The Tour of Meath

The Tour of Meath was the chosen event this year for the climax of the women's beginner course. We chose the TOM not because Meath is well known for its scenic landscape but rather for its timing in late July and the fact that it afforded us three distance options 50k,100k and 160k.

The training began in earnest after the W200 when an army of experienced and enthusiastic helpers made themselves available to lead spins. The majority of the women's group had very little cycling experience prior to the course and were extremely nervous cycling in groups. This was all to change though and any of our regular attendees on the various spins found themselves progressing rapidly. Dazzling white cycling shoes and very tight Scott Orwell race fit jerseys started appearing on training spins as the new ladies found new ways to go faster!!

As the the 24th July drew closer decisions had to be made and many of group 3 had to choose between suffering mildly on the 160k or breezing through the 100k.

In the end the breakdown of the women's beginner group for TOM looked something like this:
10 for the 160km
30 for the 100k
2 for the 50k
1 emigrated to Australia
1 got pregnant
5 had various injuries
15 found something more exciting to do for the weekend.

The club BBQ was strategically arranged for the Saturday before the Tour of Meath as a carb loading opportunity. Although we all know from Beth McCluskey's excellent nutrition talk that carb loading on a rest day before an event is entirely unnecessary, we chose to ignore this advise. One of our group was unfortunate enough to be hit by a cricket ball on the day and was actually sidelined from doing TOM.We wish Yvonne a speedy recovery and hope she will at least have the foresight to wear a helmet next year.

Numbers had altered further by the time we arrived in a rain soaked Meath on Sunday morning.

Two of our 160k group texted in sick and another dropped down to 100k with the later start time of 9.30am. I had chosen to cycle with the 160k group which was now a group of 7. The crowds at the start line meant it was hard to keep track of everyone but by the time we reached the 10k mark we had all our group apart from former Olympic swimmer and national record holder Aisling Cooney. Aisling who is normally happiest on her back demonstrated how well she has taken to the bike and joined another one of the many Orwell pelotons on the day.


On the road just after one of the many small climbs in the first half of the 160km

Our little group worked well together. German lady Tonia was finding her bike a lot lighter after off loading her two children on her husband for the day and made short work of all the hills. She was unlucky to suffer a blow out early in the event and ended up having to get a tyre replaced.


The 160km group and other Orwell Wheelers at the food stop

By the time we arrived at the foodstop at the 100k mark we felt deserving of all sorts of goodies. We spotted an Orwell group sprawled on the floor at the bottom of the hall and joined them for banter. With bellies full and bladders emptied we set off for our final 60k. As we mounted our bikes we were informed by a friendly steward that there would be no more hills. This was music to many of our ears and now tired bodies.

We managed to keep our group together all the way to finish and each and every lady in our 160k group deserves huge credit for digging deep and suffering just a bit to cycle further and faster than they'd ever done before. We were greeted by the 100k group at the finish line and it was clear that they'd also pushed themselves to their limit and were really feeling the buzz!!


The 160km group with leader Ann Horan and helper Eugene SKIL


The 160km and 100km groups at the end of the day


Ann Horan and Eileen McLoughlin after the challenge!

Many from the 100km group had started out only managing to cycle a distance of 30k so to progress to the 100k in such a short time was a a testament to their dedication and grit.


A bigger group photo from the day!


Young and old-ish

I'd like to take this opportunity to say a massive thanks to all the Orwell members involved in preparing the ladies for the event. I'm not going to name any names but you know who you are.

With October still quite a bit away our beginner training spins will continue on for the next two months to bridge the gap. (If anyone is available on either Wednesday evenings or Saturday mornings to lead groups please let me know).