Wicklow 200 2018

dahat

Well done to all, sickened I miss out but I'll be back in 2019.

10-10-20

I saw two stragglers in orange W200 tops heading home through Stepaside at 20:10. That's some day!

I completed the 100 and I was relatively tired after the 70km mark, but I had a look at my Strava history and realised that I only has 286 road-kilometers on me prior to the event. I had some other work done on a static bike as I was traveling with work last month, but that explains my lack of ability to perform at the end.
Great day for it all of the same.

paddydriver

Beasty wrote: »

First Boards jersey 09:10 (Green "four ten")

Finally got a spot after all these year's.. that was me! Should have said Hello.. would have been great to meet. Was a fantastic food stop too and every volunteer got a big Thanks from me.

Galego

Cant wait to see some photos from today's w200. What a great day on the bike!!!

Eamonnator

Did everybody get a medal?

Budawanny

A serious challenge but made it around anyway.
Thanks to everyone on this thread for the advice.
Big help.

ofthelord

had a great time today doing the 200, by far the most climbing i've done on a single ride, and 50km more than my longest cycle. having so many people around you makes the distance/climbs so much more bearable than i was expecting! 8.5hrs and very happy with that

Wishbone Ash

Eamonnator wrote: »

Did everybody get a medal?

Now, now - we'll have none of that!

(I'll happily give mine to anyone who needs one. I'm always a bit embarassed when I get them. )

Wishbone Ash

Galego wrote: »

Cant wait to see some photos from today's w200. What a great day on the bike!!!

The photographer at the summit of Slieve Maan asked me for my name - seems unusual when it's not for a newspaper.

Wishbone Ash

paddydriver wrote: »

Finally got a spot after all these year's...

Probably because it's the green edition - by far the least popular Boards.ie kit and, from experience, the least 'spotted'.

Beasty

Eamonnator wrote: »

Did everybody get a medal?

I managed to grab 2 biscuits (bourbon & custard creams) and a coffee

Still have my medal from 2009 though

EDIT: I also picked up a serious improvement to my bronzed complexion (at least that's how I hope it looks in the morning....)

davef1000

My legs are sore.

That's the first 200 I've ever done, and I'm delighted, even though the last 40k was horrible.

Who's Fintan?

saccades

davef1000 wrote: »

My legs are sore.

That's the first 200 I've ever done, and I'm delighted, even though the last 40k was horrible.

Who's Fintan?

Will post properly tomorrow (on the lash now), but that tickled me.

Fintan has hundreds of love notes scrawled all over Wicklow's roads. Lucky sod.

davef1000

saccades wrote: »

Fintan has hundreds of love notes scrawled all over Wicklow's roads. Lucky sod.

Some of them didn't seem all that lovely - one said 'Fintan loves c*ck'!

saccades

davef1000 wrote: »

Some of them didn't seem all that lovely - one said 'Fintan loves c*ck'!

I'm sure in this modern age it's just a gesture of affection or something.

magicbastarder

Beasty wrote: »

First Wishbone Ash 12:32

is this a rite of passage that any cyclist in ireland has to go through? down the pub in 20 years time, 'well, ley me tell you about *my* first Wishbone Ash..'

Beasty

magicbastarder wrote: »

is this a rite of passage that any cyclist in ireland has to go through? down the pub in 20 years time, 'well, ley me tell you about *my* first Wishbone Ash..'

No - I just wasn't hanging round for his second and third circuits.....

doozerie

Well done to the riders today. I was marshalling at Rathdrum and most people seemed to be in good spirits leaving there whether doing the 100km or 200km. A particular shout out to the guy riding the fat bike, that must have felt like hauling a tank uo some of those climbs, fair play to you!

