wicklow 200

cajonlardo

Lumen wrote: »

I assume by "some people" you mean me. I have no connection with the IVCA so I'm in no position to address criticism directed at them.

You're right that my expected standards are lower than yours. I don't do many sportives but when I do I generally bring my own food as I don't want to rely on other people's criteria of what makes a ripe banana or a good sandwich or whatever. If anything is edible it's a bonus.

I would never plan to rely on a roadside water stop but that's just me.

(actually I may have moaned in the past about the burger van at the end of the Orwell Randonnee, so you can add hypocrisy to your list of criticisms).

Guilty as charged, I made an assumption and apologise.

I agree with you on the remainder of your post and that brings me back full circle to where I started.

Genuinely regret that person marshaling felt I was having a go at the entire show and I am also aware there was a lot of other hard work involved including the people working at the stops.

Somehow my entire point was lost and tbh it wasn't important enough for to be upsetting people like the lad marshalling with his kid.

irishrover99

Just to lets you's know, there is a water tap on the side of the Glenmalure lodge where you can fill water bottles for free. Not sure what they would say if there was a large bunch of cyclists using it but its there anyway if needed in the future

terrydel

irishrover99 wrote: »

Just to lets you's know, there is a water tap on the side of the Glenmalure lodge where you can fill water bottles for free. Not sure what they would say if there was a large bunch of cyclists using it but its there anyway if needed in the future

Depends whether they are paying up to those good people at irish water :P

Trojan

I did a walk from Glendalough to Glenmalure Lodge on Sunday, met the W200 as we came onto the bottom of the Shay Elliot at the end of the walk.

One guy was pulled up on the roadside on his own about 200 yards around the corner from the marshall station at the Glenamalure crossroad. He was in a bad way with cramp, said he had no electrolytes and his legs were completely locked up. I asked a few cyclists coming up if they had a spare gel with electrolytes, a couple of lads stopped - I think they might have been Italian - and gave him a spare. A few more folks stopped too (I think some were just glad to have a good excuse! )

Hung on for a minute or two but there wasn't much more we could do there. I told the marshalls below, and gave his number (3798 I think). Checked in with them later and they said they'd seen no sign of him, so I hope that means he got on ok. If anyone knows how he go on it'd be great to find out. He was in a red jersey, didn't take note of if it was a club or not.

We also saw the air ambulance coming in for the SM crash, as far as I know there were two crashes there (about an hour apart), both women, could be more but that's all I heard about.

Chatted with a lot of riders at the Glenmalure Lodge stopping for food, drinks and broom wagons (I was in a green "burger" t-shirt, say hi if you met me).

Very jealous of "Scott Orwell" - I saw at least 2, possibly 3, different team support vehicles and that was at just one location!

I definitely recommend stopping at the lodge to anyone looking for a drink refill & feed station next year.

ted1

From what I saw there was plenty of water at the Wicklow gap, plenty of food and water and a fast moving q in Ballintinglass, plenty of water on the top of SM. And plenty of food and drink and outdoor sitting in Rathdrum.
There's was maybe one junction that could have done with marshalling that didn't have it.

For those given out , how late in the day where you arriving ?
Before that day the furthest I had done was 100k on the great Dublin bike ride. ( with an additional 20km in and 20km out of town)

I find it odd that seasoned cyclists used to sportives where short on supplies.

ragazzo

cajonlardo wrote: »

Guilty as charged, I made an assumption and apologise.

I agree with you on the remainder of your post and that brings me back full circle to where I started.

Genuinely regret that person marshaling felt I was having a go at the entire show and I am also aware there was a lot of other hard work involved including the people working at the stops.

Somehow my entire point was lost and tbh it wasn't important enough for to be upsetting people like the lad marshalling with his kid.

I think that the main problems this year stemmed from the fact that the long serving former Wicklow 200 organising committee stepped down en masse at the 2015 IVCA AGM. They had worked tirelessly for approximately 10 years and had advanced the event from a small (300 riders) to very large international cycle. Last year, 2015, was an extremely successful and well organised event.

Seemingly, for 2016, the organisation was farmed out to an organising committee who perhaps ran it to maximise profit at the expense of the IVCA and the events reputation. It would be interesting to see the accounts as compared to other years. I have no idea where any excess cash is going this year but am aware that the former IVCA committees ploughed big money in worthwhile causes and Irish cycling events.
The ordinary racing members marshal the event. They are generally nice people which greatly lends to the atmosphere and enjoyment for the participants.

lissard

I was going at an average speed around the course (back in Greystones at about 5.30pm) and had no problem at all with food/water. Nearly expired going up Sliamh Maan so maybe I consumed way more than my fair share of the water at the top ;-). Feel sorry for anyone arriving late in the day as they are the real heroes on a tough event like the W200.

