Team Tango & Cash with Pimm's & White

A great day’s racing in the Donegal hills on Saturday 28th June was fraught with all sorts of drama for us in what turned out to be a very close race, and we all finished utterly spent.

The results placed us in second, just behind the unputdownable Average Joes, who made up all their time AFTER the race!! As the results say:

PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WAS AN APPEAL FROM AVERAGE JOES OF 20 MINUTES FOR TIME LOST ON CP.1. DUE TO AN INCORRECT GRID REFERENCE HAVING BEEN GIVEN TO THEM. ALTHOUGH THE SAME INCORRECT REFERENCE WAS GIVEN TO TWO OTHER TEAMS (one of which teams was us!) THERE WAS NO OTHER REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL TIME AND THE APPEAL WAS UPHELD SO 20 MINUTES HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF THEIR TOTAL.

Results here

Well done to the Average Joes - our inexperience meant we thought the race finished on Saturday when we arrived at the finish line! :-)

Anyway, ... A newly-formed team, a late start, grim problems with punctures, a bad fall off the bike, some good head to head tussles and a miserable paddle all made this a race we will remember for a long time.

Karen Duggan deserves a special mention. She agreed to be on our team having had no prior knowledge of our criminal records, and kept us laughing (and at times worried!) all day. A terrible fall off her bike had us worried sick we would be sending her back to Dublin in several pieces, but luckily she was only partly smashed to bits, and showed great guts to go on and keep pushing.

WARNING! RACE REPORT – UNSUITABLE UNLESS YOU COMPETED IN THE RACE

Our team for the race comprised Tango & Cash (naturally enough), Enda from adventure racing team ‘Meet the Spartans’, whose usual partner had gone to see Neil Diamond in concert :-/, and Karen, who travelled from Dublin for the race with a deserved reputation as a great mountain runner.

We completely missed the race start, relaxing at the car as all the other teams shot off. Davy was on the toilet at the time, so we left the centre in last place, and then went on to mess around for ages looking for checkpoint 1. Having finally secured it, Davy had a blow-out in his rear tyre, which turned out to be ripped. We then discovered our pump was broken, and we had to wait for ages for Average Joes (they had hunted for point 1 for much longer than we had), who kindly gave us a pump. We cursed Jonny Gallier’s pump for being rubbish for about ten minutes of frantic pumping, when we finally discovered that both our spare tubes were punctured, so we had to get the repair kit out. All in all, we lost nearly half an hour with all the messing about.

Back in action again, we were clawing back some time and closing on some of the teams heading up the track from Glenveagh Castle to the road, but another puncture and tyre wall repair set us back again, so we steadied ourselves for a frustrating day.

Our big break came on the first run section, where some brilliant navigating by Davy saw us stay off the high hills, contouring left rather than following the other teams over the top, and this saved us loads of time.

Karen’s skills as a mountain runner became clearly apparent on this section, as she let fly across the mountain, but thankfully the going was so rough underfoot that it slowed her down a bit to the pace of the rest of us! The value of Karen’s medical training also showed on the run, as she performed major eye surgery in the howling gale by fixing my folded-over contact lens. We all stuck together back to the bikes, satisfied we had made up lots of time and passed a few teams.

A great tarmac descent on the bikes had us back feeling we were making good time, and this was confirmed as we started to bump into the guys at the front of the race, but we hunted around for far too long for checkpoint 9, up to half an hour, trying to apply some lateral thinking to find the darn thing, but to no avail!

On the second run section, ourselves, CCAR and Average Joes ended up neck and neck for the checkpoint on the post at the track end, and it was a hard old slog on foot from there back to the bikes, which we greeted as if they were long-lost family.

The legs were starting to lose their vim at this stage, but we pushed hard, stuck together and helped each other along with a mixture of pushing and drafting, Enda setting the pace. Things were looking rosy until we were descending the rough rocky double-track before the road back to the boats.

