When?
Saturday April 30th 2016

Where?
Starting and Finishing at An Sportlann, McHale Park, Castlebar Co Mayo

What to bring?
A bike in good working order, a helmet, water bottle, mobile phone, rain gear (just in case!)
Be sure to bring some sunscreen lotion too! Snacks, lunch and drinks will be provided along the routes.

Sponsorship
After you register to take part in the cycle you will be sent a sponsorship card to help you raise money for our cause - breast cancer research. The number of your card then becomes your id no for the cycle.
We ask that all cyclists raise a minimum of €100. There is no upper limit!
You can also set up an online sponsorship page.

For Full Details Check out the Mayo Pink Ribbon website

Volunteers
Our success is due to the hundreds of volunteers throughout Mayo who help us run our events each year. Our cycle has fast become known as the ‘Friendliest Cycle' this is entirely due to the effort of all our wonderful volunteers.

Support Us
By supporting Mayo Pink Ribbon, you are supporting research into breast cancer, you are promoting earlier diagnosis of breast cancer and you are helping find better treatments for breast cancer.

Achievement
To date we have raised almost €600,000 which has funded the work of post-doctoral research scientists at Breast Cancer Research (formerly NBCRI) in NUI Galway.

Three Great Routes to Choose From

This year we have three great new routes to choose from.
All three groups will start together and follow the same route for the first 17km.
The routes are 51km, 108km and 147km so there is something for everyone.
All routes take in areas of natural beauty and will bring cyclists through many of the towns and villages of Mayo.

51 km Route
This route starts at An Sportlann, McHale Park, Castlebar. Cyclists will head out the N5 Dublin road until the village of Bohola. They then turn left for the historic town of Foxford situated on the banks of the river Moy. After Foxford the route turns left for Pontoon taking cyclists between the magnificent lakes Lough Conn and Lough Cullin. From there it's a scenic run through Ross and Crimlin then back to Castlebar. This is a very enjoyable route and all cyclists should find it manageable with the appropriate training.

The route has a total ascent of 301.23 m and has a maximum elevation of 68.56 m.

108 km Route

This route starts at An Sportlann McHale Park, Castlebar. Cyclists will head out the N5 Dublin road for 25km. It then turns left and enters the market town of Swinford. From there it's a 13km run past the beautiful Callow Loughs to the historic town of Foxford situated on the banks of the river Moy. After Foxford the route turns left in the direction of Pontoon and passes the famous lakes of Lough Cullin and Lough Conn en route to the village of Knockmore. From there it's a 10 km spin into the town of Ballina. From there the route takes us to Crossmolina, on the north shore of Lough Conn. After Crossmolina comes the village of Lahardaun, where proportionately more people lost their lives in the Titanic disaster than from anywhere else in the world. 11 men and 3 women left the village to make their way to a new life in America in 1912. Only 3 survived. The village has a tranquil memorial park where tired cyclists might like to take a moment to pause and remember. After that cyclists come to Pontoon, the meeting point of stunning Loughs Conn and Cullin. From there it's a scenic run through Ross and Crimlin then back to Castlebar.

The route has a total ascent of 665.9 m and has a maximum elevation of 85.29 m.

147 km Route

This route starts at An Sportlann McHale Park, Castlebar. Cyclists will head out the N5 Dublin road for 25km. It then turns left and enters the market town of Swinford. From there it's a 13km run past the beautiful Callow Loughs to the historic town of Foxford situated on the banks of the river Moy. After Foxford the route turns left in the direction of Pontoon and passes the famous lakes of Lough Cullin and Lough Conn en route to the village of Knockmore. From there it's a 10 km spin into the town of Ballina. From there the route takes us to Crossmolina, on the north shore of Lough Conn. A left turn in Crossmolina brings cyclists to some of Mayo's most stunning scenery as they head south with Nephin in sight. The route takes a right turn before Castlehill and skirts the base of Nephin, going past pretty Drumleen Lough and Keenagh. From Keenagh it's a beautiful run through Letter Keen Woods and around Lough Feeagh and Furnace. On the outskirts of the town of Newport the road turns left for Glenhest then passes between Beltra Lough and Croaghmoyle mountain before arriving back in Castlebar.

The route has a total ascent of 1145.93 m and has a maximum elevation of 205.74 m.

http://mayopinkribbon.ie/