howie Posted May 17, 2008 Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 Hi, don’t know if anyone is interested, but I thought I write a few words to the Tour of Ireland Cycle Challenge I have just completed. I must say, it’s been the best thing I have ever done on two wheels. Beats the etape hands down! To be honest, 4 Days and 500 miles riding sounded a bit daunting to me, as I have never tried anything even close to it before. Anyway, me and Martin (Whitehead) arrived on Thursday afternoon in Lisburn, got the bikes sorted and had to hang around for everybody to arrive for the riders briefing. Once that was done with we were dropped off at our hotel by coach and I for one spent a rather nervous night thinking about the days ahead. Day 1 – Lisburn to Cavan The morning started with a huge breakfast and the transfer to the start. Getting the bikes ready and waiting for the actual start time. Due to the rain we were kept in the dry sports centre until actually rolling out to the start. The major was supposed to give a speech but the organisers were kind and we were spared standing in the rain for this. Once started we rode out with the motorbikes in front and others blocking all side roads and the support vehicles behind. 230 riders, what a peloton! The bunch stayed together for the first 15 or so miles. Then we hit the hills. Somebody told me that last year a couple of people were complaining that the first stage was too easy…what a bunch of jokers. The organisers certainly showed them. Obviously here the main bunch split into small clusters and single riders. After two 1000+ feet climbs I found myself in a group of about 15 riders. An older irish rider took it on to explain the virtues of a chain gang to some of the riders in the group. After a few repeats of the concept for the slow learners we managed quite nicely up to the feedstop. When we arrived, the first group of about 30 riders just pulled out. We filled up with water and energy bars and waited for some small groups to come in and set of again. The concept of regrouping at feedstops might seem a bit strage at first, but in the end everyone appreciated the advantage of a larger bunch (at least for a while) for the riders and the police/marshalls as well. The next set of hills came quite soon and I punctured on the ascent. Without the bunch I was real happy to spot Martin coming up the hill who punctured at the bottom of the climb just a bit earlier. So we set of together and without the protection of the bunch and marshalls hammered down the descent. Bad move! A van came up the hill round a bend and all I could do was to pick a nice soft grassy spot to come off the bike. Lucky me, nothing happened to me or the bike. We managed to get to the feedstop not long after the the main (second) group and set off with them. Don’t know why, but we found ourselves at the front of the bunch and suddenly a wee breakaway formed which we joined. I forgot all the ‘take it easy, it’s only the first day’ chat we had in the morning and went for it. Our ten man chain gang went down to six but we stayed away till the finish. We were escorted into Cavan by police who made sure we didn’t have to stop for anything. What a blast. Day 2 – Cavan to Galway According to the profile quite a flat stage, just rolling countryside and along the river Shannon. The day started dry and the main bunch stayed together for the first 50 miles. I punctured again just before the first feedstop which meant that I still caught the first group again when heading out. With this in mind I thought that this might be the day to try to stay with the fast boys all (or most of) the way. Turned out not to be my lucky day. A few miles after the stop I went through a pothole and both my bottless launched out of the holder. Thinking that it’s still about 40 miles to go I thought the better of it and stopped to get the bottles. Just when I resigned myself to the fact that I lost the bunch now a marshall offered to draft me back onto the bunch. I thought I’d give it a go and time-trialled for about 10 minutes at 30mph behind the mototrbike. I made it back to the bunch with screaming legs. As if that wasn’t enough I punctured again ten miles down the road. The last 50 miles I spent in good company but in a rather small group of riders. Even with losing the main bunch still had an average speed of 20.3 mph over 120 miles. Day 3 – Galway to Kilkenny After yesterdays so called rest-day, we all knew that it’s getting serious now. The real hills where to start today. Riding out in the front third of the peloton it was interesting to watch the first breakaway after only 10 miles into a 140 mile ride. Ten miles later, still before the first set of climbs, I spotted Jamie (Burrows) and another rider decided to chase the break and went off the front with impressive pace. No doubt they caught up with them before or on the first climb. By now I got used to the riders around me who seemed to fit my pace and we all learned to work well together. Chatting to a guy in the bunch I nearly missed the break I was waiting for (the one where I reckoned I could keep up with) and had to bridge the gap. With a couple of folk on my tail I made it across and was sitting quite comfortably over the first few small climbs and up to the feedstop. It’s quite nice that the irish way of riding two-up seems to be that the rider on the right is going across in front of the one on the left and the right column moving up one. Just like a slow-motion chain gang. Gets you to ride next to different folk every few minutes. One girl (yes, there where a few) compared it to speed-dating. Now the climbing really started. Ascents where steep, but not too long (highest was 1100 ft ascent with the garmin recording well over 20% gradient). We regrouped at the top and were for some reason back with the first group. The descent was led by the organisers car with a warning of taking it real slow, as there were some nasty hairpins. They were right, unsupervised and without a briefing some people might have killed themselves on that one. After a few more nasty short climbs the bunch was all over the place and after