RANDONNEURS ROUND THE YEAR

Just replied to his email from this morning Andrew explaining I would not be able to attend due to an issue fitting Full mudguards on my bike.

I've emailed Ronnie as well.

At the moment, I am not sure if I am free to do the one on December 3rd - I should know later this week.
One way or another, I can start the 12 in January!. i will send an email to Ronald withdrawing from the Faceless Monk.
Kevin.

Guys
I will join you for the Kings Mountain 200.
I've paid the fee and am just about to send the form.
I'll play the larger commitment to the RRTY by ear for the minute.
Thanks for taking the initiative.
Ken

Incidentally boys, any tips on lights e.g. models, brands that will do the job well.
Much appreciated.
Ken

I have upgraded my lights ove last year with a generator Reelight but I will use a brighter Cateye with it. I will also bring spare batteries.
To be honest going to Joes with a credit card and talking to Dave Mc is probably the best way to get the best combination for night riding.

Thanks Andrew.

Hi Guys
I received the following from Ronald re. the Faceless Monk 200.

“I have requested a full refund for all those from Orwell wheelers who have paid by paypal”

If you have paid Ronald by cheque or postal order can you check with Ronald directly about a refund?

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I have been off line for a few days and I see Andrew has progressed things along. Am I right in assuming/understanding the following:
People who had signed up for the Faceless Monk have cancelled it.
We are now cycling the Kings Mountain 200 instead.

So please send in a new entry form to Aidan Caulfield







www.audaxireland.org/events-calendar/gaz.../kings-mountain-200/

See the above page for the email (as our forum restricts me posting it here)


The route on the Audax Ireland page is still sending out error message,
Here it is from Aidan and Joe ridewithgps.com/routes/16300271 .

I’m awaiting a reply from Niall Diamond in Audax Ireland about a transfer of the previous (Faceless Monk ) fee. So please hold off on that bit, for the time being.

Cheers,
Leonard

Hi Guys
Below is a list of those who have committed, on the Forum, to giving the RRTY a go. If I have missed out on someone, or if you do not intend proceeding, just let’s know.
1. Andrew
2. Alex
3. Colin
4. Jose
5. Kevin
6. Leonard
7. Luke
8. Mark
9. Danny
10. Tony
11. Joe
12. Ken
Cheers,
Leonard

Thanks Leonard - I started my RRTY last Feb and intend on taking a 'sos beag' for 2017 .........although I might break out for a Fleche.........Orwell Fleche team anyone ?? (It counts for RRTY!!)

Re. The Kings Mtn - any suggestions for a start time ? - I was going to say 07:30 so as not to get muddled up with the Faceless Monk start .........or else 08:00 ?

Danny

Thanks Leonard - I cant do Dec 3rd - but happy to do one later in December if one exists or else start the 12 in January 2017.
Kevin.

Hi Kevin
Colin and Alex are the same as yourself and they are going to pick one up later in the Month Dec.

Cheers,
Leonard

Danny wrote:

Thanks Leonard - I started my RRTY last Feb and intend on taking a 'sos beag' for 2017 .........although I might break out for a Fleche.........Orwell Fleche team anyone ?? (It counts for RRTY!!)





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Hi Danny, I've a feeling I'm going to regret asking this, but , what is a Fleche team?

Cheers,
Leonard

Ken wrote:

Incidentally boys, any tips on lights e.g. models, brands that will do the job well.
Much appreciated.
Ken

The usual advice regarding lighting is to use whatever you already have for starters, and then if you get more deeply into it you'll have a better idea of what exactly you really need.

What you need will depend on what sort of events you'll be using it for- if it's only for doing regular 200s year round then relatively basic lights will do, as you'll only be needing them to get you through the last couple of hours of the Wintertime spins. On the other hand, if you find yourself riding the longer distances in time you will need lights with battery life to last all night (or even multiple nights!), reliable and durable enough to cope with the rattling and vibration of thousands of kilometers of rough road surfaces, and bright enough to light the way on twisty mountain descents.

How much battery life do you need? Say for a Wintertime 200 the time limit is 13.5 hours, so with a worst case scenario of 1 hour to cycle there in the morning, use all the way to the time limit (or maybe even have a disaster and come in an hour or two late, and then another hour home, so you could be out for 16 or 17 hours some day when things don't go your way. That would leave you needing up to 10 hours of battery life, so make sure that between your lights you have at least that duration, or spare batteries, or whatever. Alternatively you could go for a dynamo set up, which would give you light whenever you need it (so long as you keep moving!), and has the bonus of being able to charge devices like Garmins and phones, but you still need a back up in case of failure. The dynohubs tend to be most popular with the slower riders who are expecting to be out to the time limit and beyond, and least popular with the faster riders who can often plan exactly how much time they'll spend riding in darkness.

