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Unfinished Monkey Business

Following a theme from my last post the title of this one can’t help but remind me of this song from my misspent youth…

I wrote that post on the 15th of October and alluded to a big event that I was planning for the following weekend. I apologise to all of you that have been waiting patiently for an update ever since 🤣

It’s been such a big gap that I wasn’t going to bother but if Unironedman can write a post and publish a video in November about an event in April I wasn’t yet past my sell by date for this post…

Connemarathon by Declan Kenny. Go watch it, it’s very good 👌

Back in September I DNF’d our Club Sportive event. I made it to just under 90km in atrocious weather conditions and scratched at the main food stop. That was my first and only DNF at an event. It felt wrong to me at the time (it was still the right decision on the day) and it was bugging me ever since.

On 18th October I managed to get that monkey off my back. I was joined by Grainne, who has been a steady cycling companion throughout the Summer. She was under a bit of time pressure for the evening so started in Castlefinn and met me at the bottom of my road to save her at least 30min at the finish.

We headed off through Ballybofey, Barnes Gap and on to Ballyshannon. The going was pretty good, we had a dry day and although there was a bit of a breeze it was slightly in our favour for most of the way to Ballyshannon.

A 90° turn in Ballyshannon for Beleek brought us into the wind. The work became harder and this is a deceptively difficult stretch of road with lots of small, steep climbs that sap the energy from legs with over 50km done.

Rolling into Beleek we decided to take our main lunch stop at the roadside service station. Small, covered, outdoor pods provided a welcome relief from the wind and allowed us to keep our bikes close and relax.

This stop is what I was missing on the day of the scheduled event. Not just the food at this point but the opportunity to relax, go at my own pace and not feel under pressure. It was also an important stop as the hardest section was just ahead.

Crossing from Beleek to Kesh across the top of Lower Lough Erne and Boa Island is where everything went wrong in September. That day we had heavy rain and strong winds averaging 30km/h with gusts even stronger. The wind was coming from the SW straight across the water and there is very little shelter on that stretch of road. Today we still had the wind to contend with. At an approximate average of 25km/h it was far from easy but not having the rain or stronger gusts to deal with made it much more manageable. Arriving into Kesh we felt a bit battered but a quick stop for a drink and some sweets soon had us feeling much better again.

A few kilometres up the road we reached Ederney and the spot where I scratched in September. I had to get a photo to completely dislodge the monkey and give him a final boot up the arse.

Grainne decided to keep rolling and despite only being stopped for a few minutes she proved damn hard to catch! I could see her bright yellow gillet in the distance but it took a long time to reel her in.

We were now into one of the long climbs in the last third of the route as the road winds and climbs from Ederney to the quarry at the high point of Scraghey. A long, tiring section but finally we had the wind mostly behind us and it really is just a matter of getting the head down and grinding on.

At the top of Scraghey Grainne was feeling tired and felt it better if I just pushed on and left her to follow at her own pace. She was quite determined about this and I know too well what it feels like to be riding even just slightly harder than is your own comfortable pace so I clipped back in and rolled off having said our goodbyes.

About 15min up the road I hopped off the bike to have a wee in a farmer’s field. I was only just off the bike when I heard a cheery hello as Grainne sailed past! Once I was sorted and back on the bike her yellow gillet was once again fading into the distance and I was once again working hard to reel her in! It was Castlederg before I caught her. Apparently with the pressure off she discovered her second wind and was sitting a steady couple of 100m or so behind since we parted earlier.

Rolling into Castlederg together we decided we had earned a final tea break and stopped at a shop on the way out of town.

While stopped for tea one of the other guys messaged to see how we were doing and this was Grainne’s response….

After tea we did say our final goodbyes and I headed on solo up the final long climb out of Castlederg and the long, sweeping descent into Castlefinn. A short section along the back road towards home, the final inevitable 1.6km climb back to the house and it was done. Just before I turned on to our road I was passed by Grainne in her car so I got home knowing she was safely finished also.

Back in September I was absolutely gutted about my DNF. A large part of this was the knowledge that I knew I was capable of doing it. I was sure that better clothing and a chance to ride my own ride would be successful so it was immensely satisfying to prove that right and to prove myself too.

