Grass Routes Gran Fondo

Peterx · 20-09-2021 11:41am

Super event, really well thought out and organised. The markings were perfect, those mini bags of salty crispy bits at the food stop were amazing.

There's lots of good land down there, the farm section was class and up around the 2 wind turbines was mighty also.

Thanks again.

2 Wheels Good · 20-09-2021 12:25pm

Great event, nice mix of every surface possible I think. Would definitely do it again. Have to give the bike a good scrub tonight!

Macy0161 · 20-09-2021 1:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117914135#Comment_117914135

I think I more than made up for it on the run in, as was really hanging on once the rotation started. In fairness yer man on the inflite offered to wait before the sector where ye ran into the horse box, but I was goosed by then and I told him to go on.

NamelessPhil · 20-09-2021 5:08pm

Well the Audax lads are singing the organiser's praises on the club WhatsApp. I'm sorry I couldn't do it this year but it'll be in the diary for next year.

AxleAddict · 21-09-2021 2:55pm

Here's a few framegrabs from my GoPro as I was navigating the course - hopefully gives a little bit of a flavour of the route and the various surfaces we encountered throughout the day...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1xHbC8R5Rs3sB7HDA

Macy0161 · 21-09-2021 4:06pm

I'm still amazed I got around on the 25mm GP5000/ GP4000 combo - actually the mud on the limestone bit was probably the closest I got to a foot down/ coming off (but just about made it!)

AxleAddict · 21-09-2021 4:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117920239#Comment_117920239

Yeah - some people were taking that section very cautiously but then getting the front wheel stuck in a rut, losing all momentum and falling over, and others were trying their best to power through it, back wheels spinning with lack of traction. I had 25c tyres on myself, so this bit was hard going alright, if I'm back next year (which I very much hope I will be) then I think I'll give the 28c's a go to see how they fare...

Macy0161 · 21-09-2021 4:45pm

Yeah, I was in the company of a lad who was on 30mm road tyres on his gravel bike, which seemed a good compromise*. Actually it was the pressure in road tyres/ tubes that was part of the issue on that section. I kinda didn't carry enough momentum as I got boxed in behind someone going into it.

*Even for the gear ratios - if it was wet some of the climbs out of the saddle would be dodgy (the concrete climb springs to mind!)

fat bloke · 21-09-2021 5:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117920239#Comment_117920239

You were a great advert for the all conquering abilities of the Giant TCR! :)

I had 25ml Duranos on and pressures lowish. A bit stodgy on the road but a bit more comfy on the rutted bits. The only dodgy bits were the deeper mud bits and that first very rocky gnarly section where I was afraid I'd get caught out clipped-in and come down on an elbow or something.

Not sure I'd change anything though, equipment wise, if I had to do it all again.

Liam10000 · 22-09-2021 4:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117919941#Comment_117919941

These are fantastic, hope you don't mind if we use them!

Glad everyone enjoyed, roll on 2022 😀

AxleAddict · 22-09-2021 5:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117924786#Comment_117924786

No problem at all - use them as you see fit.

a148pro · 22-09-2021 8:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117924987#Comment_117924987

Gorgeous part of the world to cycle.

How did you get the go pro to do that, you hardly had the battery to film the whole thing? Just set it up to take stills every now and then or?

AxleAddict · 23-09-2021 1:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117925801#Comment_117925801

It's possible to run the GoPro in 'timelapse' mode whereby it takes still images at set intervals, however I simply turned the front and rear GoPro's on and off at various points throughout the day when I thought we were going over some interesting terrain - and then manually extracted some 'still' frames from the resulting footage - it's not something I normally do, but I thought others might want to see parts of the route without me needing to upload gigabytes worth of video footage to YouTube or Vimeo or whatever. I had a couple of spare batteries with me as well.

kao123 · 26-09-2021 12:15pm

It was a great day out in fairness, the organisation was top notch. had no idea what to expect and was not disappointed at all, some of those climbs.. oh man.. back wheel slipping and sliding all over the shop, I left it to chance and had 25mm GatorSkins on (no punctures thankfully) with 100psi in both.

The "sectors" just kept on coming :-)

Will hopefully do it again next year, as an event it certainly stands out, for all the right reasons :-)

Big thanks to the organisers and the volunteers. And thanks to the landowners for letting the loonies loose on their land too !

Grass Routes Gran Fondo

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