Garmin 800, 1000 and Wahoo Elemnt audax review

by Stuart 1. November 2017 12:41

Summary

Of the three devices, overall for me I have found the stability and ease of use and RWGPS route integration of the Wahoo Elemnt have far outweighed its reduced navigation functionality.

Of the Garmin’s, I found the 800 a far better device than the 1000.  The 800 has a couple of quirks to be aware of – always reset your ride after 200km or so, avoid any route re-calculation and be prepared to stop and start the route.

I found the 1000’s touch screen to be pretty much unusable and reliability was a major issue.  With the 800 I knew how and when it would stop working, with the 1000 it was much more random and, since I couldn’t get the touch screen to work, much harder to sort on the go.

All the devices suffer from a major design flaw – USB charging – especially for those wishing to charge on the go from a dynamo or other source. 

The micro USB socket is not robust enough to handle the vibration and conditions.

Although I can understand with the 800, which has no other connectivity  (blue-tooth or wireless), the other two devices do not need one and would benefit from a dedicated power socket.

I note early B&M USB charging lights featured a USB on switch but this was soon dropped for a proper power connection + adaptor. 

My requirements

All these devices have a lot of features.  In the case of the Wahoo they have a monthly upgrade which seems to add more and more though, unlike the Garmins, it has not been to the determent of reliability.  The Garmin 1000 is probably currently the most “feature rich”.

Not every cyclist is using these devices for the same thing and I guess the Audax rider is a fairly niche market though probably sharing some of the same desires of the tourer and club rider.

Anyway – here's what I want from the device.  Look at their websites yourselves to marvel at their features.

Must have

  • Navigation – ability to follow long routes over multiple days from RWGPS and other mapping tools, GPX/TCX format. 
  • Reliable over multi day, long rides e.g. PBP 1200km/4 days.
  • Rechargeable on the go – in my case from a hub dynamo with a B&M Luxos IQ with USB output.
  • Strava integration – yes I am an addict.
  • Work and be visible at night and in all other conditions.
  • HRM integration

Nice to Have

  • Automatic upload of rides.
  • Other bike devices – cadence.
  • Time warning – set to e.g. 20 minutes to remind me to drink.
  • Live tracking

I don’t care about

  • Strava segments on the go.
  • Lots of other stuff

I really don’t want

  • email, text, call notification etc. – basically if I’m on my bike I don’t want to know how your cat is!

Garmin 800

I bought a second had Garmin 800 shortly after LEL in 2013.  Up to that point I had used old school route sheets for navigation and sometimes a phone with various apps to record or assist with the navigation.  Phones are not really up to the job of navigation as you can’t see the screens, they are difficult to mount and charge.

The Garmin 800 served be well.

(Note – I believe 810 and 820 models are considerably different to the 800, not just an 800 with Bluetooth and wireless etc.)

Navigation

Pretty good with turn by turn and nice warnings of up and coming turns.

The device I bought had European maps that and they were good – though didn’t update at all.

You can load GPX and TCX files.

For GPX files the Garmin will calculate the turns on its own maps which I found the best option.  TCX includes turns from the source which may not be as good or match the map.

Nice loud audible and visual warnings of turns and being off course.

If you go off route – don’t get it to recalculate else you may go round in circles or even back to the start – which in my case could be 100’s of km away!

The Garmin devices actually include mapping algorithms so you can search for places and get it to calculate a route.

Nice big drawing of the junction and an arrow flashes up as you approach.

Overall, for navigation, I’d say the 800 was the best.

Reliability

Here the 800 let itself down.  At some point between 280 and 500km it will lock up, stop recording your ride.  If you turn it off and on it will simply hang.

My theory is there is a limit on the file size for the ride.

The first couple of times this happened I had to do a factory reset – meaning you lose all your data including your current ride and routes on the device.

The last time it happened I actually managed to stop the ride (right button) and reset (hold left button) during boot up and start a new ride.

Sometimes it would just stop giving turn, but stopping and restarting navigation seemed to fix this.

