Around 15,000 bananas, 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 slices of barnbrack will fuel the 9,500 cyclists set to put on their padded shorts and pedal the 112-mile Ring of Kerry charity cycle this Saturday.

Now in its 31st year, the event has raised €6.9m for local charities, with €1,125,000 last year alone. Such was the demand this year, that after registration reached capacity in record time, a lottery for 200 extra places saw 3,000 applications. A long way since 49 cyclists hopped on their high nellies on a July day in 1983.

“People said: ‘These guys are nuts’,” recalls Ring of Kerry PRO, Cathal Walsh.

“There certainly were no fancy bikes like they have now. Helmets were as rare as hen’s teeth. As for gear, football togs and any kind of a top would do, and there was no back up. You cycled away and hoped you didn’t get a puncture. But about £6,000 was raised for the kidney unit in the hospital in Tralee and the Ring of Kerry cycle was born.”

One of the original 49 was Tim Sheehan from Kenmare, who borrowed a bike from his brother-in-law just a week beforehand.

“I got around the Ring anyway,” he laughs, “and there were no padded shorts in those days.”

Tim went on to complete the first 21 cycles, returning after a two-year break to bring his current record to 28 out of 30. The retired teacher enjoys the camaraderie of the event and believes 112 miles is not so daunting as long as you pace yourself.

“We had a friend in Killarney who cycled it until he was 78,” he says, “so it can be achieved.”

Of course, the major motivator for many people is to raise money for their chosen charity. The Ring of Kerry committee receives between 60 and 75 applications from charities each year, with nine picked for this year’s cycle.

All charities recruit cyclists to raise sponsorship on their behalf, while they also benefit when the central fund (any cyclist not signed up with a charity pays a fee of €70) is divided evenly between them after operational costs have been covered – on average over 92% of funds raised through online registration go to the charities. In addition, 20 smaller charities receive €2,000 each.

One of last year’s beneficiaries was Kerry Mountain Rescue, a voluntary organisation with running costs of approximately €70,000 a year.

Money raised through the cycle funded the replacement of their old Unimog vehicle used to carry essential equipment during call-outs.

“We replaced it with a Land Rover and I gather it was in the region of €60,000 to €70,000,” says Alan Wallace, PRO of Kerry Mountain Rescue.

“The team is very lucky in that we get a lot of donations from mountaineering clubs, etc, but nothing really on the scale to replace a vehicle like that in one go.”

One of the charities selected this year is Kerry Stars Special Olympics Club that is working to develop an ambitious National Sports and Adventure Centre for people with physical and intellectual disabilities – a €10m project that will be the first of its kind in Ireland, with the planning application recently lodged.

Architect Davide Mosca of Mosca McGillycuddy & Associates, the lead consultants on the project, is cycling the Ring for the charity. He is excited to take part, having watched in awe at the finish line last year.

“It was a fantastic atmosphere, so it was really something that I thought I’d love to do and working on the project was the final push,” he says.

In fact, Mosca McGillycuddy & Associates has recruited 60 people to cycle the Ring of Kerry on behalf of the Kerry Stars, while Davide will be taking tips from his business partner Rory McGillycuddy, who has six under his belt.

“Though he will probably start later than me and more than likely finish a few hours before me,” laughs Davide. “I just hope he’ll wait for me with a pint at the end.”

Another first-time cyclist is Olivia Whyte, a hairdresser based in Tralee. Olivia had not cycled since her school days when she decided to take on the Ring of Kerry as her challenge for 2014. It was obviously meant to be.

After buying her bike in January, she discovered that one of the charities was Kerry Friends of Motor Neuron, a cause close to her heart having lost her father Paddy, a former lorry driver and small farmer, to the disease in 2008.

Having struggled to cycle 20km in January, she has now completed 60km and 80km cycles in training and is excited and nervous about the challenge ahead.

“I’ll be talking to dad in my own mind saying: ‘Oh God dad, get me through this,’” she says.

“But if you told me two years ago that I would have been even thinking about getting up on a bike, number one, not to mind doing the Ring of Kerry cycle, I would have said: ‘You’re mad.’ To anyone thinking about it for next year I would say go for it. It is possible if you put your mind to it.”

It’s not just the cyclists that make the Ring of Kerry a success. While partners such as Škoda, Radio Kerry, the Irish Examiner and Lidl offset operational costs, up to 1,000 volunteers are involved, with many people going beyond the call of duty.

“There’s one place near Sneem where the Breen family open up their home,” says Cathal Walsh.

“They run a pipe from the natural spring and it’s the nicest drink of water you’ll have on the Ring of Kerry. They were doing up the house recently and the most important part was to have the toilet ready for the Ring of Kerry last year. They look forward to that day so much, even though it’s chaotic for them really because thousands descend on the place.”

Tempted to take part next year? Cathal has this advice.

“Come the last Sunday in March 2015 when the hour comes on in the evening, you get up on your bike and gradually do a 10 or 20-mile cycle and build up your mileage between March and July,” he says.

“When you have a certain amount of mileage done there’s nothing better than climbing up to Ladies’ View or Moll’s Gap. You’ll store that stamina and you’ll be A1 for the cycle.”

As for the cyclists this year?

“I’m just praying for a fine day,” Cathal laughs.

For further information, visit www.ringofkerrycycle.ie

Maria Moynihan will be cycling the Ring of Kerry this year. Follow her @MoynihanMaria

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