On the fast downhill, Karen took the worst fall off a bike I have ever witnessed, striking one of the gullies hard and suddenly pitching over the handlebars. Somehow she managed to roll into a ball, which definitely minimised injury, but it was a terrible fall on an awful surface. Karen was clearly badly shaken and had really hurt her shoulder, but after steadying herself for a couple of minutes, she was back on the bike again, and showed unbelievable tenacity to grind it out to the kayaks, which we arrived at as the first team.

The kayaking was horrible as the wind was howling, but we set off down the lake with the strong wind on our backs. We scrabbled around for a long time for the first checkpoint, and CCAR were right on us in the confusion, and from there, it was a long hard slog up the lake to the church. Karen and I were making terrible progress, actually going backwards at one point, but we kept the head down and ground it out as best we could, relieved to see that Davy and Enda and CCAR, some way ahead, were not going for the bonus.

Davy had worked out that, given the distance already paddled and the time it had taken, the bonus section was definitely not worth going for in the conditions, so we struck off back for the centre. Team Average Joes had clearly made much better progress than us up the lake, as they took the decision that it was worth striking on for the bonus...

The wind on our backs again, and the finish in sight, our spirits were lifted and we pushed hard in one final effort. After 7.5 hours of hard racing, CCAR hit the shore first, and we followed about 20 seconds later, very tired, very cold, and very hungry.

It was a great effort by the team, especially given that it was our first outing. We pushed as hard as we could all day, we stuck together from start to finish, we supported each other in our various moments of adversity, and we had a great laugh all day (apart from the kayaking and Karen’s fall!).

Many, many thanks to Greg and Pauline of Adventure Ireland, who ran a brilliant event with hardly any manned support, and laid on a fantastic spread of food for after the event. What a great day out!!

Kilbroney Challenge 2008

Five hours of very tiring racing, all in the teeth of a gale - an epic struggle resulted in us claiming the coveted second place on the 2008 Kilbroney Challenge.

Given that it was a marked course and we were pretty much neck and neck with three other teams for much of it, it was the only race we have ever done where we have been completely knackered for the WHOLE race – it was HAAAAARRRRRD work.

WARNING! RACE REPORT AHEAD
(All pictures are shown courtesy of Shane Kelly)

Just before the start on Saturday, nobody wanted to race – the weather was as bad as we had ever experienced on the hills. The inclement conditions were something that we should have been prepared for, though, as ALL the cows were lying down in the fields on our drive down from Antrim to Rostrevor!


The seafront in Rostrevor just before the race

On arrival at Carlingford Lough Yacht Club, the normally jovial NTSR crew were completely stressed out, as the weather was causing all sorts of logistical problems and worries, most of them around people not wanting to get ready to race!


Rowan of NTSR used all his best gags to entertain the crowd

Against the odds, we all lined up ready to start at 11:00am and, counting down from 10, we lit off along the shore in the middle of the pack towards the boats with a mass cheer. We reckoned there would be a bit of a bottleneck at the boats, so we struck on as hard as we could to get up near the front to avoid the crowd, and hit the water as the third boat.

Some of the boats were clearly quicker than others, but we were fortunate in having one of the decent ones, and we just about managed to hang onto the coat-tails of Haribo Joes, Passing Wind and Castor & Bollix and a few others, in the dash for the pier. The small lead the guys had built up on the boats evaporated on beaching though, as there was a lack of clarity around what to do onshore and where to dib, so we managed to get on the bikes and out the gate as the second team.


Steady on, man! I think she's gonna go!

Soon we were into Kilbroney Park into the forest and puffing hard along with everyone else. The singlespeeds are normally OK on hills with a bit of effort, but that first climb was just too steep, so we were off and pushing before long, but managed to make as good time on foot as anyone else did on the bikes. Clearly in a different league to the rest of us, Wagon Wheels soon powered up past us and on down the single-track in first place, and there they remained for the race.


The stampede up the first hill in the forest

Ourselves, Haribo Joes, Passing Wind, Give It A Go, and Team Purple 2 were neck and neck all the way up to the river at Yellow Water for the river climb, but we could see Wagon Wheels up ahead on the river bank, ahead by a just few minutes. Haribo Joes, stepping round the wrong side of a tussock, missed the checkpoint halfway up the river and had to go back for it, which lost them a precious few minutes, and the rest of us battered on, pushing each other hard just to keep pace with each other.