Also, it will corrupt rides.  I’ve tried recovering with a “file scraper” but because of the fit binary format the ride is always corrupt.  This is not helped by the way they work – the current ride is written to the on board storage to a file and then when you end the ride it is renamed to another file either on the device or the SD card.  In the event of a crash, issue or whatever it will start writing over the current ride on the drive!

Other stuff

Rechargeable on the go – yes – mini USB on rear of device.  BUT USB connector will break due to stress.  I broke two, the second one I took the lid off and had a look and the vibration/stress of the cable being connected dethatched the USB connector from the circuit board.

Strava integration – The 800 has to be plugged into your PC where Garmin software uploads it to Garmin Connect and onwards to Strava via integration.  Given the right leads – you can also manually upload via an Android Phone or store your rides on the SD cards – recommended anyway in case you have to factory reset whilst out – and put the SD card into your PC, phone or whatever

Work and be visible at night and in all other conditions as I was permanently charging I had the backlight on all the time so pretty visible.  Some issues with touch screen during very heavy rain. 

HRM integration – yes

Automatic upload of rides  - no – requires PC.

Other bike devices – cadence – yes.

Time warning – set to e.g. 20 minutes to remind me to drink – yes.

Live tracking – no

Hints and tips

  • Start a new ride every 200km.
  • Put your rides an routes on an SD so at least if you have to factory reset you can take this out first.Manu
  • ally delete old files from the drive.
  • The name of the route in the gpx, not the file name, has to be unique and not be too long or contain funny characters.  This is the route name on RWGPS.
  • Run chkdsk/check disk for errors on the drives through your USB.  Its drive type (FAT32) will have corruption after crashes, unexpected shutdowns etc.
  • Keep it up to date with patches.

Support

The first time the USB port broke I contacted Garmin.  Even though the device was well out of warranty they offered me a refurbished device for £70.  This was a great service.

When the USB went again 18 month later I started looking at the 1000 – as the 800 was pretty long in the tooth.

Garmin 1000

So I splashed some hard earned cash on the Garmin 1000 plus all the trimmings.

8 months or so later it was returned for good.

Even more complicated to set up than the 800, though some of this was probably my familiarity with the 800, I never really warmed to this device.

Screen was nice and colourful but much harder to read.

I couldn’t ever really get the touchscreen to work on a dry day with bare fingers, let alone with gloves or rain.

Navigation was as per the 800 except it never really gave turn by turn.  It would start with good intentions and then just stop.

Also, the 800 has a nice loud beep warning.  The 1000 is inaudible.

It could record long rides – did a 400km fine – but still pretty unreliable in general.

Automatic uploads aren’t – they are more miss than it – though not having to have a PC is handy.

But – it will only download routes over the air from Garmin and for some reason you cant take your GPX and put it in Garmin connect – so you need to plug in your PC or special phone adaptor again at this point.

Broke after a couple of months – just died.  Wouldn’t charge or do anything. 

Excellent support from Garmin – they sent me a new one.

Died again a couple of months later.

Returned to Amazon as “not fit for purpose” for a refund.

Wahoo Elemnt

It’s a bit ugly.  Very easy to set up – you just use an app on your phone.  You can literally slide the tiles around.

It is not touch screen but has a total of 6 buttons.   Three across the bottom, two on the right which zoom/scroll the screen and one on the left.  Very easy to use even in heavy rain and gloves.

Screen is black and white and super easy to see and can zoom.  You put your important data at the top so as you get old and tired you can make it bigger.

It has lights across the top and up the left side with different colours and flashing patterns to help you navigate and train.  These are good.

Navigation

Well – it doesn’t actually navigate.

What it does do is show a breadcrumb train on your map that you can follow.

It does a bit more with RWGPS – because RWGPS has TCX files with instructions as part of the route it will give you those as pop ups on screen as you ride.

If you are using the RWGPS routes the lights across the top and the top and sides tell you which way to go and also warn you when you are off course.

Beeps aren’t as loud as the 800 and it would be nice to have the option to switch to the map at a junction.

Not quite as fully functioning a “sat nav” as the Garmin.

However, the integration with RWGPS (and Strava and possibly others) for navigation is fantastic.  All my RWGPS/strava routes are listed on the device and app and I can simply select the one I want to ride!  (Only issue is I have a lot of routes starting from my house.)

