justcycling.myfastforum.org

paperman · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 1295 Location: Ireland

I pre registered months ago and got an email back from Marc, I think it was.! I can't open the 09 registration list but I should be on it. Looks like the official registration ie taking of money hasn't opened yet. I hope to be there all going well I should have the holiday time for it!!!

Last yr was hard going but it was great fun, any other takers out there????

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It could be worse!!!

chasm · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:38 pm Post subject:

paperman · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 1295 Location: Ireland

chasm · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:05 pm Post subject:

Bartali · Joined: 06 Oct 2006 Posts: 7730 Location: Hertfordshire

Too early in the season for an old dog like me! But I'll be thinking of you guys come the spring!

paperman · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 1295 Location: Ireland

It is a little early in the season. This year I thought I had enough done but I was wrong, you would want to be doing alot of miles over the winter and really ramping it all up from new year on. I have my power trainer and a nice training schedule ready. I think I'll start posting on the training diary page to help keep me aware of my progress. Hopefully I will be better off for it come next may.

In July I'm considering this little climb as part of two weeks holiday in Poland, road surface looks nice!!

http://www.climbbybike.com/climb....ol=Sniezka&qryMountainID=7705
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It could be worse!!!

last km · Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:36 pm Post subject:

Makes the Muur de Grammont look a doddle Cool

sheeponabike · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 3701 Location: France

Be nice riding up them cobbles, but imagine coming back down Shocked

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This old world keeps spinnin' round, it's a wonder tall trees ain't layin' down

Bartali · Joined: 06 Oct 2006 Posts: 7730 Location: Hertfordshire

Have fun paperman ... I like my tarmac Smooooooooth! Wink

chasm · Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 2:41 pm Post subject:

Tour of Ireland 2009: The sequel

6 May 2009. The day before.

Fly into Belfast, take a taxi to Lisburn and assemble the bike. Delighted to find that there are a number of repeat offenders here from last year. Unfortunately, as far as I can remember they were virtually all faster than me. Pleased to see Fergal and to meet up with Eric from work, who have come up on the coach from Dublin and are waiting for their bikes to arrive.

I’m early so I spend a while chatting to people and admiring the bikes as they arrive. There are some beautiful bikes here. In particular, there’s a couple of Parlees that have me wondering whether spending that sort of money might turn me into a better cyclist. Fortunately I come to my senses before making the call to the bank manager.

Already a great sense of anticipation and camaraderie among the participants. Fewer of us this year, only just over 100, probably because of the Euro/Sterling exchange rate and the fact the event has been lengthened from four to five days.

Stage 1 Lisburn to Derry. 164 km/101 miles. 1481 metres climbing.

The day begins with a laugh. We’re waiting for the coach to pick us up from the hotel and one of the more senior, and perhaps slightly rotund, participants observes: “I’m only now realising what a crap cyclist I am. I’ve never seen so many emaciated people in my life. I’m the only old, fat bastard here.”

Weather not looking great as we roll out of Lisburn. Quite an atmosphere at the start, though, with speeches from the Mayor and schoolkids allowed out of class to cheer us off. We’ve been invited to form three groups, fast, medium, slow, but for quite a while we stay in one huge bunch and make pretty rapid progress. It’s 50 miles to the first feed stop and I’m there in 2 hours 40 minutes, despite being three quarters of the way down the field. This is quick by my standards, especially since it is blowing a gale, and there are a few, but only a few, who are struggling a bit at the back.

The second half of the stage is hard going. It’s cold, with intermittent showers, and the wind is rising. It’s a crosswind, and of a strength that really buffets you around. There’s a guy in my group with zipp rims, and the deep sections mean that he’s being shifted a couple of feet across the road every time he hits an exposed section or there’s a sudden gust. So we’re a lot slower for the second half, and the few stragglers are pretty tired when they come in.

It is already clear to me that the standard has risen since last year, not because they’ve got any faster at the front but because there are very few weaker cyclists here. Last year there was a biggish group behind me, with reputedly a lively social scene as they stopped at the occasional café and took their time. This year there are many fewer of these, and despite my going slightly faster than a year ago, I am nearer the back of the group.