Left a bit, right a bit

So began the tight technical section on the northshore and the hike a bike, with nobody giving ground or placing, and we all stuck with each other for most of it. Battling the bikes up the final climb in the open on Slieve Martin, Passing Wind just ahead of us but out of sight in the mist, it started to get extremely cold in the mist, wind and rain, and we stopped for a while to don our coats. We were fortunate enough in being able to find our way to the mast OK, and were surprised to see that only one set of bikes was against the wall, so we knew that Passing Wind must have gone straight on at the top and missed the turn for the mast. We were also perplexed as to the whereabouts of Team Purple 2, who, as it turned out, had had to retire from the race before heading out on the run.

We set out on foot, heading for Knockshee, and as we got down to the saddle, the mist suddenly cleared completely, offering up the fantastic view – we could see the tent on the summit, and on turning round, we could see the rampaging Passing Wind and Give It A Go bearing down on us fast. We are not too hot at the running generally, so we were sure we would be overrun soon. Passing Wind passed us just after the bath checkpoint, and Give It A Go nipped past us too just after the gorge, arriving at the archery just a few seconds ahead of us. We timed out with some relief and got ourselves cooled down for the shoot, disappointed that human targets were not permitted.


Big Barry from Give It A Go prepares to bury a bolt in Gerry from Passing Wind

We somehow managed to gain a delightful bonus of fifteen minutes at the archery, and we set off a few hundred yards behind Passing Wind and Give It A Go in the dash back up towards Slieve Martin. The pace just seemed relentless – we knew Passing Wind would keep steaming, but Give It A Go just kept battering too on without a let-up.

Haribo Joes had just arrived at the archery as we were leaving, their mistake on the river climb having cost them dear, but we knew we needed to keep pressing on, as they are faster than us on foot, and we kept checking behind us at intervals to see if they were gaining. We managed to stick within a few hundred yards of Give It A Go, and they made little ground on us, albeit Passing Wind had struck on strongly and seemed to be well ahead.

We reached the cairn then the mast about a minute behind Give It A Go, then set off for Fern Gully. The wind and rain were truly horrendous at this point, and the thick mist made sight navigation impossible. We caught Give It A Go just immediately after the steep bit of Fern Gully, just as the mist cleared once more, and on turning back through the gate into the forest, were surprised to have also caught Passing Wind. Billy Reed of Passing Wind, we learned later, had taken a nasty fall from the bike, and took a wee while to recover.

We were on familiar terrain through all the singletrack, and we knew we could put some time between us and Passing Wind if we kept the head down and if our maths was good at the special task. Both of us took falls and crashed into trees on the singletrack, but emerged with scrapes only. Having delivered the number total to the marshal, we contoured the hill along the wall at good speed, but both of us started to suffer from cramp on the grim slog of a climb up through the ferns before entering the forest once more.

We could see Passing Wind and Give It A Go at the bottom of the hill about 10 minutes behind us, but gaining on foot, and we knew we would need to make up more time if we were to be able to stay ahead through the orienteering loop. We had nothing left in the legs, and the Passing Wind chaps are fast on foot. We made great time through the forest singletrack again, and were back at the boats quickly to drop off the bikes. We were DELIGHTED to learn that the paddle back had been cancelled, so we knew the orienteering loop was our last real effort, and we gave it everything we had, which was not much!

Our loop of Kilbroney Park could not be described as a run, as we were both reduced to an awkward shuffle for the entire thing. With only two checkpoints to go, we stumbled upon Give It A Go doing the loop going the other way, so we knew if we kept trucking, and kept Passing Wind out of sight, we should hold second, unless they had shot bullseyes at the archery.

On the final run down the hill to the boats and on the cycle back, I was suffering badly with nothing left in the legs, and we drafted all the way back with Davy in front and pushed as hard as we could; so Davy was justified in being a slow-ass round the rest of the course! We arrived back at the yacht club with great relief at finally getting the opportunity to get out of the wind and rain, and getting some grub and a shower.

