Carlingford 300

The Carlingford 300 has always been an audax that I wanted to try from when I first heard of audax. Mainly because two thirds of it are on road that I have ridden before while out for my sunday morning spins. This will put all my seperate local spins into one big one.

Before I start, let me apologies for the picture quality. I dropped my camera while getting ready and it must have damaged something because most of the images came out blurry. I picked out the best of then just to give you an idea of the scenery and road conditions.

Twenty five of us started from stamullen church just after 06:00 on the 13th of April. It has just turned daylight.

We head north briefly before turning east towards bellewstown (8km). Nice quiet roads with good surface so far and this would continues for most of the day. There are some light climbs to bellewstown but on fresh legs they aren’t an issue.

There is a fast descent into Duleek (15km). After that you stay on quiet country roads heading mostly north until you get to the boyne and onto the the same roads I had done a month earlier while doing the Tara 200. You follow the boyne until you get to Slane (26km) where there is a nasty enough climb through the town and out the other side but at this early stage it isn’t much of an issue.

After slane the route turned onto more backroads the whole way the Drumcondra (48km). This is lovely countryside with only two small climbs that didn’t really challenge me much. We are really flying in this early stage of the race but I’m keeping the effort low. Maybe we have a tailwind.

It is much the same the whole way the carrickmacross (65km) where we had our first control of the day. There were no manned controls in this audax so we had to stop at a shop to get a receipt as proof of passage. After Carrickmacross we again go onto small country roads. The surface is fine to begin with but it does get pretty rough in places where you have to pick out a line to get through safely. It doesn’t last too long. Maybe a kilometer in total. There is a lot more climbing at this stage too however when you get close to Castleblaney (85km) there are a few very fast descends.

The route stays on a main road the whole way to Keady (101km). This is mostly climbing but nothing too steep and the road surface is perfect. The road isn’t too busy either as it was still pretty early on a saturday morning. Things where going good. Too good. I was loving this tailwind at the moment but I was starting to get a bit concerned for when we turn in Armagh to start to make our way back.

About two kilometer out the far side of Keady you turn off the main road and onto a small lane with grass growing up the middle of the road. There is a bit of a sharp climb to start with but then you drop down into a valley. The drop is steep and the surface is terrible. Potholes were everywhere so you had to be careful and pick your line well in advance because of the high speeds of the descent. Up again the other side of the valley and then down again to more potholed roads.

Thankfully this was the worst surface of the route and is all good after it. Once you get over the second valley you can see the spire of armagh cathedral in the distance and you know you don’t have far to go. It looked like it was about the rain heavily but thankfully it never came.

Armagh (111km) was our second control so we stopped again to get a receipt and to fill up on food. We had made it here by 10.20 which is very fast for me at low effort. I was about to find out why.

We then turn east and into a bitter SE wind toward Tandragee (130km). Back on to main roads now for a while. The surface is good and even though there aren’t any real climbs there isn’t anything flat either. There is a constant up and down and the wind made it harder than it needed to be.

This continued to Scarva (135km) then you take a less busy road all the way to Rathfriland (155km). There is no easy way through Rathfriland. The centre of the town is on top of a steep climb so once you get through the town there is a very fast descent on smooth roads  the whole way to hilltown (159 km). The Mourne mountains begin to loom large as you get close to hilltown and you find yourself wondering where is the way through this wall.

As soon as you leave hilltown the climb to spelga dam (167 km) begins. This is by far the biggest climb of the day so far. It starts with a pretty steady climb and the views of the mourne mountains are more than enough to take you mind of it but it doesnt stay that way. The last 4.5 km is very steep. Rated as a category 3 climb on strava, it zaps a lot of energy out of your already tired legs. And to make matters worse for us was that the wind was now howling straight down into our faces. It was just a matter of using the gears and spinning the legs.

When you eventually get to spelga dam there is a car park at the top where it is hard not to stop for a break. After you get your breath back there is still another kilometer or two of climbing but not nearly as steep as what you have just done.

The good news is that it is all downhill to kilkeel (181km). That’s over 10km. This was again ruined for us as the steepest sections, where you can get up some serious speed, was too dangerous to let the brakes go because of the strength of the wind. There was a guy ahead of me that was blown right across the road. He slowed down after that. And then on the less steep sections we still have to pedal hard or the wind would actually blow you back up the hill.

Kilkeel was another control and I was glad to stop for a proper meal. There are lots of places to choose from.

After leaving kilkeel the route takes you on back roads out to the mouth of carlingford lough and you join the main road again halfway to Rostrevor (199 km). Typical road conditions here. Not great but not too bad either. Some small hill along the way too but nothing too challenging.

Just after rostrevor you find yourself in warrenpoint (202 km). A busy little seaside town on a saturday afternoon but it doesn’t take long to get through. Once out the other side you cycle along a dual carriageway. There is a bicycle lane but watch out for broken glass.

We are now cycling NE so the wind is on our backs and we are flying again with carlingford lough to our left. This lasts the whole way to Newry (213km). Unfortunately, the route does a 180 degree turn and heads back up the lough the other side so now the wind is in our faces again. This road surface isn’t great. Really rough in places and even the odd nasty pothole. There also isn’t any hard shoulder and it is a pretty busy road. So it was a matter of toughing it out until we got to Omeath (224 km) where we had to get another receipt as proof of passage.

After a brief stop it was time to tackle to last climb of the day. This is another category 3 climb but it’s different than spelga dam. There are storter much steeper sections followed by short flat or downhill bits. This allows you just enough time to get your breath back before you go at it again. The worst part is about half way up where it ramps up to nearly 25% for about fifty meters. Once at the top you can stop at the “Long Woman’s Grave” if you want and be glad that there aren’t any more mountains between you and the finish.

There are just two more short sharp climbs before you descend out of the cooley mountains. From there is a flat run on a busy main road the whole way to Dundalk (245km). From there the route turns towards blackrock. A small seaside town that is normally packed but it is now getting late on a saturday evening and the weather is pretty cold and windy so there aren’t many around.

After blackrock the route continues south on a main road but it wasn’t too busy. The road run parallel with the M1 so it’s probably local traffic using this route.

When we get to Castlebellingham (258km) we once again turn onto country roads and along the coastline, where I was once again nearly blown off my bike. Our final control was in Clogherhead (276 km) which is just a selfie as a proof of passage.

The route continues around coast until you come to Drogheda (289 km). It is now just turned dark so I was weary about passing through a very busy town in the dark but I actually got through pretty easily.

There is a bit of a climb out of drogheda but nothing too bad. The route heads south through surprisingly quiet (dark) country roads the whole way back to stamullen (302 km) where I nearly hugged my car when I seen it.

It had been a tough day in the wind but it really is a brilliant route. I expect I will do that one again, but in good weather.

The event organiser lives quite close to the finish and everyone was invited back to his where we were treated to bacon sandwiches, meatballs, cakes and some great craic. A great way to end a hard day in the saddle.