The Reservoir Dog returns on 04-Sept - and it still bites!

koutoubia

nilhg wrote:

We were just behind him, didn't see what happened but there were plenty of lads with him as we passed by, it seems he got things wrong on the drop down off the Sally Gap through that little bridge on the way to Luggala. Hopefully he's OK?

Thanks. Haven't heard anything yet from him. Bad year for crashes in the club.

Arthurdaly

Thanks to reservoir cogs for a great event. Rossborough house is cool start and finish location. Marshalling, food stops were brilliant. Burger and beer at the finish after a hard route, loved it!

Daroxtar

Best sportive I did last year and best again this year. It's a tough spin but I really enjoyed it. Reservoir Cogs, take a bow.
Met Smacl, Rollingscone, Mercian Pro, Unknown Soldier and Del Boy. A great bunch of lads
Probably went a bit hard early on and paid for it on Ballysmuttan and the bastard Lakeshore Drive. Took almost exactly half an hour off my moving time from last year and won a T-shirt too.
Roll on next Year

terrydel

Best sporrtive Ive done this year, the route, organisation and even the profile of the course was superb.
Will right up a longer review later, but hats off to everyone in involved in making it happen.
How a sportive should be, at 30euro its the best value around!

retalivity

Didnt meet any boardsies (that I am aware of), and it actually worked out a lot like my normal cycles - was on my own pretty much kippure to annamoe & from the top of the waterfall to valleymount!

Thankfully the weather cleared up...I forgot my rain gear and driving thru brittas on the way out in the driving rain had me debating whether to continue.

Euro Fred

Great event, I'd put it on par with the Orwell Wheelers Randonee.

koutoubia

koutoubia wrote: »

Reports coming in of one of our lads (Velo Club Balrothery) crashing and getting a lift to hospital in an ambulance.

Our lad is in a bad way in hospital
Wont go into it in detail but he won't be back on his bike for a long long time.
Absolutley gutted for him.He is an infrequent poster on here and one of thin nicest lads I know.
Really hope he makes a full recovery.

Arthurdaly

All the best to the poor guy...swift recovery hopefully.

Unknown Soldier

Firstly, the medal is fecking class.

Super well run event. Everyone involved, the organisers, marshals. Motorbikes and volunteers, you did an outstanding job.

Well done Reservoir Cogs. As someone said already.. Take a bow!

Tough sportive though. It was nice to say hello and press the flesh with Daroxtar too, at last! Met Crocked of this parish briefly too, as he passed me up a hill, again.

Special thanks to rollingscone who put up with me from, more or less, 5km after Laragh till the end. 'Twas a pleasure cycling with you, and you helped pass the time/suffering a lot. Seriously good cyclist in fairness.

On a side note, I have so much Caffeine in me that I think I will be awake until Tuesday at least. Though this Perlembourg @7.9% may counteract that.

Or just feck me up more, like the way my knees are.

koutoubia wrote: »

Reports coming in of one of our lads (Velo Club Balrothery) crashing and getting a lift to hospital in an ambulance.

Saw the aftermath and he'd a fair few folks with him.

I was also talking to one of your crew in the car park after the event, as well as a couple more when leaving, and I hope your buddy will be OK.

I think most who did the event know of the accident, and are all wishing a fellow cyclist a speedy recovery.

terrydel

Hadnt a clue of the accident til I read it here, very best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.
Hes alive and thats the main thing. He'll recover.

triggermortis

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1338694888

Great (but painful) day out - due to my lack of preparation. Got severe cramp about 10k after the food stop, so was in hell for a while - never had that before.
I saw a few lads in a ditch earlier and after reading this I hope the guy will be ok. I parked near some VCB guys and wanted to talk to them at the end as I live close by and am thinking of joining a club - but they hadn't returned when I left.
Well done on the route and marshalling and especially the food and beer at the end.

Daroxtar

The guy who made it home first beat me by nearly an hour, he didn't stop for grub or water but even allowing for that he was still 45 minutes faster than me.
HE DID IT ON A MOUNTAIN BIKE....and his biggest chain ring was a 32.... I don't know whether to laugh or cry

It was great seeing that girl who was badly injured on the Wicklow Gap a few months back waving us off at the start. Hopefully the lad who was injured today will make a good recovery.

Arthurdaly

First home never stopped....lads were having their second brew before he was near annamoe.

