to be extremely helpful and accommodating, by contrast my cranky foot was demanding some form of bloody retribution. My foot is a right bastard.

So a good day all in all, 160km all in and my contrary knee held up fine. Not even my knee bursitis flared up. Knee bursitis is a mild (largely cosmetic in my case) but common condition, it’s also known as “Housemaid’s knee”. So I have Housemaid’s knee, which does wonders for my self-esteem as it suggests that I’m a rubbish injury-prone Mrs Doyle.

Thanks again to all of the marshals today, they did a great job in tough circumstances. One suggestion for just one marshal though, if you warn a rider about a tricky bit of road ahead, even if you believe they are ignoring you, don’t lean forward and bark “SLOW DOWN!” at them as they pass you. I wasn’t ignoring you, I even nodded and verbally acknowledged your first warning, I know the road down from Sallygap well and I was focusing on picking a line that I’ve used before for that bend while also avoiding the highly dangerous option of going into a downhill bend with my brakes hard on. Even if you fully believe I’m ignoring you you’ve already done everything that could be expected of you at that stage, any mishap after your first warning about the danger ahead would be entirely my own fault if I ignored you. I appreciate that you were doing what you thought was necessary to keep me safe, I fully accept that you have a difficult task in those conditions in particular, but a distracting/surprising yell like that when I’m focusing my attention on the road is likely to lead to the exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve. That was just a moment of poor judgement though, the standard of marshalling was overall fantastic and enthusiastic.

Shedite27

So I'm gonna ask it, if today was a bad weather day (for me), how much worse was last year?

rollingscone

They also call knee bursitis "Cinema goers knee" if that helps (I have it in my remaining human knee).

Great report as always

irishrover99

Shedite27 wrote: »

So I'm gonna ask it, if today was a bad weather day (for me), how much worse was last year?

The wind was a lot stronger and the rain was more persistent and it was also colder . I slowed as much as 6 kph going up the feather beds

They had to shorten the route so there was no going over the Sally gap. We routed over Shay Elliott instead.

Yesterday my fingers only really go cold for a while on the descents but was able to warm up soon after

Mercian Pro

+1 on all the really positive comments above. Great to meet so many Boardsies as well even if I was too knackered to say much on the road. I think we could nearly start a Galibier sub-group within Boards - maybe they will do a customised jacket for member??
As others have noted, the enthusiasm and commitment of the marshalls really stands out. I can't remember any other Sportif where ever turn and danger point was so well flagged. I almost expected a Marshall at each pothole The only slight downer was the quality of the burgers. Maybe I was spoiled by the superb chicken curry in Donegal a few weeks ago but something a bit healthier and tasty would have been perfect.
The Randonée certainly lived up to it's fearsome reputation.

Crocked

Firstly thanks to the mechanic on duty who fitted a quick link to my chain to get me up and running, and did it foc beyond the call of duty.

I really need to learn to not sign up for these tougher events when I clearly don't have the miles in the legs.

Did the first half with Unknown Soldier who just happened to park beside me in the carpark. Was great to have some company to distract from what lay ahead.

I wanted to go slow and steady and managed it apart from the section from Sally Gap to Laragh when the hail came down and I pushed harder then I'd have liked. I'd say I was in the last 20 on the road all day and towards the end each time a car passed I expected it to be an Orwell car telling me to get in as I'd missed the cutoff

I always struggle after food stops so I knew the Wicklow Gap was going to be all sorts of pain. I was pretty much negotiating with myself the whole way up that the sensible thing would be to do a uturn and aim straight for Kilternan. In the last 200mtrs of so all the caffeine and sugar kicked in and I was pretty much ok for the rest of the ride, although apart from 1 km into Manor Kilbride I was solo. In some ways probably what I needed so I could go into my pain cave when needed to get through it.

Great event, and apart from the hail on the way to Laragh the weather wasn't pleasant without being terrible.

Met Buzwaldo in the queue for the burgers and he looked and sounded a lot fresher than me. I was a right off last night and have spent most of the morning sleeping as well. Also met the man, the legend, Wishbone Ash along with Mercian Pro in the carpark beforehand

Next year I'll have more sense and put some miles in before tackling that beast again.

Finally a massive thanks to Orwell on putting on a great event, everyone was very friendly and the coke and jellies in Manor Kilbride was an unexpected bonus

triggermortis

I'm not sure if I'm sad or relieved that I missed this now....

Skrynesaver

Another echo of thanks to the marshals and caterers from Orwell, excellently staged event.

I also encountered Wishbone Ash and Mercian Pro before we set off, nice to put faces to handles...

Had to attend an event yesterday evening, so I'd agreed with myself that if I didn't hit Laragh by 12:30, I'd chicken out and go Roundwood, Eniskerry and back to base. As I came over the second ramp @ Lough Tay I got a face abrading sleet and hail propelled at me with venom and it was with mixed emotions that I noted I was on course to make my personally imposed cutoff. I reached the wonderfully provisioned food hall in plenty of time so with joy in my heart I continued on over the Wicklow gap, got beaten up around the lakes and nearly expired going back over the Sally Gap.

