West Clare Cycling Club Looptheloop.ie Charity Cycle

Snappermalawi

CYCLISTS ENCOURAGED TO DO LOOPTHELOOP AS TAOISEACH LAUNCHES CHARITY CYCLE

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny recently launched the 25th West Clare Cycling Club Loop Head Charity Cycle – known as LoopTheLoop – to raise much needed funds to support both local hospice services in the mid-west and national end-of-life initiatives.
An Taoiseach hopes to be among the thousands of cyclists taking on the 130 km route from Kilrush around Loop Head Peninsula on Saturday, September 28th. The journey resonates personally for An Taoiseach as his maternal grandfather James John McGinley was the principal keeper at Loop Head from January 1933 until October 1934.
The cycle around west Clare’s stunning Loop Head peninsula contrasts the picturesque Shannon estuary coast with the majestic, rugged Atlantic coastline whist also visiting the famed lighthouse.
The Loop Head Lighthouse is the centre piece of the cycle. It remains in the care of an attendant, and was opened to the public in 2011.
An Taoiseach stated: “Loop Head and the lighthouse have a particularly special meaning for me and my family because my grandfather was the lighthousekeeper there some 80 years ago. But I think Loop Head promises a special memory for anyone who visits because it is a place of such extraordinary beauty. I would like to encourage people to participate in this cycle to experience the stunning landscape while raising money for really important charities
The charities benefiting will be the Milford Care Centre in Limerick, Cahercalla Community Hospital & Hospice in Ennis, and the Irish Hospice Foundation.
Chief Executive of Milford Care Centre, Pat Quinlan stated: “We are very grateful that people are making such an effort to support our work as we are increasingly reliant on public support to continue to offer quality specialist palliative care for our patients and support their families throughout Clare, Limerick & North Tipperary.”
Mary Maloney of Cahercalla Community Hospital & Hospice commented: “We are delighted to be involved in this fundraising feat and we wish everyone well on the day.”
Sharon Foley, CEO of the IHF, remarked: “We hope that the 25th LoopTheLoop is the best ever and we can reassure the participantswill make good use of the funds that they have worked so hard to raise.”
Cillian Murphy, chairman of Loop Head Tourism, said “We are sure this will become one of the foremost mass cycling sportives in the country. We have long known that the Loop Head Peninsula is a world class destination for cyclists with its quiet roads and tranquil settings. Cyclists taking part in this event will not only enjoy the stunning coastal scenery but will also be completely entranced by the welcome the peninsula community shows to all visitors.
This is all part of the responsible tourism ethos that has seen Loop Head win the Irish Times 2013 best place to holiday award.”
Michael Gleeson Chairman West Clare Cycling Club said. "Cycling is in the DNA of the Irish and there is no better place to take part in this great sport than Clare. It makes it even more special when we are helping to raise funds for such great causes."
Online registrations are now being accepted through the website www.looptheloop.ie

AnotherView

This looks great.. This part of West Clare is spectacular and great for cycling...magnificent views

Unfortunately abroad or would be lining up

Good luck with it ...

Snappermalawi

It is a stunning cycle with wonderful views and with the help of God the weather will still be good on the 28th September. The Che Guevara festival runs in Kilkee the same weekend so should be plenty of good crack. Look forward to seeing you next year. cheers

Snappermalawi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgZej3mBd0s

David Hunt produced this wonderful time-lapse video of the Loop Head Peninsula in County Clare

Have a look and see the beautiful views for cyclists on the Looptheloop.ie September 28th.

WakeyTyke

Once you've cycled around the Loop Head peninsula you just want to go back again and again and again. To be able to cycle so close to the sea on quite roads is exhilarating, no matter what the weather is like.

If the weather conditions are favourable you can see the Connemara mountains and the Aran islands northwards and Mount Brandon, the Dingle peninsula and the Blasket isles to the south, breathtaking.

Snappermalawi

So true. The Taoiseach said he is looking forward to cycling around it in Sept with hundreds of other cyclists.

jimbo28

looking forward to it, fantastic part of the country................if the weather prevails.

