With only three weeks and two Sundays left until the day of the 2009 Bangor Coastal Challenge, Sunday May 31st was the last weekend day of full training before tapering off to rest before the event. A long distance ride was required and for once the Northern Ireland weather co-operated by supplying a gloriously sunny day, even more unusual in that it followed an equally gloriously sunny Saturday.
I plotted a path towards Comber, but this time, to add on the extra miles I required, I extended my route on to the shores of Strangford Lough to take in the villages of Whiterock and Killinchy.
Making an early start, I hit the road shortly before 9am. The sun was already up and I was soon very warm as I made my way down my usual Belfast entry route along the A6 Antrim Road. Crossing the city and heading east, I stopped off at my parent’s house for a quick water refill before continuing on along the start of the Comber Greenway and then on to the A20 Newtownards Road up to Stormont Castle Estate.
Cancer Research UK Race For Life in Stormont Estate, Belfast
A Cancer Research UK Race For Life event was beind held there and my mum was taking part, so I stopped again (briefly) at Stormont Castle to check out the crowds. There were thousands of people there and I’d no chance of spotting anyone I knew, so I hit the road again and continued with my ride.
Sticking with the main road for a short distance before once again hooking up with the Comber Greenway, I cycled on through the sun towards Comber. It was a (very) fine mid-late morning by now. The Greenway was more heavily trafficked with cyclists than I’d seen it before and it was good to see so many people out enjoying cycling in the sun. I wish some of them would have cleared out of my way a little more quickly, but it was good to see them out nonetheless.
Ballydorn Harbour
Apologies for the quality of the photographs: it seems the camera on my Nokia 6210 Navigator phone didn’t survive unharmed from it’s 40mph encounter with tarmac a few weeks ago. I’ll have to take a proper camera with me from now on!
I passed Comber without stopping (good advice, some would say) and took the scenic Sustrans Route 99 along part of the north-west shore of Strangford Lough. Although it’s near the shore this route is reasonably hilly, with a leafy canopy providing some welcome shade over the tarmac as I wound my way around the coast through Ardmillan, Ballydorn and on to Whiterock itself.
Whiterock Bay
Stopping only briefly to refuel with a banana and neglecting (forgetting) to take a detour to nearby Sketrick Castle, I left Whiterock and turned inland. Immediately on leaving the village there are a couple of steep climbs one after the other as you head towards Killinchy, and I was once again glad I had a triple chainset on the BeOne. These were tough hills and the gathering heat of early afternoon didn’t help.
A little bit further along this road I exchanged a few words with another cyclist as I came up to overtake, a local man out for a quick spin in the sun on his mountain bike. He repaired some of my damaged pride by mentioning he thought those hills were tough going too. Now, rested (a little) and with self confidence restored, I selected the big ring and sped off in a sprint at 30mph. I hope he enjoyed the rest of his ride.
Carrying on through Baloo along the Saintfield and Kilcarn roads, the terrain became more gentle and shaded as I slowly but surely climbed up towards Ballygowan. Somehow though, I managed to miss my planned turn for Ballygowan, despite pausing to take a picture of the road sign giving directions.
Which way to Ballygowan?
Navigation fail. To my surprise I found myself in the centre of Saintfield and heading in the wrong direction, and had to make a quick right turn back to my original destination. The A21 from Saintfield to Ballygowan is flat, open and ripe for riding, and along here I encountered yet more cyclists out enjoying the sun.
Turning for Belfast in Ballygowan, I was dehydrated, hungry and almost completely out of water, which made the next few miles of climbing particularly tough, no matter how gentle the incline.
However relief (and reward) came soon enough as I reached the peak of the A23 Ballygowan Road around Crossnacreevy and started to plummet towards Castlereagh. The Ballygowan Road is an A-road in good repair, and also a 2 mile long, 5-10% downhill gradient. On a bike this means that, if you get lucky with the traffic lights, you can travel at 35mph with little or no pedaling effort! I indeed got lucky with the traffic lights and in very short order was bouncing over the main A23 / A55 junction at 30mph and speeding along the Castlereagh Road towards the city centre and home again.
Sunday Ride 2009/05/31 - Route Map
Sunday Ride 2009/05/31 - Elevation
Do you see the cliff around the 70Km point on the elevation map? That’s the A23 Ballygowan Road!
There is an interactive map of this ride available on BikeHike and a GPS track and more statistics on Nokia Sports Tracker. You can view the photos from this and other rides on my Bike Trips Flickr Set.
I finished the day overheated and exhausted, but with 57 miles and over 2000 feet of climbing on the clock at an average speed of 14.6 mph, I’d more than achieved my target for the day. I think I’m now well prepared for the 100Km ride at Bangor, provided I can eat and drink more along the route!