Great day out... Will do again... Need to sort out the weather though.

ILIKEFOOD

Buzwaldo wrote: »

Thanks to @ilikefood for the entry.

You're welcome. Glad it went well. The Alps beckon!

bazermc

Jeeze lads I am still absolutely knackered this afternoon 24 hours later.

Well done to John and the rest of the lads in Orwell. I showed the course to me dad and his exact words were; did some sort of sadist design it?

Wishbone Ash

bazermc wrote: »

Jeeze lads I am still absolutely knackered this afternoon 24 hours later...

I found that the Slieve Bloom Challenge made an excellent recovery ride today!

https://www.strava.com/activities/562308038

Unknown Soldier

bazermc wrote: »

Jeeze lads I am still absolutely knackered this afternoon 24 hours later.

Well done to John and the rest of the lads in Orwell. I showed the course to me dad and his exact words were; did some sort of sadist design it?

You aren't the only one, if that is any consolation. I got up at my usual 5am to let the cat out etc and ditched the recovery ride option and went back to bed to awaken at 13:00

It was only after a really nice breakfast that I started feeling myself again.

It was a long tough spin, takes a lot out of you.

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I found that the Slieve Bloom Challenge made an excellent recovery ride today!

https://www.strava.com/activities/562308038

Fairplay Mr. Ash!

There is a great pic of your shins/lower legs during the Orwell Randonnee, savage looking!

Btw, who was the boards.ie person talking to you when you were with me and Crocked? mentioned and older boards.ie kit etc?

just wondering!

Wishbone Ash

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

...There is a great pic of your shins/lower legs during the Orwell Randonnee, savage looking!

:eek: Where is the pic? I'll have to check it out.

Unknown Soldier wrote:

Btw, who was the boards.ie person talking to you when you were with me and Crocked? mentioned and older boards.ie kit etc?

just wondering!

Skyrne Saver (Spelling?)

GasBrakeHonk

Really lived up to its billing as the "Toughest Randonee in the Country". The carrot cake was awesome too. Thanks again to Unknown Soldier for leading the way down from the Sally Gap to Laragh. I'd definitely of binned it on a couple of the bends otherwise.

Unknown Soldier

GasBrakeHonk wrote: »

Really lived up to its billing as the "Toughest Randonee in the Country". The carrot cake was awesome too. Thanks again to Unknown Soldier for leading the way down from the Sally Gap to Laragh. I'd definitely of binned it on a couple of the bends otherwise.

That's some fine assed detective work

I think we did most of Sally Gap to Valleymount together?

Apologies for having to go solo after that, but I didn't want to hold you up and I was worried I would need multiple mini breaks to finish it as I wasn't sure about my endurance levels over 100km, especially with another climb up Sally gap to go.

I meant to speak to you at the chipper van too but all the blood leaves my brain to go to my heart on those type of spins and I am quite stupid/forgetful for a few hours after.

Nice spinning with you! We did well on that descent considering the weather conditions!

Shedite27

Anyone know where I can get one of those carrot cakes? Are they some brand or home made???

Leroy42

Shedite27 wrote: »

Anyone know where I can get one of those carrot cakes? Are they some brand or home made???

They are easy to get.

Simply cycle half the route next year and there will be plenty. If that isn't incentive I don't know what is!

Matt Bianco

Shedite27 wrote: »

Anyone know where I can get one of those carrot cakes? Are they some brand or home made???

Couverture are the name of the company who supply them - marketing excellence laying them on to 360 hungry cyclists

Huge kudos to Orwell BTW - great day all round from route, support and organisation. Reaffirms my belief in audax and club organised sportives at the forefront of cycling events in this country

Dipsomaniac

Shedite27 wrote: »

Anyone know where I can get one of those carrot cakes? Are they some brand or home made???

Contact details and all. Photo from Orwell facebook page

bazermc

So who won the prize for the fastest up the wall? Defo wasn't me

Also anyone seen other photos available?

Unknown Soldier

bazermc wrote: »

So who won the prize for the fastest up the wall? Defo wasn't me

Also anyone seen other photos available?

All here.

http://www.orwellwheelers.org/forum/leisure-public/5533-randonnee-photos

Can I just point out that I am smiling while doing "the wall"

I thought the hill after it was worse tbh!

doozerie

The scourge of mechanical doping in cycling continues, as so casually demonstrated by this rider: LINK

...he has a novel spin on the phrase "concealed motor", light on the "concealed" bit, heavy on the "motor" bit. Disgraceful.

Wishbone Ash

doozerie wrote: »

The scourge of mechanical doping in cycling continues, as so casually demonstrated by this rider: LINK

...he has a novel spin on the phrase "concealed motor", light on the "concealed" bit, heavy on the "motor" bit. Disgraceful.

....and notice how the marshal conveniently looks the other way!

Crocked

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

All here.

http://www.orwellwheelers.org/forum/leisure-public/5533-randonnee-photos

Can I just point out that I am smiling while doing "the wall"

I thought the hill after it was worse tbh!

I did warn y'ah :pac:

I'd say that lad from Naas CC was in for a shock when he turned at the top of the wall