I have only done a couple of Sportives so far but this one was definately the most fun.

I had headed over to Islay, an island off the west coast of Scotland, for my summer holiday and this event happened to be on at the time. 100 miles around Islay. It took a few various loops to get the mileage in but it was all worth it.

Not only is it free entry but everyone stays together in a group and cycles round the route (actually 2 groups this year due to the size of the field of 40 people). This involves continually changing places and chatting with different people. Some people had travelled up from England just to take part, and combine a few distillery tours for the weekend.

As I was camping for the first time on holiday I wasn’t sure what it would be like doing 100 miles after a night in a tent. Once you wake up though and see the view it is fairly inspiring to get you going

We left Debbies cafe at Bruichladdich at a very sociable 10am after a quick caffiene hit to get you started. The ride is completely unsupported and open roads. The beauty of it though is none of this matters. There are few cars and they don’t tend to be in a rush. Just about every time we came across cars on a narrow road they would just pull over and wait for you to pass with a friendly wave.

Shortly after heading along the coast line of Lochindaal we turned left on to the first loop around Loch Gorm. It starts with a long stretch of climbing but nothing too steep. Actually as you are busy chatting to your new cycling partners you don’t really notice the hills so bad.

Once you descend back down to sea level towards Machir Bay you then begin to loop around towards Saligo Bay. Here you can see the Old Man of Saligo’s face in the headland.

You continue to loop around the loch before a short ascent up towards Loch Gruinart before continuing back down towards Lochindaal. The descents can be particularly challenging. The roads can be very rough with either a lot of loose stone in the centre section or possibly even sheep!

Once around this loop we continued around to Bridgend for another small loop around the high road. It was the back around to Bowmore with a short steep climb up the Main Street before heading out around teh other side of Lochindaal on the low road between Bowmore and Port Ellon. This takes you along past the Big Strand. Unfortunately at this point I had a slow puncture and after a quick pump to see if I could stay with the group it failed on me. After stopping by the airport for a tube change the “broom wagon” happened to pass (there is no broom wagon really it is a landrover following around dropping some children off to ride different parts of the route) which meant I could get a track pump and get fully inflated again.

It was then through Port Ellon before going to Ardbeg distillery for a feed stop. There was even a free glass of Ardbeg whiskey for those brave enough to take it.

Leaving Ardbeg the ride lived up to its name and the weather changed dramatically from hot sunshine to pouring rain. We took the high road from Port Ellon to Bowmore but then turned off towards Ballygrant before coming back to Bridgend again.

Once through Bridgend we went around Lochindaal through Bruichladdich and onto Port Charlotte. Here began the last part of the ride which was to prove a slight sting in the tail after 70 miles already. We turned right out of Port charlotte towards Kilchiaran Bay. This involved some of the logest climbs of the day so far. As you approached the Bay there were signs warning of a 14% descent. This was also an advanced warning that the same was coming as an ascent on the way out again. This was the most challenging climb and really took it out of you. (I did this loop as a training run a few times during my holiday and it was an enjoyable challenging run that wasn’t too bad. At 80 miles it was a tough finish)

The loop continued with some more undulating road around to Portnahaven. By this point the large groups had split up and I was on my own. As I left Portnahaven I got overtaken by some far younger participants who commented how hard that last bit was before quickly vanishing into the distance. From here it was straight back along to finish at Debbies. Fortunately along the way I got picked up by two riders who I think were from West Lothian and gave me a tow home.

The whole event was then wound up at the Port Mor centre (which is also the campsite) with an evening Pasta party and a couple of beers. Some money was also raised for the Braveheart fund.

Special thanks should go to the velo club d’ardbeg
who organise the event and have a website with all the details about cycling on Islay. If you buy the club jersey you become a life time member.

Reports from this year and details for next years event are already on the Ride of the Falling Rain site.