Stage 2 Derry to Sligo. 172km/106 miles. 1933 metres climbing

On paper this should have been a pretty easy stage. No really serious hills, not too far, an opportunity to finish riding ourselves into the event. But today we got the full range of Irish weather. We start in pouring rain, get a dose of hailstones along the way, and when the sun comes out all it seems to do is encourage the wind to blow harder. I don’t think I can ever remember riding so hard, and for so long, into a headwind as fierce as this and what should have been a straightforward day turns into one of unremitting brutality. Fortunately Alastair, the leader of the supposedly slow group (which would have happily nestled in the middle of the pack last year) organises a really efficient chain gang and we help one another along, everyone taking their turn at the front and getting what shelter they can for the rest of the time. So at the second feed station, with 30+ miles to go, I’m still in pretty reasonable shape.

It’s a different story thereafter, however. Not far into the last leg, I become increasingly and uncomfortably aware that I am getting seriously saddlesore. This slows me down to the extent that I drop off the group and go in at my own pace. Too slow for Eric, who despite allegedly finding the pace too fast has no difficulty at all in riding away from me. (This becomes something of a theme – Eric saying he can’t go this fast, then effortlessly riding off into the sunset when the going gets tough).

However, I don’t fully understand the extent of the damage until I get into the shower at the end, when the hot water lets me know in no uncertain terms. The combination of a soaking wet chamois and a newish Specialized “toupé” saddle – I’d used it quite a bit but never for this long, or in these conditions – had removed a serious amount of skin from my usually impervious backside. This bodes ill. Another 380 miles on raw skin isn’t too attractive a prospect.

Stage 3 Sligo to Galway. 245 km/150 miles. 2776 metres climbing

We start in the wet again. One of the riders puts a positive spin on this by observing that “at least the rain is coming straight down today”, and it’s true; the wind, which our Irish Directeur Sportif describes, with a memorable lack of political correctness, as “strong enough to blow a tinker off his missus” has finally dropped. I, suitably anointed with healing cream provided by the medical support, and with liberal applications of chamois cream supplied by David, my roommate, am cautiously optimistic.

And for forty miles or so my optimism is justified. I’m in the bunch, doing my share, feeling comfortable. And the rain has stopped. But as time goes on I can feel that I am doing more damage, and I am beginning to worry that by the time I finish this very long stage I’ll be in too bad a state to continue with the tour. So I take a strategic decision to bale out and, hopefully, live to fight another day.

I therefore spend the afternoon with Liam, who is driving the first of the two service vans. Liam has been a road racer for fifty years, was top class in his day and could probably still give most of us a start. He’s also an absolutely charming man, so the afternoon passes very pleasantly. It also gives me the chance to watch the fastest bunch at close quarters. There are some very strong cyclists in there, I reckon I could live with them for as much as five minutes at a time.

Nice hotel just outside Galway. As on previous nights, we have a pretty sociable evening; a Guinness or two, and endless discussion about cycling. One of the huge advantages of this event over the one-day sportives is that you are together between stages and can have a good crack with your fellow-participants. As Donal put it, “when else are you allowed to talk about bikes for five days?”

Tonight’s sojourn in the bar has another benefit, however. One of the guys has heard of my saddlesore problems and has with him some of the replacement skin plasters designed for use with blisters. He offers me them in the hope they can get me through the last couple of days. So thanks, Kevin from Manchester, you’re a gent.

Stage 4 Galway to Kilkenny. 210 km/129 miles. 2375 metres climbing

Sunday dawns bright and sunny, little wind, with the promise of warmth. Luxury. And with Kevin’s plasters to help me along, what can go wrong?

The answer, I’m glad to say, is nothing. The saddlesores stay manageable, the weather stays kind, Alastair’s bunch stays pretty much together and we have a magnificent day on the bike, 130 miles at almost exactly 17 mph, could hardly be more civilised. And it culminates with a sprint finish in the centre of Kilkenny, with the street closed to traffic and lined with locals having a Sunday afternoon out. Brilliant; and who cares if the fast men finished well over an hour ago?

Three special mentions today. First for “Lovely Dave”. Dave, a strong cyclist from Northumberland, elected to slum it today and ride with our slow group. As I’ve said before, the slow group isn’t all that slow, and there are a few who are struggling to hang on. Dave spends the second half of the stage looking after them, dropping back and towing them back on when they’re in trouble, and generally being a trouper. At the second feedstation one of the women says “What’s your name? I don’t even know your name, and you’re so lovely.” So “Lovely Dave” is born. I hope to see you at the Cyclone, Dave.

