Course Description
Swim
A 1500m triangular course from the harbour towards Reengaroga, along the coast of Reengaroga and returning to the entry point.
Bike Route
Leave the bike park(Transition Area). Short climb up to the main road. Turn left towards Skibbereen. Pass Casey’s Hotel on the left. Downhill to a sharp left hand bend. Follow the main road. Twisty with slight incline for about a mile and then the road widens and levels out. The River Ilen will be on your left hand side. Road narrows again and surface deteriorates before improving again. Slight incline and then downhill to Oldcourt. Sharp left turn into Oldcourt and pass Oldcourt Inn on the left hand side. Sharp right turn leaving the boat yard on your left. Twisty with a gentle pull to Skibbereen passing the turn off for Lough Ine and Golf Course on your right and Skibbereen AFC football pitch on your left. Enter Skibbereen built-up area. At the roundabout take the third exit (R596) for Castletownshend
Skibbereen – Tragumna – Skibbereen
Continue out along the R596 road. The surface is poor in places. Road straight at first and then twisty. Pass the turn-off for Tragumna on the right side and continue along the straight road with improved surfaces until you reach a crossroad. The Castlehaven creamery will be on your left side. Take the right turn. The road narrows and alternates between flat sections and gentle climbs. Continue to Y-junction and veer to the right. A narrow twisty downhill descent follows to a T-junction that joins the coastline. Turn right onto the coast road leading to a gradual but tough pull to the cliff tops. On a clear day the fastnet lighthouse will be visible through the islands on your left. The road widens for awhile before narrowing with some small climbs and descents. Prior to the descent to Tragumna there is a short steep climb followed by a steep downhill descent where cyclists should exercise caution as there are two very sharp bends to the left and the road surface is poor. Beware of the camber of the second bend in particular. Pass through Tragumna. There is a concrete surface alongside the beach. Continue on straight to Skibbereen. Pass Trag Knitwear on your right and continue until you reach a T-junction with a Gate Lodge directly ahead of you. At this junction take the right turn and follow the flat but twisty road to the junction with the Skibbereen-Castletownshend road. Turn left at the junction. Follow the twisty road with a bumpy surface to Skibbereen. At the roundabout take the first exit for Baltimore.
Skibbereen – Lough Ine – Baltimore
Pass the Volkswagon Garage on your left and continue out the Baltimore road. Pass the Golf course on your left. At the next junction take the sign-posted turn-off for Lough Ine. This road is relatively flat for about a mile and then there is a slight climb until the wooded Lough Ine hillside comes into view. Then there is a steep and twisty descent to the lake. Cycle straight on keeping the lake on your left and at the Y- junction take the right turn. Climb starts almost immediately and gets gradually steeper and twisty – low gears are advisable. The climb is approximately 0.6 miles and there are 5 sharp turns. At the next junction take the left turn, signposted Baltimore. The road continues downhill and is twisty with Baltimore visible in the distance. At the first Y-junction take the right turn and continue straight on. At the second Y-junction stay to right and the road levels out with just over 1 and a half miles to the main road. At the T-junction with the main road turn left. The road is twisty with gentle inclines and the River Ilen will be on your right-hand side. Continue to a sharp right turn and then there is a gentle ascent with Casey’s of Baltimore on your right hand side. Then it’s downhill and take the right hand turn (signposted) for the Baltimore Hotel and the transition area.
Run
As with the cycle course they chose a very scenic but challenging run. As youleave the transition area we start to climb up to the main Skibbereen road heading east out of Baltimore. Just outside the village you take a small road
which rises up towards Ardagh South. You run along the ridge and after Ciffin Castle take a sharp right climbing steeply up towards the half way marker and the highest point on the course. At this point there are brilliant views
out towards Church Strand Bay and Sherkin Island. Just after the 6km marker you start the steep decline back towards Baltimore. There is one more small incline before yourejoin the main Baltimore road. The last 1000 meters is all down hill into the village and the finish.
www.westcorktri.com
This year they are anticipating a large entry field, so we will cap entry at 250. It’s best to enter early to avoid disappointment.