Reliability/durability? Everything can break, particularly when you're hammering it across rough surfaces over vast distances, so always bring a back up no matter what. With that said, the better quality brands are (usually) significantly longer lasting and reliable than the cheap and cheerful ones. For a number of years I used Smart 2 Watt front lights example - powered by AA batteries that you can pick up at any shop you pass, bright enough to light up the road, and cheap enough that I could buy a couple of them at a time. The downside is that I was replacing them several times a year, and they would regularly fail on me on the road. I've used a LUU 520 for the last 5 or 6 years, and it has been absolutely faultless for all of that time. Most of the guys in the shop are using Cateyes, and they similarly tend to last for years. So basically, you can get an awful lot of light for not much money, but unfortunately good quality you have to pay for.

How bright do you need then? For me, for most uses, I find 100 to 150 Lumen is usually ideal. I use a few different light sets, and in every case the setting I use them on most often is the one in the 100-150 range. My favoured set up in recent years has been a LUU 520 as my main light, and a Cateye 100 as my back up. The medium-low setting on the LUU is 130 lumen, and it lasts about 8 hours at that (or 40 hours with a battery pack), and I use it on that setting almost all the time on the road. The high setting (520 lumen) is great for high speed descents or under tree cover, but does blind oncoming motorists and of course burns through the battery, so I use it relatively sparingly, and the lowest setting (65 lumen) is just a little bit too dim- it would do the job if I was stuck, but it requires a lot more focus and mental energy keeping an eye on that little patch of light only a few meters ahead of your front wheel. The Cateye is there as a back up, in case something goes awry with the main light- say the mount breaks, I forget to charge it, I get caught out longer than expected and run out of battery, whatever the reason, the longer the distance the greater the possibility of something going wrong, so a spare light is essential, even if it's only a little blinky to allow you to creep home.

So what lights would I recommend? The LUU I've linked above is excellent, and I'd definitely buy one again. It has the massive advantage of being able to take an external battery pack, but as a downside I'm not sure if we can get them in any more, or even if there is anyone supplying them to the Irish market at the moment. My number one pick at the moment though is the Cateye 800 . It gives 8 hours on the low (200 lumen) setting, and has replaceable batteries so if you are moving up to longer or multi night events you can get a couple of spares.

As far as back lights go, the main thing is to have a couple of them- you won't notice if one dies, falls off, or whatever, so make sure you have redundancy there. Pretty much any rear light will do the job so long as it is mounted correctly and the batteries are fresh/charged. The golden rules if you are cycling in a group are never use them on flashing mode, and if you do splash out on a super bright one use it on a low setting.

Apologies for the essay, but hopefully if you have the time to read it there'll be enough in there to get you started.

Kevin wrote:

Thanks Leonard - I cant do Dec 3rd - but happy to do one later in December if one exists or else start the 12 in January 2017.
Kevin.

There's only the one calendar event in December, so if you want to do one later in the month it will be a permanent only.

Unfortunately the only event on the calendar in January is another one of Ronnie's, so that will be another no go for most of our gang. I'd suggest doing the Ardattin as a group perm at the start of the month before most people have gone back to work, weather dependant obviously.

Leonard wrote:

Danny wrote:

Thanks Leonard - I started my RRTY last Feb and intend on taking a 'sos beag' for 2017 .........although I might break out for a Fleche.........Orwell Fleche team anyone ?? (It counts for RRTY!!)

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Hi Danny, I've a feeling I'm going to regret asking this, but , what is a Fleche team?

Cheers,
Leonard

The Flèche, or Easter arrow, is an event for teams of 3-5 riders which takes place every Easter. It is effectively a 24 hour team time trial in which you choose your own start point and plan your own route to cover the greatest distance possible, and then all of the teams converge on a common finish. A minimum of three riders have to finish for the team to count, and you must have completed at least 90% of your nominated distance within the 24 hours or else you'll be counted as a DNF.

The minimum distance that must be covered in the 24 hours is 360 km (15Km/h), though most teams aim to scrape over the 400 mark. Bear in mind that Easter is often still quite wintry, so this is typically much harder than it sounds, and the failure rate is usually quite high.

The destination for next year's event is TBC, but I presume we will know where it will be after next week's Audax Ireland AGM. Recent years have finished in places like Mullingar and Galway, so usually somewhere with a train line back to Dublin, and lots of accommodation and pub choices.

Worth adding is that you need to ride 25k in the last two hours of the 24 hour period .........so no point in just dashing to your destination and say completing 360k. You need similar paced/minded riders.

Also you cant stop for more than two hours. I always thought 80% of planned route is acceptable once >= 360km ?

As Dave said - weather is a big factor at that time of year.

Dave
Thanks a million for the excellent guidance on lights. It's very informative, practical and is very much appreciated.
Ken

Have we agreed a roll-off time for Saturday ? Looks like Rain for all but the last hour or so.

If anyone wants to throw a whatsapp group together my number is
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Danny

So just about last call I,m going to email the organiser of the Kings Mountain 200 that we will start at 7am Sat Whitehall Church car park.
Load up the route , charge your lights, bring a few spares and rain gear just in case.
It's unsupported so make sure you are well prepared with all you think you might need.
1. Andrew
2. Alex
3. Colin
4. Jose
5. Kevin
6. Leonard
7. Luke
8. Mark
9. Danny
10. Tony
11. Joe
12. Ken
See you Sat and thank you Danny for the help for this route
Cheers Andrew