Wicklow 200 – A new member’s perspective
Joe Keenan
‘Beep Beep Beep’ – up at 4:15am to put on the porridge the old way. Part of me was thinking why have I paid to put myself through this abomination of a climb-fest and part of me was thinking ‘bring it on’. I lashed that all important oatmeal base layer in whilst pondering gilet or rain jacket… Before you knew it Darren Brennan was at the door with his A7 chariot to ferry us to Russborough house. Darren was dealing with the absolute dismay of his Giant Propel pride and joy being majorly damaged after falling on some weights the night before… but was in good stead with his trusty Ridley Noah. We had done the ‘baby sister’ Wickow 100 a few times and were now taking on the behemoth somewhat under peer pressure from our Sunday Spin buddies.
Ken and Eoin had spent the last 6 weeks ensuring that we were going to be ready for this sportive. Constantly supporting and encouraging us out on ever challenging Sunday spins with increasing climbs, distance and frequency. Without their insider knowledge and perseverance we would never have completed it. Not to mention Martin’s constant reminder to me that he had done 9 Wicklow’s and that it was an enjoyable day… Yeah right!
Assembling at the start line we met Ken and Eddy who were primed and ready for the day ahead. Off we headed at 6:30am to get ahead of the ensuing posse. A spot of rain for the first hour or two didn’t dampen the mood and was great to see other familiar riders throughout the course. James passed us at about 60km/h and we decided to let him go lest we sullied his gait and reputation. Onwards through the first food stop where we agreed to split and let Eddy ‘the eagle’ maintain his now legendary cadence.
Through 150kms we were beginning to feel the legs pointing out that this was not a normal spin. The IVCA marshals were outstanding as usual and was great to get some encouraging whoops from Dave Corr at Avoca! Onwards through Slieve Mann and Shay Elliot where we met Darragh and his sister breezing by with ‘ice-cream-spin’ like ease. The never-ending Everest like hills are a testament to the beautiful county we are privileged to live so close to but I was not thinking that on the day. Here it looks like we were going sideways up Shay Elliot and you’d be right concluding that we were.
The reminder that the Wicklow 200 is no ordinary sportive was apparent with the onset of Wicklow Gap at 180kms. I can say that I have never struggled as much with a climb in my life like that bugger with a gnarly headwind. I was running on literally 100% empty and there were a few times I felt like it would simply never end. We put the heads down and had to use every ounce of the umpteen food break sambos and energy gels to get to the summit. Our motivation was the knowledge that x2 of our fellow members (Nick Ashmore and John Griffen) who had accidents in the last year would love to be complaining about that climb but can’t just yet!
Crossing the finish line was incredible although celebrations were brief due to fatigue. All in all a phenomenal day and wanted to hat-tip the club for helping me achieve this moment. STCC is certainly the place to be!