Our thanks go to Rowan, Henry and all the crew and marshals who helped out on the day, which must have been an absolute nightmare in the weather conditions. An extremely tiring but very rewarding race. The Kilbroney Challenge is getting a name for itself!!

Our Ulster Way Booky-Wook

THE ULSTER WAY IN SIX CONSECUTIVE DAYS
On foot and single-speed mountain bike
David Creighton & Rick McKee
3rd – 8th May 2008

The Ulster Way is a 600-mile meandering loop of Northern Ireland, covering minor roads, paths, tracks, open mountain and bog-land, and taking in many of Northern Ireland’s Way-marked Ways.

On 3rd May 2008, Rick McKee and David Creighton embarked upon an adventure that had never before been attempted; the completion of the entire Ulster Way on foot and by bike in only 6 consecutive days. To add further spice to the challenge, the journey was undertaken on mountain bikes without any gears.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT (pdf, 2.5M)


Why did we attempt The Ulster Way in Six Days? We did it to see if we could do it, to have fun with something different, to have an adventure, to see more of Ulster, and because nobody else (to our knowledge) had done it in that timeframe.

We knew it would be hard work covering six hundred miles in six days over all kinds of terrain, but we were sure it was doable. Six days was just too tight a time-frame to fully enjoy it, though. As it was, we were arriving every night late, completely wasted, just collapsing and waking up too few hours later to do the same again – we just had no time to relax.

The single-speed bikes were a mistake, in hindsight. It was fine for the first day or two, but it soon started to take its toll on our knees and upper bodies, as there was only one way up the hills unless we wanted to walk, and that was to get out of the saddle and just haul up. After a couple of days of it, we were getting pretty tired and lethargic, which is no mood to be in on a single-speed if you want to make any progress.

We completely underestimated the amount we would need to eat during each day, and the time it would take us to eat it. We tended to take a long lunch break and stuff ourselves with chips, beans, chicken and a tall coke plus chocolate and crisps, and the days were further punctuated with plenty of other shop stops and eating breaks.

We wanted to take our time, take pictures, enjoy the route and enjoy the trip, and other than meeting our six-day target (which was all we had booked away from work and families), we were in no rush each day - we would just finish when we finished!

The Ulster Way in Six Days is a trip we will never forget, but we have no immediate plans to repeat it, as it nearly killed us!

Same-day delivery on the Wicklow 200

Congratulations to Mickey Laverty and Davy McKeown, who completed this year's Wicklow 200 on the Tango & Cash post-bike. That's a 200 km loop through the Wicklow Mountains, with 2,800m of vertical climbing! :-o

The bike underwent some emergency surgery to get it roadworthy again for the 200, as it took a fair bit of abuse in Rostrevor on the 2007 Slieve Martin Slaughter. Two big jubilee clips held the frame together!

Mickey takes on this year's Transalp Challenge alongside Declan McCabe, under the guise of the Cooley Bulls. Given the nature of some of their training, they will likely find the Transalp is more like a warm-down!

TrailBadger Dominates World MTBO Championships

The 2008 World MTB Orienteering Championships were held at Craigavon Lakes on Saturday 31 May, in glorious sunshine and surroundings befitting of the event.

Run expertly by Lagan Valley Orienteers, there seems to have been a problem getting the event promoted any further than LVO and another 8 people, which is a shame, as it was tremendous fun.

Paul McArthur, clad in his Badger pelt, stormed to victory leaving the rest of us for dead, dominating proceedings to take the crown from last year's winner Jonny Gallier, who finished in second place. Full results here.

Tango & Cash amazingly finished within a second of each other, proving what a well-matched team they are, Cash's navigating proving to be the deciding factor on the day, heheheeeeee.

Team TrailBadger.com had 4 representatives on the day, L-R: Rick, Ryan, Davy, Paul

A superb event - would be great to have lots more of these.