I can sync my routes if I’ve phone data or wifi.

You can also download any TCX/GPX to your phone and select it with the app and load it on the device.

No – you don’t have the App/data when you start.  Just make sure you’ve synced your routes.

Maps are open cycle or street map I think.

So – you get easier use but not quite as good a turn by turn experience – I just have the map page on all the time.

In honesty – that’s what you end up doing on the 800 anyway.

Reliability

One small glitch so far – it seemed to stop recording during a ride.  Luckily my chain snapped so I turned it off and on again and it started a new ride.

The first ride was still their – uploaded to RWGPS fine but not to Strava.  But I was able to join and transfer it to Strava – so no actual data loss.

More than that, on one ride I didn’t realise the power wasn’t plugged in so it went flat.  When I turned it back on it started on its “loading current ride” and then died again because of lack of battery.

So I rode for a couple of miles to give it a chance to get some juice and started her up. 

Started a new ride but when I got back I found the original ride was still there too.  No data loss.  There was in fact an extra ride which was a duplicate of the first part of the original.

Seems someone has actually thought about “Failure Modes” with real usage.

Have to confess – I’ve yet to go over 300km with it – but have read reports of it being fine for 1000km+.

Other stuff

Rechargeable on the go – yes – micro USB on the base so put unit out front.  No issues yet but still a worry.

    Strava integration – yes and RWGPS integration is excellent.

    Work and be visible at night and in all other conditions as I was permanently charging I had the backlight on all the time so pretty visible.  Some issues with touch screen during very heavy rain. 

    HRM integration – yes – I bought the package so have the wahoo HRM (+speed + cadence).

    One of the features of this device I love is that you can link data to the lights on the left of the device.  In my case I link the HRM and it knows my 5 zones going from blue for Z1/2, green for Z3, amber for Z4 and red for 5.  I’ve never really paid much attention to HRM during a ride before but I find this really useful for making sure I don’t go to hard during a long ride or, as is more the case with me, lounge about in Z1!

    Also works well for turbo/interval training.

      Automatic upload of rides  - yes – works automatically so long as you have launched the app on your phone.

      Other bike devices – cadence – yes.

      Time warning – set to e.g. 20 minutes to remind me to drink – no – or at least not yet..

      Live tracking – yes – via phone.

      Support

      A couple of weeks ago I updated a route on RWGPS but when I went to ride the route it had not changed on the device.  It had on the app.

      I contacted support and they told me how to fix – (disconnect, resync, re-connect) and assured me it was not normal behaviour.

      Response was next day – which is OK and they responded to my subsequent question (did I need to do this every time – answer no).

      Hints and tips

      You can turn it off during a ride but it then seems to take a long time reloading your current ride again (I deduce its actually parsing through the file and creating a copy) when you turn it on again.  If you’ve done 100km+ already this can be a few minutes.

      If you don’t care about power (which I don’t) just pause it!

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      GPS

      Antrim 300 2017

      by Stuart 6. October 2017 10:18

      Some photos – mainly taken by Brian and some from Ryan for those who haven’t seen them on FB – https://photos.app.goo.gl/rIU1Fo4VuJQ77i8z2

      By 5:55am 9am 8 of the 10 riders were present at the new start location, opposite the old start location just off the Boucher Road.  It was cool but so far for me anyway, the day was progressing well.  Both my tyres were still intact and the extra bit of organisation of putting brevets and route sheets into labelled bags makes it all a bit more relaxing.

      I dispatched Seamus to check the old start and one other arrived.

      At 6 I gave my very brief speech.  Aidan was still putting the finishing touches so a good group held back.  Just as we were leaving Paul W showed.  Apparently he can navigate 1400km but not 4.

      The first climb up Divis was a welcome warmer to all – least that’s what I heard – and everyone was particularly impressed with the fresh pave towards the top.  By the top I think everyone had met everyone else at least once.

      I ended up in a group of six.

      Sunrise bought little in the way of warmth but much in the way of beauty.  With nobody particularly keen for more breakfast and a Brevet card signer (me) in tow, we pushed through the first control at Carrickfergus.