A bit late to be saying this now but for those not familiar with such events you need to be aware that marshals are there primarily to point you in the right direction. We are not allowed (by law) to stop traffic so as a general rule the best we can do is just let you know whether or not the junction is clear of traffic as you approach. But you should take this as a guideline at best and you really really need to look out for traffic yourself too - for one thing, marshals can make errors of judgement, not least because traffic can appear unexpectedly and at the worst time (and if you are not even looking for it in the first place you have absolutely no time to react), we are guessing at the likely speed at which you'll reach the junction, whether you'll lose time by unclipping one foot from a pedal as you approach, how quickly you'll accelerate through the junction, etc., etc. In short, don't rely entirely on the marshals to even reliably point out traffic, still behave as you would if there were no marshal there and check yourself for traffic regardless. And if the marshal does alert you to traffic, be doubly careful.

On a separate note, a local "yoof" wandered past at one point, completely bare chested. He was sporting a fine example of the traditional farmer's tan - his head, neck, and arms were tomato red, his torso was the whitest shade of white typically only seen in adverts for washing powder. I was amused. When I got home later I caught sight of myself before hopping into the shower, and my own magnificent and fresh farmer's tan stared back at me. I was less amused this time.

Budawanny

davef1000 wrote: »

Some of them didn't seem all that lovely - one said 'Fintan loves c*ck'!

Saw that one too, I suspect some scrote added that one

Budawanny

doozerie wrote: »

Well done to the riders today. I was marshalling at Rathdrum and most people seemed to be in good spirits leaving there whether doing the 100km or 200km. A particular shout out to the guy riding the fat bike, that must have felt like hauling a tank uo some of those climbs, fair play to you!

A bit late to be saying this now but for those not familiar with such events you need to be aware that marshals are there primarily to point you in the right direction. We are not allowed (by law) to stop traffic so as a general rule the best we can do is just let you know whether or not the junction is clear of traffic as you approach. But you should take this as a guideline at best and you really really need to look out for traffic yourself too - for one thing, marshals can make errors of judgement, not least because traffic can appear unexpectedly and at the worst time (and if you are not even looking for it in the first place you have absolutely no time to react), we are guessing at the likely speed at which you'll reach the junction, whether you'll lose time by unclipping one foot from a pedal as you approach, how quickly you'll accelerate through the junction, etc., etc. In short, don't rely entirely on the marshals to even reliably point out traffic, still behave as you would if there were no marshal there and check yourself for traffic regardless. And if the marshal does alert you to traffic, be doubly careful.

On a separate note, a local "yoof" wandered past at one point, completely bare chested. He was sporting a fine example of the traditional farmer's tan - his head, neck, and arms were tomato red, his torso was the whitest shade of white typically only seen in adverts for washing powder. I was amused. When I got home later I caught sight of myself before hopping into the shower, and my own magnificent and fresh farmer's tan stared back at me. I was less amused this time.

The notes in the pack received at registration clearly state that Marshall’s do not have the right to stop traffic. So that wasn’t a surprise.
The marshaling was fantastic to be fair, and a lot of the guys had emergency water for the desperate which is a nice touch on a hot day.

miketv

I was the guy on the steel red surly touring bike. I suspect everyone of you passed me as I was one of the last to finish around 7:30. It was one of the toughest days I have done on a bike, 11.5 hours moving time. I have done long distance before touring but never encountered such hill climbs. Well done to the marshals, they were fantastic. I'm sore today but glad I did it. If I ever do it again, it will be on a lighter bike. On this occasion, the medal at the end I will cherish!

Weepsie

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Probably because it's the green edition - by far the least popular Boards.ie kit and, from experience, the least 'spotted'.

My own (newest one) is like an invisibility cloak and I wear it a fair bit

Atom Ant

Amazing day and weather. Lord knows how accuweather were forecasting thunderstorms between 11am and 1pm. Met eireann pegged it right--unbelievable..I mean unbelievable. I never knew there was so many muscles in my legs because this morning, I felt them all of them! Brisk 20 minute walk and the pain disappeared somewhat..weird. The hills were alive not with the sound of music...but me saying, ''oh f***k not another hill''. Chapeau off to the Marshalls and to the ladies from Orwell enquiring whether I needed help when walking. My arse was simply sore (not enough distance training) which will not happen when I got back again next year. F8 performed flawlessly just wish I had been a stone lighter going up the hills. Great staff at Rathdrum food stop. I think the WW100/200 got to be right of passage for any cyclist.

