Originally I had no real plan for today, the last day of my long long weekend off work. I did have plans for a 100K spin on Saturday and 160K on Monday but the vaccine on Saturday pushed both of those off the table. I thought the 100K on Saturday was unwise and I was knocked on my arse for Sunday and Monday with an incredibly sore arm on Sunday and quite a lot of tiredness. I ended up falling asleep for an hour on Sunday afternoon having spent the day at Fort Dunree with Catriona and the boys.

I was still up for a spin Monday, just a shorter one, but shortly after lunch I fell asleep again and managed to sleep for 2 hours! At that stage I decided a walk was probably the better option.

Tuesday I was well recovered and back to normal so decided to go ahead with my plan to attend the first Club spin for a very long time. This was pretty full on and left me with tired legs this morning. It was still nagging at me that I hadn’t got my 100K done though. Getting up early I had a plan for a hilly but interesting route that made the most of the challenging 22km/h breeze.

I had to wait a while before I could leave. The forecast was giving heavy drizzle showers up until 11/12 and I didn’t really fancy having to start off either wet or wearing a waterproof gillet. I also spent the morning trying to contact my car mechanic to find out when my car would be ready for collection. I’m not having much luck with mechanic communications this week and need to change my approach as I didn’t get speaking to him until 5pm this evening!

Rolling out shortly after 12 I first of all went the opposite direction into Killygordon before turning for Castlefinn. This gave me an easy extra 5K to start and allowed me to finish coming downhill to home rather than uphill and into the wind.

At Castlefinn the fun started. For the next 30km it was a lot of climbing and straight into the wind. My legs were really feeling the effects of the previous evening and I hate headwinds. I must be the least aero dynamic person and really struggle with the wind. After the first 6K climb it’s a long descent into Castlederg and despite only being at 20K it felt like time to stop for a brief break and a bar.

The next section is up out of Castlederg to Ederney and Kesh. This was a real slog. It’s a series of small and big climbs punctuated by the occasional short descent. The overall emphasis is on up and I was still contending with the headwind. Approaching the toughest section, climbing over Scraghey, the rain came on. At first it was only a light drizzle so I pushed on thinking it was pointless stopping to put on my waterproof gillet. I figured I’d dry out quickly in the heat and strong breeze. By the time the rain became more consistent and I realised I’d made the wrong call it was too late and I was soaked. By the time I finally dropped in to Ederney I was starting to dry out and although 46K felt too early to stop I was getting hungry and had enough for now.

I didn’t stop long, just enough time to scoff a sandwich, drink a tea and top off my water bottles. I wasn’t completely dry and despite the warm day I was wary of getting chilled.

Kesh saw me over the halfway point and turning for Pettigo. I was now on unfamiliar roads but also starting to swing away from the headwind. Up until now I had been following part of the route of our Club Sportive but in the opposite direction. I was expecting a crap road from Kesh to Pettigo but it turned out pretty good and I seemed to blast through to 60K before I knew it. The food and lack of headwind seemed to be having an immediate effect.

Pettigo is an unusual little town. It straddles the border between Donegal and Fermanagh and therefore also the border between UK and Ireland and now the border with the EU. The town has two names, Pettigo in Donegal and Tullyhommon in Fermanagh. It is rumoured to be the inspiration for Spike Milligan’s story Puckoon. This is set in 1924 in a village divided by the border which runs through the pub meaning beer is cheaper in one corner than in the rest of the bar.

Leaving Pettigo I was now following the main approach to the pilgrimage site at Lough Derg. This is famous for the religious visits through the summer and in particular the 3 day penance retreat of fasting on water and bread while walking the Stations in barefeet and trying not to sleep, not really my idea of a weekend away! About 2km from the lough the road takes a swing right bringing you up above the lough with a cracker view across to Station Island and as close as I ever hope to get to it.

The road was now starting to rise again but with 65K done and the wind at my back I could sense the end and felt my second wind coming on. This area is open mountain bogland. It’s very open and exposed so I was glad to have the wind with me. It was very pleasant and pretty today with lots of wildflowers but must be an unforgiving place in the middle of winter.

Just before 70K there is a sudden and unexpected steep descent down into a river cut gully. This is the River Derg and marks the border crossing bringing me back into Northern Ireland once again. Even if I hadn’t seen the border on the map there are subtle road and signage differences that are plain to see. The management of the countryside also feels much more organised and maintained in NI versus the Republic, especially along the border.

The payment for any river cut descent is always a steep ascent on the other side but once up the short, steep climb I was in the midst of yet another windfarm and back on familiar territory with great views down the valley to Killeter and beyond. From here to Killeter it was pretty much all downhill and on great road surfaces. The upside of the windmill construction was a fantastic upgrade of the small country roads giving them a finish like a runway that’s still in great condition some years on.

The good surface lasts all the way to the closing of the big loop just above Castlederg. The fast run-in is finished with a steep climb up to the junction. My legs were really flagging on this climb and I knew I needed something to get me the last 14K to home and up the last climb of the day. I stopped in one of the small supermarkets in Castlederg for a Fanta and a chocolate bar. Not very healthy but the sugary goodness carried me all the way home and I even set my second best time on the last climb. This may have had something to do with the nicely planned tailwind too though 😆

Arriving home with a nice 800m free wheel I had just over 101K and slightly over 1000m of climbing done. No great speeds today but after last night I was delighted to get it finished and also to have my metric challenge completed early in the month again. That’s halfway through 2021 now which is a bit frightening!

This weekend off and especially last night and today have given me back a lot of the cycling confidence I managed to lose during April and May. I’m now starting to feel that Audax is back on the cards and tentatively planning to restart the RRTY Challenge before the end of the month.

