Gran Fondo Giro D'Italia

The Gran Fondo Giro D'Italia Northern Ireland is a new event that only started in 2015, to build on the legacy of the Giro Big Start in Ireland (North & South) in 2014. It comprises 2 routes, a short 58km route from Belfast around Strangford Lough, and a longer 175km route down to the Mourne Mountains. Having been to Belfast in 2015 for the Strangford route, I had some unfinished business, so back I went….

Overhead view just before the start (Photograph with thanks to PSNI Twitter Feed)

I rolled up to Titanic Belfast on Sunday about 20 minutes before the official start time; even at that stage, there were probably already 1,000 people ahead of me. The amount of “ay” and “wee” that I heard around me confirmed that Northern Irish clubs were treating this event the same way that Orwell and other Leinster clubs treat the Wicklow 100/200 – this was to be their big event for the year, and it showed by the several huge club groups lined up in the start zone.

I knew Rodney Phelan and Gerard Coffey had done this route in 2015, so on our last training spin I asked Rodney about it. He told me that it was a very tough, very fast route. That wasn’t really what I wanted to hear, so I left it at that. He must’ve thought I was just making idle conversation, because when he later overheard someone wish me luck in Belfast, he turned to me and said; in practical disbelief; “You’re not actually going up, are you?” That definitely wasn’t what I wanted to hear…..

After only a 10-minute delay (positively punctual considering the huge numbers), the flag dropped and the mass start was underway. This event is different from other sportives in that the entire route is on closed roads – each junction had PSNI controlling the junctions, and there were several PSNI motorbikes along with regular motorcycle marshals patrolling the route. 3 minutes after the flag dropped, I eventually crossed the start line, and I was told that it took over 7 minutes for the entire peloton to snake its way out of the Titanic slipways and onto the course.

The first short climb was only less than 5km into the route – it’d be very similar to Windgates – early excitement, and the size of the group around me, meant that I ignored any thoughts of pacing myself (but then, so did everyone around me) until I remembered halfway up about Rodney’s disbelief. I eased up and settled down into a steady pace for the day.

The start and Dree Hill (Photograph with thanks to Rory Rutledge)

It was rolling road until 40km, when we hit the first proper climb of the day. Dree Hill is a Cat 3, 3km climb, along a very narrow (single lane) country road. 40km hadn't been enough to split up the bunch, so the entire hill was thronged. In the middle of a group this size on a hill like this, I didn’t bother thinking about getting up in a good time; I was just worrying about getting up and hoping not to get boxed or being forced to unclip. Ironically, it was at the bottom of Dree Hill that the sun suddenly made its belated appearance, to exacerbate the already quickly-rising temperature. Until then, I'd never in my life heard Irish people complain about the sun coming out. First time for everything….

Once past Dree Hill, it was a nice fast descent to the first food stop at Rathfriland. Knowing that the 2nd segment was the toughest part, I loaded up, and with a belly and pockets full of food, I set off again. A couple of drags kept the legs honest until we got to 92km, and the bottom of the 4.5km Cat 3 Spelga Dam climb (which would probably be of similar difficulty to the Luggalla climb from Ballinastoe). Just for fun, it includes a nasty 10% pair of hairpins, just to make negotiating around a million (no exaggeration) cyclists that little bit more difficult.

Once I rolled over the top plateau after Spelga (after a few false tops), there was a very welcome 13km drop to spin out the legs and prep for the next drag to the 2nd food stop at 122km. Unfortunately, this drag continued straight out of the stop, so it took a while to get the legs to cooperate again. After that, it was more rolling terrain (including the fastest descent (85kph) I've ever achieved; thanks again to the closed roads) to the finish. Being eager to break 7 hours, I put the head down and ground out the last 40km as hard as I could. I was surprised at how well I felt along this section, considering the kilometres and climbing behind me - Ger and Rodney's WW200 training programme no doubt helping me here. Cheers, gents.

Once I hit 170km, it was adrenaline from here - at this point the route descends the same Windgates-esque hill we climbed at the start, and so with the closed road I swept down to the final approach back to the docks. Having lanes cordoned off for the event; breezing through junctions without having to slow (or even look), and being applauded by random spectators definitely helped to make the run in to Titanic seem like a special occasion. I finished for a moving time of 6.55, which I was very happy with, but annoyingly for my OCD, I crossed the line in 1003rd place of 2135 finishers (thankfully my timing chip result had me as 999th; top 1000, baby!). However, those 3 places in the regular finish could also have been mine had I not turned around just before the finish line to greet my devoted* legions** of adoring*** fans****. Vanity, thy name is Rory.

I've been harping on about it, but the biggest highlight of this event is definitely the closed roads - not having to worry about any traffic, being able to use the entire width of the road, and being able to take the best lines through bends and junctions is an absolute luxury. Due to the road closures, the entire sportive definitely has a much larger "event" feel to it, and all the communities on the route got involved. Crowds were out at all the major towns & villages and residents would be at their gates applauding and cheering all the riders as we passed. We had kids looking for high-fives as we struggled up a drag through Rostrevor Forest in the Mournes, I saw entire families having their breakfast in their front gardens while cheering us on, kids helpfully suggesting I cycle faster (I tried!), and the PSNI were also getting involved and applauding us through the junctions (I don’t imagine the drivers in the stopped cars were applauding us though….)

Rory at the finish (Photograph with thanks to Holly Furlong)

Of course, all this (closed roads, timing chips, Castelli jersey, lots of food, free beers, etc) isn't cheap. There are certainly cheaper sportives, but this is one that I have no problem recommending for a bucket list. It's a great route and scheduled on a bank holiday weekend (so we made this a weekend in Belfast & NI with a cycle tacked on, rather than it being a trip just all about the cycle). It's the week before WW200, so it’s the perfect final run-out before that, and if you've weather like we had on the day, where else would you want to be but on your bike?

Oh, did I mention it has closed roads?

*indifferent
**three people, including my girlfriend (who'd have no excuse not to be there), my friend (who did the Strangford route so was coming to redeem his beer vouchers), and his wife (who'd also have no excuse not to be there).
***tolerant
****people who know who I am

(Photo with thanks to Rory)