CONGRATULATIONS to Helen Kerrane, who completed her 3rd successive RRTY in December.

Paul sent an e-mail recently requesting advice for potential RRTY’ers, and Helen replied with the suggestions below.  It obviously works for her !

The success of a RRTY mostly depends on being persistent and having a supportive family/ work structure. You have to accept that you will be losing one weekend a month and you may need people to keep things running in your absence.

I usually sit down with a calendar at the beginning of the year and work out which big events (Celtic Knot, PBP, 600 km ride) take priority. The rest of the year is either in preparation for those events or just for filling in the RRTY. If there’s a big summer event, I’ll try and ride a 300 and 400 in advance. That’s 3 months of the RRTY planned out. I ride 200s in the winter. Personally I prefer winter riding from October to March, fewer flies and more consistent weather. I’ve ridden permanents in the middle of summer with just as strong a headwind as in February!

 I try to ride a mix of permanents and organised events. It’s nice to ride a new route, I particularly enjoyed the Nutcracker 300 and Pink Elephant 200. I could ride the Mick Byrne 200 and King’s Mountain 200 without a map. 

My inspiration for my first RRTY was riding the Angel of Mons 200 in January 2014 in a sleet shower and thinking nothing could possibly be worse for the rest of the year!

Riding a RRTY helps me to maintain a good base level of fitness, you’re always no more than six weeks away from another event. It’s easier to stay focused because there’s not a lot of time off the bike. 

Good luck to anyone attempting a RRTY, it’s an achievement.