What surprised me most was how good I felt finishing. I felt like I had at least another 15km left in my legs. That night I made plans to ride 160km the following weekend to get my first 100mile century done. However, during the week the weather turned a bit nasty and I had to scratch that idea. Through the rest of October and November I’ve been a bit hit and miss but doing enough to keep my legs in good shape. I also managed to get my November Audax ticked off with a solo ride on a new route.

Heading into December I’m feeling pretty good on the bike. I have my December Audax to get done and I’m heading for a decent mileage finish to the year.

I’ve been joking with some of my Club friends about the Festive 500 and while unlikely to happen it definitely feels like it would be a great way to finish out the year if the weather plays ball over Xmas….

3 Out Of 4 Ain’t Bad

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I know that’s not the song title but I can’t say it without singing it in my head!

As September rolled over into October it appears that I am on a bit of a roll too…

Those three spikes are 3 rides of 100km+ in the last 4 weeks. It would have been 3 weeks in a row but Storm Amy blew in last week and spoiled that! We lost power on Friday shortly after 4pm at the height of the red warning and it stayed off until well into Saturday evening. We lost water on Saturday morning and it was Sunday afternoon before that returned to normal (our supply comes from a reservoir on the side of the valley that requires pumps to fill from the main supply lower down).

Having booked a long, 4 day weekend off some months ago, it turned out to be a bit of a wasted weekend but I was finally able to get out on the bike on Monday for a nice, social spin with two clubmates to Raphoe for tea and back home via Ballybofey.

This was followed by night rides with the Club on Tuesday and Thursday evening, both around 30km but on the MTB on hilly back roads so decent workouts over 2 hours each. Saturday morning I went out with the Stabiliser group for a short, easy recovery ride before the main 100km ride on Sunday.

5 rides and 240km in the one week is very rare for me, even when I was at my most active, but it should be noted I only got one ride in the previous week…

Sunday morning it was back to Audax and time to get in the October RRTY 100 ride. This time we had decided to ride a route recently published by another Audax Ireland member just a week or two ago.

*I’ve no idea of the significance of the name!*

Myself and Grainne had managed to talk two other clubmates into joining us. Paul will do a few but Brian may give the full RRTY Challenge a go. We publicised our intent on the Club WhatsApp group and as we coordinated our start with the Sunday morning Club ride we ended up with 7 in total!

Official starting point where we picked up the route*

Overall it was a really good route. I’ve ridden all of it before but not always in the same direction as Sunday and definitely not all together. The 1000m elevation is edging towards hard for a 100km ride but it was surprisingly tough on the legs. There aren’t a big number of climbs but they’re all hard climbs. For many routes around here the majority of the elevation is gained on long, gradual climbs but Sunday we earned them on some pretty steep ground. Returning to the MTB on Tuesday night I could still feel the lingering effects!

Sandwiches, bars and sugary drinks were devoured at the much needed lunch stop at Victoria Bridge*

Big squad out on Tuesday evening enjoying the unseasonably mild and settled weather*

Sunday also marked my one year anniversary of rejoining the Club via the Stabiliser Group. A fitting way to mark it and not something I was expecting just 12 months ago!

We’re experiencing a very unusual spell of mild and settled weather for the last two weeks (calm after the storm?) but that is due to break down this weekend to something more typical. I’m keeping a close eye and hoping that Saturday stays good as I have a plan to rectify some unfinished business that will hopefully be the subject of my next post…. 🤞

*all photos of Club activities courtesy of Brian McElhinney 📸

So Good I Rode It Twice.

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With my increasing mileage I’ve been getting a real taste for long distance cycling again. 200km Audax still seems like a big stretch in terms of fitness but I came across the RRTY 100 Challenge recently that was introduced by Audax Ireland this year.

A standard RRTY (Randonneur Round The Year) involves completing a 200km Audax Ireland approved route each month for 12 months in a row. This year they have started adding 100km routes as a taster and introduction to Audax. In tandem they have created the RRTY 100 for the shorter distance ie ride a 100km Audax Ireland approved route 12 months in a row.