Snappermalawi

You know the weather in West Clare is always....................interesting lol. I am sure it will be a great event either way but we are praying hard. Thanks

dfdream

Is there only the 130km or are there other distances...

Kingdom Man

how tough is this one are there a lot of hills on the route?? done ring of kerry with no bother how do they compare other than the distance. a few of us thinking of going up thanks.

WakeyTyke

There are no climbs above 100m and the total climbing is around 1000m, though the terrain is varied and interesting throughout.

Unlike the RoK a lot of the cycle is on quiet, minor roads, especially around Loop Head, which literally hug the coastline giving a constant change of scenery.

Whilst the full loop is 130km there are several other easy roads to follow for cyclists to detour back to the finish in Kilrush (though it would be a shame to miss out on any of the route!). The shortest of these would be about 85km distance.

Snappermalawi

WakeyTyke seem to know this route very well. Here is the link for the mapmyride. http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/233932145 He just got the climbing slightly off. its 579m in total.
cheers

This is a 131.52 km Bike Ride in Kilrush, Ireland. The Bike Ride has a total ascent of 579.0 m and has a maximum elevation of 104.0 m.

WakeyTyke

Snappermalawi wrote: »

WakeyTyke seem to know this route very well. Here is the link for the mapmyride. http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/233932145 He just got the climbing slightly off. its 579m in total.
cheers

This is a 131.52 km Bike Ride in Kilrush, Ireland. The Bike Ride has a total ascent of 579.0 m and has a maximum elevation of 104.0 m.

I would have to dispute the Mapmyride stats. Knowing the route well and having ridden it in its entirety Strava had the total elevation at 996m - give or take a metre.

Snappermalawi

Well done to Nicholas great lift for all levels of cyclists in Ireland.

Nicholas Roche @nicholasroche 2h
Not familiar with all of this at once! But wanted to share that nice feeling with all of u! pic.twitter.com/CCEwMWUbTA

Mercian Pro

Looks like Loop the Loop could be as good as the RoK was before it got so crowded. Hope to get there at the end of September.

WakeyTyke

Mercian Pro wrote: »

Looks like Loop the Loop could be as good as the RoK was before it got so crowded. Hope to get there at the end of September.

The fact that the route passes through a lot of villages and towns, such as Carrigaholt, Kilbaha, Kilkee, Doonbeg, Cree and Kilmihil, means that there are plenty of stopping points at regular intervals for cyclists who want to make it a steady, relaxed cycle.

Another advantage over the RoK is that there are numerous roads that return back to Kilrush for cyclists who decide to shorten the cycle.

dfdream

WakeyTyke is there only one official distance (130k) for the cycle.
I know you can shorten it your self but you would not be in a group most likely...

D

WakeyTyke wrote: »

The fact that the route passes through a lot of villages and towns, such as Carrigaholt, Kilbaha, Kilkee, Doonbeg, Cree and Kilmihil, means that there are plenty of stopping points at regular intervals for cyclists who want to make it a steady, relaxed cycle.

Another advantage of the RoK is that there are numerous roads that return back to Kilrush for cyclists who decide to shorten the cycle.

WakeyTyke

dfdream wrote: »

WakeyTyke is there only one official distance (130k) for the cycle.
I know you can shorten it your self but you would not be in a group most likely...

D

Yes there is just one official route with a distance of 130km.

There is a good chance that a fair few of the regular Loop Head cyclists might be thinking of doing the old traditional 85km shorter route, so it could be possible to meet some of them at the second stop (and at the first turn point to shorten the route) at Kilkee.

It really would be a shame not to try to do the whole route though - there's always the broomwagon option

dfdream

WakeyTyke, thanks for that.

If you have a link to strava for the same route can you link here or PM..

D

WakeyTyke wrote: »

Yes there is just one official route with a distance of 130km.

There is a good chance that a fair few of the regular Loop Head cyclists might be thinking of doing the old traditional 85km shorter route, so it could be possible to meet some of them at the second stop (and at the first turn point to shorten the route) at Kilkee.

