It’s 5:00am and I’m waking up to the tune Song of Life by Leftfield, it’s my alarm sound on my iphone and it makes waking up in the morning that bit sweeter. Rather than getting up too early I lie and contemplate…can I hear rain?! My cycling bag is prepacked, the gear is laid out, the bike as always is checked over and clean, as one cannot disappoint John Collins. Breakfast is the usual, toast with peanut butter, banana and then a bowl of porridge. Feels like a regular weekend spin morning except I’m feeling a bit more excited.
Driving along the N11 there are a fair few cars on the road and they’re all turning off for Delgany, like moi. Not entirely sure where I’m going so I follow the cars with bike racks in front, I find an estate across from Greystones Rugby grounds and park the car. When I hit the Shoreline Leisure Centre I’m greeted by Andrew Potts and the ‘old skool group’ and despite the rain there’s a great buzz about the place.
The w100 gang at the start
The WW100 group are gathering and everyone is in high spirts and to never miss an opportunity I take a quick picture. A slight mechanical before departure is rectified and we set off circa 7:45am and it has stopped raining, just as I hoped for.
Heading out the motor way to Kilmacanogue it becomes evident that we’ll have to split the group into two. Approaching ‘Full Long Hill’ there’s only one thought in my head: just go with it. I do, this being my second time up it and I knock 4 mins off the previous time. Coming up to the last bend I recognise the jerseys on the lads in front of me, they’re from the Cuchulainn Cycling Club so I let out a shout as I’m passing them out, “ I did the Tour of Louth last week AND I stuck on an extra 35km”, they respond by giving me a great big cheer. Then it’s Sayonara lads and I’m gone. We regroup at the Calary carpark and split into two groups. I join a group of eleven and we head off, like a fine tuned orchestral, Derek Handley would be so proud, we shout out, up and over, tidy up, on the left. We’re rolling and before we know it we’re in and out of Laragh heading to Rathdrum.
At the Food stop in Rathdrum I see a group of cyclists from Ardee Cycling Club and recognise one the lads from the Tour of Louth it’s a quick cheery hello, bonne chance and I’m tucking into my doorstep chicken and stuffing sandwich. The sun is out and we’re all upbeat, few pics and we’re rolling out, no time for deep and meaningful conversations, we’re on a mission.
The gang on the road
The roads out from Avoca were fine, we tackled proper hills during our training and as I said on a few occasions to Catherine McLynskey, we’ve done Mount Leinster this isn’t a hill! From here on in, we chewed up the road, plenty of up and over and before long we were making are way back to Greystones. Nicole Bork was super on the day and took the natural job of leading us along. For me the highlight was getting into the crouching tiger position and embracing the feeling you get when you hit a decent and just roll with it. What’s next? ‘le meilleur est à venir’
The w100 gang after
Derek being thanked and presented with a card for guiding the Wicklow100 group
