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Celtic Knot 1000 Ride Report
This is a report of my successful Celtic Knot brevet.
I was a bit nervous going into it for various reasons:
- My last big brevet was PBP in 2023.
- In 2024, I didn’t do any 200+ distance audax events, just a 200 each month to work on my RRTY. I think it’s normal for people to take it a bit easier after a PBP season.
- I got injured in February while riding the East Wicklow 200, with IT band issues. This probably deserves its own post, but I spent March recovering, doing gym sessions, and lost my RRTY.
- I was bringing the new Mason Aspect Integrale, and I only had a 200 on it. However, a professional bike fit was done, so I felt it was okay to bring it with me. Famous last words, right?
Anyway, my knee was feeling well, and on Friday the 30th of May, I drove to the start.
Getting to the Start, and Pre-Ride Mingling
I left Dublin around 2 pm, but it took me 3 hours to get to Flagmount. First, the M50 was jammed (I thought rush hour traffic would come later?), and then there was a crash on the M7.
The drive was uneventful. Approaching Scarriff, I realised the climb to the Flagmount community centre was fairly long and steep in sections, and I immediately became concerned about doing such a climb at the end of a long day. We would probably have to climb 350m of elevation at the end of each day, tired and wet, probably at 1 am :D. I started questioning my life choices at this point.
When I got to the start, I found a few riders already chilling in the sunshine with drinks and food: POD, Phil from Audax UK on his recumbent bike (always a sight to behold!), Laurent from Bristol, and Barry from Northern Ireland, to name just a few. Oh! And of course, the organisers! Hendrik in primis, followed by Tim, Mick, Fintan, and Keith. They looked far too relaxed for people about to unleash us on a 1000km course.
Then I took my bike in and set up my sleep corner inside the school gym: sleeping bags, cot beds, and a pillow amazingly provided by the organisation. There was a hot shower and breakfast/dinner provided every day! Luxury!
I tried to go to sleep at around 11 pm; the start was scheduled for 6 am. I woke up at 4:30 am, had breakfast, packed my bike, and got dressed. I felt like a zombie, but a zombie with a mission!
Day 1: 362km
The first day goes through part of the Wild Atlantic Way to Loop Head and back.
The 20 or so starters gathered outside around 5:45 am, a small speech from POD followed by awarding Hendrik for organising this event:
We rolled out at 6 am:
It was a nice descent down to the ocean, riding through the Burren.
That is when the first drama of the event started. Cian’s left Look pedal came off the axle spindle… We stopped; it was not possible to fix this type of thing on the road. There was nothing the rest of the group could do, so we decided to press on. Cian would call the organiser to see if they had any spares. Later on, I learned he continued riding, putting his cleat on the bare axle for 50+ km, until Tim Ling came to the rescue with a Look pedal! Cian would end up joining me and Gerald the last day and finished the ride! Talk about commitment!
The rain started soon after we left Cian. I put on my Goretex Shakedry jacket and gloves but didn’t put on the rain legs and shoe covers (first mistake of the ride!). My inner monologue was screaming at me, “You fool!”.
The wind was south westerly, just in our face. We battled this head wind for ~150km all the way to Loop Head.
I made it to the “Tea Party control” with Gerald in Fanore completely soaked. Gerald was my companion for the entire ride :) Misery loves company, I guess!
We pressed on. At that point, the rain had stopped, but some tough climbs started to get us up the Cliff of Moher coast line. My lower back starting to complain.
We passed through Doolin and finally reached Laninch where I saw a few riders stopped at Hugo’s bakery.
This bakery was amazing and one of the highlights of the day :D. Possibly the entire ride.
I had one sausage roll and a croissant there, one of the best of my life. I briefly considered moving to Lahinch just for this bakery.
Apparently, this was voted one of the best bakeries in Ireland! No surprises there.
I showed this to Katia, and it seems I am going back to Co. Clare this summer :) My cycling trips are now dictated by bakeries.
The rest of the time was spent battling head winds all the way to the Loop Head lighthouse.
Gorgeous coastline. I only wish I could have enjoyed it more, and stop more to take photos… but I didn’t want to waste time.
We made it to Kilkee, a lovely beach town, at around 14:22, when I messaged the WhatsApp chat to tell them we were “almost” at Loop Head. Tim Ling kindly shattered my optimism. Thanks, Tim!
He was right, it took us 2h to cover those 30km!!!!! Crazy head winds, especially approaching the end of the peninsula. Here are some photos of that stretch:
We finally made it to Loop Head where we stopped 20 minutes. I devoured 3 sandwiches and one bag of crisps. It was freezing cold, and we decided to press on, happy to know we were finally heading east with the winds at our backs. We made good progress in that section thanks to tail winds, and we got to the last control (MountShannon) at midnight.
Only ~25km left to the Mountflag control and sleep… except that it was a gruelling section: rain, steep in parts (max gradient 12%) and, worst of all, pretty gravelly with potholes everywhere. It was like the road was actively trying to sabotage us with a puncture.
