It was another early start for me as I wanted to be home to spend some of the day with the kids. I set off from Newry at exactly five am. It was to be another solo spin as I couldn’t find anyone to join me for a 200km ride starting at 5am in mid february. What is wrong with people?
So off I went heading north east to my first main town of Rathfriland of which the main street kicks up to around 15%. Or at least that’s how it seemed. It was strange to be cycling up such a steep hill in the middle of a town. Thank god there was noone around to see me struggling up the him.
It is equally as steep on the way out of rathfriland so take care and enjoy the descent.
Not long after that you are into the main climbs of the day. Mostly steady climbs but there are a few short +20% gradients thrown in to keep things interesting.
You reach the highest point at 30km. I had great views of the belfast lights in the distance, as it was still dark. A few more smaller climbs and some very fast descents and all of a sudden you are in ballynahinch.
The route keeps going north east through Saintfield, then Ballygowan and finally Comber. This part of the route has some lumps but is mostly downhill, especially when you come near Comber.
There is a service station on the way out of Comber if you want to grab something small to eat.
After Comber I thought I was in for a relatively flat ride all the way along Strangford lough and on around the coast back to Newry but, boy was I wrong.
The road to Downpatrick was simply horrible for me. Could have been down to the fact that I had a horrible headwind that was bad enough that I had to cycle down hills to keep going. Here is my little rant about that road.
The roads where anything but flat. There weren’t any real climbs but there were many many small crests that seemed to go on forever. On top that the road surface was bad. There had been a lot of roadworks done on them over the years and they were badly patched so you were nearly always dodging holes and manhole covers. And that’s not all, it is a narrow road and was very busy. Sometimes you have no choice but to ride into some of the poorly leveled manhole covers as there was a car right up your ass.
That being said, I don’t want to put you off it, there is some amazing scenery and I could just have just being using the road at a bad time.
Some pictures from the Comber to Downpatrick road.
When I finally got to downpatrick and turned off to a slightly quieter road it felt like such a relief. It made me really appreciate the quieter roads. It surface improved as well, slightly.
Now cycling east as far as the Strangford, a small fishing village. From here the road turn south again (and into the wind). It started of much like the road from comber but the further you went, the traffic became less and the botched roadworks seemed to ease off as well.
The route takes you through more small fishing villages, the nicest being Ardglass and Killough.
As you peddle out of Killough you are met with a majestic views of the Mourne mountains in the distance. The pictures below don’t pick up the mountains in the background for some reason. It was pretty hazy and the mountain tops where hidden in cloud. It was much nicer by eye.
The country roads continue for another 15km until you get to Clough. You then join a very busy road but the surface is good and there is a large hard shoulder. This continues all the way to Newcastle, at the foot of the Slieve Donard, the highest of the mournes. It is on of those towns that everyone seems to flock to at the weekends so it took awhile to make it through the traffic safely.
Once out of Newcastle the route hugs the coastline through Annalong and onto Kilkeel. The route is new heading west so the wind is now finally out of my face. Carlingford lough is now on the left as you cycle on to Rostrevor and Warrenpoint.
From there it’s a flat 10km to the finish along a dual carriageway that has a cycle lane the whole way. The wind that I had being cursing all day is now on my back so I was able to finish at a good pace.
I just read this back to myself and it sounds as though I didn’t enjoy it but I did. Having those extra challenges is what makes for some of the most memorable events. It really is a beautiful part of the world.
If your interested in doing it the click here too be directed to the Around Down 200 pages.