The original date for our Club Sportive was Sunday 31st of August, just 2 days after our return from holidays in Spain. Due to a terrible forecast the decision was made to postpone by 2 weeks. Correct decision but unfortunately the weather wasn’t much better Sunday last week 😔

For the last couple of months I’ve been determined to complete the 135km route and have been steadily increasing my mileage and distance with a 110km ride just before holidays.

After that ride I felt in great shape and despite concerns over a week of eating, drinking and lazing around I was confident that the big distance was achievable. Coming back off holidays I was feeling a bit sluggish and was kind of relieved that a two week postponement would give me a chance to shake it off and get in another long ride.

It didn’t work out like that though. Despite getting 5 spins completed I didn’t get another long one due to two crappy weekends. All 5 spins ended up in the 40km zone. I had planned for a 100km+ ride the weekend before but weather again put me off and I ended up with no ride at all!

I was watching the forecast all week in the run up to the Sportive and it wasn’t looking good at all. It varied slightly as the week wore on but from Wednesday on it was pretty clear that it was going to be a wet and windy one.

Saturday night I had quite a bit of nerves about the ride, had a bit of an unsettled night and woke up on Sunday still feeling pretty nervous as well as tired. At registration, with only 12 signed on for the 135km route, I was resigned to the fact I was going to be the lanterne rouge for the day.

Both the 62km and 135km groups left together as we were going in the same direction for approx the first 15km. Once the groups split it was obvious that I was considerably slower than everyone else on the long route and that I was going to be solo for the rest of the day.

Despite a very strong wind going through the wind tunnel section of Barnes Gap I had a decent ride all the way to Donegal Town (30km) and on to Laghey. Difficulty increased as I rode the rolling route into Ballyshannon (50km) but I somehow managed to sustain a 27kph average to that point.

On the approach to Ballyshannon I thought I glimpsed a cyclist a few minutes ahead of me on one of the climbs. Dropping off the main road and turning East to Belleek the guys in the first aid van had asked the two guys who were just ahead of me to wait so the three of us could ride together. I was concerned the other two guys were were considerably fitter and faster than me but they seemed happy to slow slightly to my pace and stay together.

It had already started raining quite heavily and now we were riding straight into the wind. Getting to Belleek wasn’t too bad but I had to leave all the work to the other two guys. They were setting a pace slightly faster than I was comfortable with and I was working hard to stay on the back wheel with no hope of getting in front to take a turn.

After Belleek the weather turned really shit! The rain was constant heavy now and the wind was a real problem. The road was pretty exposed and the crossing of Boa Island was one of the worst bits of cycling I’ve ever done. While the rain was hateful the wind was verging on dangerous. Gusts were hitting us off Lough Erne and there was quite a lot of traffic with a few dangerous passes especially considering the road conditions.

The other two guys had slowed down quite a bit too and despite the conditions I found I was able to get on the front a good few times and to complete decent pulls. By the time we crossed Boa Island and reached Kesh (84km) we were all suffering. I was really feeling the cold with numb hands and feet*, struggling to operate my gears and brakes and getting a pain in my left quad. One of the other guys was cramping badly, I could see him hitting his quads with a closed fist and he was no longer coming forward to take the front. The third guy still looked strong but a couple of km outside of Ederney he told me they were going to tap out at the food stop. Although I hadn’t voiced it I had been considering the same for a while and his announcement made up my mind.

Pulling into the food stop at Ederney our ride was done at 88km. It was pretty obvious that everyone was waiting for us to get in and although I might have been able to carry on I was very conscious that I was going to be very slow and that there were a number of people in the broom vans and at the finish that were going to have to wait for me to finish. Despite the disappointment and feeling like I’d failed I felt that it was the right thing to do.

Once we confirmed we were pulling out our bikes were loaded into the broom van while we grabbed something quick to eat and a hot cup of tea. The other two guys headed off with one of the ride organisers and I jumped into the broom van. About 20min up the road we came across the next two back markers and followed them back to the finish. One of these guys is a very strong cyclist from our Club and he was getting it tough. I ended up sitting beside him in the canteen at the end while we got some very welcome hot food. The condition he was in made me very glad I decided to tap out when I did!

Despite feeling like I made the right decision on the day I’m still convinced I could have completed the ride on the same day and in different circumstances. If I’d dressed more appropriately for the weather* and if I’d been riding my own ride instead of part of an organised event, I would have felt considerably less pressure, wouldn’t have been thinking about marshals and volunteers out in the shitty weather and waiting for me to finish. I would also have been able to ride at my own pace and stop for food when it felt right for me. It wouldn’t have been a pretty ride and I would have been very slow but I think I might have been able to make it. Also, it’s hard to DNF when you have to make your own way home! Saying all that, it’s easy to make that statement sitting at home!

*despite making the correct decision to wear my fully waterproof jacket and fit my rear mudguard I somehow decided to ride in shorts and short finger gloves and not use my front mudguard! In my defence the forecasted temperatures were borderline for tights but I totally forgot to allow for the significant windchill and the effect of the constant rain.

I have ridden this route as part of a Club Sportive before but it was longer ago than I thought and it was a very different story that day.

My condition in 2016 was very different compared to 2025. As well as having 9 years less on my clock and being at least 10kg lighter, I had a lot of training done. In the 12 months leading up to the Sportive I’d ridden just over 7,500km and completed a lot of rides of 100km+. One of those was the Wicklow 200 which I completed in just under 8hrs 15min. I’m nowhere near that at the minute so I guess that’s my target set for the next 12 months 🤣 I’m definitely riding that route myself in the Spring too!