Comments on: lap the lough 2009 – ride report

By: austinslide

austinslide — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:26:23 +0000

It’s the same as a runner saying he will take it easy. It’s just a blatant lie told so that if you don’t PR then you don’t even need an excuse :D

By: John Girvin

John Girvin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:19:40 +0000

Never believe a cyclist when he says he’s “going to take it easy”.

By: John Girvin

John Girvin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:18:20 +0000

I was feeling alright going into Shane’s Castle when we met, Damien, but it was hard to get going again once I had cooled down and loaded up on sandwiches!

By: Damien Callaly

Damien Callaly — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:13:11 +0000

Hi John great to meet you in person, you were looking fit and well at the Shane’s Castle stop. It was a great event really well organised and the string quartet was a nice touch with the tea and sandwiches and at least the rain was warm unlike Bangor. Looking forward to doing it again next year.

By: John Girvin

John Girvin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:11:26 +0000

Bike The Blackwater looks good, SiD, but unfortunately I've already got plans that day. Maybe next year...

By: John Girvin

John Girvin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:08:45 +0000

Good point, Dave. We were on our own for a long time and at the very end we were even pulling a couple along behind us, so maybe we didn’t do too badly after all for a couple of not-really-cyclists!

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:29:24 +0000

Enjoyed the write-up. If you are interested here is mine!

http://www.larneac.co.uk/News.asp?nID=536

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:57:48 +0000

Sad news about the chap that lost his life but a great report man, well done.

By: _SiD_

_SiD_ — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:02:12 +0000

Great write up. Never riden the event, I’m usually around Maghery pumping up tyres, but in the 6 or 7 times I’ve been around the Lough, that would more or less describe my experience.

If you fancy a nice wind down to the season then we run a smaller, low key event. It shorter, hillier but the route is simply classic.

http://www.biketheblackwater.org

You know you want to.

By: Dave Anderson

Dave Anderson — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:50:12 +0000

Ah John, you weren’t complaining that much. I was only winding you up (as ever). I think we had a massive challenge due to the early delays. Given that we rode about 100km by ourselves, I think our time was pretty good. We didn’t have a group to pull us through the difficult sections, so I’m very pleased with the lap. Well done!

But sympathy goes out to Bryan Hopley’s family as that was a very sad end to the day.

By: austinslide

austinslide — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:50:08 +0000

Good post John. I did really want to do this event this year, but decided to prioritise the Marathon training. I did some of the course a few weeks ago riding from Newtownabbey to Ballyronan and back (via Antrim, Randalstown, Toome etc.) and I enjoyed it a lot. Will definitely do this one next year.

Oh, and I’m also going to do a Century! Won’t be waiting for an organised event though :D

By: John Girvin

John Girvin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:40:59 +0000

Thanks!

But don’t rule out 2010 yet! It would be possible, with a decent winter programme and bit of hard work in the spring, for you to make the 2010 Lap The Lough – and 2011 should be Neagh Problem!

Are you planning on doing any shorter events in the meantime? There are probably a couple of 50Km ones you could get in to next year, if you don’t fancy the Lap.

By: maehara

maehara — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:30:29 +0000

Congrats on completing the lap! It’s on my to-do list, but probably not until 2012 at the earliest. First few weeks of cycling have added a touch of realism to my long-distance cycling dreams!