For this year’s cycling plans I’m hoping to go further than before, but until last weekend I hadn’t actually ventured away from my local roads.
n Saturday I travelled north to Newcastle, Co Down to catch up with my friend Paul who – on current evidence – is going to be leading me through the Chase the Sun sportive in June.
Paul had plotted a route through the Co Down mountains and with his reliable navigational skills, I didn’t looked too closely at the route. It was probably just as well.
On the menu, was two tough climbs and in between a lot of undulating backroads before a flat 20km back to our start point. It was largely uncharted territory for me.
From Newcastle we headed northwest, around the side of Castlewellan Forest Park and immediately hit some quiet, winding roads, with road surfaces you’d gladly spend all day on.
Paul warned me at this point we were effectively starting an 11km climb to the summit of Slieve Croob. You could break this climb into multiple sections, but for the next 8kms we were mostly climbing, with plenty of steep ramps, stone walls, abandoned farmhouses and increasingly pleasant views.
After levelling out for a brief respite, we swung off the mountain pass to face the even narrower road to a radio mast to complete the final 2.1km. This, like most mast climbs, is closed to regular traffic so you can zig-zag your way up the steepest inclines at whatever pace you can manage.
The 2.1km averages out at a 8.1pc gradient, but that belies the steepness of the ramps on the way up. A 1km stretch in the middle hits an average of 12.5pc. So I was fairly gassed by the top. Paul was, conveniently, already there to photograph my suffering up the final section.
One banana and a few deep breaths later, we were nursing our way back down the hairpins, but the road surface wasn’t as bad as treacherous as some other mast climbs so the brakes weren’t burning too much at the bottom.
Back on the regular road, we turned south towards the Mournes, along on a warren of lanes I’d never be able to retrace without the Strava GPX file. But we were hitting the roads at speed, as we roller-coastered our way towards the main route over the Mournes.
After a final stretch between the hedges we turned onto the main pass through the mountains and were almost immediately on the 3.5km climb to Spelga dam. This comes in at a 6.5pc average and is pretty steady apart from the leg-breaking hairpins in the middle. The road surface here is excellent but with the rain holding off in this corner of the country there was a lot of traffic passing by.
I was tired enough at this stage so wasn’t too distracted by the cars. The bike computer explained why. Over the first 50km we’d recorded 1,250m of climbing.
The view on the way up here is pretty spectacular with dramatic mountains and rocky outcrops on either side.
From the top there’s a speedy 12km descent to Kilkeel followed by a 20km flat spin back to Newcastle, that’s not worth writing about..
We ran out of time to do the optional extra of Silent Valley, but it makes for a good reason to return.
The route on Strava: Up and Down all day
This week’s cycling: 140km and 2200m of climbing over two rides
Tweet of the week
Imagine cycling for seven hours over 260km only to miss out on ultimate glory by 1cm. That was the fate of Canadian Steve Bauer who was edged out by Belgian Eddy Planckaert in the 1990 Paris-Roubaix, in the closest finish in the history of the epic Classic.
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Treat of the week
The Railway Street cafe in Newcastle was a welcome sight at the end of last weekend’s ride. The cinnamon bun came highly recommended, and it didn’t disappoint. And for once, it was well earned.
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Further reading
Gerard Cromwell spoke with rising Irish star of the professional peloton Ben Healy about his recent breakthrough success. Last month Healy won a stage of Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali in Italy and three days later followed it up with victory at the one-day GP Industria & Artigianato with a solo attack. In this interview Healy details the changes he made to his approach during the off-season, which are clearly helping the 22-year-old reach the next level.
Serious cycling
Sunday is one of the highlights of the cycling year. It may be the ‘Hell of the North’ for the riders, but it can be heaven for the viewers who sit down to follow the 260km of action for the 120th Paris-Roubaix. Ryan Mullen (Bora-Hansgrohe) will be the sole Irishman in the men’s peloton while former camogie player from Kilkenny Mia Griffin (Israel Premier Tech Roland) will race the women’s event on Saturday.
Closer to home, the best riders in the country will compete in the four-day Rás Mumhan on the roads of Kerry and Cork.
If you’d like to highlight an event, your favourite place for a mid-ride pitstop or tell us about your bike rides email icycle@independent.ie