RobFowl

triggermortis wrote: »

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1338694888

Great (but painful) day out - due to my lack of preparation. Got severe cramp about 10k after the food stop, so was in hell for a while - never had that before.
I saw a few lads in a ditch earlier and after reading this I hope the guy will be ok. I parked near some VCB guys and wanted to talk to them at the end as I live close by and am thinking of joining a club - but they hadn't returned when I left.
Well done on the route and marshalling and especially the food and beer at the end.

We came in late after a delay. Would be cool to meet up if you fancy the club. We do spins 08.30 sat am and 09.30 sundays almost every week and many of us meet up at otyer times to. Get in touch
VCB forever

prionnsias

I managed to come in last which is an achievement in itself i suppose. Id say the marshalls wanted to kick me off the bike and throw me in the back of the van. I experienced a whole lot of suffering today

Crocked

I thought I had paced the first half perfectly and would have a reasonably pain free second half, well I got that wrong. That bloody climb from Laragh to Sally Gap was never ending.

I tend to get cramps in my calves at some stage for a 100mtrs or two on longer hilly spins but today I got cramps in my quads going up Ballysmutten and followed by cramps in my calves at the same time, I was afraid to stop on the climb in case they seized up. Pulled up at the water stop and quick stretch had them moving at least. Lake drive wasn't too bad and I managed to jump on the back of three strong lads at the Valleymount turn for a tow home.

I hoped that VCB lad wasn't too bad as he might have gotten lucky with a softish landing. Sadly not too be, hopefully he has a full recovery and is able to get back on the bike in the future.

Met Unknown soldier going up Cunard but my gearing wasn't low enough to be able to spin comfortably beside him, Thought I'd meet him again at the Kippure water station but it was a bit chilly there and looks like I only just headed off before he arrived.

Finally thanks to Reservoir Cogs for a great event. And the beer at the end was lovely stuff. My knees are decidedly unhappy with me at the moment

Mercian Pro

Posted this on Tell Me About Your Cycle but it belongs here:

First time taking on the Reservoir Dog and it's some beast. It really does combine some of the best climbs in North Wicklow/South Dublin. Conditions didn't look great driving out to Russborough but improved over the morning with the sun breaking through at some stage. A great food stop beyond Annamoe, plenty of marshals, good signage and road marking and burgers and local Mont beer at the finish. A few minutes over 5 hrs for the 123k and 2000m or so of climbing.
Great to meet and cycle with Daroxtar of this parish and to chat with friends made on various sportives over the years.

Update: only seeing news here about the crash near Luggala. Hopefully he will make a good recovery before too long.

smacl

Great day out but sorry to hear about the crash. Saw some worried faces at luggala and hope a speedy recovery is made.
Met up with daroxtar at the start and covered the first few more painfull hills with rollingscone but lost him somewhere near the sally gap. Pushed on and skipped all the stops and managed to get passed by nilhg three times. Felt like I was stuck in the matrix and doomed to endless laps of the ridiculously lumpy lake drive. Youngest was delighted with the super blingy medal which has to be the best we've seen yet. Big thanks to the Cogs for a great day out and best wishes and thoughts to the man down.

531

Great event, everything was good; friendliness of people involved, marshalling, food, rest stops, start/finish area, route. All good except I got caught out on the first serious climb (the earlier part of climb up to Military Road, dismounted (I hate that - felt like it defeated me) but got back on and rode the last few km. After that the ascents to Sally Gap seemed easy. Well done to all involved. I hope to be back, to get that climb!

terrydel

Mercian Pro wrote: »

Posted this on Tell Me About Your Cycle but it belongs here:

First time taking on the Reservoir Dog and it's some beast. It really does combine some of the best climbs in North Wicklow/South Dublin. Conditions didn't look great driving out to Russborough but improved over the morning with the sun breaking through at some stage. A great food stop beyond Annamoe, plenty of marshals, good signage and road marking and burgers and local Mont beer at the finish. A few minutes over 5 hrs for the 123k and 2000m or so of climbing.
Great to meet and cycle with Daroxtar of this parish and to chat with friends made on various sportives over the years.

Update: only seeing news here about the crash near Luggala. Hopefully he will make a good recovery before too long.