I clearly remember shouting “Fucking hell!!!!!! 43 minutes for 2 kilometers!!!!!!!” and made Gerald laugh :D. At least someone was enjoying my suffering.
I was worried about punctures in the middle of the night, with rain. The descent was sketchy, and a few times I dangerously veered towards the bushes on the side of the road because I was yawing and falling asleep. Normally I wouldn’t be worried about such a road on my Grizl with 45mm tyres… but I was on road bike and 30mm… I felt every single bump.
We survived the section and got back to base at 1:30am.
Quick shower, food gently provided by Hendrik and friends, and off to sleep. This was the end of an epic day… I dreamt of sausage rolls.
Day 2: 338km
Day 2 is an inland loop to Banagher, Cashel and Cahir, Galtee mountains and back via Limerick. My legs were already dreading it.
I don’t remember when I woke up, I think it was 5.30am… my GPS logs say I spent a total of 5 hours at the Mountflag community centre, between shower at arrival, food, sleep and breakfast, dressing, prepping bike…
I fell asleep immediately as soon as my head hit the pillow. I think I had a total of 3h of sleep.
When I woke up, everything was sore: my knee caps, my quads, my calves and achilles tendons, my shoulders, my lower back, my glutes, my palms with blisters. But having rode PBP23, I knew those were just niggles, not real injuries. They would go away as soon as my legs spun again, and indeed they did :). Or at least, they were replaced by new aches, pains and thuoghts of what was ahead.
We left at 6:30am, 30 minutes later than the first day. There was a pattern there, every day we left 30m later than the previous :D
The weather was nice the entire second day at least, and I was in a good mood.
This day was a clockwise loop inland, heading towards Banagher and then down south to Cashel, and Cahir, the most southernly-east point of the entire 1000km.
We had a second breakfast at Super value Banagher, and ice cream in front of the Rock of Cashel entrance. Fueling the adventure, one calorie at a time.
Then from Cahir, we rode beside the Galtee mountains…
Our GPS computers didn’t warn us of what was ahead. It was a steady 2/3% climb for a looong way: My legs were staging a silent protest.
On the 2nd day there was a control photo of a “Gatehouse”, we were relying on the kilometrage in the ride info provided by the organisers and we thought we had it.
On audax riders organisers can be sometimes picky :PPP. They enjoy our suffering, I’m convinced.
I had a lamb kebab at a chipper in Kilfinane, a small market town, apparently the highest town in County Limerick.
The rest of the ride was done in the dark mostly, across Limerick university campus and back to the Flagmount community centre.
I was worried of yet another gravelly climb. This time the climb was on asphalt… but it felt like it was harder than the first night climb… My legs were officially staging a full-blown rebellion.
We arrived at control at 2:44am… later than I had expected. Time was losing all meaning at this point.
And this is when I had the lowest point of my Celtic Knot: I was sore and tired… I started questioning my sanity. I knew the last day had very bad weather from 6pm to 1am… I didn’t want to go thru that, and my wife was telling me on WhatsApp that I didn’t have to continue if I didn’t feel to. Messages like this do not help :D. Thanks, honey!
I decided to take on food and sleep, and reassess when I had woken up. It is widely known in the audax community that you should not take drastic decisions like quitting before you had a change to rest and take on some hot, real food. Wise words to live by.
Day 3: 300km
The last day is a flatter loop to Mullingar and back via Athlone and Moate, taking advantage of quiet greenways and canal towpaths, as well as some very remote sections of Co. Galway. I think the organisers intended to give riders an “easy” day to increase the chances of finishing. They were wrong.
We started around 7 am (you can see a theme here: every day we started 30 minutes later than the previous day!).
Cian joined Gerald and me for the entire day, and Keith (one of the organisers) rode with us to his home in Portumna.
Leaving the control, there was a super steep and long climb up the mountains, but it went quickly because it was a beautiful sunny day, and we were chatting. I was getting to know Cian better.
One of the cool things about going to audax rides is that you meet new people from different backgrounds and nationalities. Or at least, you suffer together.
After that climb, we were rewarded with amazing descents and fast going, helped by westerly tailwinds. Finally, some good luck!
We made a quick stop at a garage in Cloghan, where I got two sausage rolls and two apple juices. My love affair with sausage rolls continues.
Then, we continued onto the Grand Canal towpaths and greenways.
Cian had a puncture there. This is where my brand new Silca Impero Ultimate Frame Pump got its first usage! And it wasn’t even me! I felt strangely proud of my pump. We arrived in Mullingar around 4 pm and had some food at an Asian restaurant (I had an amazing Chicken Cha Han).
