Tour de Conamara 2017

who_ru

Hi,

anybody doing the tour de conamara saturday?

i've signed up for the 140km but am a little unsure if i have the legs for that distance. i could do the 80km handy enough, part of me wants to do the 140km but a little worried the legs could be gona after 100km or so.

i trained a bit, did about four 60-70 km spins in the last few weeks. but i always push hard on these spins. if i take it easy maybe i could complete the 140km.

there are 3 planned stops, on the 140 loop at 50km, 90km, 120km.

weather will probably be cloudy but dry according to accuweather. no major climbs on either distance.

i'll decide Saturday morning what i'm gonna do.

ninoon

I am doing the 140 km this year .I also did it last year ,great spin and day out if weather is good. I would personally not attempt the 140 with the smallish amount of preparation that you have done. The last 20 km or so is hilly enough. But then that's just my view.

Officer Giggles

Doing this for the first time and I am going for the 140km, I know the official start time is 9:30 but do people start before that

ratracer

I haven't done any training spins longer than 70-80 km this year, but I'm going to do the 140. It'll be grand. It's a bit lumpy all the way from Leenane to the finish, but look, it's a day out on the bike, not a race. Take your time, enjoy the food stops, stop for more coffee and cake if you want or need to.
Look at it as a challenge and relish it!!

( I'm also using this spin as a gauge to whether I'll do the 100 or 200 in Wicklow two weeks later, though I expect it'll be the 200 there too)

dastardly00

who_ru wrote: »

Hi,

anybody doing the tour de conamara saturday?

i've signed up for the 140km but am a little unsure if i have the legs for that distance. i could do the 80km handy enough, part of me wants to do the 140km but a little worried the legs could be gona after 100km or so.

i trained a bit, did about four 60-70 km spins in the last few weeks. but i always push hard on these spins. if i take it easy maybe i could complete the 140km.

there are 3 planned stops, on the 140 loop at 50km, 90km, 120km.

weather will probably be cloudy but dry according to accuweather. no major climbs on either distance.

i'll decide Saturday morning what i'm gonna do.

I'll be doing the 140km (it'll be my fourth time).

I would 100% recommend you to do the 140km.

You've done about four 60-70km spins in the last few weeks at a hard tempo which is great training. The roads in the TdC are narrow for the first while, so you'll probably be in a big bunch all the way until the first food stop. That'll mean that you'll have conserved a lot of energy. When you leave the first food stop, do so at a time when another group of riders are leaving as well. Try to do the same at the other food stops. Share the workload rather than cycling solo

As you said yourself, there are no major climbs. It's approx. 1,000m of climbing for the 140km, which isn't actually that bad compared to a lot of other sportives. The toughest climbs are <3km for about 3% avg. gradient.

The only time I'd suggest not to do the 140km would be if it was very wet and windy. It's a different animal of a sportive then.

Oh btw, you've more training done than me! :pac:

dastardly00

Officer Giggles wrote: »

Doing this for the first time and I am going for the 140km, I know the official start time is 9:30 but do people start before that

As with all sportives, you'll always have riders starting before the official time.
I'd suggest waiting and starting with everyone else. As I mentioned in the post above, the roads are narrow for a good while, so you'll be in a big group for a long time. You'll conserve a lot of energy that way, whilst going at a fairly quick pace. Otherwise you might burn a good chunk of calories if you start ahead of time and you'll fatigue sooner.

who_ru

dastardly00 wrote: »

I'll be doing the 140km (it'll be my fourth time).

I would 100% recommend you to do the 140km.

You've done about four 60-70km spins in the last few weeks at a hard tempo which is great training. The roads in the TdC are narrow for the first while, so you'll probably be in a big bunch all the way until the first food stop. That'll mean that you'll have conserved a lot of energy. When you leave the first food stop, do so at a time when another group of riders are leaving as well. Try to do the same at the other food stops. Share the workload rather than cycling solo

As you said yourself, there are no major climbs. It's approx. 1,000m of climbing for the 140km, which isn't actually that bad compared to a lot of other sportives. The toughest climbs are <3km for about 3% avg. gradient.

