Annagh Wheelers Cycling Club

present the

Tour of Mayo Leisure Cycle

We are a small group of aging cyclists who like to ramble the country side on our bikes at every opportunity. We prefer to cycle in company when possible and to that end have been promoting the Tour of Mayo for the past six years. We started with a bunch of thirteen riders and over the years have been steadily gaining friends who return annually to enjoy the beauty of Mayo at the end of May. This is not one of those tours that is really a race and the order of the day is to drop as many riders as possible. We stick together in bunches and wait for breakdowns or punctures. Big strong cyclists who will pedal at the front are our favored touring mates but puny types are tolerated if mannerly and can maintain interesting conversation when the blood sugar dips. This year there will be two or three main groups with the pace controlled at 15mph to 18mph  average. There are three main routes covering 200k, 100 miles and 100k. There are four scheduled feeding stations and motor car back up. Shower facilities are provided at the finish.

We encourage participants where possible to stay overnight in Ballyhaunis either on the Saturday night before the tour or the Sunday night after to participate in the "pre-ski" and "apres ski". For many of the regular riders the 200k of cycling on Sunday is simply a necessary formality to be endured between the two sessions in Gills’ Bar (Formerly Byrnes).

 I first wrote this page in 2002 and havent been moved to edit it in the interim, but I feel a little updating is now in order. It is now 2009 and 13 years since we started the Tour, we are still a small bunch of even more aged cyclists though in fairness we have managed to attract some slightly younger blood to the group in the intervening years. The formula has not changed though the route gets a tweak every year. This year we are giving south west Mayo a rest and heading north into the Ox mountains, visiting a traditional Mayo seaside resort (Enniscrone) which happens to be in Sligo, having a look at the north side of Nephin, and throwing in a tidy little climb over the Windy Gap north of Castlebar.

Our preparations have been meticulous , we have squeezed every last drop of moisture out of the atmosphere over the last two weeks so be sure to cover up well with factor 50 !