The outdoor fitness sligo sports blog

The Wild Atlantic Way Cycle Sportif

9/28/2017

If you like cycle Sportifs, this is the one for your bucketlist. The Wild Atlantic Way Cycle Sportif (https://wildatlanticwaycyclesportif.ie/) is 17 stages of amazing scenery along the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland.
In it's first year of organizing this sportif, it easily matches the ones which have been organized for years regarding fun, scenery and organization.

The sportif started in Kinsale (Co.Cork) , and after 17 days you find yourself in Muff (Co.Donegal) having cycled 2095km along the Wild Atlantic Way.

And don't worry, if the entire 17 stages sound like to much of an effort, you can select to do just 1 stage or a few, it is entirely your decision.
And we were lucky to be part of the inaugural Wild Atlantic Way sportif, and all we can say is that the organization is amazing.
If you select 1 stage, you pay €45 for the stage. But it is what you get what is just brilliant, you get the following:

Amazing scenery
The official cycling jersey
The official cycling shower jacket
Lunch (Soup / sandwiches / cakes / tea or coffee)
Roadside refreshments
Goody bag snack pack
Kit bag transfer to the finish line
Assistance: Roadside assistance , bike mechanic , massage service available pre and post stage
Return transfers for you and your bike (Back to departure point)

So after having collected our brand new jersey and jacket, we were all set for a day in the saddle. Under a beautiful September sun, we took off under escort of motorbikes and support cars. The first 10km was at a leisurely pace. After the initial 10km , the group split rapidly in 2 groups, one for the faster cyclist and 1 for the more leisurely cyclists.
The pace of the first group was about 28km/hr for most of the day where the more leisurely group went at a slower pace.
But don't panic, we had a novice cyclist who's longest distance was approx. 40km, and she finished the entire 135km stage. The rule of tumb is that if you are getting tired or need a break, the assitance vehicule will give you a lift.

Approx. half way, the well needed food stop was reached. A beautiful lunch awaited us, and what we like to mention is the attention to detail of the organizers.
After our lunch, we found our drink bottles on the bikes all filled again to the rim. And it is this attention to detail we found along the route the whole time, from the mindfull reminders that we needed to drink enough water to Padraig transfering the bikes in his Wild Atlantic Way van entertaining the cyclists, it is a fantastic experience.
And the plans have already been made for next year, there will be 2 sportifs, one around April geared towards the cycling clubs who want to get fit for the racing season ahead, and one again in September for the more leisurely cyclist.
But it doesn't matter which one you select, you will be exposed to the same scenery and the same hospitality of the organizers.
So a huge thank you from us to the organizers.

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Nordkapp to Tarifa 2018 - Update

5/15/2017

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Since our Nordkapp to Tarifa 2018 plan became a reality, we have been working hard on planning the route.
The plan is to fly from Dublin to Oslo, then Oslo to Trondheim, Trondheim to Tronso and a final flight from Tronso to Honningsvag.
The next morning, I will set-off from the Nordkapp on the 9400km trip towards Tarifa which will be reached after 60 days of cycling.

The trip through Norway includes a huge amount of ferries which will bring me across the many fjords or the lengthy stretches of tunnels which need to be taken in order to reach remote parts of northern Norway. The lofoten are also on the itinerary, one which has been on my bucket list for a long time. Ones southern Norway is reached, a ferry to Denmark will be followed by a cycle through Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Ones Spain is reached, a coastal route will be taken through Galicia into Portugal. The last stretch is through Spain.

The interesting part of the trip will be the difference in temperature. When i start the trip, temperatures will be around 7 degrees ,at the finish they will be around 30 degrees. The trip is self supported, and the whole purpose of the trip is not to break any record,... but to see the beauty of the different countries along the route and write about them. The coastal route will be taking me along fjords, islands, cities,mountain ranges, waterfalls,....
So what is next? Part of the preparations will be getting ready physically in order to cycle approx. 160km each day, the other part will be finacially preparing for the trip.
It can't be denied that the trip will be costly. Between having to buy some gear (bike, tent, sleeping bags,. some lightweight technology..) , the flights, the living cost,... , it all adds-up.

And off course, I will have to take 2 months off work in order to complete this trip.
Will it be worth it? Off course it will be.
Will it be tough? Off course it will be.

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Keen to try a different New years resolution?

12/9/2016

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Are you getting bored of doing each year the same New Years resolutions? Saving money, losing weight,... , here are some different ideas to try out?

Take a plunge into the sea

Open water swimming is getting more and more popular. Get active and try a coastal swim or register for one of the many open water races.

Try the metalmanswimseries in co.Sligo

Learn the art of bushcraft

Love to watch Bear Grylls showing off his bushcraft skills. Why not learn a few for yourself.
Learn to survive in the wilderness, cook a meal in the great outdoors.

