Preparation for the W200 - Sally Gap

This time I write about a bit different: little bit of a road cycling. :) Yesterday morning I got back on the road bike and had a great spin up to Sally Gap and back. This week I will ride only on the road `cause Ireland`s premiere road sportive is coming up this Sunday. I have done the Wicklow 200 two times before and I really looking forward to do it again this year. 

My start package for the day

This year`s Wicklow 200 is a bit more special because this will the 30th time since they started to run this event in 1982. It is gonna be great I think, will be excellent to ride with the more than 2000 cyclist accross the Wicklow mountains. 

This event is not a race so my personal goal is to beat my best time on the 200 km long ride. The best time that I`ve achieved in 2008 is 7 hours and 47 minutes. If I can get better this year I would be very happy in deed! :)

So, about my spin: The first mayor climb of the day is the Sally Gap so I decided to do this climb but on a different route. The weather was savage: cold enough with light rain and very thick fog at some places. 

It was cold and wet all morning but I still enjoyed the climb in these conditions! :) Especially up beside the Lough Tay! Excellent! :) On the top of Sally Gap the fog was so thick I couldn`t see further than 20 - 30m I guess. On the way down I decided to take it handy and make sure I don`t end up in a ditch. 

At the top

Elevation graph

The route was: 

Milltown - Dundrum - Stepaside - Enniskerry - Ballinastoe - Lought Tay - Sally Gap - Military Road - Powerscourt Waterfall - Enniskerry - Stepaside - Dundrum - Milltown

It was a nice road spin I think but was far behind compare to what I have to deal with on Sunday. I have cycled nearly 75km under 3 hours time. Because of the Sally Gap the total elevation gain was 1485m and burned 2225 kcal during the spin. 

I have done the W200 before and I know what to expect, but even so this spin was a perfect indicator: if I want to beat my own record I have to get prepared properly for Sunday. I`m looking forward to it for sure and after couple more road spin during the week I will be 100% ready for this year`s W200. Bring it on! :)