Day 3 (continued) - The Finish Line!!

Photo 17: Cycling over the Slieve Bloom Mountains

Photo 18: Jason recording his personal best average time

Photo 19: Our team at the finish line ... 500 miles done!

The second half of day 3 had some more challenging climbs but the number of teams around us was thinning as we found ourselves amongst the leading vans. We all had some good rides and several times found other riders to slip stream which definitely helped keep a fast pace going as you were getting tired towards the end of a ride.

My fourth ride started half way up a big climb. Rich had done the first half towards the end of his ride and we weren't sure how much more there was to reach the top. It was a long climb with some really steep sections which you had to get out of the saddle for. The top had some fantastic views across the countryside and I had a long decent all the way down!

Paul did his next ride then Jason. Rich was out next and going well until he skidded off at a roundabout doing a right turn. Rich got up quickly and carried on but the roads were all very wet now and it looked like we'd been lucky and missed the storm but in missing it we hadn't appreciated how wet and slippery the roads had become.

The mileage in the last round was hard to judge as the course didn't take a direct route to the finish line, presumably as they needed to do some extra miles to get to the 500 total. Rich did the last solo ride and his gear cable snapped so he could only get to half his gears. We stopped the van a couple of miles away from the finish line and we all then joined him on the bikes for the last ride in.

It was a beautiful feeling coming in. It had been a hard 3 days cycling but a lot of great scenery and while we were all tired we knew we'd raised a lot of money for charity. Another Challenge complete!!

Day 3 - Galway to Blessington (190 miles)

Photo 14: Colin wearing green for the final day in Ireland

Photo 15: Cyclists bunched up into a pack.

Photo 16: Paul finishing a ride and Jason just about to start.

Breakfast on day 3 opened at 6:30 and teams were in a variable state as they rolled in. Some like us had had an early night after a good meal. Some had carried on clubbing and partying until late and there was a suggestion that the 'Dorset Diva's' should be renamed the 'Disco Diva's'!

I was the first one out and after a few minutes to get the legs warmed up I was feeling pretty good. Some teams had driven out the first 10 miles as it was going to be a long day and the marshalls were recommending going by car for a bit to save some time. We decided we'd give it a go on the bikes the whole way as we knew our team were pretty quick.

The roads were all very narrow to start with so passing cyclists in the van was a challenge. We caught Dave Fitt in Team Amicus heading off in the wrong direction at one point as he'd missed an arrow. Fortunately we were close enough in the van to spot the mistake catch him up and then turn back round to go after our rider. My second ride of the day was a fast one and for the last 10 minutes I found myself with two other cyclists and we were able take it in turns slip streaming each other.

A long pelaton had formed as some of the teams were bunching up just behind us. The pelaton was moving pretty quickly but gradually dispersed as people came to the end of their rides. I started the third round of rides and then Paul was out next. We were averaging 10 miles per ride with each ride 30 minutes so Pauls' ride took us passed the 95 mile mark which was half way for the final day!

Day 2 (continued)

Photo 11: Roadside lunch prepared by one of the teams.

Photo 12: Team visit to the Cliffs of Moher.

Photo 13: Rich pedalling hard towards the end of the day.

We came off the ferry and Paul went out first. There was driving wind and rain which made it hard work and doubly hard for the Chrome Domes with their strange looking bike. Jason was out next then Rich and the weather was beginning to brighten up so they had some fun rides. I was out next and I'd only been on the bike for a couple of minutes when I saw a group by the side of the road waving us in for an impromptu lunch stop. The lunch was laid on by one of the teams and they had plenty of bread, different cheeses, ham and wine.

We took a quick team break and then headed off again. The stop had taken us out of the main pack of cyclists and the road was surprisingly quiet. The van passed me twice and then it went completely quiet - no cyclists, no vans and when I came to the T junction in the town no signs either! I assumed I'd taken a wrong turn and stopped in the town and rang Jason's cellphone. They weren't sure where I was so assuming I'd missed a sign we got Paul out onto the road as the next cyclist. I got Jason to switch on Latitude on his phone so we could see each others GPS location and I then headed down the road to find them. The heavens opened again so I stopped a little way out of town and gave them another call to check where they were. I couldn't get through to Jason but a couple of minutes later Paul passed me on the road so we realised they were behind me and they soon drove and caught me up.

The skies were beginning to clear now and the sun was out as we passed the half way mark of the challenge. We were all having some great rides and enjoying the change in the weather although the cross-wind was still quite strong in places. As we came towards the end of Jason's ride we saw the signposts for the Cliffs of Moher so we decided to have a team break and take a look. The Cliffs were spectacular and we had a good walk along the top and then headed back to the van and Rich set off for the next leg. After Rich finished we had one last round of rides each and some more spectacular coastal roads. On my last ride I came round one corner to find a bull in the middle of the road and I wasn't sure if he was going to let me past! Rich did the last push into Galway and we then parked up at the hotel and headed into town to find some food.

Day 2 - Killarney to Galway (141 miles)

Photo 8: Paul getting ready for the first cycle of the day.

Photo 9: Chrome Domes preparing their bike for the coastal road.

Photo 10: Shannon Ferry packed with vans from the Challenge!

Alarms went off at 06:00 for day 2 which isn't bad. Day 2 was going to be a race for the ferry and as expected a lot of teams were down at breakfast when it opened at 6:30. We set off from the hotel at 7 o'clock with the sun just starting to come up. The ground was very wet from the night but it wasn't raining yet although the forecast was for some rough weather. As we headed out from the hotel Paul took the first ride and we set off in the van following. There was a small right turn off the main road which Paul spotted but we didn't see from the van. When we hit the next roundabout and there were no arrows we knew we'd taken a wrong turn and headed back. You don't realise how fast a bike actually is until you're chasing one to try and catch-up and it took us another 10 minutes to get back to Paul.

Jason was up next and he had the full works - the heaviest rain, the muddiest roads, a big steep climb and a road full of cows going to the milking shed!. Feeling sorry for Jason we left him on the bike until he got to the top of the hill which he seemed to appreciate. Rich went out next and then I took the last ride to the ferry across the Shannon. We thought it was about 10 miles to go but it turned out to be 17 so I had a slightly longer ride. We'd just missed the ferry so we had quite a long wait for the next one but it meant we were at the front of the queue and by the time we boarded there were lots of other teams with us so we'd have a fun ride the other side. We also had a chance to see the Chrome Domes new bike for the challenge which you can see in the photos.