      We groaned our way through Gleno.

      On the Feystown road I lost the group during a call of nature and, in truth, because I was feeling the pace a bit.

      The new descent to the coast is a bit easier.

      The group had stopped at Carnlough – just around the coast but Ryan, Paul W and Gareth had pushed on when they realised it wasn’t the control.  I guess some had confused the TT controls.  I stopped for coffee with Ryan and Brian and cake, knowing that better fayre could be had than the meagre supplies in Cushendun shop.

      We picked up Paul W through Cushendun and then hit the Head.  It never gets easier.

      Brian got some great shots of us  on the last climb and 4 of us (minus Gareth and Paul) regrouped in Ballycastle for more food but I was unable to stay with them on the way out.  I eventually caught up with Ryan and we rode together into the wind to Portrush where he stopped to make a call and Brian and Dean at the garage between Portstewart and Coleraine.

      I only really do that section on the Antrim 300 and I always forget how nice it is.

      The three of us made good progress with the tailwind back to Ballycastle where we controlled and began to add the layers.  The vanishing lake was dispatched still with the air assistance.  After that came my favourite climb, the long ascent (14km/404m) up Slieve Norra, more clothes, over to broughshane where we topped off our bottles.

      Within no time we were fully lit up cursing the Collin and then happily on the long descent down to the bright lights of Belfast.

      Back at Boucher the rave was in full swing.  I nipped to KFC for my annual “huge pile of chicken” and then awaited the other riders.

      Everyone by 12:15 and all in good spirits.  Daughter and her mate left rave at 1 so all was good.

      Slight route changes were for the better – but I would still like to re-route the Belfast return section.  The number of traffic lights is annoying at the end of the ride and at busy times of the evening mixing with taxis, revellers going out or revellers being chucked out can be a bit of a pain.

      Routeing back over Divis would not really be too pleasant and some of the ring routes would also be hilly and complicated and I know some are nervous about ending up in the wrong bit of town.

      Anyway – I was pleased with the organisation this year and glad to see everyone was able to complete the full route.

      Congratulations to all – particularly those who were doing there first Brevet, 300, Torr or all three!

      Antrim 300 will return @ the same time next year.

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      Antrim 300(0) 2016

      by Stuart 4. October 2016 06:40

      A BAD START

      Normally I like to prep all the organisers stuff on Wednesday, and prep my own stuff on Thursday / Friday as running the brevet doubles the nerves as you not only have to remember your own stuff but everyone else's.

      Wednesday I was waylaid with something and Thursday I left my laptop at work so I couldn't prep the cards etc.

      Took me about 2 hours to get the damn printer to work on Friday so didn't have time for my usual bagging and tagging - but with the rider numbers dropping from 16 to 13, I opted to get my own stuff ready knowing I'd be able to do everything at sign on.

      Woke, breakfast and in the car before my eyes were open.  As I crossed a speed bump I heard a bang but just assumed it was the bag of bottles in my boot bouncing but when I got to the bottom of the lane I noticed a distinct lack of bike on my boot!  Turned out in my haste the night before I'd forgotten to actually strap it. 

      Everything looked miraculously OK but at the start it turned out both tubes had blown and one tyre was blown.  (+ the new rear lamp cover that I'd just replaced after throwing the bike into a ravine was gone).  (+ a lost bottle).

      Thanks to the guys who mucked in and helped with the sign on's and apologies that the route sheets, pens and zip bags were not as organised as I would like them to be. 

      Also B & Q has moved - which might have confused one or two!

      Anyway, once I'd allowed Conor to cycle up and down the Boucher road a couple of times - I gave a brief and un-prepared speech and everyone was off.  15 minutes later I was climbing Divis into the dawn thinking things aren't so bad after all.   Caught up with John but then just at the foot of the descent punctured!

      This was 1 mile from my house - so the temptation was huge - but I changed the tube (now down to one) and hoped for the best.  I had no further punctures all day.

