Saturday morning as the sun rose over Galway Bay, Team Giro rolled out of Galway Bay Golf Resort taking on an epic cycling challenge to raise funds for Jigsaw Galway.
Now in it’s third year this award winning charity cycle saw 2 groups of eager cyclists enjoy clear skies, sunshine and wind at their backs on day one as they travelled to Clifden via Salthill then onto Letterfack, Cong & Headford before overnighting in the Ard Rí Hotel in Tuam at the end of a long day of cycling with 220km completed.
Day 2 was a battle against the elements as wind, rain and dark clouds made for a tough day in the saddle on the final 160km of the event, but even as the heavens opened and the wind howled from early morning the weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the hardy cyclists who made their way from Tuam to Ballinsaloe, Portumna and Gort before eventually finishing at Galway Bay Golf Resort to the proud supporters gathered to welcome them home.
At the presentation on Sunday evening each cyclist was inducted into #TeamGiro and presented with a commemorative Giro D’Galway Jersey. Speaking at the evening event Justin Mc Dermott of Jigsaw and Event Director said ‘ The Giro D’ Galway is a very special event, you are now part of our Jigsaw family, when you place a helping hand on a fellow cyclist struggling to go up the hill you are in essence placing a hand on the back of young person in your community who needs support with their mental health and helping them across the door to avail of our free and confidential services at Jigsaw Galway and for that we are most grateful’
Tour Director Joanne Murphy said ‘ This event is epic and once again it did not disappoint. Taking on 380km of cycling over 2 days is not easy, add in the weather conditions endured on Sunday makes for a really tough challenge. The cyclists come together on day one as individuals, by the time they roll into Clifden a few hours later they are a team, working together within their groups to reach the next stop, supporting each other, with the end goal of crossing the finishline in one piece, as one team. The Giro is not a Sportif, it is a life changing challenge, each one of our cyclists is a #girohero and can be proud of their achievements this weekend.’
The Giro D’ Galway although only in its third year is fast becoming a bucket list cycle for many people who want to support Jigsaw Galway and who are looking for a challenging but rewarding cycling event, this year they had lots of Galwegians on the starting sheet but they also joined from Donegal, Cork, Roscommon and Clare giving it a great intercounty flavour.
For more information on how you can join TeamGiro in 2017 visit www.JigsawGalway.ie/Giro or call Justin in Jigsaw Galway on 091 549 252.