Malin to Mizen Head for TCT - FINISHED!

meanredspider

Thought I'd just capture my experiences on this ride here.

Arrived in Belfast last night and a relaxing night just watching the Olympics (for inspiration!). Off to the airport shortly which is rendezvous point with the others (whom, apart from the organisers, I've never met). There's 6 in our party but I don't know if we're due to meet up with some more at the start. If you're interested in the route, it's the exact same one as the Marie Curie annual Malin to Mizen ride so Google that.

I've not done a massive amount of prep - commuting days with a long loop home equating to 60 miles back-to-back. The organiser said this would generally be easier. The pace looks to be relatively steady with a flat 80 miles being the longest. Additionally, the group stops to reform every 10-15 miles, so there's actually a disincentive to hare off.

Just having breakfast now. We start at lunchtime with a hilly 30 miles.

More later

welkman

Good luck, I am sure you will have a great time. Take plenty of pictures

Big_Paul

Watch out when you get into Donegal, the drivers are a wee bit "interesting!" also it's the county with the universal headwind!

meanredspider

Easy 30 miles today - perfect conditions - even got a bit sun burned. 20 in the group in total - pace very relaxed. 70 miles tomorrow which has some hills and is meant to be the hardest

veronese68

I'd wish you luck, but I don't think you need it. I have no doubt you'll be fine. Enjoy the ride and I look forward to hearing more about it.

meanredspider

Day 2 was a bit damp to start with. Got a Strava 2nd fastest on the main hill (out of 3 people ;-). 70 miles on fabulously smooth roads - averaged 17mph riding on my own keeping my HR to an average of 145bpm. Generally pretty happy with things though, at the last stop, had to wait an hour for the last person to roll in. Great crowd of people though and well-organised. Loving Ireland and hoping for more reasonable weather tomorrow. Today was meant to be the hardest day. Tomorrow only 60 miles.

Fireblade96

I spent a holiday to Malin Head the other year and did a little cycling while I was there - there are some good hills. I love that part of the world, sounds like a great ride - enjoy !

I'm not jealous at all, sitting at work in the flatlands of Berkshire :-(

meanredspider

Another good day - 61 miles 17.6mph 143bpm and 1 Strava KoM

Bit of a headwind today but Irish roads are generally fantastic (EU to thank?). Legs are feeling good - backside slightly tender after 160 miles but fine. Weather has been mostly dry again - bike has been faultless.

meanredspider

Day 4 - 85 miles at 17.2mph and 145bpm - there were no Strava segments so might need to create some

Road surfaces generally not quite so good as previous days so harder work (higher bpm and lower average speed)

Half the riders left this evening so a smaller group from here on in. Hopefully it might also mean I get to bed earlier with slightly less Guinness in me!

Garmin - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/207807879

meanredspider

Day 5 - 68 miles 16.7mph 138bpm

Ride started with a bit of confusion over the route and then on really very rough roads. After 10 miles, avg was only 15mph - difficult to drag it back from there.

Themes:
- little dogs that run out like missiles from nowhere - had several near misses
- "Loose Chippings" signs indicating that a perfect good smooth road is about to be ruined - WTF?
- Hundreds of empty new-build houses: what were they thinking?

Biggest issue is the speed of the group. In the average day I'm stopped 3.5hours often waiting for the group to reform before heading off again - bit frustrating.

Legs are getting tired now after 318 miles - avg HR has dropped partly due to the road surface (hard to push on crap roads) and partly due to legs just being fatigued.

the_fuggler

Keep up the good work - look forward to seeing some pictures!

meanredspider

Day 6 - 63 miles, 17.3mph, 146bpm

Great riding today - far more hills - long, long climbs (couple of Strava Cat 4) and fantastic descents - felt like I could have ridden to Mizen Head non-stop. 60-odd miles only left to go.

redjeepǃ

Day 4 practically took you past my front door

Good luck and enjoy.

meanredspider

FINISHED! And did so in a bit more style knowing that I didn't have to save anything for tomorrow

51 Miles 19.3mph (was at 19.9 until the last 3 miles) and 154 bpm

Great to arrive - will get some pics up. Really enjoyed it - very well organised by Sports Ecosse.

Thanks for everyone's support with the jerseys - I'm loving mine

veronese68

Excellent, well done. I sincerely hope you're raising a glass or twelve. Look forward to seeing the pictures.

SimonAH

Top job mate.

confused@BR

Well done M R S, Hats!

Cleat Eastwood

Excellent result. Chap-o. And you just avoided the rain - somebody up there likes you.

the_fuggler

Nicely done!

meanredspider

Thanks all. Back at work and, ironically, I'll hardly have the chance to get on my bike in the next 3 week!