Heard you introducing yourself to someone just before Cunard, but didn't get a chance to say hello.
Same time as yourself, just over 5 hours. Could have knocked 10-15 off that but kept the pace down to stick with my bro and a mate.
Great event, it would make a good outing for tourists its that scenic.
Its technical, tough, varied has everything.
And a beer (I don't drink to be honest, but do have the very occasional beer or Guinness and this felt too good an occasion to say no) and a burger is a great touch.
The medal is also superb, not like the school sports day one on the W200. Its one you'd actually want to keep.
Cant emphasize enough how I think this is how sportives should be. 30 quid, properly looked after on a great route, and nicely rewarded at the finish. You just felt you'd got your money's worth. Getting rarer and rarer that.
And what a beautiful setting to start and finish from. I love that place.
This is now on my list as a must-do last sportive of the year, every year.
I'm a Tallaght/Clondalkin man and use some of those roads all the time, but was taken on some new ones today which was a great bonus. They are in the mental locker now for future spins, to vary things a bit!

Best wishes again to the injured lad, if someone could keep us all posted on his situation that would be lovely, no need for specifics just to know hes out of danger and getting better.

terrydel

531 wrote: »

Great event, everything was good; friendliness of people involved, marshalling, food, rest stops, start/finish area, route. All good except I got caught out on the first serious climb (the earlier part of climb up to Military Road, dismounted (I hate that - felt like it defeated me) but got back on and road the last few km. After that the ascents to Sally Gap seemed easy. Well done to all involved. I hope to be back, to get that climb!

I consider myself a decent climber and that is the closest Ive been to dismounting in years, no shame in it at all. I've not done it before despite being local and having done the Upper Cunard loads of times, it really caught me out and the moss under my wheel had me thinking the whole back wheel had locked at one stage. A truly savage climb, I was going backward for a stage on it, only got going again when it levelled out in the middle and then was able to get a rhythm again for the second half up past the fly tipping!

saccades

That was an excellently ran event loads of marshals, loads of grub, class medal, Beer (and I won a spot prize, which was nice) on a nice little course, thank goodness for compacts and a 36t cassette was hoping for 5 hours but underestimated the amount of proper steep climbing so 5:27 isn t too bad.

A big wave to the fella from Clondalkin CC and the group of Orwell wheelers in the last 30km or so, I struggled being 100kg to keep the speed up on those rolling hills at the end but the group motivation meant I could still lead out on the flat. Saw a Boardsie at the start (Croix de fer? in dark red), but missed getting to chat to him in the general starting mayhem.


Saw the fella in the ditch hope everything heals well and quickly.

rollingscone

saccades wrote: »

That was an excellently ran event loads of marshals, loads of grub, class medal, Beer (and I won a spot prize, which was nice) on a nice little course, thank goodness for compacts and a 36t cassette was hoping for 5 hours but underestimated the amount of proper steep climbing so 5:27 isn t too bad.

A big wave to the fella from Clondalkin CC and the group of Orwell wheelers in the last 30km or so, I struggled being 100kg to keep the speed up on those rolling hills at the end but the group motivation meant I could still lead out on the flat. Saw a Boardsie at the start (Croix de fer? in dark red), but missed getting to chat to him in the general starting mayhem.


Saw the fella in the ditch hope everything heals well and quickly.

That would have been me!

You finished a good half hour ahead of me though!

My front wheel slipped on that moss at the start of Cunard. Had to put the foot down but it was the one time I was gratefulto have been forced to use the CDF as there would have been no way I'd have gotten back into the pedals in road shoes!

Mine was a 132km as I needed to spin down from my parents house, didn't make any difference to difficulty in the end.

Also passed the crash site but kept going as someone on scene clearly knew what they were doing.

retalivity

I also unclipped on cunard...halfway up the first bit, but because i was going sideways to avoid a big pile of sh1te on the right hand side of the road and tipped to the left. Was luckily able to clip back in at the 2nd time of asking and get going again... was bloody difficult though!

triggermortis

I didn't know any of the names of the climbs as never done any of them before but I was thankful of a 32 on the back - and I seemed to spend a LOT of time in my lowest gear and doing a speed in single figures!! That and the cramps I got saw me in in a time of 5.54

smacl

rollingscone wrote: »

My front wheel slipped on that moss at the start of Cunard. Had to put the foot down but it was the one time I was gratefulto have been forced to use the CDF as there would have been no way I'd have gotten back into the pedals in road shoes!

