Red Spins Winter 2023/2024

Along with the rest of the club winter spins, the Red Spin will resume from Sunday October 1 onwards. This week's route will be:
www.strava.com/routes/3142491386483899778  

I'll probably have to drop off early, so if someone else could also upload the route to their Garmin that would be great. 

Meet at 9am, Old Dundrum Shopping Centre Car Park

We'll follow a similar enough progression as we did last year:

• October: Target distance 80km with coffee stop
• November/December: Target distance 100km with optional coffee stop
• January/February: Target distance 100km with drills in second half of spin.

For Northside routes, we'll meet at the Pope's Cross in the Phoenix Park at 9am

The goal of of these spins is steady, Z2-ish, pre-season miles in a well-drilled group. Most of the people involved will be aiming to peak in April at the very earliest, so there'll be an easy start and steady progression throughout the winter. 

If you're looking for more miles or faster speeds, you can tack on some extra work before or after the spin or else we can talk about establishing training groups for people with similar goals. The Red spin is very much a compromise at trying to meet most people's goals but people preparing for the Ras or the National Series may be looking for more. 

If you're new to the Red spin, please take note of the group etiquette. No half-wheeling and no blowing the group up on the hills. If you're looking for a bit of competition, we can sort you out with plenty of that that come March. 

If you're off the pace, take short turns on the front. If you're feeling good, by all means take a longer pull but don't hog the front either lest the people behind you freeze to death! 

It's up to every to keep the communication in the group. If you notice someone pushing the pace and putting others under pressure, don't be afraid to call it. Often those on the front won't be aware of what's happening behind. 

Sunday's Red route:
www.strava.com/routes/3145389543486653658

Meet at 9am, Old Dundrum Shopping Centre Car Park. Coffee stop in Roundwood.

I'll have to turn off early again, so would appreciate if someone sticks the rout in their Garmin. 
 

Route for Sunday's spin. 9am in Dundrum.
www.strava.com/routes/3147919242361366796

Coffee in Russborough House probably

We'll probably start from the Phoenix Park next week (22nd), so keep an eye out.

Route for Sunday's spin, which will be the first spin this winter starting from the Phoenix Park. 
www.strava.com/routes/3150429313699278092

We've been getting big numbers out the past three weeks and we'll more than likely have to split the spin in two from now on. The most logical way of splitting it is into coffee/non-stop groups but if that doesn't work I'll take it upon myself to divide it up.

For those of you unfamiliar with the start point, it's at the car park next to the Pope's Cross.
maps.app.goo.gl/fDBXcQd764ofUuaQ8

A note on pacing. The goal is a steady Z2 effort. In order to achieve that, the people on the front are usually going to have to go a little harder than this in order allow the people behind keep the pedals turning, usually Z3, lower Z4. The bigger the group, the bigger the draft, which means that in a large group, the pace at the front needs to be pretty brisk. That means in a large group, it makes sense to do short turns. This makes it easier to do a short, reasonably hard effort and it also means that nobody is getting cold down the back waiting their turn.

Going uphill, the drafting effect diminishes significantly. So if you're on the front, there's far less need to increase your effort. In terms of perceived effort it should feel much closer to what you'd be doing in the middle of the group on a flat stretch of road.

TL/DR: If you're putting out 400w going up a drag, you're going to get shouted at. 

Sunday's route. 
www.strava.com/routes/3152608238497984302

Since it's a bank holiday weekend and we're heading to November we'll go a bit longer than recent weeks. Celbridge - Prosperous - Newbridge - Naas - Blessington

Start is 9am in Dundrum. 

Hilly one this week. 9am start in Dundrum.
www.strava.com/routes/3155467573675479932

Route for this week, starting at 9am in the Phoenix Park
www.strava.com/routes/3156978270364658822

Route for Sunday 19th: 
www.strava.com/routes/3160581722098865090

Start time: 9am in Dundrum.

This week's spin will start at 9am in Dundrum. Another wet morning is forecast and, with the Christmas party on the night before, I've selected a slightly shorter route than usual, around 80km.
www.strava.com/routes/3163121216948659928

This week's spin will start from the Phoenix Park at 9am. 
Route: www.strava.com/routes/3165659016721739366

Forecast is for a very cold day. If conditions are bad, we'll adjust on the morning.

Route for Sunday, starting 9am in Dundrum:
www.strava.com/routes/3168191455151537712

Forecast is a bit better than it was earlier on in the week. Mild, albeit wet at the start.

This week's spin will start at 9am in Dundrum. I won't be able to make it this week because I've a prior engagement with Santa Claus. Here's a suggested route, which takes in sections of three different club league circuits.
www.strava.com/routes/3170711946407987070

No official Red Spin this week because it's Christmas Eve.

I plan to organise a shortish (maybe 80km) spin for New Year's Eve.

Normal service will resume on January 7 with 100km+ routes. We'll try pick up the pace a wee bit and incorporate a stretch of continuous up and overs into the latter part of the spin every week. 

Suggested route for Sunday, 9am Dundrum start
www.strava.com/routes/3178356017505564246

I won't make it this week as I'm still recovering from a crash, so it might be an idea if someone uploaded it.

Route for Sunday, starting at 9am at the Pope's Cross in the Phoenix Park
www.strava.com/routes/3180894953835821702

At the moment, it looks like it may not be quite as cold as it was last weekend. As a precaution, I routed the start of the spin through Blanch lest it be still a bit icy on the back roads. If conditions worsen, I'll post an update here beforehand.

Sunday's spin will start at 9am in Dundrum. I'm afraid I won't be able to make it again this week but here's a suggested route. Forecast is wet and windy.
www.strava.com/routes/3183424956646816342

Route for Sunday. 9am Start in Dundrum.
www.strava.com/routes/3185962205184613194

Suggested route for Sunday's spin. 9am Dundrum start. I'm afraid I won't be able to make it again this week, so someone should download the route.
www.strava.com/routes/3188540170390128338

Tomorrow's Red Spin will start at 9am in the Phoenix Park. Planning to take in one lap of the Dublin Wheelers Open Race Circuit which will be the first race of the season on March 2 for a lot of people.  The circuit is also frequently used by the Inter-Club League and the IVCA, so may be of interest to most people planning on racing this year. 

www.strava.com/routes/3191338314160437050

If the interest is there, we can do a recce of a few other circuit in the next couple of weeks. 

Last week's recce ride seemed to go down well, so we'll do another this week, taking in the Green Sheds Circuit. No matter what kind of racing you're planning on doing, you'll likely be doing this one at least once next year. It's used for the Lucan GP (March 16), the Inter-Club League, and the IVCA League. We should have enough time to do two laps and for one at least, we can take the finishing stretch at a decent clip.

Start time: 9am, Pope's Cross Phoenix Park
www.strava.com/routes/3192493228398405174