Le Tour d'Irlande

May 2003

The club takes these tours seriously and trains two or three times a week in the Bridge End Inn. Only the fittest are allowed to go on this annual event and this year, Alan Sample, Laurie Ingham, Jon Stevens, Lander Atkinson, Darryl Faulds-Pain and Phil Holden passed the test. Under the leadership of 'Wind-in-my-Hair' Alan Sample, plans were hatched and executed with clinical precision between 24th and 27th of May.

Day One.......

The Team....

We flew to Dublin on Saturday, picked up our hire bikes and cycled to Wicklow. Wind was a problem throughout the tour but otherwise the weather was unexpectedly dry. If you look closely in the shot below, you will see that Darryl is wearing earrings that look a bit like church steeples. And don't be fooled by what appears to be a map case on Alan's handlebars.... it's a copy of Sporting Pink.

Day two....

.........involved cycling over the crippling Wicklow Gap and on to Ballymore Eustace, a ride of approximately 40 miles. In this shot, taken by the rest of the group, Phil can just be seen at the very bottom puffing his way up.

Laurie, Alan, Darryl, Jon and Lander (behind the lens) at the summit.		Phil was sure he'd put it in there before he set off.

After anaesthetising sore muscles...and other bits.... with Canesten and Guinness, we found a great bar with real, live music. Luckily for the locals, we only mimed with these instruments.

The whole group agreed that Ballymore Eustace was a great place for a stop-over. Look it up, go there, you'll love it.

Day three...

........was a lot easier involving gentler hills and a long flat stretch along the Grand Canal back into the centre of Dublin to return the bikes.

Phil's eyesight isn't what it used to be. He had to get really close to road signs in order to read them. No way was he going to exceed this speed limit.

We were keen to ensure we kept to a healthy diet of greens and pasta so frequent, carefully selected, feeding stops were organised.

Day four.....

Jon found the Dublin hotel for Mon/Tues night on the internet. Some thought Jon should take a few more lessons on web-surfing. Laurie can just be seen putting his bucket out in the top left of this photo.

We spent Tuesday sight-seeing in Dublin and reviving ourselves with more Guinness and Ralgex. We still don't know why Lander chose to wear a silly hat.

We returned tired but unbroken to Newcastle airport on Tuesday evening. Highlights of the tour were videoed and a viewing session was held in the Bridge End.

Training for next year's tour has started already.