The Kelloggs Tour of Ireland Cycle Challenge 2007, four days and lots of Ireland ridden in a rare stage sportive involving rolling road closures with full police back-up, from both sides of the border. Participants were also raising money for the National Council for the Blind in Ireland. What more could you ask for?
THE STAGES
Stage 1 May 11, 2007 – Lisburn to Cavan – 142 kilometres
Stage 2 May 12, 2007 – Cavan Town to Galway City – 203 kilometres
Stage 3 May 13, 2007 – Galway City to Kilkenny City – 222 kilometres
Stage 4 May 14, 2007 – Kilkenny City to Dublin City – 185 kilometres
Kate, Sedef (having volunteered to assist the organisers) and I took a flight from London to Belfast and then a shot taxi ride to Lisburn for the official start proceedings – a civic reception involving the Mayor! There was no doubt the organisers (Marc and Joe Barr) were taking this pretty seriously with a buffet meal, lots of speeches and the presence of Dame Mary Peters, MBE and Olympic gold medallist, plus various other representatives.
It was a full-on day, what with registration, bike setup, introductions and the rider briefings, so it was off for a good nights sleep at the end of the day.
Stage 1. Lisburn to Cavan, 114 miles, 2331 metres of climbing.
After a comfortable night in a local hotel, close to 200 cyclists decked out in flashy lycra headed out to the start at Lisburn Leisureplex. The first stage was a relatively gentle introduction to Cavan across the border. What was obvious from the start was the support from the local police, the Blazing Saddles motorcycle outriders, a dedicated ambulance, media car, Tour Directors car, mechanic van, broom wagon and numerous other official Kellogg’s stickered support vehicles, including a rather sporty BMW 6 series coupe – not sure how many bikes would fit in that! This was clearly no ordinary Sportive and it slowly dawned upon us that we were in for four very special days.
It’s an impressive sight, 200+ riders filled with a mixture of excitement and slight apprehension, standing before the large red inflatable Kelloggs arch. There were plenty of supporters lining the streets and a real sense of occasision. After all 500 miles (800km) in four days is a long way by anyones standards, and if you throw in close to 10,000 metres of ascent it’s definitely going to be a tough one.
We would be accompanied along the way by numerous motorbike marshalls and some of the route would be accompanied by the police. Riding through the middle of Lisburn all the traffic was stopped, red lights ignored and the peloton filled the road. They had said we’d be treated like professionals and they were right!
The flat nature of stage one meant that the 120 riders largely stayed together in a large peleton, although we did get herangued by the Tour Director (Eamonn Duffy) for going to fast at the start. The presence of ex-pro Dave Lloyd and some of his proteges meant the pace soon whipped up to something approaching very fast on the run in to the lunch stop, in a local community centre.
The police were fantastic as we rode at pace through lush green countryside, providing a motorcycle escort at both the front and rear of the bunch and halting all cars at junctions and roundabouts. This allowed us to ignore all traffic regulations (apart from riding on the wrong side of the road). It was BRILLIANT!
At the second feed station, though, I hook up with Sue, Simon and a couple of others and we pace one another over the last 25 miles into Cavan. We stayed at the four star Cavan Crystal hotel, launched into some very serious food and some rest for the next, longer day.
Day 2. Cavan to Galway City, 124 miles, 1339 metres of climbing.
We roll out of Cavan shortly after eight. Once again we are escorted through the rush hour traffic, and the flatness of the terrain means that the early pace is pretty electric. I’m averaging 22-23 mph for the first 15 miles or so, at which point I come to my senses and remember that even if I had been here to play with the big boys, I probably won’t keep it up for long. So I drop off what is still a very large leading group and cruise along for a while with Simon and Margaret, a fine woman who is using this tour as a final stage in her training for the race across America!
Margaret and I are just beginning to find it quite hard work pacing one another along when a bunch of about a dozen sweep up behind us, and we are aboard the Foyle Express for the first time. Mark and a few of his clubmates from the Foyle cycling club have acquired a posse of hangers-on and have them organised into a perfectly functioning unit. Mark has a bell on his bike. Every few minutes he rings it, and we move through and off; every single rider taking their turn at the front, an even pace being maintained, everyone calling for holes and generally helping one another out. There are riders here who have rarely if ever ridden in a bunch. Twenty minutes with Mark and you’d swear they’d been on club runs every Sunday for the last ten years.