After my motivational crash and mental reset in the middle of the month my reduction in activity had a very detrimental impact on my cycling. After a strong February (568km) and March (558km) April has been quite poor. Up until yesterday I only had 133km across 5 rides. In addition I hadn’t sat in the saddle for 2 weeks! True to form I was also leaving my 100km to the very last possible day seeing as I’m working the last two days of the month.

Time was a precious commodity yesterday. Our normal car pool arrangement fell apart this week as the neighbours’ girl was off sick. This meant I had to collect the boys from school and of course it’s a half day finish at 1:20. My normal preferred mid morning start (10ish) was out the window meaning no lie in and no dawdling on route.

A 7:15 alarm was set with the aim of hitting the road by 8:30. I was eventually out the door at 8:45 and almost cancelled due to a bit of an upset stomach. Not sure if it was the larger than normal breakfast or anxiety. I was definitely feeling nervous, whether it was stress due to the time pressure, performance anxiety worrying if I was fit enough, anxiety about being so far from home for the first time in 8 months or a combination of all of that.

The route was Derry via Lifford and Carrigans, through the city and back home via Bridgend, Letterkenny and Ballybofey. The wind was from the Northeast which made the 45km to Derry a bit of a slog and also pretty chilly straight into the cold 18km/h breeze. However, leaving Derry I had the benefit of a tailwind most of the way back as far as Stranorlar at 95km.

Coming into Derry I had the only rain of the day. A short 15min shower just heavy enough to justify stopping to put on my waterproof gillet. As it’s also HiViz I kept it on through the city to help make me a bit more visible to both cars and pedestrians. I managed to avoid the majority of the traffic by jumping on to the cycle path that runs along the Foyle all the way to the bottom of the Buncrana Road. This is partly shared use but a lot of it is segregated for walkers and cyclists. A lot of pedestrians are clueless about this though as there is no physical separation, just a change of surface colour and signage so it’s slower and requires constant vigilance. It’s still a lot safer than playing in the traffic though.

I had chosen this route partly because I was able to stop at 52km and enjoy a welcome cup of tea and a bun at my brother’s coffee van (#curiouscoffeecompany). I was also able to top up my water bottle removing the need for 2 today.

Business was good and the clock was ticking so I wasn’t able to hang around for much more than a short chat. However, refuelled on sugar and partly rested I made great time to Letterkenny and the only real climb of the day. Good route planning meant that I also had some wind assistance most of the way to the top.

The heat of the climb, loss of windchill with a tailwind and the re-emergence of the sun meant I was able to remove the leg warmers and enjoy air on my legs for the first time this year – I decided to spare you any photos!

Shortly after this I had my worst bad pass for a while. I was on a very slight descent and nipping along at 45km/h in the hard shoulder. A Nissan Micra passed me and straight away indicated to take the left turn less than 100m ahead. We drive on the left in Ireland meaning he was about to cut across in front of me. I slammed on the brakes with no hope of stopping without crashing but he stopped dead in the left lane. I figured he either didn’t see me when passing or totally underestimated my speed and somehow had the presence of mind not to turn left allowing me to pass on the inside. I gave him a good bollocking through his open window as I went by, followed a few seconds later by a long honk on the horn responded to by the most universal of hand signals🖕

Arriving in Stranorlar at 95km I was flagging. I was tired, the sugar had worn off and I was getting hungry again. I was also turning back into the wind for the final 10km. A quick stop to eat a cereal bar helped but the next 15min were not much fun! Arriving into Killygordon there’s a short, sharp climb to the traffic lights. I decided to stand up to power up it and my left leg just said no! The muscle in the back of my leg felt like water resulting in a quick rethink and a very quick downshift to keep my momentum going.

Exiting the other side of the village I ticked over the 100km mark at 3hrs 41min which I was very pleased with considering my mileage this month. I finished up the last climb to home (no standing attempted here) with the wind fully behind me again and rolled in home with 105km in 3hrs 54min at 1:10. A quick change, a handful of nuts and I was picking the boys up just 10min later than normal. Of course in moody teenager world this was a terribly unfair amount of time to be waiting, despite a warning that morning that it could be up to half an hour 😆

Dead pleased to get that done, I really thought I was going to miss this month! Not a bad time for me either.

Header image © Strava. 100KM Gran Fondo April.

Believe or not completing this on the very last day of the month was according to plan. Since last weekend when it was clear that Spring was coming this week and that cycling was back on the cards I’d planned to do my 100K spin yesterday. However, a bit of over exuberance and lack of thought on route choices on Friday left me with a much bigger week than expected. This forced me to rearrange the weekend and make Saturday a recovery day.

As I said yesterday recovery rides are not my forte. I set out with the best of intentions but it usually ends up a normal ride, slightly slower and with my cadence on the higher side. My legs were tired and achy yesterday which forced me to focus on my form and actually resulted in a proper low power and heart rate spin at a higher cadence. As a result today felt great.

In Covid times I’m still not comfortable being very far from home so I chose to ride a similar route to last month. I shortened it slightly to give me 2 full laps of approx 37km plus a final shorter lap of approx 26km. I felt the meal break at 50km was too early last month but 75km turned out to be perfect today. It was nice to get back to the house, eat something proper and stretch out for a bit. Having a short lap to finish was also a nice mental boost to get going again.

The nicest part of the day was just under 5km from home. A little girl, about 7 years old, came along the pavement just as I was pulling away from traffic lights. She called out “I saw you this morning too”. She was absolutely delighted with herself and full of happiness. It put a big smile on my face that took me all the way home.

I’m heading back to work on Saturday and the weather is set to be good again all week. If all goes according to plan I hope to repeat this ride on Thursday 🤞

Header image © Strava. 100KM Gran Fondo February 2021.