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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…

tnib* – first club spin of the year

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With the lifting of restrictions our Club officially restarted Club rides again last week. Like most Clubs this is a Tuesday and Thursday evening as well as Sunday morning. I used to be a regular attendee of pretty much all 3 meets but since changing jobs back in August 2019 I’ve been missing them a lot. I finish work at 6 and the spin starts at 7. This doesn’t usually give me time to get away, changed and travel to the start in time. My old job was almost 15min less travel time and a lot quieter so I was able to get changed early and go on the button of 6.

My last activity with the Club was our Bike Week event back in September and previous to that it was a few Sunday rides in January last year. I can blame the pandemic for most of that but it was me as well. During 2018/19 my cycling activity dropped off considerably and I lost a lot of my fitness. Most of my cycling was solo and I lost the edge I needed to ride with my usual group who had all stepped up a level. Even back in January last year I was struggling, and often failing, to stay with them, especially on hills.

Having the long weekend off and no work yesterday meant I had a perfect opportunity to get back to a Club meet. To be honest I was nervous about it. I’ve always been a bit awkward in social situations and the last year and a half haven’t helped that any. I knew I’d gotten stronger on the bike this year but I was sure I was still way off the rest of my old group, especially as my activity had dipped in April and May again. There was quite a bit of flip-flopping throughout the day about whether or not I was even going to go but eventually I knew I had to go for my own good.

I cycled up to the meeting point from home and ended up leaving early and being there almost 15min early. I was ready to go so just left before I could talk myself out of it again! Quite a few people turned up and a good mixed group so I knew I had someone to ride with no matter what happened. After a bit of chatting among groups a route was decided. All abilities were heading in the same direction which suited me perfectly as it meant I could fall back to a slower group if I wasn’t able to keep up. I didn’t intend to go with the faster group but as everyone separated out I ended up starting with them. At least three other guys came too that I knew I could stay with so I was reasonably happy. Nervous but happy.

The route was up Barnes Gap, left down the Derg Line to Castlederg, over the valley ridge to Castlefinn and back to Ballybofey via the main road. This also suited me as it gave me a few drop out options to cut the ride short as well as not having to cycle home solo from Ballybofey at the end.

The big issue with this route is that the start is pretty brutal. The first 10km has a lot of climbing when legs aren’t properly warmed up. The last time I came up Cappry I really struggled to stay with the guys and I was pleased to stay with them this time. I did fully expect to be dropped heading up into Barnes Gap (one of the two hardest climbs of the route) but I wasn’t the last one up. I was seriously red lined at the top and didn’t get much of a chance to recover as we kept on to the Derg Line before stopping properly. I ended up behind Tony and really struggled to keep his wheel before losing it on the last small climb about 200m before the turn.

This next section was a lot better. It’s a fairly rolling section and the wind wasn’t as much of an issue as before. We formed a good double line with all of us taking some time on the front. My pulls were pretty short but I still got up there and took my turn. This was a very fast section too and that took a lot of getting used to. Riding in a group was nerve wracking, especially across the first bit which was pretty twisty and bumpy. At times I really felt close to my skill limit and verging on uncomfortable but I soon settled in.

Two guys had decided to hold back and wait for a slower group just after Cappry but I had one other guy that didn’t normally ride with the fast group and one other guy that does but is the slowest so I still had company and didn’t stand out too much. In fairness the three faster guys were great. They took the majority of the time on front, set a challenging but reasonable pace and eased off to wait for everyone to regroup after the tougher climbs.

The route stayed rolling and fast all the way to Castlederg with one last steep climb and fast descent into the town. Then it was the last long pull up over the valley ridge before dropping down to Castlefinn. This is a long, hard climb at the best of times and my legs were really complaining at this stage. However, the wind was now behind us which helped. I managed to stay with everyone for about half the climb before two of the guys really started to pull away followed by one of guys I was trying to match. About 2/3 of the way up John came past me like I wasn’t even moving! He had dropped a chain when he had to stop for traffic mid change and had fallen way behind but I’d say he was still one of the first to the top. Close to the top I got passed by the last of the group meaning I was the last one up but about 1km on I caught up with them again as they had slowed to regroup.

Then it was the very fast descent into Castlefinn. This is a nice twisty road with a good surface and there’s always a fair bit of racing here to get to the bottom. I topped out at just over 60km/hr at 100rpm on my fastest gear and still couldn’t catch some of the guys with bigger chainsets and more power than me. It was great!