Just felt the last bit of the course lacked marshals. I wasn't all that surprised to be honest, as I had heard well before the event that there had been a bit of a change within the IVCA and a lot of the W200s long standing volunteers had left. It was still a good event and I'll be back.

terrydel

ragazzo wrote: »

I think that the main problems this year stemmed from the fact that the long serving former Wicklow 200 organising committee stepped down en masse at the 2015 IVCA AGM. They had worked tirelessly for approximately 10 years and had advanced the event from a small (300 riders) to very large international cycle. Last year, 2015, was an extremely successful and well organised event.

Seemingly, for 2016, the organisation was farmed out to an organising committee who perhaps ran it to maximise profit at the expense of the IVCA and the events reputation. It would be interesting to see the accounts as compared to other years. I have no idea where any excess cash is going this year but am aware that the former IVCA committees ploughed big money in worthwhile causes and Irish cycling events.
The ordinary racing members marshal the event. They are generally nice people which greatly lends to the atmosphere and enjoyment for the participants.

Well on the point of maximising profit, I was laughing with my brother at one point about the lack of pins that came with the number this year, leading us both to think it was some kind of peel off sticker number!
I'm guessing pins was an expense they decided to do without this year. The whole event just had a feel of penny pinching to me and so your theory on the new committee possibly run it on a for-profit basis would not surprise me in the least.
Disappointing if so, but they will suffer in the medium to long term if they do go down that road, and have only themselves to blame.

smacl

lissard wrote: »

I was going at an average speed around the course (back in Greystones at about 5.30pm) and had no problem at all with food/water.

Didn't get back to Greystones until about 6.30pm, plenty of water on SM. I wonder was there a dry period waiting for a re-stock?

saccades

ted1 wrote: »

I find it odd that seasoned cyclists used to sportives where short on supplies.

Which sounds perfectly logical, except;

A: The original complaint was aimed at the lack of water at an advertised water point which is the most basic provision for your entry fee.

I don t know anyone that carries enough water to complete a difficult (there is a lot of climbing and it s a long way) 200km challenge like that. I certainly don t know of anyone that would carry enough water to complete the route when they have been told that there is water provided at designated points along the way.

I know I look at the map of water/food stops for any sportive and plan accordingly, with a bit of overage I d imagine yesterday was trickier to plan for (for riders and the race officials) as the weather started off cool and wet then got hot and humid. It doesn t help that the 2 savage climbs are in an area with few shops before or after so you are relying on the water stop at the top of SE/SM (I forget which is which) to refill, otherwise your next option is at 145km (Rathdrum) if you have mis-calculated at 80km (or into the lodge if you know about it).

B: Not everyone doing the W200 is a seasoned cyclist.


As an aside - what's the rules on keeping stuff found the day after a sportive on the road?

8 gel wrappers, 2 mudguards (1x crud catcher I can understand as it's held on by a couple of rubber bands, the other was a proper fender jobbie, which had to have had a tool to remove and then hoyed into the bush) another race number, 2 regular bidons and a really nice swanky Bidon.

Trojan

smacl wrote: »

Didn't get back to Greystones until about 6.30pm, plenty of water on SM. I wonder was there a dry period waiting for a re-stock?

It was a scorcher of a day when the majority were getting to SM, so no surprise if supplies were used up. You're guaranteed to get a refill at the bottom of SM at the Lodge, and it should be fairly well signposted from the road.

One thing the organisers should do is ensure all marshalls have a list of the upcoming places cyclists can refill water, both W200 stations and pubs/cafés.

Wishbone Ash

An idea for the organisers could be to hire one of those tankers that Co Councils provide when there is a boil water notice. I've seen them used on sportives abroad fitted with multiple taps to ensure speedy refills at summits.

I drink very little so I kept on moving at the top of Wicklow Gap and Slieve Mann as I didn't feel the need to top up but if I was a thirsty type, I wouldn't like to be depending on others to supply me.

Note to those who stop: Please appreciate that many of us continue to keep moving and don't come to a sudden stop in the middle of the road or wander across the road without taking usual precautions!

Incidentally, there was a large quantity of 5L water bottles stocked in the corner of the leisure centre at the finish. There may have been a transport problem rather than a lack of water.

Unknown Soldier

ted1 wrote: »

<snip>

I find it odd that seasoned cyclists used to sportives where short on supplies.

I'd say there were all types on the cycle, and I suppose the more you do, the more you learn. Judging by the state of the running gear on quite a few of the bikes I saw, if they can't look after their bike, then they will probably need someone to look after them food/waterwise!

Regardless... on the day I thanked as many as the marshals and volunteers as I could, including the dude doing the soup and the kid doing the sambos at the end, all their efforts are very much appreciated, to a man/woman/kid!

I have nothing to complain about (bar some cyclists), I enjoyed the day and all the suffering, even when I was blinded in one eye going up a lot of Slieve Maan.