To be fair it is one of those hills where the 34/32 granny combo makes all the difference, don't think I would have got up it without a break on the 34/27 you were running. While very slow getting around, the low gears and 32c tyres on the CX at 80/70 PSI made for a relaxed and comfy day out. Not quite sure where I lost you around the sally gap, wasn't entirely sure whether you were ahead or behind me at that point so plodded on. Half regretting not getting a CdF instead of the Rose, lovely looking bike. I was 6:23 start to finish, 6:19 rolling, so very much in the Lanterne Rouge section.

Macy0161

Hope the lad that came off isn't too bad. Drove past with a car full of children, so didn't think there was much help I could offer and could see the first ambulance coming down from Luggala at that point. Passed another ambulance, and then an ambulance car and assumed it must be serious. Anyway, hopefully there's a full recovery.

siochain

And pics up yet ?

Corker1

terrydel wrote: »

Heard you introducing yourself to someone just before Cunard, but didn't get a chance to say hello.
Same time as yourself, just over 5 hours. Could have knocked 10-15 off that but kept the pace down to stick with my bro and a mate.
Great event, it would make a good outing for tourists its that scenic.
Its technical, tough, varied has everything.
And a beer (I don't drink to be honest, but do have the very occasional beer or Guinness and this felt too good an occasion to say no) and a burger is a great touch.
The medal is also superb, not like the school sports day one on the W200. Its one you'd actually want to keep.
Cant emphasize enough how I think this is how sportives should be. 30 quid, properly looked after on a great route, and nicely rewarded at the finish. You just felt you'd got your money's worth. Getting rarer and rarer that.
And what a beautiful setting to start and finish from. I love that place.
This is now on my list as a must-do last sportive of the year, every year.
I'm a Tallaght/Clondalkin man and use some of those roads all the time, but was taken on some new ones today which was a great bonus. They are in the mental locker now for future spins, to vary things a bit!

Best wishes again to the injured lad, if someone could keep us all posted on his situation that would be lovely, no need for specifics just to know hes out of danger and getting better.

Thank you for those kind words Terrydel and others that have given us feedback.
First and foremost just a quick update on the injured rider. We spoke with his clubmates at the end of the event and were told that he has a back injury. I rang the Velo Club Balrothery for an update of his condition early this morning and it seems that while his injury is serious and very painfull there are good prospects for a full recovery. Though he will be out of action for a considerable period. Our best wishes go out to him and his family. Sobering stuff when you think what can go wrong participating in this beautiful sport of hours.

In terms of the Reservoir Dog Sportive we are delighted to recieve all the positive feedback here and on other forums. It seems that most riders had a really enjoyable day. At least the weather came good for most of it.
When we set out to create this event last year we had a few objectives in mind. We wanted to bring riders on a tough challenging route to showcase some classic climbs and some hidden gems of climbs too in beautifull scenic surroundings. (shame about that flytipping though). We also wanted to make the event rider centric and look after everyone to ensure they had the best possible experience before, during and after their ride. Lets face it, everyone needs a bit of pampering after they have tangled with the likes of Cunard;). Another objective was to raise funds for local charities in our area and get the local community involved in our event which would promote The Reservoir Cogs CC and would also promote cycling and cyclists in general. Underpinning all of the above we wanted to make the event a little bit quirky and unique. It's great that you felt you got good value. There are too many sportives gouging riders for every penny and then not delivering on the price.
None of yesterdays event would have been possible were it not for the hard work and volunteers including marshals, people working at foodstop, waterstops, event registration, motomarshalls, car parking etc. etc. most of which were drawn from the club membership. Seeing as we are a fairly small club that explains why there were so few Cogs Jerseys to be seen riding the event. We also got some excellent help from the Blessington Tidy Towns volunteers.
It is only our second year running this event so for sure there are things we could have done better but we will build on this year and hopefully make the Reservoir Dog Sportive better for our riders year on year.
Thanks and we hope to see all of you back next year with a few new faces along too.

Thud

retalivity wrote: »

I also unclipped on cunard...halfway up the first bit, but because i was going sideways to avoid a big pile of sh1te on the right hand side of the road and tipped to the left. Was luckily able to clip back in at the 2nd time of asking and get going again... was bloody difficult though!

Didn't make the Reservoir Dog this year but came down Cunard yesterday, the amount of crap dumped on it is shocking, think there was 3 kids bikes dumped on the side along with some building waste