Tour of Ireland on TV Wednesday ITV4 7pm

cougie

And other bike stuff here : http://www.itv.com/TVGuide/Search/defau ... se=cycling

Coool !

timoid.

Thanks for the heads up!

LangerDan

Unfortunately you may have to put up with commentary from Jimmy Magee, who is a bit like a Swiss Army Knife - a complete tool.

Finishing circuit on Sunday will be either spectacular or a complete disaster. Four ascents of St. Paticks Hill, with a nasty technical descent afterwards.

flattythehurdler

It's good enough for me and jimmy magee.

Speaking of which, having hugh porter asked for expert assessment of the bmx was like asking ian hislop for a critique of fatboy slim's new compilation. The BMX makes me laugh. When they cross the line, you expect to see an 11 year old get off and pull a knife, not some grizzled 30 year old.

emadden

It would be cool if it rained on Sunday.... Patrick's hill in the rain is like trying to cycle on ice with no tires... Remember that glorious rain soaked day many years agowhen Kelly and Yeats were away and kelly climbed Patricks Hill in the saddle.... freaking awesome...


And yeah, Jimmy Magee is a pure tool. Him and Phil together... thats painful

afx237vi

Surely the finishing circuit can't be worse than the one they used last year? A 1km loop around Dublin, which presents a pretty big problem if you have a breakaway that's more than a minute ahead going into lap 1... It was a disaster in the end, no-one had a clue what was going on.

cougie

Wish I'd planned ahead - a weekend in Dublin sounds a great idea.

emadden

afx237vi wrote:

Surely the finishing circuit can't be worse than the one they used last year? A 1km loop around Dublin, which presents a pretty big problem if you have a breakaway that's more than a minute ahead going into lap 1... It was a disaster in the end, no-one had a clue what was going on.

Nope I think what he means is that St Patricks Hill can be a disaster... The finish is in Cork this year, not Dublin... St Patricks hill is short but at the top its 33%. Team cars have come to a halt before and have had huge difficulty getting going again.. If there is a break, and its raining, and a team car halts - it could cause carnage ... all for a great spectacle++

jdt101

Has anybody here attempted St.Patricks hill? I do alot of cycling in the cork area but have never tried it. I am thinking of doing half the stage on Saturday.

cougie

Aaaah - that explains it then - I thought I didnt see any big hills in Dublin !

LangerDan

Patricks Hill has been resurfaced in the past fortnight. However they are taking a different route to and from the hill, compared to last year. Rather than a flat run-in to the foot of the climb, they will come in from the side (at about 30 mph) about 1/4 of the way up and turn right, straight into the bad part of the climb.

It will be spectacular but a bit of a waste. The finishing loop is 17km long so there should be sufficent time to get Cav back up for the sprint.

Unless, of course, a break has gone away and got 15 minutes because most of the teams can't be @rsed to race.

afx237vi

Oh right, I didn't realise they were finishing in Cork this year.

Sounds pretty cool. The old version of the Tour of Britain used to use Constitution Hill in Swansea... cobbled all the way up and about 30% maximum gradient. Brutal. Not very long, but it would definitely hurt some legs of the pros! I think the last person to win there was Raimondas Rumsas... If the ToB ever comes back to Wales, they should definitely use it again.

emadden

jdt101 wrote:

Has anybody here attempted St.Patricks hill? I do alot of cycling in the cork area but have never tried it. I am thinking of doing half the stage on Saturday.

many many times.... As a young 11 year old all the young guys from the club would see what gear they could do it in.. invariably it was 42x24 at that age... I tried it last year after just getting back into the sport after 10 years off. I did it with a 39 x 21, but i was blue in the face...

The tough bit is only about 75m long. Its a short, very very sharp power climb

emadden

LangerDan wrote:

Patricks Hill has been resurfaced in the past fortnight. However they are taking a different route to and from the hill, compared to last year. Rather than a flat run-in to the foot of the climb, they will come in from the side (at about 30 mph) about 1/4 of the way up and turn right, straight into the bad part of the climb.

quote]

Thats how they did it from 85 to I think 87.The bunch would go around the bend at the post box at 40 mph!

They dropped the Patrick's hill after that due to the massive crowds.. But when they brought it back they had two versions, one where you swing right from MacCurtain street and the other one where the the riders came along Patricks Hill...

..

calvjones

afx237vi wrote:

Oh right, I didn't realise they were finishing in Cork this year.

Sounds pretty cool. The old version of the Tour of Britain used to use Constitution Hill in Swansea... cobbled all the way up and about 30% maximum gradient. Brutal. Not very long, but it would definitely hurt some legs of the pros! I think the last person to win there was Raimondas Rumsas... If the ToB ever comes back to Wales, they should definitely use it again.

Nah, they should go up Constitution Hill in Aberystwyth. Not sure if the cable cars have bike racks though?

calvjones

afx237vi wrote:

Oh right, I didn't realise they were finishing in Cork this year.