Checking out the Audax Ireland site it quickly became clear that the closest route was in Sligo! A discussion on the Audax WhatsApp group turned up a more local 106km route that is in the planning stages but it has a mental 1600m of climbing and I’m not sure I’m ready for that!

It was clear I was going to have to come up with at least one route of my own. I have a few 100km+ routes I’ve done in the past but one in particular that I’ve been thinking about for a while.

It was originally developed by one of the guys in the Club as a charity event a few years ago. Our Club is the Finn Wheelers and we live in the Finn Valley area which is named after the river Finn. The Finn is 64km long and rises from Lough Finn, close to Fintown (are you getting the theme yet!). It flows East to Lifford where it joins with the Mourne coming out of Tyrone to form the Foyle which flows to Derry and out to sea at Lough Foyle.

The aim of the route is to cycle the length of the river on both sides crossing only at the two end points. As a play on the well known Lap The Lough event in Northern Ireland we named it Lap The Finn.

As its been 5 years since the original event I arranged to ride the route as an organiser ride recce and get credit from Audax Ireland for having done it even though it hadn’t been published as an official route just yet. I’d no idea what condition the roads would be in and didn’t want to have to change the route post publication.

*Fit enough back then to add on extra mileage from home!*

I was hoping for company but ended up doing it solo on a blustery Sunday, just one week after the DNF at the Club Sportive. It was a cool enough day with blustery showers but I’d learned my lesson from the week before and was kitted out in my winter tights, long finger gloves, rear mudguard and overshoes.

It turned out to be a challenging but enjoyable ride and apart from one section, descending from Lough Muck to Fintown, was pretty good surfaces the whole way. There’s a fantastic variety of scenery with the section above Ballybofey getting up into the edge of the Bluestacks and quite remote.

Photos from the day make it look like I had sunshine the whole time!

“Muc” is Irish for pig and I particularly like this sculpture looking down over “Loch Muc”

It felt really good to get this ride done and it was huge boost to my confidence that had taken a bit of hammering after the previous weekend.

That evening Grainne (one of my clubmates and fairly regular cycling companion) contacted me about the route. She’s completed the Cycle Against Suicide Mizen to Malin ride a couple of weeks ago and thinks the RRTY 100 would be a good challenge to keep her on the bike. I wanted another long spin for the weekend so we arranged to ride it on the Sunday.

So glad we did as it was about as perfect a cycling day as could be hoped for. It was chilly, but not cold, sunny and dry for the whole day and barely a breath of wind. It was already an enjoyable route but it’s always better to have company.

Since then the route has been officially posted on the Audax Ireland website. A bunch of others have also gone live and we’re hoping to ride one of them this weekend…

Club Sportive 135km DNF!

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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.

*Reasonably fresh at the top of the first climb © Gerard McHugh Photography*

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.

*I really don’t know how I managed that average!*

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!

Update in Progress…50% Complete…

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It’s Sunday afternoon and the Club Sportive has been postponed for two weeks due to the shitty weather that has hit us this weekend. Yesterday was rain and today it’s wind with more rain on the way. With dangerous gusts and some exposed sections on the route the hard but sensible decision was taken to postpone. It puts some pressure on other plans I have for September but at least I’ll have 2 weeks to work off the holiday excesses.

I’m not ready to start thinking about or preparing to return to work tomorrow so continuing with this update is the best way to avoid both! Part I is here if you missed it.

Work

3 days ago I passed my 1 year anniversary in my new job, although still calling it new feels a bit weird at this stage. I guess the significant change from customer facing retail to sales rep brought so many new experiences and challenges that it definitely does still feel new at times.

It took me a while to get comfortable in my new position and there have been a lot of changes in the company just in the last year but I really do feel that I’ve found a niche that fits me. Despite a period of “imposter syndrome” and a very challenging retail environment I’ve settled well and have grown in confidence, especially over the last 3-4 months.

A large part of this is the respect and value that is given by those that I work with both at my own level and above. It’s a welcoming and supportive environment to work in and I really didn’t realise just how bad my previous working environment was. Just as that had a very negative impact on my mental health this new environment has helped me leave that behind and begin to move on.