From Mullingar, we took the greenway to Athlone, a 43km stretch of old railway converted to a cycleway. On a nice day, it might be pleasant, but it was like a wind tunnel and pretty boring. Damn straight, very few bends, and not much to see besides trees. I wasn’t very fond of it, probably because I knew the bad weather was coming. Gerald had a puncture on the greenway. I was worried about sharp objects or thorns due to the winds throwing all sorts of stuff onto the track, but it turned out to be a rusty nail. The greenway was clearly trying to cause mechanicals :D
After fixing the puncture, I suggested we put on rain gear. I put on, in order:
- Rain legs
- Shoe covers
- Helmet cover
- Goretex Shakedry jacket
- Long-fingered gloves I use in winter
I want to say a few words about those rain legs. They are the best 35 EUR I have spent on bike equipment. They are also used in equestrian applications. They are basically covers for your laps only, roll into nothing, and weigh nothing. They only cover the front of your legs so you don’t overheat, and they protrude over the knees so that water coming down your laps doesn’t run through your shins into your feet, soaking your socks. I looked like a Teletubby, but a dry Teletubby (only temporarily).
From now on, the most epic portion of the entire Celtic Knot started for me. We made a mistake: we didn’t realise that Athlone was the last food option for us, and we pressed on. We found nothing open until the last control. Rookie mistake.
The rain was hard at times and didn’t stop, and the wind was strong too. The area wasn’t particularly hilly but remote, with plenty of boreens and potholes, and some N roads where cars were passing pretty fast, throwing water at us. At that point, I was soaked to the bone but warm. I felt like a drowned rat, but a warm drowned rat.
We were crossing some house conglomerates that resembled small villages; you would expect them to have at least a garage or convenience shop, but there was nothing, and even if there was, it was past 8 pm. We basically had food last at 4 pm, and I only had one bottle of water and half a granola bar. I was starting to hallucinate sausage rolls. At some point a car stopped, a woman inside, looking utterly bewildered, asked if we’re in trouble and need help. I guess the sight of three lunatics cycling in that weather was a bit much for her.
I was cold and wet but manageable. I knew that as long as I kept moving, I would be okay; stopping was not an option, as you would start shaking uncontrollably.
We got to the Atherny control at 11pm.
As we pull under the rooftop of a garage to make a proof of passage selfie, Cian realises his front tire is flat. This is the luck of the Irish!!! At least we can fix it under a roof and not in the pitch dark of a boreen under heavy rain… Thank you, cycling gods! It was at that moment that I notice with a corner of my eyes a pub, and I propose to get in and warm up a bit. We get in the pub while all the locals are drinking and singing. Cian talks to the bar tender and he fixes us some hot tea and Tayto (very Irish).
I think we spent 40m there, Cian fixed his tire in comfort. Best puncture repair stop ever.
The last part of the event was still in the rain until 1am, and finished at 2:30am. The climbs were tough and I was cursing Hendrik :DDD. Sorry, Hendrik!
What went well
- First of all, I finished, which is the only thing that counts. I did it in 5.5h hours to spare so I am pretty happy with it. There were people that finished way before me and I have the most respect for them :). They’re probably cyborgs.
- This was the first big ride for the Mason Aspect and it performed well, the Tailfin Aeropack Cargo is awesome;
- I didn’t have any puncture, especially at night in the rain, which was my main worry. I was a bit concerned as I was running the Pirelli P-Zero, the tubeless version, but with TPU tubes, at 30mm;
- I managed my saddle discomfort with proper hygiene and chamois cream application once or twice a day and sudocream after shower;
- IT band issues which were a concern for me prior to start didn’t appear, it means the bike fit is correct;
- My back, neck and shoulders are usually one of my weak points, but they held ok all things considered;
What could be better
- A few days after the event and I still feel a bit of pin and needles on my hands finger tips… and my feet big toes. This is the same as it happened during PBP… wondering if I need to change anything, my stem is already pretty short (80mm). Maybe try tribars for additional position? Or add extra padding to the handlebars? More padded gloves? I’m open to suggestions, unless they involve surgery.
- I still think I had more saddle discomfort than necessary. I use the Selle Italia SRL Boost saddle with the TI rails, it’s the endurance version which is a bit more padded, but maybe I should swap for the harder version I have on my La Pierre carbon bike. I have the impression that harder will be better, as the padding work must be done by the chamois. My butt is still recovering.
If you have any opinions or suggestions leave a comment down below :)
Additional thoughts
This was hard, it felt harder than PBP2023 even if 200km shorter. At PBP you have plenty of spectators at the side of the road at any time of the day and night to support you. CK is more like a proper audax. It’s just you, your bike, and the open road… and maybe a few hallucinations.
There were 20 starters and 7 DNFs if I remember correctly. Respect to everyone who even attempted it.
I am wondering if making the day 2 and 3 loops going anticlock wise would be better, given that Ireland has predominantly westerly winds, it would mean having the head winds at the start when you are less tired :). Just a thought.
The Flagmount base position is epic, but makes it for very hard last 30km… having something to finish at sea level would be better :PPPP. My legs would agree.
Thanks
Thanks to organiser and volunteers without which this type of events wouldn’t be possible. Thanks for Gerald and later Cian for the company.