Sounds pretty cool. The old version of the Tour of Britain used to use Constitution Hill in Swansea... cobbled all the way up and about 30% maximum gradient. Brutal. Not very long, but it would definitely hurt some legs of the pros! I think the last person to win there was Raimondas Rumsas... If the ToB ever comes back to Wales, they should definitely use it again.

Nah, they should go up Constitution Hill in Aberystwyth. Not sure if the cable cars have bike racks though?

GroupOfOne MkII

afx237vi wrote:

The old version of the Tour of Britain used to use Constitution Hill in Swansea... cobbled all the way up and about 30% maximum gradient. Brutal. Not very long, but it would definitely hurt some legs of the pros! I think the last person to win there was Raimondas Rumsas... If the ToB ever comes back to Wales, they should definitely use it again.

Yeah didn't Rumsas outsprint Voigt on Constitution Hill. Funnily enough I was looking through a race programme and manual for the 1999 PruTour the other day.

LangerDan

jdt101 wrote:

Has anybody here attempted St.Patricks hill? I do alot of cycling in the cork area but have never tried it. I am thinking of doing half the stage on Saturday.

In my youth, I once made it up on a 42x19 but my bike and my knees were never the same since. The biggest problem is trying to stand up to horse it up the hill without unloading the back wheel so much that it slips and bounces. Better having a very low gear that allows you stay in the saddle for as long as possible. I wouldn't try it on anything less than a 39x25 or 39x27 theses days.
Actually, thats not true. These days I wouldn't attempt it in anything less than a taxi.

emadden

LangerDan wrote:

jdt101 wrote:

Has anybody here attempted St.Patricks hill? I do alot of cycling in the cork area but have never tried it. I am thinking of doing half the stage on Saturday.

In my youth, I once made it up on a 42x19 .....

Dan you must have been one of the "Gods of the Road" we all spoke about when I was a young fella... Once heard of a guy who did it on a 42x18 .... was it you ? :P

The Junior Tour of Ireland went up there in 1990 I think and I remember at the start a bunch of 200 riders 95% of whom were wearing running shoes !!!!

LangerDan

emadden wrote:

LangerDan wrote:

jdt101 wrote:

Has anybody here attempted St.Patricks hill? I do alot of cycling in the cork area but have never tried it. I am thinking of doing half the stage on Saturday.

In my youth, I once made it up on a 42x19 .....

Dan you must have been one of the "Gods of the Road" we all spoke about when I was a young fella... Once heard of a guy who did it on a 42x18 .... was it you ? :P

The Junior Tour of Ireland went up there in 1990 I think and I remember at the start a bunch of 200 riders 95% of whom were wearing running shoes !!!!

I am very tempted to say "Yes" but it'd be a lie

I was more like a minor deity of not spending money on 6-speed freewheels with adequate gearing. All I had on the bike was a 13-19 block and ended up using all the road to get up. I probably covered about 400 metres zig-zagging up the section past St. Angela's.

I remember the Ras used it as a hillclimb one year - riders coming back down were flicking their front brakes and lifting the rear 18" in the air.

Someone told me that decades ago, the delivery boys used to have a freewheeling race down the hill, over the bridge and along Patrick St. For extra ballast, they'd carry a mate in the basket in front.

LangerDan

jdt101 wrote:

Has anybody here attempted St.Patricks hill? I do alot of cycling in the cork area but have never tried it. I am thinking of doing half the stage on Saturday.

Went over the 17km finish loop last night - there is something in it to upset everyone. Several nasty steep hills, a nasty long hill, part of the old Blarney 3-Day Blackstone bridge circuit and a series of tight narrow bends and road furniture in the last kilometer and the forecasted rain showers won't make matters any easier. A small group attacking with a lap to go could stay away.

jdt101

LangerDan wrote:

jdt101 wrote:

Has anybody here attempted St.Patricks hill? I do alot of cycling in the cork area but have never tried it. I am thinking of doing half the stage on Saturday.

Just to update you. I went out last night and cycled up St.Patrick's hill. I didn't do the 17km loop. I started in Ballincollig, then cycled in the south link, down McCurtain St. up York St. and went for it. Was not to bad 39x27. I then followed last years route back down Summerhill.

I might try the 17km lap tonite.

campagone

Jesus, the adverts last longer than the program, do we have to have so many?

emadden

Geez, Cav seemed really really pissed off about Beijing... wonder is his really still friends with Wiggo

iainf72

emadden wrote:

Geez, Cav seemed really really pissed off about Beijing... wonder is his really still friends with Wiggo

Indeed. His comments about Columbia were interesting - Really big upped them. And I liked that he was annoyed he packed the Tour to prepare.

Still think it's amusing Stapleton told BCF not to tap his guy up for their road team

cougie

Yeah I wondered that - guess he had huge hopes of a gold and they didnt even come close.