Closing a number of big hotel contracts and developing new leads within the hospitality sector has contributed significantly to my standing within the company, has proven my value to both my managers and myself and has given me confidence that I am good at this job.

I’ve been asked a number of times recently how I’m feeling about the job and changing away from working in shops. Although there are things that I do miss about shop working I can honestly say that I’m very happy with the change and don’t see myself going back.

Family

I’ve spoken here and on Facebook a number of times about my Great Aunt Ruby. Unfortunately, Ruby’s time was finally up and she passed away in March. At the time of her death she was the oldest living person in Ireland at 109 years old. She had gained a lot of celebrity in the last few years and there was a lot of attention for her funeral. It seemed as if Donegal had taken her as their own and so many people in our home village and beyond simply called her Aunt Ruby.

While her death was very sad her wake and funeral were a celebration of a full life, lived to the max and a lady that touched so many lives with her kind nature. She was always full of stories so it was very fitting to hear so many people bring their own stories of her. She had friends across all ages and generations and it made me proud to call her family ❤️

https://www.donegaldaily.com/2025/03/21/huge-sadness-at-passing-of-ruby-druce-irelands-oldest-person-2-3/

https://www.donegallive.ie/news/local-news/1760281/ruby-druce-enriched-the-lives-of-so-many-funeral-mass-of-109-year-old-hears.html

Within our own home it has been a pretty busy Summer. Owen finished his first year of college at Letterkenny ATU and has been working most of the Summer. It’s been a lot of hours and early starts for him but it did allow him to buy his own car at the beginning of July and to rebuild a solid savings account!

Conor started working earlier this year too at my brother’s coffee van in Castlefinn. It’s been mostly weekends with some extra shifts over the Summer and has given him an extra confidence and a huge injection of independence with his own money. He’s also started driving lessons with the aim of getting his license maybe by the end of the year depending on the waiting lists.

It has also been a Summer of football as Owen continues to play with our local GAA Club Senior team. With the lack of a Minor team this year Conor has also been attending quite a bit of the training. He’s ineligible to play due to his age but he’s been welcomed to training. A minor setback in the middle of May saw him break his collar bone in a bad fall at training. He was laid up for 6 weeks which kept him off work but he’s recovered completely and was back training at the end of July.

And of course the big football story of the Summer was Donegal’s progress in the Championship this year. We spent a fair bit of time watching them conquer Ulster before progressing to the All Ireland Final before sadly being outmatched by Kerry. We watched some of the games at home, some in our local pub and even made it to Croke Park for the Semi Final.

At the beginning of August Catriona and myself took a day to ourselves and headed on a great day trip to visit Gola Island off the West Coast of Donegal and we’re all just back from a great family holiday to Benalmádena in Spain 🇪🇸

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*Summit of Monte Calamorro (750m) reached by cable car*

Over the last couple of years I’ve very much neglected the outside of the house. Whatever motivation I could gather up was spent getting the boys to cut the grass and responding only to anything urgent that needed attention. The house really was showing significant signs of neglect! This Summer I spent a lot of time getting the driveway, kerbs, sides and back of the house tidied, weeded and powerwashed before painting the outside of the house itself. This occupied a lot of evenings and weekends over 4-6 weeks but the result is worth it with a house that I’m no longer ashamed to have visitors calling! A few other small jobs remain to be done indoors but it’s been a pleasant change to have some motivation to tackle these things again!

*Longer ladder required to finish the front!*

Cooper

In the style of Unironedman it seems to be de rigueur to finish with dogs…

It took from January to March to get over the loss of much loved Rosie who we had to put to sleep on NYE. Then we were joined by the madness that is Cooper!

When I told my friend Jim that we were adopting a Springer he sent me this video. It’s scarily accurate!

On our home check the lady from the Rescue told us adoption works on the 3 x 3s (3 days to decompress, 3 weeks to settle in and 3 months to feel at home). Cooper seemed to settle very quickly but it definitely took the 3 months for him to be at home. His energy, behaviour and lack of training was a definite challenge and it took a lot of work to calm him down enough to be able to get him to behave without upsetting the entire house. He’s still mad as a box of frogs but all the work has been worth it and he’s a part of the family now. Leaving him at a kennel for the week we were in Spain was surprisingly difficult!