       

      A GREAT DAY

       

      Once the drama was over I had a pleasant days cycling in great company.  Skipped my customary croissant and coffée in Carrick to make up an bit of time and was soon clipping along with a couple of John's, a Richard - who was spreading his punctures and mechanicals through the day rather than getting them over early like me.

      IMG_20161001_1909551

      Spot of rain when Richard made the mistake of taking off his jacket, attracting two farmers. Other than that a perfect autumn day with slight headwind (and welcome "pousse a dos" - my favourite French expression - on the return). 

      Opted for the seafood chowder in McBrides, Cushendun, which was excellent and helped me over the Torr trying to outrun either the hound or Richard, who again was using his special 4X4 + farmer +  trailer magnetism, on the last climb.

      The loop out to Coleraine was surprisingly rolling on the way - I think there must have been some earthquakes or maybe its part of Brexit because I don't remember any of those climbs from the previous five times I've ridden the route.  Hopefully they'll be gone again before next year.

      Signs of randonneurs were everywhere back in Ballycastle with the garage attendant handing out multiple receipts and cycles and cyclists in various states of repair.  I grabbed a sandwich and a wrap for 'ron and dressed for the night.

      I left with Darran and Richard, who had just smugly removed a cassette with a "Next Best Thing" and fitted a new spoke in about ten minutes, for one of the nicest ascents to the vanishing lake I've done.

      IMG_20161001_190938

      IMG_20161001_190942

      IMG_20161001_190955

      We then re-grouped at the aqueduct for what for me is the best climb in the world (that I've done) - Slievnorra.  400m vertical and about 14km in length, it starts off gently, as a sharp bit with scary geese and then a lovely gentle ride around the edge of a Forest with spectacular views all the way.  Dusk is an ideal time with the tinge of orange all around.

      As I had warned - the temperature dropped at night but I was smugly warm in my ever increasing amount of Autumnal clothing.   I grew ravenous into Broughshane but my stash of chicken wraps did the trick - despite me spilling half a chicken tikka.

      The Collin road was a painful as ever - but once over that its downhill all the way to the finish -  Richard and I swapping a Darran for a William on the way.  Belfast city centre was busy but no banter.  The Malone road was much hillier than usual.  Back at Boucher I rode through KFC's finest drive through, ate more chicken than is natural and wrapped myself in a sleeping bag.

       

      THE FINISH

      Half the riders seem to have come in around 9:30 and most of the rest came in around the same time as me.

      John (Mc Elroy) roused me out of a deep sleep at an unknown time but he must have tucked me in again because his card was signed and he'd gone by the time I woke properly. 

      Conor was lantern rouge just before two, which, with a couple of DNF's with body and bike mechanicals accounted for all of the riders so I could return home without worry. 

      I thank them both for letting me know promptly and encourage all to do the same.

       

      NEXT YEAR

      Subject to the workings of AI, CI and ACP - none of which should be an issue, the Antrim 300 will be back next year in its traditional slot of 1'st weekend in October.

      I may CHANGE THE ROUTE next year slightly to include the "dark hedges" - which I have never seen either on screen or in life but seem to be a popular attraction.

      Thanks for listening!

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      Audax | Audax Ireland | brevets

      LE 1000 DU SUD by a one to two hours in hand randonneur.

      by Stuart 14. September 2016 10:36

      “Friendship is the hallmark of randonneuring.”

      - The 1000 du Sud - https://sites.google.com/site/le1000dusud/

      First thing to say is massive thanks to Sophie and for organising and supporting such a fantastic event.

      Secondly, thanks to my family and friends for there support and to all the other riders at AI, my club (Madigan CC)  and elsewhere who helped me physically, mentally and spiritually along the way.

       

      Preparation and training

      I knew this was going to be a tough one but really have had this in mind for 2016 for about three years now, slotting in nicely between PBP last year and LEL next (that I probably wont do now as I intend to give the long ones a miss next year).

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      Audax

      Tara 200– mechanical business as usual in 2016

      by Stuart 17. March 2016 05:52

      Big thanks to Dave for organising a great event.  Great food and great route with some spectacular views.

      Best section for me was the bumps between Kingscourt and Baileborough.  Lovely scenery.