Regrouping again in Castlefinn we took it reasonably steady to head back towards Ballybofey. I initially planned to drop off at Liscooley and head home but the craic was good and I felt my legs needed a slightly longer spin down before climbing home so I stayed with them to Killygordon before turning off and soloing the final 5km home.

Leaving the guys my average speed was 29.5km/hr but that included the first 12km solo ride up. Most of them finished with a 30km/hr+ average which is a lot faster than I’ve done for a long time. My usual average weighted power is 180-185, last night it was 200! It’s a very long time since I’ve asked that from my legs and I was very pleased that they had it to give.

*TNIB = Tuesday Night in Ballybofey, nod to BigDdyJim 😉👌

week one

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My first week of the 31 Days of Biking challenge is complete and so far, so good.

I’m aiming for 230km per week so after Week 1 I’ve banked 36km in case I have issues later in the month getting in my mileage.

Four of my runs were early mornings, getting away at 6am for a 25km blast before heading to work. This route is nice and simple and doesn’t require too much thought or effort at that time of the morning.

Half of it is on the main N15 and although the roads are still quiet it’s a lot busier than I expected, especially with HGVs. I guess they’re trying to beat the traffic through the night and early morning.

My longest spin was 74km on Sunday, to the Ghost House, but as Monday was a Bank Holiday I also managed to sneak in a bonus 57km spin. This was in support of our Club Beginner Group that is in its second week. I cycled up and down and then completed 25km with the group, providing support and advice as they gain confidence on the road and in traffic. It was a very social night, very relaxed and very enjoyable.

I had planned to get 50-60km in again on Wednesday, my second day off, but life intervened. Family duties took priority which meant I didn’t get out until quite late in the day and was under pressure to get home for 8pm. 33km had to satisfy me but it kept me on track.

Only 7 days in and I’m starting to see benefits already. I can feel my legs getting stronger and I seem to be getting faster as my morning times are improving. I’m not sure how much of this is due to weather conditions through the week but at least they’re heading in the right direction.

Week 2 starts tomorrow with some additional challenges that will require careful time management.

metric century

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Turned up for the Club Sunday morning spin yesterday determined to keep my momentum going now that I’m back on the bike and back out with the Club again. Nearly shit a brick when they announced it was to be a 100km spin!

I did plan to do a 100km this month but not for another fortnight or so. I didn’t think I had the legs to complete the distance and definitely didn’t think I had the legs to stay with the group over that period of time. But, I did and I did!

It wasn’t all roses though. At times I was really struggling. Every hill I was fighting just to stay with the other guys and I drifted off the back a number of times and had to dig deep to catch up.

The route was a new one for me heading around by Lough Derg, Pettigo and Laghey returning home via Barnes Gap. It’s a road I’ve looked at a number of times but never actually cycled until yesterday. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever been in Pettigo before either.

Great route and a big personal milestone as I haven’t cycled 100km since November 2018.

mind games

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This morning I went cycling with the Club. That’s a simple statement that covers (up?) a whole lot. Getting to that point was the result of a lot of small steps that took effort and not all from myself. It started with a phonecall earlier in the week from one of the other guys asking me to come back out again. It’s not the first time I’ve been asked and not the first time by this person but this week it came at the right time.

Then came the small steps from me, getting my bike back from service in Halfords, getting my gear ready, getting my lights and Garmin charged, setting my alarm, putting my bike in the car yesterday, filling my bottle, getting dressed and leaving the house. Every one a small step that involved overcoming a separate mental objection resulting in a very enjoyable Club spin.

I was very nervous this morning, full of doubts about my own fitness, my ability to cycle the distance and to stay with the group but also going back out with people I know. Friday I cycled with strangers and that was mentally a whole lot easier.

In the end I surprised myself on all counts. It wasn’t easy and I know the group weren’t pushing too hard but I hung in there, was able to stay with them, not get dropped (except on one climb), enjoyed myself and completed my longest cycle for 3 months.

I’ve always been a quiet person socially and it’s only in recent years that I’ve taken up cycling and found a group that I enjoy and feel part of. Over the last 12-18 months I’ve become more reclusive again, especially over the last year to the extent that today was almost exactly 7 months since I’ve cycled with the Club.

One phonecall was the catalyst to change that. For a non-physical part of the body the mind has such a lot of control.

niall harran

walk | hike | cycle | blog