Second, Sally Daw. Sally (brilliantly supported by husband Kevin, who wasn’t riding but drove round, helped out at the feedstations, carried gear – including my bike from time to time) is relatively new to road cycling, had never ridden with a bunch before, but cranked with us all day and took every one of her turns at the front. Very impressive.

Third, a cyclist whose name I don’t know but who had a sickening crash right in front of me when his seatpost broke on a fast downhill section. We were certainly doing 30 mph and I thought he’d be sure to be seriously hurt. We were told later, however, that he was being discharged from hospital intact, so good news, and get well soon. It makes me nostalgic for traditional materials, personally. I never heard of a steel seatpost snapping.

Great night in the Ormonde at Kilkenny, by the way.

Stage 5 Kilkenny to Ballymore Eustace. 170km/105 miles. 3474 metres of climbing.

Final day, and the weather Gods are fairly kind. Sunny, and if the wind is a bit stronger than I’d like, at least it isn’t blowing any tinkers off their missus.

The big climbs are in the second half of the day, and I remember them well from last year. What I don’t remember quite so well is how tough the road is from Kilkenny to Carlow, a very strenuous start including one serious climb at about 20 miles. I’m feeling fairly strong, though, until it becomes clear that the saddlesore problem is back with a vengeance. If the manufacturers of Compeed plasters are reading this and want the benefits of my research, I can tell them that when compressed between a 92 kilo rider and his saddle, and ridden on at about 80-90 rpm, their product disintegrates after about 160 miles. I suppose one can’t complain. However, the consequence is that after about 35 miles I’m in some trouble, and although Fergal does a heroic job of trying to pace me along, it is clear by the first feedstation, at 50 miles, that if I want to get back on the bike at any point in the next month I need to quit. So my tour is over 50 miles before the finish, sadly.

Despite my little local difficulty in the backside department, however, this was once again a magnificent event. The organisation, the support, the quality of the accommodation, the rolling road closures and, most of all, the craic with one’s fellow-cyclists make for a superb experience, and one that is simply a class apart from even the best-organised one-day event. Back next year? Why not. One of these years I’m going to finish the event uninjured…

Finally, a quote that explains why some of us go faster than others. A very fast young Irishman from the Cuchullain cycling club finished in the leading group, a group which was down to only five riders at the end. When asked about one of his clubmates further down the field, he made some derisive reply to the effect that the clubmate had been saving himself rather than going flat out. “And if you’re not on your hands and knees at the finish, what’s the feckin’ point?"
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“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.” — H.G. Wells

Biosphere · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 1787 Location: Midlands, UK

Well done 2nd time round Chasm. Cracking read - came across it a month ago and put it to one side til I had time to come back to it. Rob Og's NC post reminded me I never did.

You know what they say about third time lucky Very Happy

HuwB · Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:39 am Post subject:

Yes, more great stuff, but hidden away and missed, it sees by all.
Thanks from showing us the way, Bio.
We need some more "ego" around here!

bianchigirl · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 4063

Any way these can be moved to a 'real life racing' thread?

Great stuff chasm - we have some real talents on this forum and that last line? If only all racing were done in that spirit Very Happy

Let us know how you get on next time - and what's on your calendar before then?
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I'm just looking for one divine hammer

Sooty · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 4864 Location: Dear old Blighty

chasm · Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:20 am Post subject:

katyang · Joined: 27 Jul 2009 Posts: 8 Location: Philippines

..that would be very fun.....!

demande carte de
credit

cyclingtv · Joined: 22 May 2007 Posts: 3476

spammer..

Nolte · Joined: 15 Oct 2006 Posts: 2394 Location: irlande

there's also an indurance Race Across Ireland 1,200km non-stop

http://www.racearoundireland.com/umca_article.asp
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Hi

chasm · Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:24 pm Post subject:

More than 2000 km, actually. Damn, but I'd like to do that. Can't spare the time, unfortunately.
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“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.” — H.G. Wells

Nolte · Joined: 15 Oct 2006 Posts: 2394 Location: irlande

i know what i did wrong. i went for the miles and then put km after the distance in miles

damn i'm an idiot

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