The Duo are no strangers to the area but have previously been on the Lough, battling 10 foot waves (we kid you not!) for 3 hours in a kayak to find Phoney - sorry Coney - Island. That day, which was a complete blast, seemed like 3 minutes instead of 3 hours, and was full of our usual hilarity despite the hostile conditions, we decided that together the immense DW ultra marathon kayak would be a piece of cake! Ahem, watch this space!
Anyway, miserable conditions that day (of paddling rather than pedaling) boded well for miserable conditions in the second half of Lap The Lough – but in contrast to everybody else, we were far from miserable! Again we just kept smiling, chatting and laughing . . . much to the annoyance of everybody else, particularly to one guy who was clearly intent on being as miserable as possible.
The event started at Kinnego marina, Oxford Island, and on arrival it was clear that word had spread since last year and the cycle was set for record numbers. In the end over 1300 fools, who had nothing better to do on a Sunday morning, started the challenge. The queue for car parking and registration was massive but moved quickly with everyone eager to grab a goodie bag that included a "designer" t-shirt, which featured a very bizarre moustache reference. In keeping with the theme, each cyclist was also being handed a false moustache – unfortunately electrolysis hasn't worked on Jen and she was told she didn't need one!
Thankfully her legs had been waxed since the Rat Race barber comment (see previous report), as she wanted to be as aerodynamic as possible on her new speed machine and impressively co-ordinated and classy kit that included white shoes, white/black/pink top and the cutest wee white cycle computer. Apparently she has a great personal shopper. Lucky girl. She is also lucky enough to have the other half of the Duo still pedaling a heap of junk and wearing very old kit, so making herself look even better! 
Well, we set off from Kinnego at 09:00 on a clockwise route around the Lough. Our chat was animated as usual from the start, with lots of riders clearly loving our conversations and keen to join in and find out more about our personal lives! Obviously we toned it down a bit! Our chatter kept apace with our cadence and the miles clocked up effortlessly. Before we knew it, we were over halfway and at the lunch stop at Shane's Castle, where coffee, sandwiches and biscuits were accompanied by a string quartet – some people were struggling and fairly unhappy by this stage, so we approached the foursome with a request to "take a sad song and make it better"!
A 15-minute lunch stop was long enough for the Duo and as we started cycling again, Jen's confidence in her ability and performance rose as some struggling participants were pointed out to her, particularly those requiring oxygen before they set off again! No doubt some people thought we'd had an injection of it, with one guy asking us how we had enough oxygen to chat and cycle at the same time!
Just as we left Shane's Castle the weather took a turn for the worse. Those unhappy campers became even more unhappy, putting their heads down to shield themselves from the rain (oh, was it raining?!), the strong headwind and focus on getting to the finish line as quickly as possible.We on the other hand didn't want it to end. Too chirpy for our own goods, was one comment! At one stage however, uno of the duo became extremely concerned about the content of the conversation and began wondering just how to get through the last hour of the challenge while listening to chat about the pros and cons of granulated and demerara sugar! Funnily enough nobody joined in this thread of conversation!
It took about 2 hours in the wind and rain from Shane's Castle to the finish line at Kinnego marina, including a good Samaritans stop to help a fellow-female (very much in the minority) who had a puncture. We obviously looked so accomplished at the task that none of the guys asked did we need a hand. Guess that puncture repair task in the Rat Race paid off!
Drowned rats we were as we arrived back at the marina, but prize rats again – full of the warm glow of self satisfaction and another perfect day out.
The Rat Race report ended with "had it all. You know that saying, "Blood, sweat and.." ? Well, two out of three ain't bad!". The same applies for Lap The Lough! But thankfully it didn't ruin the new kit!
Lap The Lough took us 5 and ½ hours and we averaged 15.2 mph for the day. Neagh problem!
An epic day, great performance and the poor weather from halfway made absolutely no difference. Oh boy, white lightning can't be matched!
