What a morning, 7am and the sunshine is glorious. I've made the mistake before of not wearing enough gear but today is definitely one for summer clothes.
I signed up for the 150k but I was still undecided whether I would just do the 100k or include the extra distance.
Myself and Allen set off together, a few groups had gone off ahead of us and we started to pick off the stragglers after a few miles.
Jaysus, this is a fantastic day, temperature is heading for the twenties. Ahh, vanity is a terrible thing, I won't wear my sunglasses because I know this is a tanning day and I don't want "panda eyes", no mitts either, to hell with comfort I'll tan the back of my hands.....
We picked up a small group on the Tullow to Castledermot road, and we all worked together until we picked up a few more riders.
The pace suddenly picked up. I must say that a this point I was really enjoying the dynamics in the group and I was more than happy to fill the gaps and hit the front. Three of us at the front lost the rest on an uphill and there was no sign of anyone catching up on the long downhill. It turned out that most of them had taken a short cut....fuckers.....
We were (by our standards) fairly shifting it through Kilteagan and on to Hacketstown.
The other rider that joined us was an interesting guy, he had ridden the Ras four times in the sixties and was still able to give it a lash at 68 years old. He stayed with us until the food stop at Hacketstown.
While shoving brown bread sandwiches into my face I decided that I was only going to do the 100k today, a choice I was very glad I made.
Rolling countryside and warm sunshine brought us through Tinahealy and Sheillelagh.
This is cycling at its best.
I noticed at one point that my shadow was well ahead of me, so I could now put on my glasses and give my poor sore eyes some protection from the flies and bits of flying trees.
We picked up another rider on the way into Tullow who stayed with us until the finish at Carlow.
We had a quick cuppa at the finish and then off home for the dinner.
I really wish that all spins could be as enjoyable as this one, lovely weather, gorgeous scenery and good company.
I signed up for the 150k but I was still undecided whether I would just do the 100k or include the extra distance.
Myself and Allen set off together, a few groups had gone off ahead of us and we started to pick off the stragglers after a few miles.
Jaysus, this is a fantastic day, temperature is heading for the twenties. Ahh, vanity is a terrible thing, I won't wear my sunglasses because I know this is a tanning day and I don't want "panda eyes", no mitts either, to hell with comfort I'll tan the back of my hands.....
We picked up a small group on the Tullow to Castledermot road, and we all worked together until we picked up a few more riders.
The pace suddenly picked up. I must say that a this point I was really enjoying the dynamics in the group and I was more than happy to fill the gaps and hit the front. Three of us at the front lost the rest on an uphill and there was no sign of anyone catching up on the long downhill. It turned out that most of them had taken a short cut....fuckers.....
We were (by our standards) fairly shifting it through Kilteagan and on to Hacketstown.
The other rider that joined us was an interesting guy, he had ridden the Ras four times in the sixties and was still able to give it a lash at 68 years old. He stayed with us until the food stop at Hacketstown.
While shoving brown bread sandwiches into my face I decided that I was only going to do the 100k today, a choice I was very glad I made.
Rolling countryside and warm sunshine brought us through Tinahealy and Sheillelagh.
This is cycling at its best.
I noticed at one point that my shadow was well ahead of me, so I could now put on my glasses and give my poor sore eyes some protection from the flies and bits of flying trees.
We picked up another rider on the way into Tullow who stayed with us until the finish at Carlow.
We had a quick cuppa at the finish and then off home for the dinner.
I really wish that all spins could be as enjoyable as this one, lovely weather, gorgeous scenery and good company.
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