Discussion: ITERA Ireland - The Wild Atlantic Way

Wow! Ireland sure is pretty. :)

Team in Ireland looking for a girl for their team ;-)

It's stunning Bash!!

We have some fantastic locations for adventure and feeling alive. Have a search of Wild Atlantic Way to get a feel for some of the places we *might* see in ITERA next year.

#WildAtlanticWay

You guys are great ambassadors! :)

Some of the areas that will undoubtedly feature in the race

http://www.independent.ie/life/travel/travel-tv/vi...

I did the 3 day Ballyhoura Beast (also 2015 European Champs) earlier in the year and the mountains in this area are stunning. I'll be going back.

Looking forward to seeing you again, GD44!

So shotgunmcos, Sean, abiperk, GD44 and Slice in so far could be quite the party in Killarney :-)

@Drisc and @Broots will be there, too!

Yup, can't wait!

Also Storm, Leanimal, DoubleDown...

So
Sean
Shotgunmcos
abiperk
GD44
Slice
Drisc
Brooks
Storm
Leanimal
Doubledown

Woohoo!!
What team is everyone in? Who, apart from GD44 has been to or raced in Ireland?

Alright Sean, You dragged me in!

Should be racing as well.

Enduro, howdy!

Nice one!! Enduro :)

Leanimal has gathered a gang of us girls to commit to a racing vacation! We know we'd be unranked, but we're okay with that as we know it'll be an amazing experience. Still need to register...

@Drisc, @Broots, and I are racing with Mark Lattanzi as Rootstock Racing. First time in Ireland for at least some of us!

Early bird extended to Jan 30th

@Slice now that's how you do a vacation!

After that trip, Mark will have raced everywhere (and with almost everyone) on the planet.

@tRicky, Mark's fitting Itera into a European racing tour in 2016 :)

Another taster Wild Atlantic Way up North
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v...

I literally cannot wait. But a lot of training to do. First race of the year will be a 24hr loop of these parts

Kate, Starker, myself will be racing along with AR newbie Claire as Team Strong Machine. Looking forward to meeting everyone there!

Cool. Might meet up with some or all of ye for a meal in Killarney :-)

I'm looking forward to it too. GodZone first though!

Unfortunately due to family & work commitments it has meant that I have to bow out of being involved in the TriHarderAR assault on ITERA for 2016 :(

On the positive side it means there is an opening for someone on the team who would like to take part!

The team say they don't want to replace me which broadens the spectrum for anyone willing to take part. You don't have to be old, wise cracking, sensible or wear green calf sleeves; those precedents no longer apply.

If you are relatively fit, can paddle, cycle, climb then the spot looks good for you. Importantly a great sense of humour, ability to laugh with others and a tolerance for cous-cous will get you through.

If you are looking for a team to be part of, I can highly recommend this one. You won't regret it!!



Check it out on http://triharderar.com/2016/01/are-you-looking-for...

Thanks Sean. You are a big loss but still part of the team as you know. We will have to forego the cous cous without you

True we seek a fit fun girl or guy. Sure there are other teams looking but this race will be on the Wild Atlantic Way. Some of which is Irish speaking country (An Ghealtacht)...

Just sayin' like.

Oh and plus Sean will have proper race commentary and team updates on the site, blog and social media for your loved ones back home to follow

Just sayin' :-)

Emily Korsch mentioned on her TA1 podcast that Michael Garrison from Bushwhacker is looking for a team, if anyone is still in need. I also know a few guys in the Northeast US looking to match up if anyone wants more mid-pack teammates.

#TriHarderAR still in need. Ideally a competent Nav happy to lead, tag team or support Nav when I start seeing little green monsters. Drop me a line at michael.caseyoshea@gmail.com
Team dynamic is everything so a chatty, cheeky, "I never ever quit!" type should fit just fine :-)

http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_news.php?article_i...

Sleepmonsters confirming that which was suspected by us - Killarney is a key area and the Wild Atlantic Way will feature highly.

If I was a RD I would be considering a North to South race starting in Mayo, plenty of hills for hiking and MTB into Galway and Clare with a good stretch of open water to kayak across Limerick to Kerry and finish with a big series of climbs in the Killarney area.

Did your team find a replacement teammate? If not, you could try the Adventure Race Teammate Finder page on Facebook.

Thanks Bash.

Mike picked up a guy he knows well who fits in well. It's a sub for me that is proving tricky (and it's not because I'm particularly skilled) its just to get the mindset & balance of the team right.

Hoping they post a team list soon!

Entry list is up for Itera.

http://entries.itera.ie/entrant_list.php?race_id=1...

Shorter on UK teams than i would have expected - looks like there's not many making the journey over from the mainland, and very few of the usual suspects. Notable by their absence - Ellis Brigham AR, HaglofsSilva UK, Nav4Adventure, TriAdventure, CamRacers etc. Could be due to most of the UK teams having raced in the AR Euro Champs in Ireland last year and feeling like they've "been there and done that" maybe? I know that's the case for me - we (Endurancelife) have entered one team (with GD44 of this parish leading it), but I'm in the other half of of the squad (Tom, Ben, Sabs) who are joining Mark Humphrey to put a team into Raid in France instead (we fancied the Pyrenees and the South of France more than revisiting Ireland - no offence to the Irish!).

Godzone (formerly Adidas Terrex) have to be the favourites, and it's great to see Tom Gibbs back in exped AR once more after an awful knee injury 2 years ago.

