Last
Wednesday I saw an article on Stickybottle (Irish cycling website); ‘is this new 100km sportive the toughest in
Ireland’. As I read through it I became more intrigued, I was like a bright-eyed
bunny rabbit gazing at a golden carrot. I had to have a bite of it and just
like that I was registered.
Man of Sperrin
the 5 peaks challenge boasts 6,000ft of climbing in 100km, climbs include
Benbradagh, The Birren, Slieve Gallion, Ballynagilly and
The Brown Knowes. I checked out the gradient map and it looked alright, 5
peaks, nice descents I was looking forward to it.
Saturday
afternoon and I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to driving up to Derry. I
had found myself a B&B just outside Dungiven. Killunaght House B&B
where I received a warm welcome from the hosts Dolores and Sean, it was
literally a home away from home and the welcome, tea and chats were just what I
needed before hitting the hay. Thankfully I slept well, I was excited and
nervous I was doing my first sportive on my own. Dolores looked after me and
fed me well so I set up for the morning.
When I got to
the Owenbeg GAA centre it started to lash down, thankfully I had all my winter
gear (just in case). As cyclists came to register the buzz around the centre started
to build, just before 8.50am the MC took to the mic to remind us all the rules
of the road. The rain eased off and bang
on 9am 3, 2, 1 we were gone. Not long down the road, I’d say less than 4km in we
were cycling up towards a mountain, Benbradagh. In the distance, I could see fluorescent
yellow, the colour drew my eye to the road as it curved its way around the
mountain, I began to laugh to myself, the road was rising in height like a parallel
line. This was no joke, I was approaching a serious climb. I got myself into a
rhythm as best I could and made my way up the narrow road, occasionally
clocking the gradient percentage on my Garmin, continuously rising. I began to
look at my surroundings in more detail, I approached a gate to the left side of
the road and stopped to just take it all in, I wasn’t in any rush. The views
were stunning and stretched as far as the eye could see.
Back on the
bike the road became steeper and steeper. The fluorescent yellow became more visible,
locals were out cheering, goat bells were ringing. Was I in the Alps, no I was ascending
a steep stinger of a climb, at this point I had reached 27% gradient of the
climb. Two words were going through my mind, which I won’t repeat here. If my
body and face could talk, you would know just what those words were. Out of the
saddle, in the saddle, cheering, bell ringing, welcomed smiles, encouraging
words being shouted out, paparazzi clicking. Next minute I called out, ‘give us an aul push’ and just like that
a young lad, did just that. This is when I really felt like I was in the Tour
de France. There was no way I was getting off my bike, because if I did I
wouldn’t have been able to get back on and there was no way I was walking. Oh
God, just let it end and in doing so, it did, one down 4 to go.
The descent
down from Benbradagh I was a little worried, a mixture of moss, grass and
gravel for a short period, cross winds whirling at my right side, I just must
get down here safely I thought. Thankfully it wasn’t too long and I was met
with tarmac and the road became one long descent, down into the drop handlebars
and I free wheeled down, electrifying.
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| Descent down from Benbradagh |
The next climb The Birren, wasn’t so bad
except for the head wind, pretty much head wind the whole morning. I wasn’t
long out of Slieve Gallion before hitting Ballynagilly. This part of Derry is
rural, remote in places and at times you feel as if you could be on the set of
Heartbeat, a reminder of the Yorkshire Moors.
This was my
first time to cycle in Northern Ireland and what I noticed driving into
Dungiven and cycling around the Sperrin mountains is that this part of the country
is chocolate box cover perfect. Almost like a best kept secret, the landscape
is wild, natural, untouched and simply beautiful. At times, you feel a sense of
solitude. Lower grounds are filled with livestock and planted around this part
of Derry are wind turbines, lots of them. To me as a guest to this part of the
country they don’t appear as an eye sore. Cycling on the roads around them they
become almost like hypnotic robotics silently working away or maybe the noise
was blocked out by the strong head winds.
The Man of Sperrin is a locally organised
event in Derry and any funds left over from making this event go directly into
supporting GAA in Derry. It really is a well organised event, for me the
marshals stood out, they were on hand at every critical corner and junction to
direct cyclists through safely. There were two foods stops on the 5 peaks
route, more than enough and at the end a BBQ.
Throughout the day I
cycled on and off with different groups, they were all so friendly and many
cyclists offered me encouragement and praise. One of those groups were 3 lads
from Emyvale Cycling Club. As I had
completed the last climb, The Brown Knowes the lads pulled up behind me and
said grab on. We motored over the last drag before making our descent down from
the climb. A mixture of strong winds, warm air brushed passed me, at times I
felt my front wheel sway. Open to the elements we were exposed one last time to
the beauty that surrounded us the whole day.
Delighted with myself
having completed my first solo sportive I received a finishers medal, got the
necessary podium picture, a welcomed leg massage, a cold / hot shower and then
I was ready to dig into some grub, who doesn’t love a good meaty burger and locally
sourced sausages.
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| The lads from Emyvale Cycling Club |
Was this Ireland’s toughest 100km sportive?! Rating it against what I’ve done in the past (Wicklow 100, Tour of Inishowen – i60, and Mount Leinster 105km) I would say yes but only because of the savage climb you have at the start, Benbradagh is a beast. You can expect this sportive to be juicy just like a satsuma.
LoveVelo
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