Yesterday I completed one of the most difficult (as they say) road sportive in the Irish Leisure calendar, the Orwell Wheelers Randonnée. The distance of this event isn't too long but the amount of uphill that the riders have to cover is pretty serious, we had to cross some of the finest climbs through the Wicklow Mountains. This was definitely one of the most tempting reason for me to look forward to this bike ride! :)
I'm sure after yesterday each of the 300 riders have their own story about the day, here is mine:
My regisrtaion was kind of in the last minute followed a super quick conversation with the lads in the shop. So, I hopped on-line and signed up before they did close the entries. Done & dusted, happy days! :)
The night before I got all my regular routine done: bike is cleaned and checked, so as the gear and all the clothing for the day. Prepared my food for the ride and had a huge portion of pasta dinner before I got to bed nice and early. I was all ready to go and the only thing I was hoping for at that point was a nice day for the spin.
After a quick breakfast and got the car loaded and I was on my way to the venue.
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| Nice & sunny morning it was but still cold enough... |
After I arrived I was sitting in the heated car for a little while just to get warm before we head out. In the main time I was trying to figure out what to wear 'cause I knew a bad decision could cost me a lot later on the day. I got changed just about 15 minutes before the 9 am start of the event, but until that I had all the comfort in the car. Yes, I'm one of those! :)
9 am sharp, off we went! The route was familiar to me so I knew what to expect along the way.
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| The route of the 2012 Randonnée |
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| The start (photo: Orwell Wheelers) |
The peloton was quiet big so it took a while before the line has streched out. By the time we got to Enniskerry everyone settled into their own pace, so as I. I had company along the way, we had some good chatting going with the lads from the ThinkBike.ie CC. Then when we hit the first real climb of the day everybody got quiet 'cause we all needed the breath to keep the bike going.
Yes, it was "The Wall" and it hasn't been any easier this time either. That climb is a short but extremely steep (20% + ) killer! Huge effort but got up on it nice and fast.
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| Hitting "The Wall" (photo: Orwell Wheelers) |
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| Go! Go! Go! (photo: Orwell Wheelers) |
After that I kept going up towards the Sally Gap just right next to the Lough Tay. And at that point I've seen something truly amazing: the top of Kippure was covered in snow!!! Amazing! Good climb it was, I pushed that one too! It turned out I had to pay the price later though...
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| Snow in May, it was a little unexpected! (photo: Orwell Wheelers) |
Got up top the gap, took the left turn and started the downhill back towards Laragh. For some reason I really don't like that road...it's donwhill but not fast enough, the surface is bad and it is too opened so even the slightest wind is a pain in the back...
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| Luch time on the way down from the Sally Gap :) (photo: Orwell Wheelers) |
After we passed Laragh we kept going towrads Rathdrum. I was feeling still fairly ok at this point but I felt I don't really have the power in the legs. When I got to the feeding point I picked up a banana and some oranges, got my bottle refilled and kept going before I started to cool down.
And then I hit the wall: shortly after I started my climb up on the Shay Elliott climb I just got into trouble. No power left whatsoever. I got to realize: there was no room for any chancing, got into the lightest gear and started to spin up to the top in this very slow and steady pace. It felt like the climb took me forever... I honestly thought I shouldn't have push the previous climbs so hard 'cause the pace I was doing on them got me into problems.
Once we got back to Laragh and started to head back towards Dublin I think I kind of got back to normal (as normal as it can be after al those heavy climbs). I settled into my zone and just kept going back towards home. Passed Balinastoe, crossed Enniskerry and before I realized I was back to Dublin and finished the Orwell Wheelers Randonnée 2012!
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| The proud ThinkBike rider at the finish :) (photo: Orwell Wheelers) |
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| Shortly after the finish: tired but happy :) |
After I cleaned myself down a little I got something to eat and packed all my gear away I was on my way home.
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| Sitting around in the aftrenoon was soooo good! :) |
One more sportive is under my belt: fantastic route over some of my favourite climbs through the Wicklow, coldish but sunny day, great company along the way. All this was very well run thanks to the Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club. What else we could ask for? It was great just the way it was! :)
My Orwell Randonnée in numbers:
Total distance: 138,7 km
Clear riding time: 5 hours and 42 minutes
Total elevation gain: 2159 m
Calories burned: 3239 calories
Max. speed: 59,7 km/hour
Avarage speed: 24,3 km/hour
Food and drink taken: USN Vooma Gel (with caffeine) x 2, banana x 2, cereal bar x 1, orange x 6 slices, USN CytoPower HP drink x 1.5 litre,
...check the full ride on Strava!
"The Orwell Randonnée is like the Wicklow 200 just without the easy bits!" - this is what I heard about this event before and after I completed my first Randonnée I think this sentence is true!
This sportive will be on my list for the upcoming years that's for sure! I can't wait for the next one already! :)
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