I'd put Columbia Ireland in second favourite place, made up of the strongest Irish racers, then probably Sweco, who would have done well at the previous Itera had they not missed a CP accidentally...

Should be an interesting race!

What? You don't think Team Cameltoes will figure in the business end of the race?!

The thought had occurred to me, but then I watched them trying to find CP10 in Godzone....

120km paddling whether long or short course. In SOTs!! Gulp!

Let's do the maths on the paddling.

Average speed in SOTs = 6kph (say). 120/6 = 20hrs! Ouch.

So approx 20-25% of the race time will be on SOTs.

Ouch indeed. Over 3 stages too. Hopefully the longer stage is on a river and not the Atlantic with the prevailing south westerly

Tell me more about this prevailing southwesterly...we're putting plenty of practice in on the water but now you're telling me I should always point the bow into the wind?

Roll over the stations on the west coast (Wild Atlantic Way) for info. Rivers fine as they will generally be down stream but lakes and sea can kick up a nice chop pretty quickly and paddling SOTs into a headwind is "fun"

http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/wind.asp

[paddling SOTs into a headwind is "fun".]

Particularly fun for the rear paddler when you have a wind & wave blocker up front :D :D

Funny Yeah but I nearly drowned that day while you guffawed! Ha but while I broke all the waves you had to sit in the puddle..

Does anybody know what trekking is like in Ireland? I`m assuming there is not much wilderness to find our way through without ending up on the back end of Bono`s property. kidding. Seriously, any intel on what the landscape is like?

It's not that wild. Most hills are open moors with knee high grass, gorse and bracken / heather. A lot of state forestry which is mostly pine will have access roads through them.

Some mountainous areas but nothing huge, average will be 600-900m high. Some nice proper climbing terrain in Killarney.

Shotgun and I are trekking some of Connemara this weekend, we'll post pics up in our logs.

Thanks so much Sean! Much appreciated! I'm on the Bobkittens with Leanimal, Slice, and DogRunner - hope to meet you in Ireland!

Kerry is not as soft. Quite Rocky, loose scree, scrambling ridges and all rather beautiful. Both this and the boggy stuff mentioned by Sean will feature. If it is wet or has been raining bog can get pretty soft and holes can swallow your leg in black tar like mud suddenly.

The one exception to these types of terrain is the Burren in Co Clare. Its basically a massive limestone mattress cracked over the ages. It looks like what you imagine the surface of the moon to be and may well feature (bike or foot)

Oh one other thing. It can get pretty windy in the West adding to the fun on higher terrain

https://goo.gl/photos/iXsmb7mkRCXmf9fW6

Some shots of Wicklow hills taken during Rogaine.

I forgot about the knee deep bog holes!! Became a running joke - very much you had to be there to enjoy it but funny all the same.

If you hear someone running around shouting "Hole!!" during ITERA you can be sure it's a TriHarder :D

Don't suppose anyone from
Dublin is planning on travelling to Killarney on Saturday August 13th? My flight gets in at 11:15 and then I'll be heading over to Killarney JUST in case anyone wants to give me a ride. I won't have a bike with me.

Hope you are sitting for this one.

A stunning shot of Ireland under a clear sky:



That's Kerry & Killarney at the bottom left where the mountians are the 'toes' of ireland. North above that is Co. Limerick & Clare (across the esturay) with Galway above that with the next batch of mountains on the western shores.

From Donegal in the very North West to Cork at the very bottom South West is the 2,500km Wild Atlantic Way

Wow!

Very nice, though not a real image...biggest clue is the exaggerated relief.

http://www.her.ie/life/ireland-nasa/295466
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-183862550/stock-ph...

Looks like Westeros.

Aw Ken, you're no fun. ;)

Maybe fake but it is Ireland, Irelands shape, Irelands profile, topography etc Just a pretty pic of the Emerald Isle ?

Been watching the lineup and the number of personnel and team name changes this week alone is nuts. The number of injuries across a dozen teams in the last month has been nuts. The West Coast will be tough in wet conditions.

Schematic due out this week.

What Ireland lacks in physical topography ascent (highest point is only 1,040mts) it makes up for in the variety, history and cheekiness of terrain :-)

Almost time to start tracking the extended forecast!

Already have... Cloudy :-)

I can't go and play! :-(

GD44. So sorry to hear the bad news. Will miss crossing paths in Ireland. Hope everything heals up smoothly!

I don't know which is more exciting the ITERA race or getting to meet up with APers :D

Meeting the APers at pre race them bumping into each other during ITERA :-)

Then the after par teeeee

We've heard rumor that Ivan's known for some epic after-parties.

It's a toss up between epic parties and his hike-a-bikes though ;)

Ha, yeah, we heard about those, too!

Race Schematic has been sent out to Team Captains
It will get very interesting very quickly as first significant trek is on the first night or 10hrs into the race!

Can someone post the race schematic for those of us watching from the other side of the world?

Djtom, I posted this morning as a new thread in the AR general discussion thread:

http://ar.attackpoint.org/discussionthread.jsp/mes...

Thanks, I was hoping the discussion would move over there soon! :)

I'm starting to learn the ins and outs of AP race tracking :)

:) This is AP's intended place for race discussion but it's become a tradition (and a more efficient route choice) to do our exped race dot watching at the top of the AR discussion forum where there are fewer discussion topics, making it easy to find.