Training - Tuesday 25th May

I'm not sure if it was the tailwind, a couple of leg recuperation rest days or the dried prunes I ate before I hit the mountains but I flew up to the Sally Gap last night.  Anyone who rides up there via Cruagh or Kilakee road knows that there are some steepish climbs for roughly 13kms (with some flat bits thrown in as well).

I went around by Powerscourt mountain, and Luggala peering over at Lough Tay en route to Ballinastoe.  I had covered around 40km in the first hour and a half when i noticed my back tire had a slow puncture.  Damnation! The sun had given me a false sense of security in terms of the temperature, so when I stopped to change the tire I realised that it was only around 10 degrees.  I cursed and shivered as i realised that the BBB tubes that I was carrying didn't fit my Richie wheels!  Luckily enough, along came John Lynham from Laragh and sorted me out with a tube.  Life saver.  I dont think a bicycle tube from one of the many mountain bikers around there would have done the trick... 

After fluting around for a protracted number of minutes in the cold, my schedule was thrown off so i headed for Enniskerry and back to Dublin.  Just wanted to thank John for stopping and giving me a dig out.

Here is the route I took:

Les Dix Alpes

(This extract is taken from www.collymurray.com and provides an overview of Les Dix Alpes and my reasons for undertaking the trip)

Colly embarks on “Les Dix Alpes” (The 10 Alpes) on Monday June 21st 2010 in Como, Italy. The finish lies after 12 days, 1.100 kilometres and a multitude of beads of sweat at the waving palms on the boulevard in Nice, France.

The famous cols of the Tour de France: Col de l'Iseran, Col du Galibier, Col d'Izoard and Col de la Bonette will be traversed. In addition, some lesser known, but no less challenging climbs like the Simplon Pass, Col du Petit St. Bernard, Col du Grand St. Bernard, Col de Vars and Col de Lautaret will also feature en route to Nice. Nine passes above 2,000 meters plus the legendary climb to the ski resort of l'Alpe d'Huez. A lot of famous professional cyclists have fought out heroic duels here in the recent past; Federico Bahamontes, Marco Pantani or Lance Armstrong. It is now Colly's turn to follow in their tiretracks and in the process raise vitally needed funds for Cancer Care West.

This event is being undertaken in loving memory of Martin O' Gorman, a dear friend of Colly's who succumbed to cancer in September 2009.

Colly will be incurring the cost of the cycle out of his own pocket and all money raised will go directly to charity. No money donated will be used as part of the cost of the cycle.

A special word of thanks goes to those who sponsored cycling equipment and nutritional products for the training and cycle; Richies Bikestore in Swords, Asher from CycleWays Parnell St...