The calm before the storm

This week was planned to be an easy week as I had the 400 on Saturday.

I had my MTB league race on Tuesday evening. The race didn’t go well for me. I started in a Handicap that I thought was too hard for me. When it was time for us the start the race I had to push hard just to stay with the group. I made one mistake on the second lap which caused me to lose contact with them. Pushing hard to try to catch them again my pedal clipped a rock which resulted in me being hurled into the air. The bike landed on its wheels somehow and I kept going but I had really twisted my body in a strange way.

The next morning I woke with a sore back. That was all I needed. thankfully though it loosened out as the day progressed but I was worried for saturday.

I woke Thursday with a sore throat and stuffed nose. I couldn’t believe this was happening. My three kids are all dosed so that’s where I got it. Lemsips all day thursday and Friday. By late Friday I was feeling much better so I decided to go for it even though I wasn’t at 100%. lets hope the week before the Mile Failte 1200 goes a lot better.

North to the South 400

The alarm woke me at 04:00. I picked up a work colleague, Pete,  at 04:30 that I had roped into doing the ride with me and we set off to Belfast. An hours journey. I remember wondering how long it would be before we made it home.

We all seemed to arrive at the same time, just after 05.30. It was just as well we were early because the guy that was with me had just bought his large saddle bag during the week and he didn’t know how to attach it to his bike. After some fiddling we got it sorted and we all set off at 06.00. there was, a record, twenty-one of us.

We set off from Mallusk and made our way west towards Antrim. It was a lovely morning. The sun was coming up behind us as we went. Thing’s were going well. We were in a group of about ten riders and we were being pulled along with minimum effort.

Unfortunately, after just 10km, the new saddle bag had come lose and was starting to rub on Pete’s wheel. We had to stop to fix it but this ment the group was now long gone. It was pretty much the two of us for the rest of the day.

The route is on fairly busy roads until Randalstown, @ 24km. From there the route meanders through country roads, first touching the north shore of Lough Neigh before continuing west.

Draperstown, @ 65 km, is the last stop before taking on the Sperrin Mountains so stock up here if you need supplies. We kept going here opting to eat on the bike. We still had plenty of supplies so we decided to push on to Derry/ Londonderry.

The Sperrin Mountains offer some amazing views. The climbs are tough but not overly hard and we were lucky as the main climbs and descends have been resurfaced. Care is needed on some of the descents as they are bendy in parts and some loose stone can be found at some of the corners.

Derry/Londonderry, @ 125km is the next obvious stop for food. The route takes you through the city and to a square where there in a pub/restaurant called “Granny Annie’s” that gives a good breakfast. There’s railing out the front to strap the bikes to. We filled here with a great big Irish breakfast.

Little did we know what lay ahead. It was only 125km to Greencastle but it took us over seven hours to complete.

The climbs here are savage. Gradients around the head are commonly between 15 – 20% and even kick up to 25% at times. My cold hadn’t completely cleared and my lungs were starting to hurt a bit on the big climbs. I was coughing up some horrible stuff too. Thankfully, it stopped when I got on to more flatter ground.

Places to stop for food are scarce up here. Buncrana, @150km would be the last big town until you get right around to Greencastle, @245km.

I had done some research before I started and decided to stop in Farrells pub, Ireland most northerly pub, for food. It was just after the 200km mark and on the website it said it did pizzas but when we got there, there was none left. My heart sank. I was dreaming f a pizza for the past 4 hours. We have to make do with a chicken wrap and we set off again.

Once you get to Greencastle you will have most of the climbing done for the day.

The 35km spin back to Derry/Londonderry is seems long but at least it is fairly flat. There are just a few gentle rises. When you get to Derry/Londonderry the route brings you across the Peace Bridge.

I didn’t any more pictures after this as it was dark.

It is 50km from Derry/Londonderry to Coleraine. This is where the challenge really starts to test you. The road itself wasn’t bad it was just that this was were the mental challenge had started for me. Not only had it started to get dark but had also started raining. my mood was probably at my lowest on this part of the route. I just had to focus on getting to Coleraine. There is a fairly big climb as you near Coleraine but it’s not very steep.

There is a nice downhill section into Coleraine, @330km where there is a 24hr McDonalds. Never before had loved to see the golden arches. we got there at about 23.00 and the place was buzzing with people everywhere. I’d say we were some sight to others.

This will likely be your last stop for the day as everything will likely be closed from then on so fill up your belly and your bottles.

It is over 50km back to Randalstown, @382km. These are on mostly quiet country roads so make sure you have good lights that will last you the distance. Pete was really starting to struggle. He said he nearly fell asleep on the bike at a few stages.

Once you get back to back to Randalstown it is still another 35km back to Mallusk but I didn’t care. Once I got on the road back I found a new source of energy. I got a sniff for home and I powered back to Mallusk as fast as I could. They’re bigger roads but they are quiet in the middle of the night.

There is one more sting of a climb from templepatrick to Mallusk. Its nothing really overly long or steep but with over 400km and nearly 5000 meters of climbing on the legs, it’s a bit of a challenge. we made it back to the car at 03.30, twenty-one and a half hour later.

I got to bed at 05.30. What a full day!

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