Forget the medal! Simply one of those days you will always remember.

paddydriver

Weepsie wrote: »

My own (newest one) is like an invisibility cloak and I wear it a fair bit

Think the one before mine was the pink one... lime green was not my choice. Maybe I need an upgraded edition.

daragh_

I was marshalling. I got to see thousands of happy cyclists of all shapes, sizes and abilities.

Serious Roadies breezing by, recovering from Racing on Saturday, Riders on heavy steel frames, people carrying enough food to feed an army. Some cruising, some suffering but determined to keep going. Big, well organised groups like Orwell with road captains calling the pace to small gangs of pals looking out for each other.

As they used to say on the Radio “One Sound, Many Styles".

It was a privilege to wave a flag for you. Every single one of those W200 medals was well earned. Chapeau.

Resoguy

Had a great day on the Wicklow 200 yesterday, left bray just before 7 and managed to get into Baltinglass just in time to grab the last of the Bananas. Burnt out the legs a bit on the N81 and paid for it by the time I got to the Slieve Maan/Shay Elliot climbs, I had to invoke 30/32 gearing (something I try to avoid on tarmac) to get over those and conserve whatever energy I had left. After the climb out of Avoca the legs starting to feel somewhat normal, got/hung onto a fast moving mixed bag group from Ashford to Greystones, from there took a steady pace back to Bray, spent most of the last 15km thinking about icecream.
Thanks to the Marshalls and the Organisers for a great event.
Cycled to and from the event from home so 240km for the day, all good.

brocbrocach

Lots of good things about yesterday. Volunteers deserve huge thanks.
A bad thing was the food. Talked to over half a dozen experienced riders who had done the 200 before and every one was a bit doubtful about whether they'll sign up next year. I've been at fun-runs with better organised food and toilet stops.

meisce

brocbrocach wrote: »

Lots of good things about yesterday. Volunteers deserve huge thanks.
A bad thing was the food. Talked to over half a dozen experienced riders who had done the 200 before and every one was a bit doubtful about whether they'll sign up next year. I've been at fun-runs with better organised food and toilet stops.

2 food stops and lucky to get a Sandwich at each. Saw some lads in Baltinglass making off with 2 or 3. Surely they should plan to have enough for each rider.

Plenty of water though

Michael_Myers

brocbrocach wrote: »

Lots of good things about yesterday. Volunteers deserve huge thanks.
A bad thing was the food. Talked to over half a dozen experienced riders who had done the 200 before and every one was a bit doubtful about whether they'll sign up next year. I've been at fun-runs with better organised food and toilet stops.

Would agree - a great day and credit to all involved ...

The food stops however were a big let down - no bananas , no energy bars, no jellies- Just a sandwich and tea..

Compared to the ring of Beara where there was an abundance of everything , the food stops
Were very minimalistic.

Wishbone Ash

meisce wrote: »

2 food stops and lucky to get a Sandwich at each. Saw some lads in Baltinglass making off with 2 or 3. Surely they should plan to have enough for each rider.

Plenty of water though

Unfortunately those who leave very early or are very fast tend to have a much better choice of food, and as you say, many were taking extra sandwiches to the detriment of those who leave late or are much slower. The only way around it would be to give vouchers which would have to be presented at the foodstops but I suppose that would be overly bureaucratic.

Michael_Myers wrote: »

....The food stops however were a big let down - no bananas , no energy bars, no jellies- Just a sandwich and tea...

There was fruitcake, biscuits, muffins, and small buns when I was at the food stops. There were bananas in Baltinglass (outside on a table on the street) but I didn't see any in Rathdrum.

At least you could get refills of tea/coffee - a few years ago they were very strict on the on way system and wouldn't allow people back in for a second cup.