For many cyclists, completed a metric century is an intimidating challenge. Several Orwells signed up at the start of the year for a training group to tackle the Wicklow 100, and Rory Rutledge narrates a successful day out and its lead-in below.

Wicklow 100 demolished by fresh-faced Orwells

Rory Rutledge

On an early Saturday morning at the start of April, 20 or so fresh-faced members of Orwell rolled into Dundrum, not really knowing what to expect over the following two months. We had all eagerly signed up to this training group the week before, but given that the sign-up was in Uncle Tom’s, that eagerness might have been enhanced by some Dutch courage. Regardless, we have come this far and a mixture of pride, ambition and stubbornness meant that we were going to continue. That first cycle was a nice, relatively flat, spin out to Ashford. Gosh, this Wicklow 100 training lark was all set to be a doddle…

A doddle, that is, until the following week. Standing in Finlay Ford for the Naas CC Tour de Foothills, we looked at the brutal weather outside and queried whether this was what we had really signed up for? Nevertheless, on with the rain gear and out we went and made it round in what was, thankfully, our only real wash-out until the wind and hailstones beckoned on the Mick Byrne. There was a spill on the day which claimed both Eileen and Colm as victims; it may have been an early uprising against the captains, but as yet nobody has claimed responsibility for the attempted assassinations.

As the weeks went on, the training spins and the climbs got noticeably longer and harder. Mercifully, our abilities improved with them. Sure, we never really welcomed the hills, but we were not cursing the sight of them as much as we used to (we did continue to curse Eileen under our breaths for taking us up them!). We were once advised by Eileen that the Glenmacnass climb was the “easy way over Sallygap”. The use of the word “easy” was questioned by the group afterwards.

As the weather steadily improved through May, the numbers of other cyclists on the roads each Saturday started to grow significantly. One particular early Saturday morning as we cycled past Lough Bray, Laragh bound, Nicolas Roche overtook us with a salute (not even breaking a sweat, and probably still in HR Zone 2). Needless to say, most of us were hanging over our handlebars, trying desperately to survive. Rory Finnegan, on the other hand, decided it was the opportune moment to chase down a pro cyclist (Nicolas did have a head start!)… Needless to say, despite Rory’s valiant effort, he couldn’t catch Roche. Obviously the only reason being was Rory had given him too much of a head-start. Unfortunately, poor Rory suffered at a later stage by bonked on the Poggio on the homeward journey. Despite all his effort; he hasn’t exactly got the greatest of stories in this case to tell the grandkids….

The final training spin was the Mick Byrne 100. As everyone is aware, it wasn’t exactly a day where one would say “there’s great drying weather out there”. Having the wind blow us every which way as we struggled up by Glenmacnass waterfall, followed by hailstones beating down on us; the chilly air, wind and rain just wasn’t enough; this was not how any of us had planned spending our bank holiday Sunday. After a long day, we all rolled into Dalkey satisfied in the knowledge we survived the MB100 the W100 should not be too much of a problem.

So, this brings us to the big day itself. The first thing we all noticed was the great weather. After the previous weeks of high winds and rain, the IVCA organisers must have sacrificed their first born to the Weather Gods, and it showed. Eileen; not content with just getting us fit and ready for the W100; didn’t miss the opportunity to make sure we all had sun cream, etc. An excellent captain, looking after her team! With the customary pre-event photos and coffees taken care of, we were split into 2 groups (with the Rt. Hon. Vice-Captain Colm Featherstone taking charge of the second group) and away we went.

Some of the W100 gang on the morning of the big day

Once up the Long Hill to Calary, we got a great peloton going hitting the road to Rathdrum in great time. All was going well, incident free, until a few KMs from Rathdrum we heard a shout of “mechanical” from the group. Stephen Kerr had suffered an untimely snapping of a gear cable leaving him stuck in his 11T-ring for the reminder of the spin into Rathdrum. As we swung right up to the foodstop, he was heard cursing the route planner for locating the stop at the top of the hill in the village. Luckily as we approached the food stop we spied a mechanic dealing with another cyclist’s misfortune. Stephen’s turn (excitement), the mechanic advised that indeed the cable had snapped but the cable head was unfortunately hiding somewhere in the right shifter, he would see what he could do. 1 hour later and with no joy, Stephen had two choices: (1) end the cycle or (2) pop into a reasonable gear to continue the journey. Stephen having come this far was not prepared to give up, so chose the latter. 23T-ring for the return journey, with the beautiful choice of 34-23T or 50-23T and done without a word of complaint. Chapeau, Stephen!)

Over the course of the day, we overtook countless smaller groups. It was great to see the tangible benefit of our training (i.e. we were stronger and faster than two months previous), but also what was great to see was how well organised a group we were compared to others. There were definitely a number of reckless groups out there that could do with Eileen Byrne whipping them into shape!

Once we were up and over the last draggy climb out of Avoca, the prospect of the finish line ensured that we made great time all the way back to Greystones. There was a great buzz in Shoreline when we finished. Tired but satisfied, we tucked into some much needed food and counted down the hours to our well-earned celebratory drink(s) in Ashtons.

Finally, an enormous thank-you is due to Eileen and Colm for taking on the group. Eileen gave up her Saturday mornings for 2 months to take us out – given that she has her own tour in 2 weeks to train for, this was incredibly generous and very-much appreciated. Receiving an e-mail with the meticulously planned route and details every week made it very easy for us to simply show up and cycle (and gave us no excuse to mitch!). Given the size of the group, Colm's presence on the road every week helping to keep the group organised, and ensuring that we all got around unscathed each week, was equally important and appreciated.

Onwards and upwards now. Just 51 weeks to Wicklow 200 – move over…here we come...