Couple of lads got firsts, another couple of 2.2’s, so a good mix for everyone

After a little hanging round we got our cards scanned, and were off! The initial spin up through Enniskerry was no problem at all, being a route we do most weeks, and made even easier by riding in a big pack -drafting saves you so much energy it’s not right! Once we hit Enniskerry, the road start to head upwards, so I was quickly dropped by the other boards guys (as expected, I grind -slowly- up hills!), but there were so many people doing the spin, that you were always around somebody really. The drag up to Glencree didn’t hurt too much, and burned off the breakfast porridge. The left onto Military road started the first proper climb of the day -Sally Gap. I’ve done it once or twice, and know what it has in store, so made it up and over without any problem at all. It was towards the top of Sally Gap that D, another boards head caught up with me, and I stayed with him most for most of the route. Once over Sally Gap was a nice decent, before a bit of a lump in the form of the shoulder of Djouce, but again, that was fine and a bit of level-ish cycling took us into Laragh, and our first stop of the day for a quick drink. Saw a couple of boards guys there (the kits made ‘em easy to spot!), and M came up behind us (he’d started later than us).

Right after Laragh, we hit the next climb, the nasty Wicklow gap. The whole climb is fairly visible from the bottom, so it’s a case of ‘get into lowest gear and don’t stop’. I’d done this climb from the other side, so kind of knew the course, and managed to get to the top ok, without any major problems, and so it was then onto another great decent before some meandering into Donard, with the only problem being a poorly sign-posted turn which a number of people debated then ignored, adding another hill onto our route!

Donard was the first checkpoint, so it was in to get our cards swiped, along with tea and a sandwich, then it was onto the scariest part of the day -Slieve Maan. First though is a quite long drag up to the base of the climb, which we tried to take it easy on, but was tough due to the pain starting (it’s just after the half way point, and after a stop that gives you time to stiffen up). There’s a good sized false climb first which I initially thought was Slieve Maan, so was doubly disheartened when I actually got to the foot of the mountain, looked up and saw loads of small, brightly coloured lumps moving slowly upwards. I joined them, and used M’s tip of simply concentrating on a telegraph pole or bush and just making it to there. I was in lowest gear, and going about 6kph and it hurt. Quite a lot. At one point I was fully ready to give up, but just then, like a little French angel, up came G, and gee’d me up a little, but it was still very tough. So much so that seeing the top of the marquee from the drink station at the top nearly brought tears to my eyes. I’d done it, reached the top of the last climb of the day!

Bit of a break at the top, where I reconnected up with D, and then it was a bit more of a lumpy drag into Rathdrum, and the second checkpoint of the day. By the time I’d got there, my back was really killing me, so after another sandwich and cuppa, I called into the shop to get some painkillers, and got stuck into possibly the most annoying part of the day -the final drag back to Enniskerry. It was annoying simply because it was up and down, up and down, with far more up, and you can’t get into any kind of rhythm, you’re tired and sore and just want to be home. Finally, we got to roads that I’m familiar with, and that gave me a second wind, meaning the run back from Enniskerry to UCD was positively easy, with plenty of internal cheering and congratulations the whole way

Google Maps Route (too complicated to embed, and possibly a little awry in some places, but it’s pretty much the route)
Total Distance: 213.01km (including the trip to and from UCD)
Total Time on bike: 10:10:13
Average Speed: 20.8km/h
Top Speed: 69.2

It’s a slightly weird feeling, because I know that I can do the distance fairly well -it’s not much longer than the longest spins I do with the boards lads, but because it’s an event with checkpoints and numbers and loads of people rather than a bit o craic on a Saturday with 5 or 6 mates, it’s weighing a little heavier on my mind. Add to that the feeling of dread around Slieve Maan -the final big climb of the day which I’ve never seen before, and which comes 150k into the day -which means it’s going to be an interesting time!

Early start too -meeting one of the lads in town at 6am, meeting the others at the start at 6.30 to get our cards swiped and on the road by 7… why do I  cycle again?

Today therefore is all the last minute stuff to get done, sorting out a saddlebag (the one I ordered online never arrived… grrr), making sure I’ve enough canisters of CO2 in case of a flat, and spare tubes, multitool and all that sort of stuff, as sods law says I must get a flat at some point and I’d rather be prepared than waiting for a support car.

The boards.ie cycling gear also arrived yesterday, and even if I say so myself, I’m impressed with it (photos will follow tomorrow I expect). It turned out looking better than I’d hoped for, even if it was a bit of a struggle to get in time -A had to go down the sorting office and bring it back -a fairly heavy box for such a ickle lady. She also did a sterling job of sorting it all out into the individual packages for those who ordered, and found out that I’d missed out 2 peoples orders -damnit!

Apart from all the cycling, I’ve been settling down in work a bit, slowly getting my head around the products I’m working with, and trying to unravel how everything fits together. I’m enjoying it though, and the people are good, so it’ll do be for the moment

Bohernabreena Hill, Wicklow Gap, Sally Gap. (bad head wind on all climbs)

Knackered me.

Since I got into cycling in a big way, and going longer distances (as well as pushing myself harder), I think I’d come to the end of where purely water benefits, and got into the whole world of energy drinks. Products, usually in the form of powder, that you add to water to give you a good boost of carbs etc to keep you going -the power of a nutrigrain every 30mins to an hour were also discovered and, while not enjoyed (they taste like the bottom of a hamsters’ cage must), used on a regular basis.

Anyway, the rambling above is all a prelude to me finding the best solution for me, and it’s called Carborocket. I first heard about it on Fatty’s blog, and thought that I’d give it a try, so off I went to the website, and ordered me some. The first problem came about with Brad (the owner/inventor of Carborocket) not having shipped it outside of the US, so he had to check on postage costs (which turned out to be pretty high, but even still, the price works out at a similar level to products brought in the local bike shop here.

It arrived on Tuesday, in perfect time to be used on the track last night, so when I got home from work (more on that later), I made up a bottle and took it with me.

All I can say about it is ‘wow’ -the energy boost it gives is fantastic, and it certainly helped me recover better between races, so much so that even after going out a lap to early on the 4k race and blowing up, I was recovered enough to make a good charge in the kilo, and come home fourth -my best result yet, and a great improvement from last week. Can I put it down to Carborocket alone? I don’t know, but it’s my new secret weapon -thanks Brad!

After the showing, Jon did a Q & A session which is always good -he’s an engaging man, devilishly funny and just plain interesting to listen too. He also spilled the beans (which is everywhere now) that his most famous book, The Men Who Stare at Goats is to be made into a film, with George Clooney taking one of the leads!