Wild Atlantic Way Sportif 13-29 Sept

dastardly00

Rojo wrote: »

I'm about to sign up for Tuesday to Friday stages... Don't know how I'll get home from Muff without causing too much of a headache though! :-/

EDIT:

Just been chatting with the team online and they can transfer you back to your car on the Saturday... So think I'll be driving up to Donegal!

Wow that's great!

HappyHiker

You'll have a blast Rojo! I did 2 stages Friday and Saturday. Friday's spin included the Sky Road which was stunning. Yesterday was marred by the weather (they had to shorten it by 40km because of the crosswinds approaching Achill which threatened to blow us off the bikes) but it was fun getting blown up the Doolough Valley when the wind was behind us! Lunch on Friday was in the Connemara National Park. Saturday included a coffee stop and a lunch stop. €45 for dinner, bed and breakfast was fab value for money - I doubt it will be as cheap next year. And yes, the jerseys are lovely.

Rojo

HappyHiker wrote: »

You'll have a blast Rojo! I did 2 stages Friday and Saturday. Friday's spin included the Sky Road which was stunning. Yesterday was marred by the weather (they had to shorten it by 40km because of the crosswinds approaching Achill which threatened to blow us off the bikes) but it was fun getting blown up the Doolough Valley when the wind was behind us! Lunch on Friday was in the Connemara National Park. Saturday included a coffee stop and a lunch stop. €45 for dinner, bed and breakfast was fab value for money - I doubt it will be as cheap next year. And yes, the jerseys are lovely.

Wihoo - great to hear! It's coming up as €90 for overnights, how do I get the cheaper deal of €45? :-o

DeepBlue

Rojo wrote: »

Wihoo - great to hear! It's coming up as €90 for overnights, how do I get the cheaper deal of €45? :-o

I think the €90 is the cheaper deal which includes two stages (which would otherwise cost 45 each) plus your accommodation with dinner and breakfast.
Hopefully someone who knows for certain can verify.

Animella

Fabulous day yesterday on stage 12 from Achill to Ballina. They had to skip the loop of the Currane peninsula on Saturday due to bad weather so we did that yesterday instead.,
First stop was at the very striking Ballycroy visitors centre, on through stunning scenery to lunch in the Talbot Hotel in Belmullet.
The weather really brightened up then with blue skies meaning beautiful blue seas on the coast road. Quick stop for a photo at the Céide fields.
The whole operation was very slick. It was fantastic value. The jersey is really good quality and looks great. It was also a bonus to get the transfer back to the car .
There was about twenty of us cycling, it was the longest stage which might have deterred most leisure cyclists .
The guys running are ride wild and do organised cycle tours which cost a lot more than this so it is obviously well subsidised this year.
Grab a stage if you can!

HappyHiker

Rojo wrote: »

Wihoo - great to hear! It's coming up as €90 for overnights, how do I get the cheaper deal of €45? :-o

It was €45 per stage plus €45 overnight so cost me €135. You have to do 2 or more stages to get the overnight though. You can just select a stage without the overnight after you've registered. Any difficulties use the online chat facility, Keith seems to be always available to answer any questions

Animella

HappyHiker wrote: »

It was €45 per stage plus €45 overnight so cost me €135. You have to do 2 or more stages to get the overnight though. You can just select a stage without the overnight after you've registered. Any difficulties use the online chat facility, Keith seems to be always available to answer any questions

Yeah, I messaged Keith about 11pm during the week when I heard about the sportif and he replied straight away.

NIMAN

I must keep an eye out for all this passing on the last stage.

ht9zni1gs28crp

Booked in for tomorrows stage Ardara to Dunfanaghy.

Early start for me!

ednwireland

came into town yesterday and out again never even saw tham apart form a few flags in the diamond and some outside the mill park hotel this morning. at least they have the weather until tommorrow ......

ht9zni1gs28crp

ednwireland wrote: »

at least they have the weather until tommorrow ......

Weather does read horrendous for tomorrow....really wondering will i bother going now

DeepBlue

Brenden Dazzling Poplar wrote: »

Weather does read horrendous for tomorrow....really wondering will i bother going now

Pehaps see if you can move it to Thursday if that suits. The weather looks a bit better for Donegal on Thursday (well, according to accuweather.com anyway) and back to rain again on Friday.

Alternatively gear up appropriately to keep yourself warm (no point trying to stay completely dry) and HTFU and go out and try to enjoy it. There is a perverse sense of achievement in doing 100K or so in the rain.

Animella

Brenden Dazzling Poplar wrote: »

Weather does read horrendous for tomorrow....really wondering will i bother going now

There shouldn't be a problem changing stages. Message them.
If you can't ,it's worth turning up even to get the jersey and jacket. You've paid for them and they really are lovely.

If conditions are really bad they can pick cyclists up . On Saturday they cut the route short because of strong winds.

Agree with above too, nothing like just gritting your teeth and getting on with it if it's only rain - you'll have a better sense of achievement! It's the Wild Atlantic Way after all!
Best of luck and enjoy!

Rojo

Just did the first day here... super well organised, lovely people all round and the scenery is fantastic. Saw Slieve League for the first time and it is every bit as impressive as I had hoped!

Totally recommend catching a day or two if you can.

Weather does look atrocious for tomorrow... at least skin is waterproof though, right? :-)

Rojo

Just getting around to posting about this. I signed up for the last four days. I would have loved to attempt the whole hog but I only heard about it late into the cycle.

I really can't say enough good things about the whole operation. It was so well organised and everything was just so easy going. It was so lovely knowing I just had to put on my gear, get into the saddle, peddle and enjoy the amazing scenery. Great route, hotels and food. Also met lots of cool people and made some great friends on it.

Registration should be opening up next week or soon enough after that for 2018. I'm dying to do the complete route!

https://wildatlanticwaycyclesportif.ie/

Apologies for posting so many photos... Couldn't stop myself!!