New cycling website for N Ireland

coffeecup

New cycling website for N Ireland.

http://www.cycleni.com/

Not much commuting advice in there, but I like it anyway. Some nice pics:
Down
Antrim
Armagh
Londonderry
Tyrone
Fermanagh
Belfast

Can't wait til summer when the place actually looks like this!!!

girv73

Nice find cc. Some inspiration for summer routes there. How'd you hear about it?

fonty1978

Looks pretty good i've just been looking at the Antrim routes for the next time we go. We went in May but didn't have bikes then

The roads are more or less empty too so a great place to cycle..

tailwindhome

@Coffecup

Just spotted this on the cycleni site

http://www.lapthelough.org/

Anyone up for it. :?:

Just to clarify I am a million miles away from any basic level of fitness, and no I am not just being modest.

Anyone interested in a leisurely approach to this sportive, I would be aiming no higher than just being able to finish the course (in about 7 hours - 12.5mph)

EDIT Girv, that gives you 8 mths to get your bike built

girv73

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

Girv, that gives you 8 mths to get your bike built

Yes, thank you Wheezy, you're feckin H.I.Larious and no mistake.

A couple of my friends did LtL last year, but I was in no way ready for it in time. It's about 150km and I could have managed maybe a third of that, and on an MTB it would have been somewhat south of fun.

One of the factors motivating me to buy (and build :roll:) a road bike this year was so that I could attempt sportives like this. I've been bullied into a lap of Strangford Lough (88km) in the spring and there's a "Bangor Coastal Challenge" 100k in June as well that may be achievable - 6-700 riders of all ages and levels on a flat course around the Ards peninsula. I'm told it was great fun last year, despite torrential rain.

I don't want to commit to anything just yet - I need to get into the training a bit and see how I'm going. Time is limited and my general health hasn't been great so I'm not sure what I'll be capable of come the summer. But if I feel ready, I'll be up for it. See you there?

coffeecup

I went round the lough with a couple of mates a few years ago on a mountain bike. We took our time, stopping over in Cookstown for the night to break it up, but it;s a nice ride. The section around Portadown is a bit pointless but you gotta get over the bann somehow!!

don_don

Now that's brought back a lot of memories

I was brought up in Omagh, with bits of Fermanagh being like a second home. My sister still lives in Bangor.

I'm itching to do some touring around the N. Antrim coast some-time, and maybe over in Donegal/Sligo as well. In fact I'd do the whole country if I had time!!

You forget just how beautiful the place is, especially when the weather is OK. I remember in the 70s/80s meeting lots of Austrians coming over to go cruising on Lough Erne in the summer. They seemed to be the only tourists that weren't put off by the troubles!

When's the LtL by the way? I can't get onto the site at the moment.

girv73

LtL is at the end of August - 24th I think.

coffeecup

LtL is 30th Aug

http://www.lapthelough.org/

Girv should have taken the plastic wrapping off his frame by then

girv73

coffeecup wrote:

LtL is 30th Aug

Quite right, I was looking at last year's training plan :oops:

coffeecup wrote:

Girv should have taken the plastic wrapping off his frame by then

Oi! I've done more than that already
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12602606