Think you are a Crocodile Dundee, go wild and learn the art of bushcraft (without the crocodiles)

Try http://www.outdoorsireland.com/bushcraftsurvival.php

Try www.adventurewicklow.com/adventure-activities/bushcraft-survival/

Visit a remote island

For this one, you don't have to go to far. Visit Innismurray of the coast of co.Sligo. There is an early Christian Monastic settlement. The great thing about the island is that there are no cars, just you, birds and rabbits,...

A bit further afield, there is Islas Cies , an archipelago of Islands in the Vigo estuary (Galicia). The beach of Rodas on the island of Monteagudo has been called the best beach in the world. And in our eyes, when you avoid the tourist season of June to September, you find yourself alone on this amazing beach with the exception of the many fish feeding in the crystal clear waters.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone

Off course, we don't know what your limit is. For some people, it is running a 5 km (so with this one, join www.parkrun.ie), for other people , it is participating in an ultra race.

Others love to try something new, for example, try an adventure race (http://gaelforceevents.com/).
The trick is to select an event which will put you out of your comfort zone, but leave enough time to train for the event.

For some people, maybe it is trying to overcome a fear. Fear of heights? Why not try rock climbing under the guidance of an expert. (http://www.carraigclimbing.com/)

Learn a new life skill

We believe swimming is a life skill. So many kids/adults are still not able to swim. And it doesn't get easier the older you get. Why not take the plunge in 2017 and sign up for swimming classes. Each county has their swim teachers and swimming classes. In Sligo, we have met people who signed up for swimming classes less than 2 years ago and are now participating in open water swimming competitions, triathlons,....

in Sligo, we have Sheila Ryan who puts everyone through their paces.

Get scared

Get the adrenaline pumping. Experience the exhilarating sport of coasteering. Jump of cliffs into the Wild Atlantic Ocean, climb onto rocks and jump back into the sea.

Not enough of an adrenaline rush, learn kitesurfing. Kitesurfing is fast, it is fun and it allows you to get some serious air.
Check out http://www.iksa.ie/about-kitesurfing/schools
Still not enough, head to Equador and try slacklining high above rivers and waterfalls

Try http://www.imagineecuador.com/banos/slacklining-slackline-ecuador-tours-trips-courses/

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Realex Webawards 2016

10/5/2016

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We were delighted to be nominated for the "sports website of the year" at the webawards 2016. With our tickets in hand, we went to the event in Dublin.
The show started at 8PM in Liberty Hall theatre and host of the evening was Rick O'Shea.

All shortlisted websites were introduced, unfortunately they didn't get it totally correct as you can see on the picture, we are www.outdoorfitnesssligo.com rather than www.outdoorfitnesssligo.ie , but that is only a detail, we were delighted to be shortlisted . Unfortunately, we didn't walk home with an award, instead www.fai.ie won.

It must be said though that most of these websites are build by website design companies, so for us who design everything in house (and believe me, we are not website designers), we have reasons to be proud that we were selected as a finalist.
And we got to go on stage, some games were organised by the event organizers. And in that case, what do you do as a good editor, you volunteer your sales and marketing manager to go up on stage and play the game.
And www.outdoorfitnesssligo.com ended up with another hero (sales & marketing manager Dolores) who walked away with an even bigger honour…the proudness that comes with showing hundreds of strangers that you can fit 11 marshmallows in your mouth and still say the words…’chubby bunny’.

And then there was the chocolate, thrown into the crowd at regular intervals. It reminded me of feeding time in Dublin zoo, us, the nominees being the penguins awaiting eagerly for another few dozen of fish, in our case chocolate bars being thrown at us by Rick O'Shea.
Hopefully , we be there again next year, bigger and better as ever before.

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Gaelforce West - the event

8/21/2016

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Gaelforce West was going to be our first adventure race. Training plans, if you can call it that way, came to a crashing halt 2 weeks before the event due to an achilles injury.
But as we only started training a month before the actual event, and as the injury happened after 2 weeks of training, we still decided to go ahead with the event and enjoy it.
Finishing time didn't matter to us as it was our first event

And we must say, we are hooked. We loved it from start to finish, although that last 2 km through the grounds of Westport House were maybe a little bit to much "fun" or should we say "soul destroying" . More about this stretch later.

After having registered on Friday evening and having dropped off the bikes to Delphi, we decided to head to bed early to get a decent rest.
Our bus would be leaving at 6.30 in the morning for our 8am start at Glassilaun beach, hence us going to bed early.
Problem, the nerves made me wake up at 4.30 am and do you think i was able to go back to sleep, nooo . The excitement had kicked in.

