When people speak of sportives these days, they can often be heard asking each other ‘What route are you doing?’ or ‘I was hoping to do the 100km but now I think I’ll just opt for the 50km!’ Well that certainly isn’t the case for the upcoming Carrick Wheelers Challenge Sportive, which comprises of 1 Route, 8 Challenges and 160km of the toughest roads around the famous cycling town of Carrick-on-Suir. The route which was designed by An Post Rás legend, the late Bobby Power, covers a combination of the hardest established climbs in the area including Mahon Falls and Seskin Hill, as well as the ascent of the famous Tipperary mountain of Slievenamon, before a finishing challenge on a ‘road’ through Lord Waterford’s beautiful Curraghmore Estate, that is a combination of the Strada Bianca of Italy and the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix!
This indeed is no family fun cycle and is aimed at serious cyclists with the mentality for the serious challenge that has earned the title of Ireland’s Toughest Sportive.
The route contains two food stops, the first being the principal tea stop will be situated just past the halfway mark, in the Rathgormuck Hiking Centre located at the foothills of the picturesque Comeragh Mountains, with a second water stop being located at around the 130km mark, manned by local Munster Time Trial Champion Hugh Mulhearne!
The closing date for entries is this Sunday 20th May 2012, in order to facilitate the ordering of the specially commissioned t-shirt for each entrant. This year’s t-shirt will have a slight variation on last year’s well received version in that they will adopt the event founders name into the title (Bobby Power’s Carrick Wheelers Challenge Sportive) as well as a colour change, taking on the pink of the famous Maglia Rosa of the Giro D’Italia, as the route was inspired by the infamous white roads of the 2010 event. Participates were very pleased with the design and quality of last year’s shirts, made from the more expensive ‘dri-fit’ material which they made great use of for both leisure and training activities in the following months.
So are you fit enough, strong enough and determined enough to complete this monumental challenge? Well if you are, check out the Carrick Wheelers website before this Sunday 20th May 2012 and get your entry in for Ireland’s Toughest Sportive.
For more information and entries CLICK HERE.
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