What Happened to The Sun ☀️😭

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A shock to the system with a very wet 43km Club Spin at 9am with temperatures between 12 and 14°C – Spain 🇪🇸 is a distant memory already! 😭 At least it did give me a chance to road test my new Galibier Tourmalet 4 jacket – very impressed 👌

Unfortunately, tomorrow’s Club Sportive is a victim of the weather and has been postponed until September 14th. I should definitely be back to fitness after the holiday by that stage 🍻 💪🤣

📸 by Brian

Your Blog is Out Of Date…Please Update…

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Intro

I was going to start this blog update by saying I’ve neglected it quite a bit this year but to be honest I’ve found myself stepping away from all forms of social media and at the risk of sounding very pretentious, all forms of creativity. I’ve thought about blogging and YouTube quite a bit but the drive to put something in words or on film just hasn’t been there. I’ve also been less inclined to take and post photos this year which is a big change for me. The majority of photos that I have taken have stayed on my phone only.

Last year that would have worried me as over the last couple of years I’d been struggling mentally to get the motivation to get anything done. A large part of that was that I was desperately unhappy at work and that was affecting me mentally and bleeding into my daily life. The main symptom was an increasing lethargy and lack of drive to do anything.

Having changed jobs back in August last year I’ve now had a significant turnaround. 3 years of negativity will take some work to reverse completely but I’m definitely feeling much better than I did this time last year. I’m putting the lack of social media interaction down to the fact that I’m too busy enjoying the moment to be able to document it or even feel the need to.

Cycling

One of the very first changes was a renewed interest in cycling. I hadn’t turned a pedal in over 12 months when I started back briefly in April 2024 with a spurt of 5 short rides over a 3 week period.

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Self motivation was desperately lacking though and I stopped again until September following a good start to my new job. I had a few solo short spins again before reconnecting with the Club and joining the Saturday morning Stabiliser Group in mid-October for my first Club spin since February 2023!

Very quickly this became a regular Saturday fixture and I was hitting the 50km marker by the end of October having originally thought that it would be a good aim for the end of the year!

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This year, despite a week here and there off the bike, I’ve made cycling a regular activity again and I’m enjoying it too. I’ve increased my distance to completing at least 100km most weeks and hitting the 100km marker at the really enjoyable Donegal Bay Sportive at Easter when a big group from the Club did various routes with many of the Stabiliser beginners completing 50km for the first time also.

For the May Bank Holiday there was an organised group spin from Ballybofey to Buncrana with the option to join depending on the distance you wanted to cycle. I joined in Raphoe for just shy of 90km.

The Club then rounded off the Summer with a fun day on Saturday last week. We bussed to Errigal and did a summit walk followed by dinner and drinks in Lettermacaward before returning to Ballybofey and more drinks before heading home at a very late (for me!) 1am. A great day of fun and laughter and a good physical challenge that was highly enjoyable.

In the last couple of years I’ve struggled to gel with the Club. It’s been mostly my own fault, being in a bad mindset and finding it difficult to connect with the other members, despite knowing some of them for a few years. Thankfully this year has been very different.

I’m not setting any massive records for the year but so far I’ve managed to clock up 2,650km for the year. It’s not a huge amount but considering 4-4,500km is average for me, that my biggest year was 8,000km and the combined total of 2022,2023 and 2024 was slightly over 2,400km I’m doing pretty well for 2025!

On Sunday the Club is running a Sportive again. There are two routes, 62km and 135km, and I’m planning for the longer route. I’ve been doing steady mileage over the last few weeks including two longer rides of 90km and 110km. I’m feeling in a good place for 135km but I’m currently in Spain for a very lazy family holiday and not sure how that will affect my fitness. We’re back home on Friday so I’ll take a short leg loosening spin on Saturday to see if that helps.