      When I woke in the morning I was wondering what I was doing up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning with a ninety mile drive and two hundred kilometres of cycling ahead of me.

      But when I walked out to the car all the sun was rising, it felt warm, the birds were singing and I knew it was going to be a great day – and it was.

      By quarter to eight I’d had two coffees, a pecan slice and was signed on ready to go.  With more than sixty entrants this was a large turnout for a Brevet.

      So, the start was fast with a large group rattling away at unlawful speed.

      Luckily a mechanical, rear gear cable just came out at the derailleur, saw me off the group. 

      DSCN0891

       

      I joined with some familiar riders but yet another mechanical just before the first control saw me off the back.  This one was a bit more embarrassing.  Post PBP I re-fitted a 50 chain ring on the front for winter club rides.  I didn’t put any links back in the chain but knew not to use the 50/30 combination.  Of course, I’d forgotten this and it pulled my wheel out and locked it!DSCN0890

      DSCN0889

      Silly boy.

      DSCN0892

      First stop at 50 km was well stocked.  I cleaned my hands, ate, ate some more and then pushed on.

      No major events on the next stretch.  Was caught and joined a group of 8 or so and we pushed along pretty steadily.  Aiden suggested my rear mudguard was rubbing so I stopped and had a look.  Was my rear light wire.  I was expecting issues around here as the bottom stay has become dethatched from the guard.  Nothing to worry about though.  Just requires yet another SKS mudguard – I seem to get through one a year.

      DSCN0893

      Second stop was unmanned but plenty of garage forecourt!

      Again I grouped up with six of us pushing hard (for me anyway) to the last control at 160km, with Dave providing yet more food.

      For the last stretch I declined the group as I knew I’d not be able to sustain the pace and with Tara and its steeper successor on the path there was little likelihood of us staying together.

      I think I’ve only been over Tara once before on the Carlingford 300 a few years back, and it was dark.  So it was nice to be able to see some of the large potholes at the bottom of the descent.

      I eventually got back to Ashbourne in OK state.  I was happy with my first 200 of the year but a long way off my fitness of last year.  The extra 3 bags of sugar, or more accurately pints of beer, around my waste aren’t helping either!

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      Audax | Audax Ireland

      2015 RRTY

      by Stuart 26. December 2015 16:18

      RRTY stands for Randoneur Round The Year – doing a 200 km audax (calendar or permanent) approved ride for 12 successive calendar months.  In December 2014 5 Audax Ireland riders, including me  completed this task. 

      On 2’nd of Jan 2015 one of them laid down the gauntlet by riding the Mick Byrne 200 as a permanent – so I signed up for a second year.

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      Audax | Cycling

      Another year, another RRTY

      by Stuart 14. December 2015 17:27

      So, Randoneur Round The Year – 200km or more on approved audax route (calendar event or permanent) in twelve successive months started Jan 2014 and I just finished my 24’th event.

      I think that’s it.  Its a tough nut as there are some months with holidays, family commitments and so on you just know you’re going to find yourself out by yourself for 10 hours or so in the rain.

       

      Of course, the last event, the Gheimhridh 200 (Winter 200).  I was in a group travelling at a comfortable pace for me when, whilst traversing a pot hole on the “Bog Road”  I heard a crack.

      At first I thought it was the front tyre but soon realised it was not as my steering just wasn’t working.  I mounted the verge and came to an unceremonious stop.  Luckily bog is pretty soft.  Not even a bruise to show.

      Turns out the rear clamp on by (handlebar) stem had cracked.

      Luckily, a call to a local friend had me on the road in 45 minutes or so with a borrowed stem.

      Just glad I wasn’t hurtling down Torr head!

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      Audax | RRTY

      PBP 2015

      by Stuart 7. September 2015 16:17

      - a long ride deserves a long rant…

      Mortagne-au-Perche, nearly 1,100 km done, 10:30 pm Wednesday August 19’th.  It was a long climb up to the Control, I could hear applause up ahead but my light was dim, the dynamo struggling to provide power.  There was a spontaneous groan, a steep ramp and then through the crowds of cheering spectators. 