Free cans of Guinness - Roll up, roll up!!

A.W. Wainright once promised a half-pint of beer to anyone who fully completed England's Pennine Way - by the time the poor fella died, he was £15,000 out of pocket!

Tony Evans thought his wallet would remain in hibernation when he made the same promise to Tango & Cash about their crazy plan to nail the new Ulster Way route in 6 consecutive days. "It's impossible!", he cried. Little did he know that he would be dragging himself down to the off-licence to remain true to his word.

The ceremonial handing over of the cans of Guinness took place on the banks of the Lagan on 13 May 2008, 15 minutes before a couple of local teenage toe-rags bombarded us with water-bombs!!

Photographic Record of The Ulster Way

We tended to only take pictures when we were in good form, so long periods of our Ulster Way trip go unphotographed!

Full gallery at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/47166888.

It all started one damp Saturday morning at Belfast City Hall...

The Ulster Way versus the Transalp Challenge

In July 2006, we completed the Transalp Challenge, hailed as the world's toughest mountainbike race, and we trained our socks off for it for 6 months, albeit we did not really know what we were at. A couple of days ago, we completed the new Ulster Way, devoid of adequate training, having only been out on only one 4+ hour ride in 2008, round Lough Neagh the week before we departed.

We thought it would be interesting to do a comparison of the two challenges, in terms of times, distances, and vertical climbing, just to see how it all stacks up. The results are interesting (if you find this sort of guff fascinating, that is!)

Basically, it's no wonder the Ulster Way nearly killed us!

	Transalp Challenge	The New Ulster Way
Total distance (km)	600	937
Total climbing (m)	22,000	15,744
Number of days	8	6
Total time we took (hrs)	56	84
Average climbing / day (m)	2,750	2,624
Average distance / day (km)	75	156
Average stage time / day (hrs)	7	14

2 careful owners, only 600 miles on the clock...

Day 6 of The Ulster Way

Portrush to Belfast City Hall, via Ballycastle, The Moyle Way, The Antrim Hills Way, Ballyboley, Woodburn, Belfast.

98 miles of torture, 2,850 metres of vertical climbing, in a mere 17 hours!

Well, we finished, at 1:00am, having started the day at 8am with a photo for RNLI in Portrush. That was pretty much the last time we smiled until we finished.

Phil was our cheerful companion for 65 miles or so, into Glenarm, before heading for home, having run out of Minstrels!

In the morning, round the coast towards Ballycastle, my front cog exploded into 50 bits and I fell off as a result, which gave us a problem for an hour or so, as single speed bikes only have one cog! Flipping the bike over to change the cog also wiped our GPS data for that morning, as the reset button was held down, so that was further joy!

The generous Ivan Park, who had joined us for the morning at Dunseverick, allowed us to strip his bike for parts, and we left the poor lad with a useless bike and kept moving, stopping briefly for EXCELLENT fish and chips in Ballycastle.

The Moyle Way, from Ballycastle to Glenariff, was unspeakably unpleasant with the bike, albeit the scenery was lovely. We had to walk and drag and carry and haul our bikes for mile upon mile of soft, muddy, tussocky, heathery ground, and we hit our mental lowpoint half-way down Trostan, having thought that nothing could have been worse than coming off Slieveanorra.

By the time we reached Waterfoot, it was nearly 8pm, we were utterly depressed, and we still had an hour's pedal to Glenarm, and the entire Antrim Hills Way to do, before a 30-odd mile pedal back to Belfast. Our GPS conked out half way to Glenarm, but we took photos to document things instead.

Lynda Foy from Larne Borough Council met us in Carnlough with loads of provisions, including sweets, bananas, waterm orange juice, a torch, maps, etc etc, in anticipation of us tackling the Antrim Hills, and it was great to have the additional support.

We left the valiant Phil in Glenarm, and set off up the long 20%(!) road climb before we were to strike for the open hills. After much debate, and enormous regret, given how far we had come, we took what we think was the right decision NOT to go onto the open mountain in the dark, as we did not know those hills, the ground was rough, we had bikes to carry, there were cliffs (I could give another 20 reasons!).

