Giant Propel saves tourists stuck on snowy mountain
Before heading to the airport today I decided to squeeze in a quick spin on the bike. The weather wasn’t ideal but I need the training. It’s now less than 3 weeks to the Munster 4 Airports Challenge in aid of Touching Hearts and looking at how much training the lads in the Portlaw Village Wheelers are doing I will need to be in good shape.
Whenever I have only an hour to spare I almost always head for Tickincor and Powers the Pot. A good hard effort that has me climb over 450 meters in a single hour. Climbing is like meditation. You have to focus on your breathing and soak up the pain. It clears your mind and then you start to think clearly. I spent much of todays climb thinking about the severely disabled children that Touching hearts takes care of and their families. I gave a silent prayer of thanks for the good health of my own family.
As I climbed the wet road turned a little white and then up ahead a blanket of snow came into view. It can be easy to forget just how high up Powers the Pot really is. As Irelands highest residential property, it leads to a mountain pass that is one of the highest in Ireland. When you get to that sort of elevation conditions can often change, as they did today.
Going straight on at Harneys cross I was curious to see what I would face.
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Today the first kick was OK, but then as the entrance to Powers the Pot itself came into view a line in the road indicated the elevation where snow had decided to stick.
I was presented with a choice. Turn around and go back the way I came or push on ahead for the summit and see what lay ahead. Tyre tracks gave an indication the the road was passable and I really dislike going backwards, both on and off the bike, so onwards I pushed.
Staying seated in the saddle kept enough pressure on the tyres as the gradient topped out at 22% but then as the Telecoms Mast came and went the snow had increased and drifted across the road. The tyre tracks of the car which was probably a 4×4 turned back at the mast but the tyre tracks of the Giant Propel continued on. That was until the snow became too deep for the narrow tyres and the bike just stopped.
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Up ahead about 200 meters away I could see a car facing me. If they had managed to get that far, I could cycle back down the way they came. So I hiked through snow that had drifted to almost a meter deep in places with my bike over my shoulder.
When I reached the car I met some confused looking people. They were looking at me, looking at the bike and looking at the snow. I said, not to worry, I have been up here in worse conditions.
The 181 Volkswagon Golf was stuck in the snow and the visitors from Luxembourg did not know how to get it out. They were speaking of tow trucks and the like but there was no need for that. I stood the Giant Propel in the snow beside the car and asked them to get the floor-mats out. We put those under the two front tyres. Then two of us pushed the car as the driver revved up the car in reverse. The snow was deep enough to give a good foothold for my speedplay cleats in the snow and with one good shove we managed to get the tyres to bite on the car mats and off it shot onto the safety of tarmac once more.
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I gave them directions to the Rock of Cashel and wished them well for the rest of their holiday and pedalled off with them still looking at me slightly confused. It’s not everyday that a Giant Propel Road bike comes to the rescue of someone in a car stuck on a snowy mountain.
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Hopefully this will all have been good training for the 4 Munster Airports Challenge. Each rider is paying for all of their own expenses and every single euro raised goes directly to the charity. Having spoken to parents of the children who will benefit from the event I really want to help and if anyone would like to donate to this very worthy cause you can follow the link here :
https://www.ifundraise.ie/3885_munster-airport—s-challenge-2018.html
Thanks,
Barry
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