We stayed in the Westport Woods Hotel, and the nice people in the hotel had organized a very early breakfast for all the competitors. So after a great breakfast, we headed to the bus which would bring us to Glassilaun beach.

After a short briefing, we started our 14km run towards the kayaks. The run itself started on tarmac roads towards Killary Harbour. After a few kilometers, we reached Killary harbour where we ran along the shores on the old Famine roads.
The views were breathtaking.
And as novices, we had planned our event in great detail. We would take our running shoes off at the kayaks and keep them dry which we thought would be important for the remainder of the competition.
Only thing we didn't take into account is that the old famine way had been exposed to rain for prolonged times during the summer months and had turned into a swamp, hence a 1 minute run along the track drenched our shoes,socks,... . So gameplan changed, don't avoid puddles, muck or rocks, just run straight through them.
Also, don't take shoes off for the kayak session, but hang feet in the water and clean shoes.

After the run, we entered the kayak crossing which was great fun and a chance to rest our feet for a mere 10 minutes.
And the great advise we had received from Martin Duffy from West Coast Kayaking made us cross Killary harbour in no time.
The choppy waters didn't stop us from admiring the beauty of Killary harbour and the mountains surrounding it.
Across the bay, we had to run through a bog (muck, muck and more muck) and then towards the bike section past Delphi.
During the bike section, you are exposed to views which are ever changing and the sun even wanted to break through the clouds for about 5 minutes. The last 5 km of the bike section is off road. We had been lucky with the prevailing wind pushing us along until we hit the bog section where a headwind made progress slow.

We reached the last big task of the day, climbing Croagh patrick, but we were told that the top part to the summit was closed due to the weather. And it was understandable why. Fog, clouds and a very strong wind at the half way point made us wonder if it was August or December.
Feeling a little bit disappointed that we couldn't reach the summit ( and the reason we have already decided to do it again next year) , we headed back downhill towards the bikes.
We started happily the last section which is an 11km bicycle ride towards westport. Some of this route was on an old section of bog road which was great for draining our energy levels even further.
After the cycle, we knew we had an enjoyable 2 km run through Westport House. How wrong could we have been.
It was a track through the grounds of Westport House, but the track had turned into the most slippy track (or should we say slide) which made me wonder, why am I doing this?

And do you now what, it is the organizers along the route, the competitors, the scenery, the camaraderie and the cheer satisfaction of completing such an event which made all of the pain and muck worth 110%.
At the finish line, you were handed your results immediately and between some hot food and a nice cup of tea, you were quickly warmed up again.

And that evening, we enjoyed the banter in Mat molloy's where the stories of the day were shared with many of the other competitors.

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Kayaking with West Coast Kayaking

8/16/2016

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As we are in training for Gaelforce West, we have been sampling different aspects of the different disciplines during our training.
One of the disciplines is kayaking, and last Tuesday we had the chance to head out with Martin Duffy from West Coast Kayaking and get some brilliant advise regarding technique,...

We met Martin Duffy , a class V (expert) kayaker who runs West Coast Kayaking in Co.Sligo (https://www.facebook.com/West-Coast-Kayaking) .
With him was the lovely Marleen who runs Angel and gift world (www.angelworld.ie) in Sligo town.

After taping up our paddles , which showed us the correct location for our hands, we headed off along the Garavogue. Along the way towards Beezies Islands, we got brilliant tips from Martin regarding paddling techniques, turning the kayak without slowing down the kayak, ....

By the time we had reached Beezies island, we were more confident in the kayaks and dared to put our weight further out in order to turn smoother. At the Island, we got a crash course in how to recover your kayak when you are close to turning over.
When dusk started settling in, we headed back along the serene shores of the Garavogue to make it back to Doorly Park just in time before the heavens opened up.

We enjoyed the kayak session thoroughly and would highly recommend heading out with Martin from West coast Kayaking to improve technique, discover the joy of kayaking or discover Sligo from the water.
And we believe this has helped us in our preparation for Gaelforce West,...

If you would like to go out for an adventure with West Coast Kayaking, visit https://www.facebook.com/West-Coast-Kayaking .
Martin runs courses on a regular basis to become an improved kayaker.

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Training for Gaelforce West

8/7/2016

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At www.outdoorfitnesssligo.com, we booked ourselves into Gaelforce West last January/ February.
We had plenty of time to train for the 13km trail run, 1km kayak, 5km bog run, 35km cycle, run up Croagh Patrick and back down and the last 10km cycle into Westport.

But do you think we started training in January, no, off course not. So we are on a little crash course at the moment getting the miles in.
Luckily, the amazing start at Glassilaun Beach and the amazing run towards Leenane will make the suffering worthwhile .