I do think people like Trojan and his buddies should be banned from doing their thing on the day though.

When I was going up SM I could see all these tiny dots going from left to right over a peak of a hill. I thought they were cyclists and that I had to do that too. My heart nearly broke!
I even ask two other people and they said yeah! Luckily as I got closer I could see they were some "walkers"

Summary: Great day on the bike.

The pain and suffering on the W200 is temporary, regret stays with you forever.

ILIKEFOOD

terrydel wrote: »

Ah great to hear someone benefitted from it aside from myself

thanks also Terry, was very helpful, made one myself and others for the giro NI the previous week. Always good to know what's coming down the road.

Don't know what all the fuss about food and drink is..

I never wanted for anything en route, and had food in my pocket and water in my bottle the whole way round,

I wanted to fill up at the foot of SM but the volunteer noted I had one full bottle and was a bit short so asked me to fill at the top which I did.

Personally I pay the money to be out on the day with loads of other riders, have the craic, and get support when needed. I got all of that, and felt it was worth the €40. no hassle anywhere going round.

HTFU moaners

RobFowl

Not having a dig at anyone but it was said here that "Not everyone doing the W200 is a seasoned cyclist".
Fair enough but its a long tough day in the saddle and not for anyone who hasn't trained for it and prepared well.
Am a bit long in the tooth but I never rely on there being anything at any sportif and bring enough food/drink or spare cash to get same.
Water from streams, cafes, taps etc are all better than nothing.

Euro Fred

Agree with the last 2 posts, an awful lot of cry babys here.

saccades

Euro Fred wrote: »

Agree with the last 2 posts, an awful lot of cry babys here.

Euro Fred wrote: »

Will food / water stops locations be posted closer to the event for the 200 or can you post them now?

13-07-2015, 09:52 #2
Euro Fred
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I'm booked and was wondering will there be water refills along the way , if yes where will they be?

Trojan

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

I do think people like Trojan and his buddies should be banned from doing their thing on the day though.

When I was going up SM I could see all these tiny dots going from left to right over a peak of a hill. I thought they were cyclists and that I had to do that too. My heart nearly broke!

I even ask two other people and they said yeah! Luckily as I got closer I could see they were some "walkers"

Really sorry about that. I did make up for it by getting a pint in the Lodge and drinking it at the roadside at the bottom of the Shay Elliot.

That was my way of informing the cyclists about the refreshment options and facilities available...

Carawaystick

So people are complaining about no water on top of a mountain, when all they have to do is cycle down it to a pub?

smacl

Trojan wrote: »

Really sorry about that. I did make up for it by getting a pint in the Lodge and drinking it at the roadside at the bottom of the Shay Elliot.

That was my way of informing the cyclists about the refreshment options and facilities available...

Hah, I possibly saw you so. The temptation to see if there was room at the lodge, go on the lash, and cycle home in the morning was dangerously high.

Euro Fred

saccades wrote: »

That was for the Mick Bryne 200, which I knew would not have has much hand holding as the WW2000 or the Orwell Randonee.

But well done for taking the time and going through my posts.

Leroy42

I don't think people are complained because they don't know of any alternatives, but IVVCA charge quite a substantial amount of money for this event and you expect something back for that.

They mentioned the water stops, yet they failed to have adequate supplies. That is their fault. As the organisers they need to make sure they have enough to ensure that everyone is looked after the same, it should not depend on how quickly you get to a food station.

It seems to me that every year IVCA do something. It would appear that they set out to minimise costs in all aspects, which is fine if you do it properly but really, saving money on water! Of all the things to get too much off surely water is top of the list.

Imagine taking the organisers advice and thinking there would be a water stop at the top of the climb. You slog you're way up, the day is already long and the heat is getting more all the time, and when you reach the top, proud of your achievement thus far, you are told that you're too slow and all the water is gone. But don't worry, simply ride down the mountain, take a detour off the course, go into a pub and ask them to look after you.

Claiming people should HTFU and just get on with it, fine, then expect many people to take that to the logical extension and simply partake on the day and look after themselves and also to save the entrance fee.

IVA cannot expect to have it both ways. To charge a high amount for entry and then fail to live up to even basic standards

Bloggsie

Morning all, I find it a bit depressing that this thread has turned into something akin to school yard slagging, If I see a post I dont agree with I'm not going to attack the poster, its their opinion which they are entitled to, should I feel strongly enough about the issue, I will challange the post with a reasonable argument or facts. I dont know the person who originally started this thread but I cant imagine it was their wish that it turn into the mess it has.

Can we all not just get along?

dceire

Trojan wrote: »

We also saw the air ambulance coming in for the SM crash, as far as I know there were two crashes there (about an hour apart), both women, could be more but that's all I heard about.

