Mick Byrne 200

monkeyslayer

Every bit as brutal as I was expecting, my poor bike is as in bits as my body this eve. 8.37 moving time for me, I allowed for 10 hours so I'm delighted with that and felt good for a lot of it, only major pain cave moment was after the first food stop, I realized after about twenty minutes that the maderia cake was going to to do nothing whatsoever for my energy levels and really suffered from the 200 turn at 75km to to the 100 odd mark at Aughrim. Was grand after some real food. I did the 160 last year and was introduced to some beautiful parts of Wicklow, once again today with the 200. The section shared with the motocross riders was particularly tough going too, Id to stop to clean my bike with a stick the muck clogged up everything... tho the climb before it was stunning and the sheer delight of a surprise food stop... bit disappointed it was only 198.5 not the 201km promised but i was too cooked to bother adding more... all in all another savage mick byrne

P_1

Ouch!! I'll post a proper summary tomorrow

Gerry

Yup i was dreaming of sandwiches at the first food stop as I didn't really have a proper breakfast. The proper good stop at 140 was class though! Really great sandwiches made on the spot. And yes those pate and cheese crackers were inspired.

Wishbone Ash

Great day in the saddle. I threw a bit extra onto it to bring it up to 332k with 4,500m climbing. Thanks to Paul and all involved.

(I took a wrong turn at Woodenbridge and was 7kms up the wrong way when Daroxtar asked me why I was doing the 160! Day dreaming while following the group in front - I presumed they were all doing the 200. Had to double back.)

https://www.strava.com/activities/1600526902

Daroxtar

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Great day in the saddle. I threw a bit extra onto it to bring it up to 332k with 4,500m climbing. Thanks to Paul and all involved.

(I took a wrong turn at Woodenbridge and was 7kms up the wrong way when Daroxtar asked me why I was doing the 160! Day dreaming while following the group in front - I presumed they were all doing the 200. Had to double back.)

https://www.strava.com/activities/1600526902

I thought you were joining me for the sneaky coffee in Aughrim (it worked a treat this year again)

ILIKEFOOD

went for the 200, bailed and did the 160. I felt like my arse had been continuously paddled for the 9 hours it took me, Some of those roads are in a heap. Was suffering from 100k for some reason so can't say I enjoyed it, but every aspect was fantastic apart from that. Just over 200k done anyway factoring in the spin out and home.

goldenboots

Did the 200. Great day out with ideal weather. Died a death on Sally Gap the last
time I did this but thankfully no problems yesterday.

Thanks to everyone at Sorrento but especially to Paul who seems to have a word and encouragement for everyone before, during and after. Always good to feel that the organiser appreciates the effort that participants make.

One small gripe: Some of the road markings were quite small and feint, with some very close to turns on downhill sections.

Macy0161

First audax under my belt. Disastrous start, with a embedded glass that couldn't be seen or felt when deflated (or even on initial inflation) so lost an hour before shankill.
Managed to get myself to home in Roundwood to restock on tubes, canisters and use the floor pump!
Pushed on from there, and eventually wasn't last on the road, not just from the misfortune of others.
Really enjoyed it, a different vibe from the sportives I've done before, but one I liked. Kinda have an itch I want to scratch with racing, but now I have a bit of dilemma (family commitments means it won't be both).

doozerie

The Mick Byrne has consistently been the best run, friendliest, and most enjoyable organised ride I've done. This was my third and certainly won't be my last.

For me it represents all the best things about cycling. It's organised and manned by people who are irrepressibly chirpy and always encouraging. It's the same core group of people year in year out, who do a fantastic and mammoth job of preparing for the event (stupidly early starts to mark the route, check the route is okay, etc.), organising the venue, preparing and providing a massive amount of food on the day (I love the fact that they have hard-boiled eggs and cheese along with the myriad of other food), organising and providing mechanical support throughout the day, etc., etc. And they do it on a shoestring as the money raised goes to charity.

It's a huge undertaking but they throw themselves into it enthusiastically. And it's a crazily long day for them too, they do everything they can to to ensure that everyone makes it round even where that makes their own day even longer. If they were riding the route themselves on the day they'd probably manage two laps of it in the time it takes the rest of us to do one but you'd never know that from the way they offer nothing but encouragement to everyone taking part.

It's a brilliant event, I can't recommend it highly enough. If you want to experience what a cycling event should be like (like-minded people getting on their bikes and supported by people of the same mindset, with funds raised going to charity rather than for profit), but far too few are really like, try this event.

And well done too to the audax riders (at least two of them that I know of, and perhaps more) who rode the 200km route having ridden a 300km event the previous day. It's very humbling to come to the end of the 200km route feeling chuffed with yourself only to realise that the rider beside you has now clocked up over 500km of riding that weekend alone (and in at least one case had a substantial cycle home ahead of him too). Audax-ers truly are a hardy breed!