Wicklow 100 and 200

Dear all

Wickow 100/200...the clock is ticking to register in time!
The deadline for registering for the W100 and W200 is coming up in less than 4 weeks so get yourself booked in now! www.wicklow200.ie/

We expect there to be over 20 Orwell people doing the W100 and up to 100 doing the W 200 so this will be the pinnacle of a lot our seasons so now is the time to commit....Absolutely everyone doing Group 2 with Rodney and Gerard's Group, Greg's Group 3 and the Mountains Group 4 should have this on their must do bucket list for the year. Don't be intimidated by this. If you approach this day with some easy to remember mental tips for the W200(I'll reveal all closer to the date) and remember not to get isolated and stay in a group(there should be 4 Orwell groups on the road from Yellow to Orange...it can be one of the easiest spins of the year! Trust me...I'd never exaggerate:-))......This is needless to say a Grand Tour Event(10 points on the leisure champs and of course is 1 of your 12 Randonneur Medal spins)

On a separate note we have secured the use of the Club Car and Van for the day as support and for use at Baltinglass for food stop etc. Aishling and Jean are manning the car and Baltinglass all going according to plan and will be snapping lots of photos throughout the day. I just need 1-2 people to volunteer to drive and man the Van for the day.

All drivers, helpers on the day will qualify for the 10 points in the Leisure Champs and get an additional 2 points as leaders on the day. Anyone out there not planning on cycling the event and willing to drive the support van for the day.

Diarmuid Donnelly did a superb job last year and we hope to do similar again. Let me know if you can volunteer for the day.

Garret
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Hi,

Doing the WW200; would be great if I can tag onto Orange group. What time are you planning to roll out of Greystones?

Cheers,

David

Provisional plan is for most groups to leave at 730am.
Full details will follow in a few weeks

Ok. Thanks, Garret.

Garret wrote:

Provisional plan is for most groups to leave at 730am

Hmm, I'll be lucky to be out of bed at that time. May have to lead a chasing group!

hi all
Unfortunately Jean has had to pull out of car duty for the day and I need to find a helper for Aishling for the W200 day in the car.
Anyone not planning on doing the cycle and would like to help out??
Garret
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Hi Garrett.

Colm Agnew is away at the moment but I rang him tonight and he will go in the car.

Regards.

Colm F.

Excellent!!
Great news. Thanks to Colm and Colm

Okay so we're just 10 days away from one of the biggest days on the cycling calendar...

1st the Logistics of the Day!
Van Support: Dave Collins and Greg Farrell
Car Support: Aishling O'Connor and Colm Agnew (inc tea/coffee stop at Baltinglass)
The 4 guys and girls will touch base with each other to pick up van/cars and fill with the basics ie tubes/tires etc etc. Diarmuid did it last year and can advise on the logistics.

Meet up time for Orwell 715am in order to leave Greystones at 730am. If anyone is included in the groups below that is planning on a different start time please post below here. Leaving later than 730am will mean a fairly late finish so I would recommend an early start to allow for scoops at the social that evening.

My best guess is there will be at least 7 Orwell groups on the road:

Ger and Rodneys 4 beginner groups from group 1 to 4 with their leaders etc. You all know your groups and leaders by now....

The rest of Orwell:
Light to Medium Yellow Level lead by Andrew Potts (ball park cycling time of up to 830hrs)

Darker Yellow to Mid Orange level(this will cover the largest amount of Orwell cyclists on the W200) lead by myself, Billy Parker, Ken O'Neill(come back cycle after broken collar bone so he will be on a strict leash!) Estimated cycling time 730-8hrs

Faster Orange into lighter Red. No leader necessary as most of the cyclists here will be a3/4, club league, marmotte/etape bound etc etc. It will be full of leaders. Estimated cycling time 7-730hrs.

Basing it on the last 7 years of Wicklow 200s where I've made every mistake known to man and have somewhat learned from those mistakes I can honestly say the vast majority of Orwellians in larger groups on the day will get around at no slower than 830hrs.

Here is some advice I posted just before last year's w200 but it's still 100% applicable to Sunday week...have a read.

Wicklow 200
Few quick tips for those of you doing for the 1st time!
-Never ever treat it as a 200km day in your head! When doing the 1st half count up as 20km done-55km done-75km done etc etc. Never ever say to yourself 180km to go/160km to go.
Only start counting down the clock as in 75km to go-50km to go in the 2nd half of the day once you pass the 100km mark. Don't mentally recognize it as a 200km. If you start thinking 175km to go, it's all over....

-Split the day mentally in 3 Segments
1st Third is start to Baltinglass food stop-some hills and rolling roads. We all know these roads and it's all about pace for the 1st 3rd to the food stop. Don't ever go hard over the long hill or the Wicklow Gap or you'll pay for it later. Pace pace pace! There is a temptation to lash into the Wicklow Gap at 80%+ of max hr etc. If you do you'll regret it on the 3rd Segment.