      Someone helped me off my bike.  “Controle?” I shouted, “Par-la” – I stumbled into the bright hall, brevet card in hand ready for the stamp.

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      Audax | Cycling

      Portugal Alem Téjo 2014

      by Stuart 5. October 2014 22:08

      (Photos variously borrowed from Randoneurs Portugal facebook, Clare Irwin and Google and even some of my own)

      (Reproduced from Audax Ireland)

      Nice start location.

      I’m sure when I look back on it, the three days on this Brevet will rank right up there amongst the best times of my life.  I wish I was a poet or a writer but unfortunately I spend most of my time working my left brain so prose does not come easily to me.

      But, if I had to sum it up the experience one word, it would be hospitable.

      If your free in 2016 – put this one in your diaries.  I couldn’t recommend it enough.

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      Audax

      Little Carlingford 200 in mode permanent

      by Stuart 9. June 2014 09:52

      Although it’s early in June, having blown some points away at REK and about to blow a lot more helping @MF I wanted to get my RRTY ride in asap.  I intend to do “Around Down” at the end of the month, a DNS or DNF would scupper my RRTY.

      The short story

      The Little Carlingford is a picturesque route.  It’s moderately challenging with a couple of climbs around Carlingford, some rolling hills between Stanmullen and Dunleer and the opportunity of a good sea breeze along the coast.  The controls have plenty of shops for both a sit down meal or a sandwich.  (Note stopped at the first shop on the way into Clogherhead, which had a sandwich counter, the garage/shop on way out seemed to have seats outside under shelter – so might be a better bet).

      This was my first permanent.  The flexible start time and location really suits.  Sometimes its nice to ride alone as you can go at your own pace and please yourself at controls etc.  Sometimes it would be nice to do with company as 11 hours is quite a long time.

      The Long Story

      On Strava http://www.strava.com/activities/151116288

      The Carlingford 300 was a breakthrough ride for me in 2013.  It was the first brevet I completed (relatively) comfortably without hours of lone painful soul searching.  I was able to ride with a group for most of the way round and I was not the “lantern rouge”.

      In 2014 I was unable to ride again due to holidays.  So, when Marc announced a 200Km permanent version it was an obvious choice for me.  Also, the ability to start from any control meant I could start at Dunleer, a mere hours drive away.  It would also allow me to test Marc’s new route for him.

      I got an electronic route sheet and stuffed it into excel and moved stuff about to give Dunleer start and distances from Dunleer.  If you don’t trust your Garmin, and who would, then this allows you to follow the route sheet without all that adding 55km, or whatever, in your head.

      Saturday (08/06):

      mrsm: Do you want me to get you some beers in for tonight.

      me: no – I’m getting up early to go cycling tomorrow.

      mrsm: another event? 

      me: No – just myself.

      Later that evening:

      me: I’m going to the off license?

      mrsm: why?  I thought you weren’t drinking?

      me: that’s much easier to say at one than to do at eight!

      However, I did make it to bed by 10 and was up and out the door by 5:30 – not bad.

      Held up getting coffee in the Lisburn McDrive through – so didn’t get started until 6:50.  All the shops were, of course, closed, but I there is a bank machine.  Unfortunately it was refusing to give receipts due to a technical issue – so I took a picture and got started.

       

      Apart from the drabness of Dundalk bypass, the trip out to Carlingford is pretty stunning.  Strong headwinds were brutal but luckily there are some hills for shelter on the way.

      In Carlingford I was sucked straight into a Café for some fried delights.  Time ticked on.  Then back over the hills to Dundalk, where not only was it still grey but the heavens really opened.

      I then fought my way down the coast into a strong South Westerly.  Marc had told me to pop in and, although I had declined, I decided to see if he was around anyway, as I had not had a conversation with anyone other than my dog that day – and that was 10 hours before.

      We had a chat and I stayed longer than I should so texted mrsm with my new approx. arrival time.  Arrived back in Dunleer at 6pm, back home by 7.

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      Audax | Audax Ireland

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      Been through a few "what this is" and now settled on my (Stuart McLean's) general blog - mainly about cycling but occasionally anything else chucked in.

      I also occasionally write some technical stuff which you can find here.

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