Pufftmw

Well done.

Why was it done that way round though? Thought it was normally Mizen to Malin Head?

Redjeep! wrote:

Day 4 practically took you past my front door

Good luck and enjoy.

Day 1 he would have gone past my front door, though it is set back from the road a wee bit!

meanredspider

Pufftmw wrote:

Well done.

Why was it done that way round though? Thought it was normally Mizen to Malin Head?

Thanks. Dunno - but we'd have had more headwind had we gone the other way. On the plus side, the climb at Malin head is very short. Can't really see any big difference.

Something I did learn is just how much difference the road surface makes. It seems Ireland is moving from glass-smooth roads that you can really hammer along to the "chippings-on-tar" style that are much harder work and give far more road buzz. I can see that these may provide more grip in the wet for cars but must also increase fuel consumption. Anyhow, I learned to hate the newly-resurfaced roads.

The hardest part for me was the amount of waiting I had to do. Typically I was riding at least 30 minutes a day faster than the next nearest person in the group. Factoring in the slowest person and the time they needed for breaks & lunch, I was typically cycling for 4 to 4.5 hours a day and waiting for 3.5 hours (just enough time to get cold & stiff between stages). If you ever do one of these organised events, it's really worth considering who you will be riding with. Apparently our group was generally one of the faster groups they've had so I could have been waiting as much as I was cycling (this did happen on one day).

I did enjoy it though but will be looking for a more challenging pace next time.

barry_kellett99

Did mizen to malin a couple of years ago over 4 days.
I'm guessing the route you rode (based on your strava uploads) was chosen by the organisers to suit more people?
Some nice bits of the country like, but it definitely wouldn't have been my chosen route.

Well done all the same!

meanredspider

barry_kellett99 wrote:

Did mizen to malin a couple of years ago over 4 days.
I'm guessing the route you rode (based on your strava uploads) was chosen by the organisers to suit more people?
Some nice bits of the country like, but it definitely wouldn't have been my chosen route.

Well done all the same!

Yup - it certainly isn't designed to be the fastest route! There were times we avoided some of the fabulous N roads to go onto much worse, hillier & rougher, back roads just to make it safer and more (inexperienced) cycle friendly. We also did some detours that we designed to be more picturesque. I've no doubt I could have done it in far less days too - I was typically only cycling for 4 hours a day - and not pushing hard even then. But that's the price you pay for doing an organised ride - which was fine for my first ride of this type. I'd like to have done more of the N roads - maintaining 20 mph+ on that glass-smooth surface was easy and fun.

barry_kellett99

meanredspider wrote:

barry_kellett99 wrote:

Did mizen to malin a couple of years ago over 4 days.
I'm guessing the route you rode (based on your strava uploads) was chosen by the organisers to suit more people?
Some nice bits of the country like, but it definitely wouldn't have been my chosen route.

Well done all the same!

Yup - it certainly isn't designed to be the fastest route! There were times we avoided some of the fabulous N roads to go onto much worse, hillier & rougher, back roads just to make it safer and more (inexperienced) cycle friendly. We also did some detours that we designed to be more picturesque. I've no doubt I could have done it in far less days too - I was typically only cycling for 4 hours a day - and not pushing hard even then. But that's the price you pay for doing an organised ride - which was fine for my first ride of this type. I'd like to have done more of the N roads - maintaining 20 mph+ on that glass-smooth surface was easy and fun.

Really?
I wouldn't be a fan of N roads, unless you are trying to set a PB for the route. The most direct route is only something like 360 odd miles I think. I have a notion that 19 hours or something is the record.

Personally I would have gone through the more mountainous regions, taken all the back roads I could have, added a few days on and meandered down around the coast in Galway etc.

I went the other way round for weather and logistical reasons as I live up North, and the wind almost always blows from the south. The first two days were fantastic, day 2 along the coast in Clare was lovely along side the cliffs of moher and a detour through the burren.

made the decision to cycle the N17 to save time on the longest day after that. Soul destroying. Should have sought alternative slower but more interesting roads

meanredspider

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Teenage- ... 1925191892

Dunno if this pic will work for everyone

antlaff

Well done but get back over for the Inishowen 100 this Sunday...

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/79306211

tailwindhome

Irish Ultracyclist Ricky Geoghan(sp?) has just set a record for the Malin>Mizen>Malin of 58 hours for 730 miles.


So there you go, that's next years goal sorted.......

barry_kellett99

TailWindHome wrote:

Irish Ultracyclist Ricky Geoghan(sp?) has just set a record for the Malin>Mizen>Malin of 58 hours for 730 miles.


So there you go, that's next years goal sorted.......

He must have left his sunglasses at malin or something?