So we effectively missed the open sections of the Antrim Hills Way, sticking to the high road instead, and headed for Ballyboley on the roads. This was particularly disappointing given how Lynda Foy has supported and encouraged us, but was the right move.

Tim Holmes, who started out with us last Saturday to see us off, and who has been a constant source of encouragement on text messages over the past 6 days, met us in Ballyboley to see us back to Belfast, and, given that it was 10:45 by the time we met him, we were VERY glad that he could take over some of the navigation to get us along the rest of the Ulster Way, through the likes of Woodburn (which he knows well) and back to Belfast.

Bugsy (my bro) met us outside the City Hall. The goths had all gone home, and there were just a few drunk girls to welcome us back, after our 600 mile round trip, but they were understandably stand-offish, given our condition.

Fillet steak and roast chicken, supplied by Bugsy, was ready for us in the car, and we devoured it with great gusto.

A big thanks to Tim for getting us back from Ballyboley- I honestly don't think we would have made it back without him.

We learnt loads on the trip, and will share a few conclusions and comments when we get our heads back together. Thanks for all your support over the last week.

(Terry, does that still count for a half-pint?...)

Davy & Rick
Tango & Cash

Day 5 of The Ulster Way

Gortin to Portrush. (Again, Raymond from Bella Vista B&B in Belcoo, we are so grateful to you for running our bags to Gortin for us and donating to RNLI - thank you so much)

85 miles, 2500 vertical metres of climbing, over 13 hours.

Today was FANTASTIC! The weather was brilliant all day again, and we started the day with a big climb before going along the Central Sperrins Way, which was totally new territory to us, and a real highlight of the trip. The views and the terrain were amazing, and we hope to be back some day soon.

Lunchtime took a new twist today. Bugsy and Hugh met us in Dungiven, and produced a picnic hamper. We stretched out on the camping chairs the guys had brought, and enjoyed fresh strawberries, fruit salad, chicken liver pate on fresh baguette, stuffed olives, spicy chicken, pasta salad, Red Bull, sweeties, and Pringles, all washed down with a glass of the finest chilled Chardonnay!

Richard Gillen, Countryside Recreation Officer from Limavady Borough Council, also joined the party, and produced dessert comprising extremely sticky buns and Haribo sweets.

All this was the perfect preparation for getting stuck into a 300 vertical metre climb from Dungiven up Moydamlaght. Again, the views were simply amazing all day, with the climbs, descents and views reminding us of the Alps! The picnic team drove to the top of the mountain to meet us again, just to rub it in that we had to slog up under our own steam, and Richard Gillen felt the guilt and pushed my bike for me for 300 yards.

The only trouble with today was the amount of carrying we had to do. LOTS of the route was over terrain that was impossible to cycle on, so it was over the shoulder and hike-a-bike for some long sections, which was just misery.

Shirley Park met us outside Downhill Forest and guided us home to Portrush, where the CCAR contingent of Ivan, Joan and Keith were there in full CCAR fig to welcome us in, meeting us at the RNLI station. Delighted the the folks also made a very generous donation to our RNLI Lifeboats fundraising efforts.

Phil was on our doorstep when we arrived in Portrush tonight, and we were so grateful to see him, that we sent him down into the town to buy us some chips, hehe.

Big day tomorrow, our last day, finishing at City Hall at probably 10 or 11 pm, and Phil joins us for the ride! :-o

Day 4 of the Ulster Way

Belcoo to Gortin

95 miles, just over 12 hours, 2875 vertical metres of climbing.

Glorious day that saw us get another roasting, and we amazingly finished an hour ahead of schedule. We did not start until nearly 9am, so reluctant were we to get back on the bikes an leave our hosts in Belcoo.

The views all day were simply breathtaking, but we had to work hard to get them, with the hills and the wind our enemies all day. Both of us were pretty banjaxed, both complaining of sore knees, and both REALLY looking forward to finishing.

