Did you do the entire Greenway Fagan? It looks a fine job. How does it compare to the Great Western Greenway I wonder?
No I have only done about 20 km of it.
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Brilliant win for Philippe Gilbert in the Tour of Flanders. Solo break with 55km to go.
Sagan to win Roubaix next week.
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Anyone done the Ring of Kerry? If so, how long would it take to get up to the level to take it on?
Thanks @balbec, I’ll take it from here.
I’ve done it three times, would have done it more but scheduling hasn’t been kind to me so I’m hoping that I’ll do it this year for the first time since 2013.
Great event, relatively easy but still 170km+ so the distance has to be respected. I do it with the TdeM crew so we start and finish in Kenmare. Reason being the start is supposed to be a bit chaotic and unsafe, as in cyclists are all over the place. Our group would be around 30 so hard to keep it all together. But then I’d like to experience the atmosphere.
Only two main climbs, after Waterville there’s Coomacishta (spl), handy enough with new surface and then after Kenmare there’s Molls Gap which is over 10km at average of 3.5%ish. Great decent.
Lovely cycle, well organised if not too popular.
Our training starts for the TdeM this evening and if you were to do twice a week plus other long 100-150km cycles by say three then you would be ready easily for the ROK.
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Thanks for that.
I need to up my distance a good bit but a good bit of time to go too. I did a 60k loop yesterday which included Enniskerry to Glencree (which is almost 1,000 ft climb over 10k at 3% average) which sounds not dissimilar to the Molls Gap climb. The climb was tough but the rest was ok.
I’ll keep the head down and see how I go.
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The ROK is manic at the start and to be fair for the last couple of years is nearly too busy. Many of the cyclists have little experience of cycling in a group and as a result a lot of collisions occur. Last year they had to close the road on Molls Gap descent 4-5 times due to very serious injuries requiring ambulances (as per marshal at Molls Gap). I would echo @Locke that its a very enjoyable cycle and well run but I would add one further piece of advice, you need to be completely focussed for the duration and be very careful. Its a lovely spin but not worth a trip with the Order of Malta.
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Anyone doing the Ring of Beara?
Spot on. You’d want you’re head examined to cycle with a bunch of civilians.
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Sorry.
Up your game son.
No
Cheers for that. I wonder if it’s calming down a bit, they seem to be still taking registrations and I recall a couple of years ago it would be full pretty quickly when they opened registration. Maybe lots have done it once or twice and are moving onto pastures new.
It probably is, though the difference between 9K and 10K cyclists is probably pretty thin when spread out over the ROK. Also, I know a few people who though a bit of avarice had crept into the ROK fundraising over the last few years. Last year the minimum donation was €200 which was pretty steep. This year its €100 which will probably entice people back.
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I did it two years ago @tallback and it was manic as @Onthesod said.
We were on the road for 6am, and the first 50-60km to the first food stop was chaotic. People who had never cycled in groups before were out with thousands of others.
The cycle itself isn’t particularly taxing, as long as your arse is used to the saddle. After that first food stop, and the first drag (Coomakista or whatever it’s called), it was actually a cracking spin. The numbers had broken up and the scenery and weather were smashing.
Molls Gap is a drag. You’d hardly need to get out of the saddle (actually that would do you little good with about 140/50km already in the legs).
This year they are taking less people and a friend said it was less chaotic last year as well. The day we did a friend of mine - who is a very large man - had only done about 100-120km training over a few spins and he got throughout. I was waiting for him a lot for the first 30-40km,and then we left him off on his own (he was happy enough to do that). We don’t go around too fast, but were still in about 3 hours ahead of him. The fellas I’d usually cycle were in a good hour or more before me.
Do a few 100km spins in advance, and if you’re not a member of a club, do a sportif or two so you get used to cycling in a group (better to do a small event or go out on a club training spin to get the hang of this)
Edit: just noticed @Locke covered a lot of this ground…oops
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Great info - thanks. I think I’ll aim for it anyway and see how it goes. It sounds less daunting than I first imagined. I looked at the Eniskerry to Glencree climb I did last week and it’s about the same length and height gain as Molls Gap and that was pretty doable.
You won’t use much in the legs til you hit the two drags (and they are drags, not hills). Keep your energy for that and then pass out a load of cunts and feel good about yourself
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Nothing better!
There’s a slight incline out of Glenbeigh that can catch you out too. But once you get past the Stagecoach house around 4km past Glenbeigh the scenery opens up and it’s lovely all the way down to Caherciveen