Taking place in the Nephin Beg mountain range just outside Newport, Co Mayo, the Gaelforce 24-hour Cycle Challenge involves a 24hr mountain bike event and a 24hr road bike event, as well as a recently added 8hr challenge.

Irish adventure racer & 2009 Female solo champion, Fiola Foley

For the truly hard core you can compete as a solo athlete but for mere mortals you can also enter as a duo, team of 3-5, team of 10 or in the masters category (your team must have a combined age of 200+). The aim is to be the individual, or team, who completes the most number of laps within a 24hr period. Night time laps are tough but great fun and the camaraderie is great as everyone is suffering at the same time!

This Cycle Challenge is in its second year. Last year’s inaugural race featured first-rate administration and organisation and 2010 promises to be even more enjoyable with more singletrack for the MTBers and more participants all round.

Here is a note on the course from the organisers -

We endeavour this year to create more off road sections for the mountain bike track using the Bangor trail and this has been the cause of delay with the finalisation of the route. The route takes in some amazing scenery, it has less uphill and at 15km it’s a bit shorter than last year, we have decided to keep the hill climb as it added an interesting and sometimes welcomed element to the course. The new section of track we hope is going to be part of the Bangor way which involves fairly technical downhill, although not too steep. Another new element we are hoping to add into the race is a 500m section of board walk. We are currently waiting on the approval from the various governing bodies!

We raced it in 2009 and found it to be a first rate race, it was one of the highlights of our year (read our race report here).  The additional singletrack is a big bonus and much welcomed but there is something here for everyone, remember this is the only 24 hour race in Ireland!

The prize giving for the 2010 event will be held at Hotel Newport, in Newport town where there will be a free meal for all competitors, live entertainment and of course the prize giving! There are special rates available to all competitors and their families if you wish to stay on the Sunday night.

Do not miss this!  For more details or to enter this over-18s only event, visit: www.gaelforceevents.com