2nd Third is Baltinglass food stop to Rathdrum foodstop-sounds easy right? Think again! Includes the monsters of Fake Sliabh Mann-Real Sliabh Mann and then Shay Elliot back to back with no flat roads in between. This is definitely the most physically challenging section and if you leave nothing else in the legs or head after Shay(as I did on my 1st of 7 W200s) you'll be asking for trouble in the last 3rd again pace pace pace! Aim to hit the climbs at 75% max and you'll leave loads in the tank.

3rd Third is Rathdrum to Greystones. This is the last 65km and on paper it's fairly flat and easy...paper lies. This is the section that can really kill people who've gone too hard on 1st-2nd thirds. This section includes the climb out of Avoca(3km up to 5% average max) at around 165km which can sometimes literally knock people for 6. If someone as gone too hard early on it's now the pain will start. However if you pace yourself correctly you'll begin to pass by people while dancing on the peddles thinking isn't Wicklow great. Although it seems like a tiny bump in the road the climb up the post office in the last 10km to Kilcoole can destroy people. My 1st W200 in 2010 I had to walk up this gradiant of barely 2-3% cause I hit the 1st and 2nd sections too hard and was empty and isolated by that stage. Since then I've managed to learn from 2010 and usually finish much better in the next 5

Eating and Drinking Throughout.
Relying solely on food stops for a 200km is complete madness....bring plenty of food with you and eat regularly. Ballpark 1 bar min per hour. Bring gels if you're use to them but never experiment on anything new on the day. I'd advice leaving the gels until at least the 120km mark. Regular food will get you around.
Drinking fluids is vital and I'd have 1 plain water for every 1 electrolyte(or diorolyte btls etc). If it's hot expect to drink 4-6 bottles throughout the day. A simple way of doing it is to take 2-3 good sips every 1/2 hr on the flat and 2-3 sips every 1-1.5km on the hills.
.
No matter what happens when you get to Greystones eat whatever is given to you. You'll have burned up to 6000-8000 calories and even if your body is sick at the sight of food it's in bad need of replenishment so eat the hell out of everything.
-Above all never ever ever get isolated and attempt to do it on your own. If you're dropped ease up and wait for a group and tag on. Being in a group will allow you to compete the day using 20-30% less energy.
-If you take care of your pace on the hills on section 1 and 2 section 3 will be a fond memory for years to come. so remember pace pace pace!
And remember even on the worst days of Wicklow 200 over the last years 2011/2014 we've always had sunshine cycling into Greystones so remember rain is only there to keep you cool as you climb the mountains!

Good meet up points to regroup throughout the route are the following:
-Petrol Station at junction of N81 after Wicklow Gap on road to food stop at Batltinglass.
-Food Stop Baltinglass
-Food Stop Rathdrum
-Top of Avoca Climb (150km approx in) Unless you want to do the last 50km on your own(and if you do you're mental) wait here and cruise back in in a peleton

How to survive Wicklow 200 and love it in 10 words:
Pace, Group, Pace, Group, Eat, Pace, Group, Pace, Group, Drink

See you all in Greystones.

Garret

That is great advice - thank you, Garrett!

There I was thinking I would lash into the Wicklow Gap.

1 other piece of advice I forgot to mention.... In all likelihood bar the fastest group most of the 7 Orwell peletons will arrive at rathdrum within 20-30 mins of each other. Where possible aim to leave together. Whatever 10-15 mins delay this might cause to your group at rathdrum will easily be made up cycling the final 1/3 in a 100+ Peleton. If you get into the big Orwell Peleton expect to spin along soft peddling at 35-40kmph with very little effort. This applies to light yellow to dark orange. A large group of this size will always be much much easier and faster than 5-15 people. And think of the banter opportunities as a certain mr Dillon would say:-))

Pps now is the time to get your bike serviced!! 200km across some rough roads in Wicklow is challenging on both cyclist and machine! Don't be caught out get to Joe dalys now!

Garret - I think this would be brilliant if we could co-ordinate finishing together, especially (selfishly) for the first timer groups that have been training specifically for this event!

Not to mention how cool it would look!

It's all about looking cool Warren! Will do our best to create the biggest Orwell Peleton on record!
We will see how the day goes....

Great advice Garret.
Plus, plus on the memo re eating enough. Last year was my first WW200 and I was enjoying it so much I forgot to eat properly during the first 100km. Result was a bonk/panic attack/ fringale/ barely-keep-bike-moving near summit of Sliabh Mann. Once I ate and drank again it was fine.
At least every hour eat something but having a figroll etc every half hour is my new regime.
If it's hot like last year drink plenty. Everyone is different but as an example I had 6 full 700ml bottles during the event.
Also for newbies like I was last year, even if you are wrecked, hang on as long as you can to the peloton after Avoca. It's brilliant and even celebrities get drafted along!

Many thanks Garret!

Anyone got a spare ticket. A friend of mine is looking for one. Thanks Cormac.

Thanks for the excellent advice Garret.
Much appreciated.
Ken

I'll be the passenger in the van this weekend at the Wicklow 200. So if you need mechanical support or emotional support then you can ring me at the below (hidden from guests) mobile number :)


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