Tell us about your cycle today part III

smacl · 07-05-2022 5:57pm

Out for a group spin with a few other lads preparing for the WW200, 135k with 1.7k climbed at 20kph. Took in the old long hill, lower L.Dan road to Laragh, Rathdrum and back via Wicklow, coast road to Killiney hill and home. Lovely weather and thoroughly enjoyable. Garmin battery died about 10k from home, time to invest in a new one methinks. 1030 plus looks to fit the bill nicely

Seth Brundle · 07-05-2022 8:52pm

Had my second day in Girona. This place is now a major cycling travel hub and the hotel currently has a load of English bicyclists here also.

Anyhow, we headed out towards the coast today which was lovely. The weather as expected was warm and sunny so when we arrived at the beach it felt perfect. Had lunch andnrhen headed onwards. The coastal climb from there up towards Sant Grau was tough with parts hitting 14% which in that heat really is tough going. Still, i managed to get up relatively quick and when a teammate was struggling, I went back down a third of it to him and had to do the hardest part again.

The twisty descents are brilliant. Although some have dodgy tarmac on the apex, I did find myself taking a bit of a racing line through them and, as it turned out, I was the quickest of the group. More importantly though we, on our rental bikes were much quicker up and down than the English on their own high-spec bikes!

Feck me though, here in Spain the drivers seem to give plenty of space (although Imogen Cotter might disagree) and the weather's so good. To be honest, a trip up Sally Gap feels a lot tougher. I could easily see myself retiring here. The original plan today was to head up Rocacobra which is something like 10km at 8% but we had to knock that on the head. I'll do it tomorrow. So far tonight I've had a load of Amstel Oro beer (6.2%) which is plenty of Dutch courage to commit to tomorrow's spin!

https://strava.app.link/fDQUgRYnQpb

byrnem31 · 07-05-2022 10:57pm

Cycled around inisheer today on the aaron islands on my felt hybrid i bought for 100 quid. A local bike mechanic stuck a new bottom bracket on it

IMG_20220507_173445.jpg

and serviced it for a really good price.

Amprodude · 07-05-2022 11:32pm

Good week this week with plenty of cycling. Did nothing in 2020 and 2021 with covid so got back on the bike in 2022 with training spins and zwift.

Today I did 60kph at 29.7kph out on the road. Happy with that.

magicbastarder · 08-05-2022 12:57pm

First post covid cycle, nice easy flat 40k. Glorious morning for it, the roads were packed with cyclists.

Daroxtar · 08-05-2022 5:43pm

Did a big enough day in the hills today. Figured I'd need to start upping my mileage and altitude before the WW200.

Started in Tallaght, headed up Bohernabreena and dropped down to the reservoir to do Cunard. It was chilly enough at 7.30am but Cunard soon warmed me up. Then went over the featherbeds and up to the Sally gap crossroads

Turned left and over Lugalla before taking Green road over to Laragh for the coffee. Green road has to be one of the nicest stretches of tar in the country. There's a few tasty little climbs but there was barely a car on the road so I could just soak up the views.

After coffee I headed up Shay Elliott and the temperature had risen a fair bit by that point. Whether it was the heat, the coffee, a tailwind or just stupidity, I got into a good rhythm and made great time up the top. And as would be expected, I really began to suffer on Sleive Mann. After that, the climb up to Mucklagh Bridge was tough going too and I don't know what possessed me but I turned back across to Glenmalure and crawled up Shay from the other side before dropping back to Laragh for a badly needed ice cream and topped up the water bottle.

The Ice cream worked and I got enough back in the legs to make it back up the Sally gap and plummeted down Cunard and out by St.Annes to roll back to the car for 132km with 2862m climbed.

Pretty shagged right now, can't really see the WW200 being much tougher than that.

https://www.strava.com/activities/7108414854

Seth Brundle · 08-05-2022 6:33pm

Had my final day cycling here in Girona. Too many beers last night meant that I was slightly hungover when we set off. Still, despite legs being tired, I was up for the planned spin up Rocacorba, a 10km climb with about 800m which is an average of 8%.

It was a 30km spin to the start. Leaving the hotel, it was cold and spitting rain but yours truly didn't bring a jacket or gilet but thankfully I didn't need it as after an hour or so it was back to scorchio!

The climb was tough though. We possibly left it too late and met loads descending as we were going up. The middle section had poor surface which made the ascent harder and while you're trying to take a smooth line, you've to be careful not to be in the way of someone coming downhill at speed.

It took me about an hour to get up based on people I was with. Apparently, it should take you your age plus ten minutes so an hour would be right. However, for some reason Strava has me down at an hour and a half - I'm guessing the recovery break at the top was included.

As the roads were quite damp in places, I took the descent handy, pulling on the disc brakes for most of the descent. The dodgy surface in parts also made me wary of building up too much speed. Discussing it afterwards, the view was unanimous that rim brakes would have made the descent much more tense

We went on then to a town called Banyoles where we got lunch. This town is on the edge of a glass smooth lake where they held the rowing during the Barcelona Olympics.

A lap of the lake after lunch and then we headed back to the hotel.

Altogether over the three days, we did about 270km with 3500m. It's a great location and I'd thoroughly recommend it. The bike I hired (link), a BMC SLR One was brilliant and perfect for the few days. Furthermore, prices in restaurants and bars here are so cheap.

https://strava.app.link/xMPJ2pKSRpb

beggars_bush · 08-05-2022 8:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119030237#Comment_119030237

Aran islands are lovely for a slow cycle.

mr spuckler · 09-05-2022 9:20am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119028779#Comment_119028779

I got the 1030 plus recently and the battery is amazing. It's at 70% after my ~110km spin yesterday and it definitely wasn't fully charged before I headed out.

Also seems to pick up on satellites much more quickly than my old 800.

mr spuckler · 09-05-2022 9:30am

Did a four county spin from Athlone yesterday through Westmeath, Offaly, Galway, Roscommon. I wanted to do around 100km and I have a few different loops from there which match but they all involve long stretches of Greenway which can get quite boring. So I found a route on the Shannonside Wheelers website and followed that instead.

Athlone -> Castledaly -> Banagher -> Ballinasloe -> Athlone for 109km @ 26.3kph.

https://www.strava.com/activities/7107573382

The weather meant I was having to find places to stuff arm warmers, leg warmers, heavier jersey etc as the day went on but it was too chilly for me to set off without the layers! Roads were generally good although traffic increased nearer Ballinasloe. I suffered a bit towards the end though after hill repeats on Thursday and a blast through the sand dunes on the MTB Friday night!

JMcL · 09-05-2022 9:45am

Short but lumpy one around east Waterford early yesterday, as I need to get a few more vertical meters into the legs before the WW200. Left Tramore and followed the coast round to Dunmore East. This has a heap of short, sharp climbs - plenty of double digit stuff. From there headed down to Woodstown strand, turning left to take a nice quiet road back towards Waterford. Took the Waterford ring road, then backroads with more climbing into Tramore, managing to tack on a couple of extra climbs in the town rather than taking the easy way back to the start. Legs quite tired after as had a century on Monday, a quick 30km midweek, and a couple of Trainerroad sessions as well. 56km with about 650m

silverharp · 09-05-2022 12:07pm

On sat, dart to Greystones then from there down to Brittas Bay and back. Not done this before, its pleasant enough but the scenery is a bit repetitive

secman · 09-05-2022 5:05pm

Yesterday club spin

Gorey to Ferns , Enniscorthy and on to Wexford town by Ferricarrig, and down to Rosslare strand for a coffee break. Back to Wexford and down onto quays and back via Castlebridge, Ballycanew and back to Gorey. 122km avg 32.2kph 784 meters.

Great weather for it .

beggars_bush · 11-05-2022 10:27pm

fell off my bike today 😩 on a very slippy bit of concrete under a road bridge

luckily I was only going about 10kph, but the bike got wedged between the concrete wall and the metal railing separating the bike path from road.

managed to get going again, limped home. few cuts and bruises. That'll teach me for going out for a very leisurely recovery spin.

smacl · 12-05-2022 8:54am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119035038#Comment_119035038

Ordered and on the way, big pricing differences on this from the different sites. Would have liked to give the business to a local supplier but at €615 in CSS versus €460 on bike discount it was a bridge too far. Looking forward to the bigger screen too as I use the 810 for navigating new routes a fair bit.

13-05-2022 6:46am

Back on the bike last night after two weeks out with tonsillitis. I've picked up more bugs in the last two years than the previous 41 years of my life put together! Off to the GP for a check up on Monday to make sure all is in order.

Anyway, was wiped out for the last two weeks so took it handy last night. Bike felt a bit alien for the first while, but stuck to the plan and took it very easy all the way. Great to get back out and to get some headspace.

Overall, 37k with 521m climbing at 26.5kph.

The bike has become so much a part of my life now and my release from everyday life stresses that it's amazing how much I miss it for even just a short time.

Wildly Boaring · 13-05-2022 1:58pm

I hear you on the bugs and the stress relief.

Went about 20 years without getting sick. Seems to be every month or two I've to take a week off.

Love the couple hours headspace

Seth Brundle · 13-05-2022 2:19pm

Just over 30km on a lunchtime spin around Newcastle Co. Dublin on my n+1.

Orro Venturi STC in matt black with 12 speed Ultegra Di2.

The strong winds meant I kept my speed down as the 55mm Fulcrum Airbeats catch the slightest breeze. I'll take it out tomorrow for a better spin but so far, it feels very quick.

Now to tell herself of my purchase 😟

Wildly Boaring · 13-05-2022 2:30pm

https://tenor.com/view/dead-man-walking-dead-man-walk-gif-10836495

Best of luck.

I can't sort gif.....

magicbastarder · 14-05-2022 12:46pm

probably a combination of my stomach giving me gyp, the five pints last night, the fact that it was only my second spin post-covid, and i think my third spin in the last four weeks anyway; but today was a slog, even though it wasn't particularly long. quite pronounced lactic acid burn in the legs especially on the (short) hills i was doing. still, a glorious morning for it; i stopped on the bridge in the happy valley between the naul and stamullen for a banana and a drink, and the birdsong was phenomenal.

wheelo01 · 14-05-2022 4:21pm

Finally got a 100km cycle in this year yesterdsy, Drmnagh, Dundrum, sandymount, east link, Clontarf, Portmarnock, Malahide, Swords, Ashbourne, Mulhuddart, Strawberry beds, Lucan, Tallaght, and a bit of looping around Drimnagh to ensure I went over 100.

24.7 kph and around 450m climbing.

I don't know what way the wind was blowing, but it was in my face in at least two different directions. Wind was as strong as 37kph, according yo the weather app, but at least it wasn't gusting, it was steady.

I had a quite scary encounter on the Greenhills road, a car came out of a left road about 3/4 of the length of the car I swerved, and I'm not 100% sure he didn't hit the back wheel.

When I roared at him, he got out of his car and said "I forgot" ~ forgot what? That it was a T junction he was approaching?, followed by "I was looking in my mirror"

https://www.strava.com/activities/7135609050

secman · 14-05-2022 6:53pm

Gorey to Ferns and on to Enniscorthy, across bridge and the long drag towards Oulart. Out on to main road and back through Ballyedmund, Ballycanew and back to Gorey.

67 km, 500m avg 30.7kph. Beautiful morning for it.

Only 3 of us out this morning, club trip to Mallorca today.

Wildly Boaring · 15-05-2022 3:00pm

Lovely tough day around north Meath yesterday. 75k and 800m of climbing. Old bridge up to lobinstown down past the Sally and home to the sea by wiggers cross, over the boyne and through duleek.

Lovely head wind home!

smacl · 15-05-2022 4:06pm

Challenging enough day here too, 112k with 1731m climbing taking in Sally gap, Blessington, Togher road climb, Wicklow gap, Glenmacnass, Sally gap and home. Managed it non-stop with about a minute and a half difference between moving and elapsed time. Mostly great weather but a few scary gusts on L.Bray descent and the featherbeds had me a bit rattled. Loads of bikes out there and everyone in good form. Now to find some real food...

saccades · 15-05-2022 4:27pm

Headed to the Wicklow gap from Arklow, added in the extra bit to reach Turloch hill too. Legs felt really good and for the first time in ages my endurance meant I was still well able to pull at the front at the end of the spin.

87km with 1300m climbing at 25kmph (and a big smile).

secman · 15-05-2022 5:04pm

Today, Gorey to Arklow, Woodenbridge, Aughrim, Holts pass and down into Carnew. Back to Cranford and Gorey.

70 km 520 meters , Avg 30.6 kph

6 of us out Today . Nippy starting off but got nicer towards end of spin.

Wildly Boaring · 15-05-2022 7:38pm

The sea up to bellewstown past the quarry and back to the sea.

Lively way to spend an hour in the sun

30k, 250m

JMcL · 16-05-2022 9:21am

Early spin yesterday. Started off a bit nippy as there was coastal fog, but warmed up. Went Tramore, Waterford, then out past Belview port and on nice quiet, rolling back roads to the Rose Kennedy bridge, then Glenmore up over Bishop's Mountain to Mullinavat and back to Waterford. This route crucified me in mid February, and had to bale early, took a good day to recover. I think it was post Covid, though I've never actually tested positive. Had plenty left in the tank today and averaged just under 30km/h from Mullinavat to Waterford, otherwise was trying to spin as easily as possible on the hills, so first half was considerably slower

78km, 770m @ 22km/h

loyatemu · 16-05-2022 4:36pm

101km with 1400m ascent around east Wicklow at 24km/h on Saturday.

Beautiful day for it, lots of buzzards wheeling in the sky around Kilmacurragh, also saw a couple of red kites.

saccades · 16-05-2022 7:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119071330#Comment_119071330

I actually think red kites are more common than buzzards in East Wicklow.

Tell us about your cycle today part III

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