another 20 miles we managed to form a group of around 40 riders who worked together with good pace right into Kilkenny. Coming into town we had the police outriders clearing all traffic for us coming through at high speed. Must have been frightening for the folk sitting in their cars with 40 bikes zooming past with half an inch to spare between handlebars and wing mirrors. There were hundreds of spectators at the barriers and the setting for the finish line was quite tricky with a right hand bend before it and 150 yards to go. A couple of guys with Kellogs jerseys lined up for the sprint but started far to early. Out of our group I think I came in 7th or 8th just behind Martin (and in front of the Kellogs boys!). Quite amazing what adrenaline can do for you after 140 miles of riding. Day 4 – Kilkenny to Dublin After yesterdays sprint finish I felt like this day is going to be near impossible, thinking about the Wicklow mountains to come. The legs were in surprisingly good shape though and we set of hitting the first hills pretty much straight away. Just enough time to warm up while getting out of town. Different climbs than yesterday. The gradient was far more suitable for me. It was easy to get into a rhythm and the day turned out to be rather nice. Beautiful sunshine on the way we all managed to the first feedstop in the second group. When we arrived the first group was just about to leave and I was half tempted to just ride out with them, but that would have probably turned out to be a rather lonely ride being spat out the back soon enough. There were three mayor hills to climb, the third being the Wickow Gap. On the climbs everyone went their own pace and I ended up riding with a local guy called Declan (who’s local knowledge came in handy for the finish later). On top of the Gap, which I found to be one of the nicest climbs of the day) we regrouped and hammered down towards the finish. That was still nearly 50 miles to go though. For some reason the pace picked up and everyone was hanging on by the skin of their teeth. Maybe someone had an early flight to catch… It was a blast though and nobody minded taking turns at the front. Towards the finish Declan told me that the line is round a sharp bend, uphill for a few hundred yards and once you’re on top it’s half a mile to go. Can’t see the line as it’s round the corner in the sports center grounds. Maybe some people didn’t know how long exactly the distance was and didn’t go flat out, but I managed to get in quite well-placed anyway. The best bits? Good company, great outriders, not having to stop for traffic in 500 miles, irish hospitality, town center sprints, great climbs, drafting a motorbike, nice hotels, good food, great organisation. The worst bits? One crash, three punctures, lost bottles (both at the same time), not getting a break due to not stopping for traffic in 500 miles, nasty climbs, drafting a motorbike, getting up too early, stuffing my face with energy gels all the time. Here's a link to the results (it wasn't a race of course ) http://www.cyclosport.org/article.aspx?id=663 Next time, and I hope I’ll be there again next year, I make sure I take better tyres and don’t crash and I could take half an hour off my time I reckon, Martin has been unlucky with his valve extenders and had to hang around for a mechanic for ages on the last day, his placement would have been far better. Next year there are five stages.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted May 17, 2008 Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 Well done Howie! Fantastic report on what sounds like a superb event. Really impressive effort and great result. Some of the stats are scary - 120 miles at over 20mph That is strong riding. Nice one mate . Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2024 Subscriptions Darryl Gunson Posted May 17, 2008 2024 Subscriptions Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 Well done Howie. Sounds like a great event. Knew you would have the legs after all those early morning doin's you gave me. Cheers Darryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions P McDonald Posted May 17, 2008 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 Sounds fantastic Howie - I was near Shannon last weekend so I has a glimpse of the superb scenery you were seeing PMcD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Committee Alan McLean Posted May 18, 2008 Committee Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 Great report Howie. Please would you give us an idea about the organisation. Was accomodation/food/luggage all preaaranged? Did you get there by ferry/plane/bike? Rough idea of cost? Might be a target for the Joansin massive next year. Regards Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions duncan thomson Posted May 18, 2008 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 great write up,inspirational stuff Howie Duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campbell Hutcheson Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 Well done Howie....fantastic... great reading your report on each Stage.... endurance to the extreme ! The Marmotte next year ? Campbell H... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howie Posted May 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 Alan, regarding the cost and stuff, the registration was £400 and included pretty much everything. Accommodation (good hotels!), meals, food during the stages, secure bike storage, etc. Everything apart from the flights. I flew into Belfast and back from Dublin, flight were about £20 + £15 or so for the bike each way. Would be nice to get a wee team together and do the tour next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howie Posted May 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 forgot to add the url for the tour site http://www.tourofireland.eu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiecrawford Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 well done howie! suspect there might be a lot more people there next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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