Chatted with a lot of riders at the Glenmalure Lodge stopping for food, drinks and broom wagons (I was in a green "burger" t-shirt, say hi if you met me).

Very jealous of "Scott Orwell" - I saw at least 2, possibly 3, different team support vehicles and that was at just one location!

I definitely recommend stopping at the lodge to anyone looking for a drink refill & feed station next year.

I was driving the Scott Orwell van on the day & we had the car out in front for food/water stops while we were providing mechanical assistance; no third vehicle yet but I might have the motorbike resprayed for next year . Those crashes on the decent from SM were very close together, one was that poor woman who was unconscious when we found her and the second was a fella who broke his collarbone shortly after.

We took the woman's bike back for her and I got it back to her husband last night. He said she's in Beaumont at the moment and has suffered some head trauma & a broken collarbone. Thankfully it seems as though she will be okay and pretty much make a full recovery.

smacl

Bloggsie wrote: »

Morning all, I find it a bit depressing that this thread has turned into something akin to school yard slagging, If I see a post I dont agree with I'm not going to attack the poster, its their opinion which they are entitled to, should I feel strongly enough about the issue, I will challange the post with a reasonable argument or facts. I dont know the person who originally started this thread but I cant imagine it was their wish that it turn into the mess it has.

Can we all not just get along?

Happens every year on the WW200 thread, wouldn't worry about it, practically a tradition at this stage :pac:

07Lapierre

smacl wrote: »

Happens every year on the WW200 thread, wouldn't worry about it, practically a tradition at this stage :pac:

Well, at least everyone got a medal this year!

saccades

Euro Fred wrote: »

saccades wrote: »

That was for the Mick Bryne 200, which I knew would not have has much hand holding as the WW2000 or the Orwell Randonee.

But well done for taking the time and going through my posts.

I obviously have to spell out the point I was making as you have read what you want to read the MB200 is an audax/randonee, where you are expected to be pretty much self-sufficient (but you were asking for water stops), the W200 is a sportive with listed water stops (one of which appears to have ran out of water for a while the only complaint raised), mechanical assistance and a broom waggon.


A bit of consistency is nice, it amused me that you decided to name call people because they had the justified complaint of a listed water stop running out of water on the babysat Wicklow 200, but were cry-babies for doing so.

Looking through a post history takes 30 seconds with a search engine.

gaffmaster

My W200:

It was the toughest day I've ever had in the saddle. Having trained well for a couple of months, I then didn't have access to my bike for the two weeks before the event. Also, I didn't sleep right the night before (only got about an hour), which didn't help. Plus I wasn't feeling great in the morning. A cocktail of non-idealistic circumstances.

With the heavy rain early on, I elected to wear my winter jacket - the only one I have that's waterproof. This decision would haunt me when it heated up (Galibier owners will know how warm it can be). I wore it open for a lot of the route which acted like a sail, and stuffed it down the back of my jersey when it got really warm - a bit like having a hot water bottle on your back!

I got my first puncture in about 3 years after 20k. Hit a cat's eye on the first real descent. Couldn't find anything in the tyre so assumed it was a pinch flat. Took ages to remount my tyre with help from my friend, but we got rolling again.

At the first food stop, we opted not to queue and went to the shop up the road instead. While re-hydrating and trying not to puke, my tyre popped again under no pressure at all. Definitely something up. I feared the rim band had shifted (it was difficult to centre) and the tube was getting through to a spoke nipple. So I got the help of the CS mechanic, who found glass in the tyre and taped up the rim with electrical tape. Tipped him for his hard work. No more punctures to the finish.

The first 100k rolled along nicely, then I found the climbs at SM and SE very tough. I think I was depleted as I was finding it hard to eat that day. At the top, I spoke to a Marshall who admitted they were running out of water. I only took one bottle refill. That Marshall said they were better equipped last year with a big trailer/drum of water, where as this year they only had large bottles.

The tea and sandwich at the second food stop felt amazing. I think my stomach had improved by then, but I was absolutely shot.

I pushed it a bit on the run in and narrowly missed finishing in under 8 hours.

The Marshalls were fantastic. And I met loads of really sound people on the route. Kudos to all who finished. It was a tough day.
It's the first sportive I've done where I've wondered if I'd actually do it again. I might. But I'd want to be feeling better.

mloc123

Did they run out of water on SM? I got a top up there.

My only complaint, and really I shouldn't complain because I expected it and planned accordingly based on the last time I did W200 (6yrs ago), was the queues at the stop in Baltinglass.

I know in 2010 food stop queues had been an issue for a few years, 6yrs on and it seems they have done nothing to address it? I know you can say that dealing with 3000-4000 ppl even if they are staggered is not easy but other events handle it better.

Lumen

smacl wrote: »

Happens every year on the WW200 thread, wouldn't worry about it, practically a tradition at this stage :pac:

I suppose you want a medal for pointing that out?

:pac: