Wicklow 200 Aftermath

[Morgan]

Well, that was fun...


It was pretty grim getting up at 6am, no motivation at all, but 40km into the ride I realised I was really enjoying it. 150km in I realised I wasn't in extreme pain. Couldn't wipe the grin off my face from Enniskerry to the end. Huge sense of achievement - I felt I could ride another 100km if I had to.


Met Oisin and Ollie at the start. Rode with Beth and Luke from EPIC for a good while too. Richie was out but I missed him.


Richie Byrne and the EPIC lads were having some kind of cocktail party at Ballinastoe as we passed by on the way home. Great to get some encouragement (and to have ice thrown at me). Met Jackie at the end too - she rode the 100km route despite having fresh stitches in her thigh.


The grim details:

198.6km cycled

2746.9m climbed

average speed 27kph

riding time: 7hr 17m

total time: 7hr 43m


Chocolate milk time I think.

[ciaranc]

your legs are in so much pain aren't they ?

[NigelS]

i wouldn't be able to wipe the griM off my face either morgan :P

[Cormac]

198.6Km?? Took a shortcut then?

[Morgan]

Fixed that Nigel - wouldn't want to give the wrong impression.

Well it is called the Wicklow 198.6 isn't it?


And what else?

Top marks for the 2008 MAD bibshorts - I feel like I've entered a whole new world of comfort.

My legs and face are covered in squashed flies.

I lost my gilet on the road - but someone picked it up and I got it back at the end (then I lost my waterbottle to maintain the karmic balance).

Dave Gill refilled my bottle in Donard and two minutes later the entire bottle cage sheared off the frame - I'm not sure what to make of this.

[NigelS]

fair play to everyone for doing it :)


obviously i would have done it if i was in ireland *rolls eyes*

[ciaranc]

Ye, Congrats to everyone who took part, you'll be wrecked for the whole week ;)But God you'll all be fit monsters

[ollietrex]

I donned the lycra knee warmers and arm warmers at 6ish this morning wondering weather this was really such a good idea. About 20 mins and the first climb I came to the decision that being a roadie is not that bad once in a while. And then 7 water bottles of energy drink, 5 power bars, two sandwitches and a couple of power gels later I finished with a simile thinking maybe I should do it next year.


Distance: 196.28 km

Climb: +2,166.5

Average: 24.2kmph

Moving Time: 8:06:57

Totals Time: Not sure think about 9ish hours


The best part is it said I burnt 8,195 calories which is about 3 1/2 days worth of food for a person so I am going to be eating well tonight.


Saw all the mad crew at one point or anoher round the course and even saved richie who was out of quick air at one stage I will be claiming a beer at some point :->

[paddyobrien]

jeez ollie .. you took an even bigger shortcut than morgan did!

[ollietrex]

Ah not really... I cycled to UCD and back so ended up doing 208 but yes I think they should change there name to the wiklow 196, all this rounding up is a bit off...

[Liam]

Well done lads, now back to MOUNTAIN biking. :-)

[Richie]

Yep, very enjoyable day. defo will do something like that again... next year.


Was interesting riding in a peloton of sorts - actually was a bit scary - was convinced I was cause an accident and have a bunch of those roadie monster spitting at me or jabbing with their pointy elbows. The descent from the Sally gap to the base of Lugga was probably the most hair raising moment of the spin - defo got a bit of air coming down to the bridge (I think that's where I hit 67kph). It all went pear shaped on the other side coming to the right turn to Roundwood. Belting down the hill I hit what I thought I was little bump in the road, but by the time I got to the junction the rear wheel was flat. Stuck on the spare and only managed to half inflate it with the stupid air canister. So I put on my best helpless face and after about 5 mins a nice English Gent called John pulled up and pumped up my tyre - back in business. Then I notice the front was flat too... 10 more mins and another nice English bloke (I know, who'd have thought you would meet two in one day ;-) ) called Ollie gave me his pump - I owe ya a pint there all right.


After that things went along fine. Slieve Maan was tough. A steep climb and to make matters worse the sun came out and it was dead calm. I was glad of the powerade lads on the summit. From Enniskerry I hooked up with Earl from Epic and 3 lads from Dundalk CC and we lashed in the last 10k or so, was great craic.


Not sure about this data - checked it in sports tracks and the garmin software and only the total riding time is different.


Total cycle - 197.27

Total climb - 2171

Average speed - 24.2

Total time 8:09 - (but if you take away the 15mins I was fluting around with the punctures its under 8 hours!)

Riding time - 7:40:38

Top speed - 71kph

Calories - 9212 (big chocolate cake for me tonight)


Lessons learned:

1. If you are at the back of a peloton, watch out for snot. It can come at you from any direction.

2. The brand of air canister I use are crap - back to the pump for me.

3. Roadies are not that bad, some are quite nice.

[diamondG]

fair play lads! that's some achievement!!

it does sound like a great day out.. maybe next time

[Scrivo]

Congrats lads. Will be working for a good bit of the summer so planning on joining the road biking crew. The FR crew just aren't cutting it anymore ;)

[Oisin]

That was really good craic, and feels like a great achievement. I was taking it really easy at the start cause I didn't know what to expect with the long distance, but that became boring so I decided to lash along for some bits. Its fun riding in a big group at high speed. I didn't find Slieve Mann too bad in the end... I think it was over hyped cause it was the last big climb. Being a mountainbiker definitely helps your climbing speed though. A fast group would be lashing along on the flat but as soon as they hit a hill they would slow right down, which was the chance to put the power down and catch the next group ahead.


I actually felt ok at the end and we rode the last bit from Enniskerry pretty fast. There was a guy riding a Royal Mail postmans bike complete with front basket. Don't know how he did it. Also I saw a guy riding a single speed!


197.04km cycled

3046m ascent - all our ascents are different but it was the same course so mustn't be accurate

average speed 22.1kph

riding time: How do you get this in Garmin Training Centre?

total time: 8hr 55m

max speed: 75.5km/h - fastest I've ever gone on a bike. The decent from Lugalla to Roundwood.

[Barrydanzig]

you take that back scrivo! the FR/DH scene is where its at.

[Richie]

Doh - 7:40:38 is when I started! Morgan - enlighten us please...


So based on the data from sportstracks my riding time is 7:25:30.

[ollietrex]

Oisin down load download Sports Tracks (http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/) and it will tell you everything you need and more...

[jackieo]

Well done Lads!

Hmm, feel a bit sheepish now with all these posts of 7-8 plus hours 2k odd m ascent etc etc. My bike computer is broken so not sure what the 100 really measured but i heard whisperings of 108. The website puts the profile at around 800m so all in all a long way off what ye lads managed. Took just under 4 hours if u exclude the 1/2 hour slow spinning with a friend but all in all a good day, the stuff fitness is made from!


btw Oisin, richie, that was me shoutin at ye on the way in!


Oh and while I am here, and I know it's been mentioned before but just in case, if anyone ever contemplates riding without a lid ...DON'T!

[Oisin]

Sporttracks works great on Windows which I have in college but got a mac at home and I only have Garmin training centre for that which isn't great.


Jackie - thanks for the encouragement at the end. I thought it must have been you after I went by.


Barry - don't worry. I'm not about to sell the mountainbike yet. In fact at the top of the Wicklow gap all I wanted to do was head left and do the Camaderry DH run. If I was on the right bike I would have. Seemed a terrible waste all the climbing just to spin down again on tarmac.

[Morgan]

Hey Oisin,

This is what I use for my Garmining on the Mac:

http://www.montebellosoftware.com/


Makes the Garmin software look ridiculously third-rate.

[ryan]

Good job lads - I wonder will I see yas joining me in a few road races... I could always use a few domestiques :)


The speed is a pretty mad thing - when I'm on a solo road ride myself and doing 40kph on the flats I feel it's fast and don't keep that up for long, then I remember sitting in in the peleton averaging over 50 for 25 minutes in a race :) Interesting buzz...


Don't believe the Garmin software cal count... it is way off :( The software (Ascent) Morgan pointed to is a lot better if you know your VO2Max... Based on previous spins I did at that distance/speed, yas are probably closer to 5,000-5,500 for the day. That's still a lot of cake though :)


Again, well done lads

[Oisin]

Sporttracks says my total moving time was 7hr 28mins. How did yous get through the checkpoints so fast? I had to queue at every one and my stopped time is 1hr 27mins. I suppose the non essential stops like the top of Slieve Mann I could have skipped.

[Richie]

I had about a 5 min queue in Donard, but no queue in Rathdrum. I did'nt hang around at the stops for too long - just enough time to eat my egg and onion sambos - yum!

[ollietrex]

Well I got up this morning and felt okish but just looked at the bike and picked up the car keys and drove to work. Strangely my legs are fine, its my shoulders that hurt from all the bloody bumps of on the descents...

[Morgan]

There are some photos up on the Wicklow 200 (http://www.wicklow200.ie/gallery/2008wicklow200?page=1) site now, including one of me (http://www.wicklow200.ie/gallery/2008wicklow200/IMG_8899). Can you spot anyone else?

[Richie]

Just yourself with funky shades and Oisin so far... won't be impressed if I don't get up there - the amount of posing I was doing any time a camera was in sight was ridiculous. I think they have another 500 to go up over the next day or so.

http://www.wicklow200.ie/gallery/albums/2008wicklow200/IMG_8899.jpg

http://www.wicklow200.ie/gallery/albums/2008wicklow200/IMG_8915.jpg