It really would be a shame not to try to do the whole route though - there's always the broomwagon option

WakeyTyke

dfdream wrote: »

WakeyTyke, thanks for that.

If you have a link to strava for the same route can you link here or PM..

D

Here is the full route on strava dfdream.

https://www.strava.com/activities/65336352

codie

Can you register on the day ?

WakeyTyke

codie wrote: »

Can you register on the day ?

Presently there are no plans to have on the day registration.

Pre-registration on www.looptheloop.ie will stay open until a few days before the 28th (unless we fill all the places before that).

We want to make this event a cycle to remember (for all the best reasons) and it is important we know the exact number of participants beforehand.

There is a great buzz around the Loop Head peninsula community who are keenly looking forward to welcoming the cyclists. A business owner from one of the small villages that the cycle passes through asked me today what time the cyclists would be arriving so they could sweep the road ready for them.

kerry4sam

The Loop Head Cycle last year the Clare lads allowed to cycle with them on was a 92km cycle here but you would not feel the cycle with the beauty around you for the most parts.

Won't be participating this year though, but I Wish Everyone Well on the Preparations and on the Cycle & I must say (especially when considering they took along this newbie), those guys were just remarkable cycling club members lastyear

Thanks again guys,
kerry4sam

_Skitso_

That website isn't working for me. Is it just my age old comp or are other people having trouble opening the page? Hope to line up for this one.

wuzziwig

I would love to do this. I love the Loop Head peninsula but normally drive it! I'm a newbie to cycling and the furthest I've gone so far is 40km. I might get up to 60km max before then. Should I wait until next year?

WakeyTyke

_Skitso_ wrote: »

That website isn't working for me. Is it just my age old comp or are other people having trouble opening the page? Hope to line up for this one.

Skitso I checked the website www.looptheloop.ie and it seems to be working okay.

If you want to register click on the big red asterisk and fill in your details.

WakeyTyke

kerry4sam wrote: »

The Loop Head Cycle last year the Clare lads allowed to cycle with them on was a 92km cycle here but you would not feel the cycle with the beauty around you for the most parts.

Won't be participating this year though, but I Wish Everyone Well on the Preparations and on the Cycle & I must say (especially when considering they took along this newbie), those guys were just remarkable cycling club members lastyear

Thanks again guys,
kerry4sam

It was our pleasure kerry4sam. Pity you can't join us again this year.

We are quite a friendly lot here in west Clare

_Skitso_

WakeyTyke wrote: »

Skitso I checked the website www.looptheloop.ie and it seems to be working okay.

If you want to register click on the big red asterisk and fill in your details.

Thanks, worked on my iPad but no joy on PC, obviously problem at my end. Signed up, all I gotta do now is get fit enough to get round!

Snappermalawi

Just over one week to go. We have cyclists from all over the country. There will even be Cork and Clare men handlebar to handlebar. We have arranged a big screen in Kilkee Golf Club for the cyclists to watch the match and have a pint together after we looped the loop.

Snappermalawi

A big thank you to you and all our cyclists who took part in our 25th West Clare Cycling Club Charity Loop Head Leisure Cycle now known as Looptheloop.
We had a beautiful day with over 200 taking part. I know some of you could not make it for various reasons you were missed.
Most were travelling to Croker for Clare's brilliant win in the All Ireland replay. We hope we will see you all next year.
Some of the cyclists also made generous donations on top of the registration this is hugely appreciated.
Thank you so much for the lovely comments from so many of you.
We also got a lot of suggestions on how to make the event better and we will definitely take these on board.
A lot of you took great photos and we would love to see them.
You can post them on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/looptheloopcycle?ref=hl or send them to me and I will put them up.

boege

Did this myself and being from Limerick was unaffected by Croker but jeezus what possessed you to go ahead on an all Ireland replay day.:)

BTW, don't change the route, ever, it's a classic. All that coastline hugging side roads that I would never drive. Pure magic. And finally tell Enda to get his priorities right!