We have concluded that single speed was madness for this trip , something we would have been better deciding before we started. Our Chips today were enjoyed in Pettigo. In an act of unblieveable generosity, the owner of our bed and breakfast in Belcoo donated to lifeboats and then offered to drive our bags to Gortin, which solved a big problem for us. More on this later.

The finish was savage, with endless climbing towards and around Gortin Glen, and we were very happy boys to finally roll to the hostel and collapse at 9pm. Tomorrow sees us hopefully reaching the North Coast!

Day 3 of the Ulster Way

Tandragee to Aughnacloy on road, Slieve Beagh Way marked way to Donagh. On to Florence Court then Belcoo.

115 miles, 3025 vertical climbing metres, 14 hours on the go.

The weather was class and we are both burnt. We were in pieces when we arrived at the bed and breakfast at 10.45pm, too late to get decent food so cereal and toast had to do!

The run across from Tandragee to Aughancloy was good fun, the weather fantastic, and we took a long break in Armagh to enjoy the sunshine and some nice coffee.

We were sorry to see the departure of Transalp hopefuls the Cooley Bulls, Mickey and Declan, at Aughnacloy, where we enjoyed a superb lunch of chips, chicken and beans. Chips have proved to be our saviours - we have devoured lots of them every day so far.

Some savage climbing on the Slieve Beagh Way slowed us badly, and it was pitch black for the last hour. There was no way we could go up through Florence Court past the swallow holes and down the cave steps with no lights, and we were already far too late for our hosts, so we did not turn off for the caves.

3 days down, 3 to go - this is HAAAAARRRRRD work!!! Cheer us up :-(

A big THANK YOU from 2 very sore chaps!

Many thanks to those of you who have been leaving us messages and sending texts.  It really is great to get your notes during what is unquestionably the most arduous 'holiday' we have ever been on, so please keep it up.

Rick & Davy

Day 2 of The Ulster Way

Across the Mournes to Rostrevor (26 miles), up the main road to Newry, round Ring of Gullion (36 miles), up the Newry Canal path to Scarva, then onto our night stop at Tandragee.

14.5 hours in the saddle, 84 miles, over 2800 metres of vertical climbing - we did not for a minute imagine that Day 2 would be as hard on us as Day 1, but so it turned out, as much of the terrain was simply woeful. We were carrying or dragging our bikes for probably half of our total time, and it was energy-sapping.

We decided to forgo our original 7am start time, and instead aimed for 8, as Day 1 had killed us. We were again joined by Mickey and Declan, who are now part of the furniture, and Joni McGlade, fresh from the hospital meat-slab.

We headed up into the Mournes in strong wind and heavy rain, and the going was slow and draining, much of it unrideable. Picked up the infamous Rowan McMahon in Tollymore, and staggered on as best we could in the terrible weather. Joni headed for home after the descent off Butter Mountain. The next section round Hen Mountain was appalling, totally unrideable and frankly depressing.

Reached Rostrevor after 5.5 hours, utterly spent, and took a break for an hour to eat the cafe out of stock. The weather then turned fantastic, and stayed so for the rest of the day, with unbroken sunshine. James Keown joined us on the road bike for a spell, but had to head back to Newry when the off-road got REALLY offroad in Ravensdale.

The run up to Newry was great, with the wind on our tails. The Ring of Gullion was much tougher than we had anticipated, with long and punishing climbs aplenty, but some fantastic descents to boot. The highlight was soup, sandwiches and coffee supplied by Davy (the other Davy) and son in Forkhill, where just previously a bull had prevented us from taking our intended route across a field - the monster was just daring us to climb that gate!

Declan and Mickey had to leave us for home at Slieve Gullion car park, so that they could prepare to meet us again tomorrow, by which time it was getting dark.

The push on to Tandragee from Newry was a slog, but we were delighted to have Dale join us just outside Newry to guide us home. Big chinese on the table when we arrived at 10:45pm - sweet!

Looking forward to Day 3, Scarva to Belcoo, County Fermanagh.

Thanks to everyone for your messages of support and humour - much appreciated!!

(T, 2 days down! Half-pints at the ready!)