I call it suffering, you should know i hate running with a passion, or should i say, i did. I am actually starting to enjoy trail running/walking.
It is relaxing, and it brings you very close to amazing scenery and wildlife.

It is our first ultra event, so we are going to enjoy it and go with the flow on the day. And it gives us a chance to test some more outdoor gear .
Yes, i said us. Both myself and Dolores will be taking part as a team. Time doesn't matter for us, we want to finish it. Mainly because we don't know what to expect as novices.
But next year, we will probably be interested in our time.

And we are 100% confident that the amazing scenery in Connemara will keep us going.

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Wild Atlantic Run - "WAR" - charity ultra run

8/2/2016

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Lillian Deegan and Tom Reynolds are currently running the whole length of the Wild Atlantic Way. This epic charity run is approx. 2500km in length and is in order to raise funds which will be shared between Pieta House, Suicide & Self Harm Crisis charity and Billy's World, Ireland's first holiday centre to cater for special needs children and their families.

Both Lilian & Tom started of in Derry and are making there way down South.
The run started on the 23rd July and the plan is that both runners average 50 miles per day and will go on until they reach Cork somewhere around the end of August.

Today, we met Lilian who is currently in co.Sligo. Lilian ran from Mullaghmore to Strandhill, but not in a straight line. No, she had to go to Streedagh , Rosses point and then Strandhill, all by all approx. 55km.

Lilian was in great form, especially after having ran already all around Co.Donegal, co. Leitrim, ...

So if you want to support Lilian and Tom on their epic journey, here are some of the links:

Useful Links.... see where they are and how to donate!
Links to the tracker site: http://live.opentracking.co.uk/wildatlanticroute/
Link to donation page for Pieta House: https://give.everydayhero.com/…/wild-atlantic-route-war-pie…

Link to donation page for Billy’s World Ireland:https://www.gofundme.com/2f9839g

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SUrfing in Co.Sligo

8/2/2016

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Sligo, situated along the Wild Atlantic Way, is also known as the Surf Coast. And there is a reason for it.
Where the Atlantic Ocean meets Co.Sligo, amazing waves are created. And Sligo has been known for it's big wave surfing for a while now at Mullaghmore, a spot loved by the likes of Andrew Cotton, Nic Von Rupp,...

Co.Sligo is probably lesser known for it's windsurfing and kitesurfing,... or should we say watersports in general.
There is always plenty of wind, so anything with a sail should work. And the surfing scene is as popular in wintertime as during the summer. And the great thing is that Sligo has mild winters where the temperature of the water never drops to low.

From Easkey to Strandhill, from Streedagh to Mullaghmore, Co.Sligo has something to offer for everybody. Being an entry level surfer or pro surfer, you will find that magic wave along the Wild Atlantic Way.

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iSurfIreland's Summer S'Cool camps

7/13/2016

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More tantrums followed. " We don't want to go" , " we are always going somewhere" , " we won't have any friends there" , "we don't like surfing" .... although they done previously a surf camp and loved it.
So with a little pushing, Monday morning came and all went to the camp. Eddie, Eva and Shambles welcomed the boys and a lot of other kids for their first session surfing in Strandhill. First day was enjoyed surfing and learning about water safety. The boys were tired that evening and slept well.
Second day was enjoyed surfing and playing games in the water. And the interesting thing was once the boys came back home that afternoon, they decided to go and play outside.
By today, Wednesday, they loved it even more and guess what, they played outside again this afternoon.

That actually made us really worried. Did the seawater affect their brain? Did they get hit by a surfboard which made them make all these irrational decisions,....? No , they just have a new found love for the great outdoors.

As for the Issurfireland summer S'cool camps, they are well managed and are enjoyed by all the kids. The kids learn to surf, play games, learn about water safety and the environment.

Kids and summer school holidays. With the Irish summer weather in full swing (wind, rain, rain,rain,...), it is sometimes difficult to keep the kids occupied.
So the usual Xbox games have been played multiple times already, we went already through a few fights and tantrums,... .

So the question is , how do we keep the kids occupied. Last weekend, we decided to give ISurfIreland School of surfing a ring and booked a 12 year old and 9 year old into the camp.

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<<Previous

The Wild Atlantic Way Cycle Sportif

Nordkapp to Tarifa 2018 - Update

Keen to try a different New years resolution?

Take a plunge into the sea

Learn the art of bushcraft

Visit a remote island

Push yourself out of your comfort zone

Learn a new life skill

Get scared

Realex Webawards 2016

Gaelforce West - the event

Kayaking with West Coast Kayaking

Training for Gaelforce West

Wild Atlantic Run - "WAR" - charity ultra run

SUrfing in Co.Sligo

iSurfIreland's Summer S'Cool camps

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