My account of the Torr Head Challenge
Thought I would give this a go just for the 'hell' of it, to see how my normally useless climbing skills compared to other mid-week and weekend warriors out there and check out that '4 good days a year' theory when you hit 50, I've had 5 so far, I think.
The main event wasn't leaving the Ballygally Castle Hotel until 1030 so I set off from home in Stranocum about 0940, 20 minutes to Magherahoney a hamlet at the bottom of slieveanorra (known as Orra and the climb one would come down from the bridge on the tour of the glens) about 25 minutes of steady climbing and a swift drop down to Cushendall.
Bobby limbers up for the climbs
Heading south along the coast with a head wind it was quite a pleasant morning for a good beating which I knew was probably on the cards for later but sure it was a nice day for it, resplendant vista's greeted me as I cruised from one bay to another and... arghh ! just around the last corner into Carnlough I met a swarm of at least 80 cyclists in full flow with a tail wind, Wake Up Phil ! I heard the familiar greetings of my cycling mates, comforting an
So not wanting to miss the mother-ship and with my honed to perfection 'white van man ' driving skills did a lightening swift U turn and joined the throng. There was a good few 'Bun Run' faces and with an unspoken magnetism we sort of melted into a protective blend of familiarity. Into Cushendall and a right turn and away up we went, and away up we went and away up we went some more, seeing Tommy and Marian at the top was a relief as it was getting quite warm by then and a grin was about all anyone could manage to hide the suffering, by this stage I was feeling quite pleased with myself as the well known mountain goats were still within touching distance, almost.
The drop down to Cushendun was hairy as Sunday drivers were out and about, I'm sure it was as hairy for them too seeing these balloons hurtling around the corners, the bun-runners had agreed not to stop for tea and pushed on, unfortunately Adam missed the message and told me later he was getting his cuppa when he realised the rest of the team were absent and busted himself to find us.
The scenic road around the coast-line to Torr Head is really beautiful on a day like this if you have the time to take it in, it is a wonderous sight and worth a drive just to appreciate what we have on the north coast, but I digress, in reality it also has the most heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, knee-breaking roads to try and cycle up and only the fine weather made the journey up them to any degree pleasant, they actually made the last bit (the torr head road) seem easy in comparison.
At the top our little band of bun-run buddies re-grouped, bo, turnip, joe, roger, big gerry, narrow gauge mcgreevy, bobby, adam, nigel and myself headed down towards Ballycastle where I bade farewell and headed back over the glen home while the rest of the gang endured a head wind back down the coast, not a good day but close enough.
Phil