The week that followed comprised only 2 short rides a 20 miler with my son (mid exams) and a 15 mile personal time trial which I averaged 22.3 mph, which I was quite pleased with. We were now ready for the Wicklow200. The forecast midweek was good, but as the week wore on it deteriorated, by Friday it was forecast 38mph winds and 6 degrees C.... nightmare !
3 of us, Thomo, Dunc and myself set off to Holyhead Saturday AM, the ferry ws scheduled to take 2 hours but took nearly 4 due to the seas. It didn't stop raining until 11:00pm Saturday evening and was blowing strong NE winds all night. This was to mean the ride out was OK but the return leg 35 miles would be all into this cold wind. We had a meal at Howth, lots of carbs and healthy things, went shopping for the essentials (biscuits, chocolate, rice pudding etc), hit the student digs by 19:00 and chilled. It was to be an early start....
05:00 up and eating rice pudding, coffee etc. By 06:15 we were on our way to the start 5 minutes away. By 06:20 we crossed the start line, the ascent soon came, deceiving but very soon the Garmin was showing 350m as we left the Dublin suburbs. This was a 56 mile first leg to the Donard checkpoint over Sally Gap. The climb up Sally Gap is straightforward enough, but once on top the wind was very evident, the descent was fast (45 mph) with a very strong 30mph cross wind, could only just keep the trajectory, the big tubes of these carbon bikes pick-up so much wind. In was onwards to Blessington Reservoir, the one you can see on the BBC weathermap SE of Dublin. It's massive, we skirted the lake for 15 miles on a roller coaster of a road.
Thomo was behind me on a climb, next minute gone, I back-tracked, he had come off due to a slipped chain, more cuts and bruises. Thomo shaken, I promised a cup of sweet tea at Donard in 12 miles. We made Donard at 56 miles in just under 3.5 hours, we were near the first in given our early start, the cups of tea were excellent, very Irish hospitality. The rain had held off so far but it wasn't warm. We set off towards the main climbs of the day, the next leg was about 35 miles over Slieve Maan and Glenmalure. I rode with a guy from Wicklow at a good pace as we hit the base of Slieve Maan. Interestingly my compact chainset / high cadence put distance between me and the Wicklow guy on a standard 39/25 set-up with slow cadence. I felt good and the summit of Slieve Maan was soon in sight.
I decided to wait for Thomo and Frosty, there was little point breaking any records in these conditions. My wait turned to 25 minutes, something had gone wrong, I contemplated riding back down Slieve Mann but then came to my senses and they appeared. Covered in oil, Thomo's chain had snapped, fortunately Frosty had a 'mising link' which saved the day. I was blue with cold (see pic, right), everything had seized-up. We set off on the fast descent straight into the NE 30 mph head wind. The top speed on the descent was about 25 mph, incredible ! Then it was straight up the Shay Elliot, a new climb, people had mentioned it being difficult but we took it in our stride. Soon we were over and well on our way to Rathdrum the final check-point.
More sweet tea and sandwiches and we set off on the final 35m home into the fierce head wind. We got into a large group of about 30 and set off well. On one of the minor ascents a cyclist threw his chain just in front of Thomo which split the group. I looked round and the 30 had become 15, I was the oldest in the remaining bunch. So we knuckled down, I took my turn on the front several times but I was fading. Each incline was getting harder, the group didn't slow down. After 13 miles I fell off the back, it had been good while it lasted. We were headed up the last climb Djouce, not steep but all-in-all about 15 miles of gradual ascent.
Spent quite a few miles battling the wind alone as we headed to Eniskerry over the short steep hill they call 'the wall'. 6 years ago I recall walking up this, but today it was a breeze. Once more hill over the Scalp and it was to be all down hill. I stopped at the Scalp service station for 3 cans of Diet Coke, Thomo and Frosty arrived 5 minutes later, Coke down it was like being supercharged for the final 10 miles.
We made it in to the UCD finish line with 7h 41m on the clock, reasonable for 200k and 3,200m. We picked-up the medal, the goodies and the free burger and chips, off to the digs, shower etc and a night in Temple Bar to reflect on a good day.
I was feeling confident about Ventoux until I watched the Daupine Libere tonight, my goodness Ventoux looks steep !!
No comments:
Post a Comment