Increasing my distance like this and the subsequent increased fitness, has brought back a hunger for Audax. I’ve stayed in all the Audax Ireland WhatsApp groups so I haven’t really lost touch but it’s taken until now to really consider the daunting 200km distance once again.

The RRTY challenge (1 x 200km Audax event per month for 12 consecutive months) has had a new version launched for 2025 called RRTY 100. Basically it’s an introductory challenge for those looking to get into full-on Audax and consists of 1 x 100km Audax event per month for 12 months. I’m thinking of using that as a pathway back to Audax similar to how I used the Club Stabiliser Group to get me back cycling regularly. I’m not setting any great targets for next year but seeing as 2015 was my first ever Audax I’d quite like to get one done before the end of the year and I’m seriously considering giving the Four Provinces Challenge (see the link above) a go in 2026 as I did it previously in 2016.

To get the RRTY 100 completed I’m going to have to get at least one route published for Donegal. The nearest is currently in Sligo and the only one I’m currently aware of in development is a massive 1600m of climbing in 106km!

Hillwalking & Camping

My last solo hillwalk was in The Sperrins at Banagher Glen in the last of the Winter snow on 11th January. I’d earmarked that route for a period of snow and just managed to time it right although I did have a mild panic at the car park, deep in the Glen, when I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get the car back back out in the compacted snow!

I haven’t given up on hillwalking though as I’ve been active with the Bluestack Ramblers Walking Club this year, completing 8 group walks from January to June with 3 in June alone. There were some great walks in there with Knockalla and the Aghlas definitely being my favourites.

I didn’t get out at all during July or August as the walks weren’t as interesting and I was busy with jobs around the house and cycling. As my cycling mileage increased my free time for hillwalking decreased and, if I’m being honest, I struggled to get enough fitness for cycling and hillwalking in the same weekend! However, I have two of interest in September that I’d like to do. They’re on the 7th and 14th which will hopefully allow me a chance to get an Audax 100 completed later in September to get the RRTY 100 started.

Another victim of cycling and the lack of solo hiking has been camping. Despite buying two new tents in the last 12 months my last wild camp was in April 2024 ! I simply haven’t had the time to give up two days for an overnighter and have had too many other things I wanted to do instead. I would like to get out and do something in the Bluestacks before the end of the year though, preferably in September or October. If nothing else I need to try out my new 2 person tent I bought specifically for Spring and Autumn camping! It was my Xmas present last year but I haven’t even managed to get it out of the box for a test pitch…

YouTube

Of all my social media posting it’s YouTube that has taken the biggest hit this year. My last video release was in November last year. I did record my hike in Banagher Glen that I mentioned above, but somehow haven’t had the time or drive to get it edited and published. I’ve given it a go a couple of times and have it about 50% done so I probably will finish it eventually. However, I wasn’t really in a filming mood that day and it’s a bit disjointed. It could be a feeling that it’s not that great that’s as much to blame as lack of time for not getting it finished. I do enjoy filming and editing for YouTube though so I do see myself getting back to it, possibly with a return to solo hiking and camping but I’d like to start adding some cycling content also. That will involve some solo cycling as I don’t like to film with groups so might kick in if I start into Audax preparation…

More to come…

This is already too long so I’ll add the rest in the next couple of days.

Part II can be found here…

Club Hike: Horn Head

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Yet another absolutely stunning walk on Donegal’s North Coast with the Bluestack Ramblers. This time on Horn Head with amazing cliff views seen from multiple angles and a trip out to the tip of the horns before heading inland to the “helicopter landing pad” (Duncap Isle) and a stiff climb back up to the highest point of Croaghnamaddy (252m) ⛰️👣

9.5km and an accumulated elevation of 734m with all the ups and downs typical of a coastal walk

Link to the walk on Outdoor Active: https://tinyurl.com/3vzenb8f

Hike: Dooish from Maumlack (Derryveagh Mountains)

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What a day! A hard earned 11km climbing Dooish (651m) via Maumlack (480m) and returning via Dooish SW Top/Edenadooish (528m). We had every weather today with heavy rain showers and hail that turned to snow leaving Maumlack. Lots of sunshine between the occasional shower before more heavy rain and hail to finish.