We keep this up, with pauses for feeding stations, for the next 80 miles into Galway City. Nobody is dropped, nobody breaks the rhythm or hides, it’s an absolute pleasure to cycle with this lot and I resolve to stick with them for the remainder of the tour.
In Galway City most of the riders are staying in the same hotel and I get a stronger impression of what a varied and sociable crowd this is. From the real professional through to the most inexperienced “leisure cyclist”, everyone seems determined to enjoy themselves and make it a social as well as sporting occasion. Nice.
Day 3. Galway to Kilkenny. 140 miles, 2765 metres of climbing.
We set off promptly at 0800, ahead of the fast group – a state of affairs that lasts only about twenty minutes, when one of the bunch punctures. We wait and the main bunch sweeps past us. In fact we find ourselves just in front of the broom wagon for a while, until we catch the final bunch – a group which, like ours, has developed its own identity and seems to have a distinct social scene. Rumour has it they stop for coffee and doughnuts when they pass a likely-looking café.
We’re making excellent progress in the same style as yesterday – word is getting round, and there’s now about 20 of us – but today’s stage is decidedly lumpier than yesterday’s and as soon as we are into any half-serious climbing it is clear that the pressure is on. The big hills of the stage are still ahead. We notice a few riders abandoning, pulling over by the side to wait for the broom wagon.
Then came the worst part, the incredible steep climb out of Silvermines up to the second feed station. The gradient was too much for a lot of the riders and we strung out in a long line, you could hear the heavy breathing and pounding hearts. My legs screaming for sure. Then the second feeding station. The descent was dangerous and technical, so the marshalls were stating at the feed stop, and it was! Steep, slippery, covered in pine needles and gravel with sharp hairpins. My brakes locked on a tight corner, skidded over the pine needles and bang. My crash was announced on the race radio – Sedef joked it would be me and she was right! We still had 80km left to go… so like most cyclists I just got on with the job!
Today has clearly been a seriously tough day, summed up by the remark of a very senior cyclist as he spied an unscheduled stop. “Thank f*** for that, I’m seeing double. I don’t remember going as hard as that when I was racing.”
Today is also Sunday, so the police have completely closed the roads in Kilkenny for the finish. A fabulous experience for the early finishers, and especially the first group, sprinting for the line among noisy crowds as if this was the Tour de France.
Day 4. Kilkenny to Dublin. 129 miles, 3474 metres of climbing.
Stage 4 was the only really ‘lumpy’ stage as it took us over the Wicklow Mountains. Just to add insult to injury, this stage was lengthened by about 6 miles at the last minute.
It’s a beautiful day, so we’ll have a chance to make the most of the scenery in the Wicklow mountains. It also means that sunscreen and lots and lots of water are in order. The now familiar bunches stayed intact until the base of the Slievemane, the first major climb and its every man and woman for themselves – bar the occasional push for those who are struggling.
The strategy was to lift the pace up and see how far we could get up the field over the three climbs ending with the Wicklow Gap. Slievemann was the worst – one of those climbs that looks as if it is levelling out but is just waiting to demoralise you further. But we all make it, and the views, and the descents, are great. The bunch has dwindled significantly, as the headwind blew hard decimating the groups and I find myself alone. I see three riders and eventually join them to form a small group.
Finally we start the long drag up to the Wicklow Gap, and it is a long drag. The second feed station is at the top, and this is supposed to be the last serious climb, so I bury myself and give it everything I have left. At the top I’m having to hold Simon’s wheel because so much sweat has run into my eyes that I can’t see more than about ten feet in front of me. But once there, eyes wiped, the scenery and the sense of achievement are fantastic.
The descent is great too, but at the bottom I discover that it is not downhill all the way to Dublin. The road round the reservoir is up and down, up and down, a series of short sharp climbs with descents too short to allow recovery. Suddenly, the finish arch appears and we all cheer, not too tired to pop back and take photos of us going through.
Overall the Tour of Ireland Sportive far exceeded anything I had hoped for. Virtual racing at the front if you wanted it, and a more leisurely pace at the back if required. The event limited to 125 riders, which was about right, large groups but not so big that you could get lost in the peleton. The scenery was amazing and the organisation and support very impressive.
Showers and towels atthe end of each stage, lavish buffets available within hours of finishing to refuel for the next day. We also met like-minded people who became friends over the duration.
But it was the closed roads and the amazing police support that really made the event special, it was like being a pro for four days without most of the pain. Mark Harding from Cyclosport described the police efforts as better than he experienced in France for the ASO (Tour de France organisers) event – this is praise indeed!