The only time I'd suggest not to do the 140km would be if it was very wet and windy. It's a different animal of a sportive then.

Oh btw, you've more training done than me! :pac:

140km it is then. Here come the pain!

who_ru

ratracer wrote: »

I haven't done any training spins longer than 70-80 km this year, but I'm going to do the 140. It'll be grand. It's a bit lumpy all the way from Leenane to the finish, but look, it's a day out on the bike, not a race. Take your time, enjoy the food stops, stop for more coffee and cake if you want or need to.
Look at it as a challenge and relish it!!

( I'm also using this spin as a gauge to whether I'll do the 100 or 200 in Wicklow two weeks later, though I expect it'll be the 200 there too)

Lumpy meaning rough surfaces?

dastardly00

who_ru wrote: »

Lumpy meaning rough surfaces?

He means that you are constantly either climbing or descending. It feels like there's very little flat in the last third or so of the route.

who_ru

:eek:

That would be ok at the start but not at the end.

dastardly00 wrote: »

He means that you are constantly either climbing or descending. It feels like there's very little flat in the last third or so of the route.

G1032

Do the 140km. You'll be fine.
Longest spin I've done this year is 102km and I've only done 1200km in total
I'll do the 140 though. It'll be fine.

what_traffic

Looking at

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/5day-ireland.asp

Will be wet and breezy on Saturday morn in Connemara.

Marooned04

I have an entry for the 140k available if anyone wants it - late notice I know but won't be able to go. €40 (face value I think) and includes the gilet. Based in Dublin

who_ru

what_traffic wrote: »

Looking at

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/5day-ireland.asp

Will be wet and breezy on Saturday morn in Connemara.

Not looking good.

mirrormatrix

According to that link it looks ok now, with most of the rain gone by midday.

heraldo

Weather looks better now alright. We'll need sunscreen by the morning

Officer Giggles

The wind o the fuping wind

who_ru

Officer Giggles wrote: »

The wind o the fuping wind

Great day, brilliant feed stations, great party atmosphere at the end.

But yeah those winds made for a very tough slog and slow avg speeds. Cold starting off but warmed up. The run from feed station 1 to feed station 2, it will be a while before I forget that, relentless wind and chilly. I managed to cling on to a group of 8 from dungarven cycling club (thanks!) and they got me thru that section.

But yeah a good day out. And ultimately I'd prefer wind, tough as it was, to rain any day.

Hats off to the organisers.

dastardly00

That was a tough day in the saddle...

It was always going to be for me since I had very few miles in the legs in 2017 so far
But that north-west wind really made it very, very hard. Thankfully it stopped raining early on and the sun was shining for the end. I now have some very dodgy looking tan lines on my arms :pac:

Massive kudos to the motorbike marshals who did a phenomenal job today. They pretty much risk their lives by riding on the wrong side of the road so we can safely cycle in our lycra

Two riders that I know of needed paramedic care. Fingers crossed they are okay.

TonyStark

dastardly00 wrote: »

That was a tough day in the saddle...

It was always going to be for me since I had very few miles in the legs in 2017 so far
But that north-west wind really made it very, very hard. Thankfully it stopped raining early on and the sun was shining for the end. I now have some very dodgy looking tan lines on my arms :pac:

Massive kudos to the motorbike marshals who did a phenomenal job today. They pretty much risk their lives by riding on the wrong side of the road so we can safely cycle in our lycra

Two riders that I know of needed paramedic care. Fingers crossed they are okay.

Was it this poor devil here?

Andy Magic

Great day out, extremely well run event it couldn't have been ran any better

Budawanny

Fantastic event. Stopped raining very quickly too.

dastardly00

TonyStark wrote: »

Was it this poor devil here?

That person was in the ambulance when I passed by.

The other fallen rider was on the descent just before the food stop at Maam community centre. When I passed by there were motorbike marshalls and a few other riders at the scene. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later.