It was all change for Lap The Lough this year, with a new start point at Maghery Park and new anticlockwise route. Here’s how it went.
After getting dropped off around 8:15am, I headed for the packed registration tent and got signed up. A goody bag with the LtL t-shirt and cap, some bits and pieces from sponsors Chain Reaction, and – oddly – a Mercedes Benz brochure was handed over and after finally finding Allan I dropped this dead weight off in his car. Big Ive had been there for a while, but Nige and Brian were running late. Graham was a no-show this year.
Big Ive, ready to go
The horn sounded around 9:40 and we were rolling, to the sounds of Ring of Fire [video] blasted from a PA system. You have to wonder what the residents of Maghery thought about all this, but they were out to see us off.
Allan and I got separated from Ivan early on and arrived at the first water stop about 30 minutes ahead. We were going the other way around the lough this year, so this first water stop was the pub 10 miles from the end of last year. No pints this time, still 70 odd miles to cycle.
By that time Nige and Brian had caught up with Ivan (by taking a shortcut) and were pacing him round (and fixing his bike), so Allan and I headed off again.
Allan Monkey no likey bananna
We passed last year’s start point at Oxford Island to see a cyclist lying in the road, obviously injured. I learned later she had been clipped by another cyclist passing her and collided with an oncoming car. At the time of writing I haven’t heard more than this, but we all hope she’s not too badly injured and will make a full recovery.
On the road
The weather wasn’t too bad. There was a bit of wind and we got rained on once for about five minutes, so not much to complain about and it certainly could have been a lot worse. The strong headwind and long uphill drag approaching Shane’s Castle was an effort though. One of the disadvantages of travelling anticlockwise, I guess.
Team Lard LtL 2011 at Lunch
Lunch was the usual long wait for tea and sandwiches. We decided to wait and let Ivan, Nige and Brian catch up with us, so lunch was a leisurely hour and a half or so. Ivan took a breather, so Allan, Nige, Brian and I headed off again without him.
Brian had a mechanical and dropped back with Nige, but they soon caught us up again. There was a hard headwind at this stage, and I was starting to suffer from not doing enough miles this year. Despite protesting that he was also “knackered”, Brian (the triathlete) and Nige took off ahead and I battled on.
I probably would have dropped well back if it wasn’t for Allan encouraging / dragging me along the final 20 miles, and not stopping at the final water point in Ballyronan (it was very much depleted anyway). It hurt, but I was still keeping a decent 18mph pace on the flats, though totally dying on any hill!
Lapped
Finally, the Maghery footbridge hove into view and we were done. Lap 6: Complete. 83.4 miles at 16.1mph average, that’ll do. Bring on the baked potatoes, hog roast and tea … after a 20 minute queue.
I have some more Lap The Lough 2011 photos online, and professional photographer Mark Beattie is selling high resolution shots from here.
And don’t forget, you can still sponsor me for RNIB here.
So was this a change for the better? I have to say yes. I did like the new route; the roads seemed quieter and with better views of the eponymous lough (perhaps I’m selectively editing memories here), and getting through the centre of Antrim was much less hairy than previous years. With 2200ft of climbing it was hillier than last time too.
Only the finish line was something of a disappointment on the route. We had to dismount with about 150m to go to cross the footbridge, and there didn’t really seem to be an actual finish line, you just sort of stopped at the park again. It was about 5pm by the time we rolled in so perhaps we missed any welcome committee.
Parking seemed more plentiful than at previous years, though it was in a muddy field so I’m not sure how that would have worked out if it had been a very wet day. Signage and marshalling were excellent again, no problems there. Brilliant party atmosphere at the start and end too.
The biggest, and possibly only remaining, bugbear with this event remains the feeding stations. Long queues and short supplies are the order of the day, unless you’re a 20+mph kind of rider.
Still, on the day these things don’t seem to matter so much, and I can still (just about) cut the organisers some slack since it’s only in its 6th year and they’re working out some of the kinks.
Lap The Lough is a great ride if you’re up for the challenge and attracts riders of all abilities. It continues to grow in popularity and around 2,000 cyclists took part this year.
Lap 7: I’ll be back.
Good read John.