7th Heaven: 1st Females to do the "7 Sevens" With Bikes
Report by Andrea Harrower
Taryn and Andrea have become the 1st female pair ever (and 2nd pair of any sort?! ever) to do the "7 Sevens" with bikes. The challenge involves climbing all 7 peaks in the Mountains of Mourne that are over 700 metres above sea level. There is an organised 7 Sevens event that takes place annually, but on foot. Believe us, with bikes is it much more difficult. They are an additional burden on the uphill, awkward to manoeuvre on the flat given the very rocky ground, and provide very little downhill benefit because of the rocky terrain and extremely steep gradients.
True to form there was very little planning involved in the challenge, which the girls only really decided a week ago that they were definitely doing. Plenty of time to sort out all the important things – what kit to wear, when to apply false tan, how much chocolate to bring and how to have momentous photographs at each summit!
Training?! None. The challenge was training. For what?! No idea!....other than it wouldn’t be cycle training! We set out on our adventure knowing that very little cycling would be done, but rather we would be carrying and pushing the bikes all day. It's called "hike-a-bike" in the world of Adventure Racing. Maybe we were practising our weakest discipline!
After a nutritious pre-event meal the previous night.
..the girls set off up the Happy Valley at 0840am on Sunday morning, wondering if they would still be happy a few hours into the challenge!
After a good 50 metre cycle!!, they hit the mountains proper and there-in started the hours of hauling the bikes up, around and down the Mournes. They reached the 1st summit, Slieve Meelbeg, after about an hour and after having met their first of many bewildered people of the day. On the way up Meelbeg a hill runner was coming down, who stopped for a couple of minutes to question our sanity! On hearing our plans for the day and Taryn's confidence?! that we'd be riding downhill, he wished us good luck and set on his speedy way.
The 1st summit meant we were on the scoreboard and signalled the start of our acrobatics to denote each peak by using our bodies to make the shape of each number of the particular summit we were on. Number "1" was easy! All we had to do was get the camera in position, Taryn get onto Andrea's shoulders, then press the button for the self-timer, then run across the rocky ground to the summit cairn and Taryn to put her arms up straight to make us look like a "1" (hmmmm, of sorts!). The mere suggestion of it all triggered such a look of fear on Taryn's face that Andrea almost didn't insist….but then went ahead and did anyway!
Along with all the other photos taken on Meelbeg, the girls spent about 20 minutes at the summit and quickly calculated that they would be spending about 2 hours of the whole challenge at every peak just taking photographs – added to this would be time for photos along the way and the numerous bits of chat with astonished bank holiday hikers that were up the mountains that day.
The afore-mentioned hill runner was completely astonished – not only at the challenge itself, but also at the length of time we took at Summit 1! Unknown to us, he had been waiting down at the bottom to see these two brave downhill mountain bikers come flying down as soon as they'd made the summit. All he could see from his position below was 20 minutes of arms flailing around at the summit and us running backwards and forwards to the wall (where the camera was perched – but he didn't know that!), before hearing the high pitched screeching of brakes…..which turned out to be us pulling on them, not because we were courageously riding down, but just to enable us to walk the bikes downhill!
Needless to say he didn't hang about to watch Summit 2! Just as well, we didn't want anybody see us do a Number 2 (?!) on Slieve Meelmore!
The pace was good and we made the 2nd summit in no time, psyching ourselves up all the way to try and bend our inflexible bodies into shape for the figure "2". We assure you that this is this only reason for us being in this position!
So, two summits down meant that the very steep and rocky ascent of Slieve Bearnagh was next. Before descending from Meelmore, we took in the sweeping panorama of the rest of the Mournes from this high vantage point, and had a superb view of the huge drop down before the sharp climb up to the aggressive, jagged shaped summit of Bearnagh.
The climb up this treacherous side of Bearnagh is challenging enough for many hikers and fell runners, who often choose a more indirect route to avoid such a steep gradient and hazardous terrain – and that's without the added extra of carrying bikes. So it was with some trepidation that we took this direct route, expecting it to be the most difficult ascent of the day.
It was a tough climb 3 hrs into our day, and definitely not for the faint hearted, but our pace to the top was surprisingly quick and was the first real sign of just how strong we had become and how much stamina we had gained from our foray into Adventure Racing 18 months ago.
Buzzing from the ascent, Andrea was unaware that she was a bit ahead of Taryn and emerged over the rocky summit to a shocked pair of walkers, who were even more bewildered that Andrea asked them would they mind "taking a photo of the two of us"? Without Taryn in view, they thought Andrea loved her bike so much that she was talking about herself and it in a photo!
In the ensuing conversation, the woman said she was extremely disappointed because she comes to the Mournes to escape from her stressful weekly life, but had instead bumped into us pair of nutters – she's a psychiatric nurse! She then added that we made her feel right at home!
After the lengthy chat and photo session of Number "3", we were on our way again, for a little downhill riding to Hare's Gap before tackling the narrow rocky Brandy Pad to reach our attack points for Commedagh and then Slieve Donard, the highest mountain in Northern Ireland. Along the Brandy Pad we met various walkers and runners, of all abilities, some out for a 2-3 hour walk, some out for a 5 hour training session in order to head off and hike the Inca Trail in Peru.
Explaining our challenge to numerous people, no matter what their background or fitness level, drove home just how mammoth it is to complete the 7 Sevens on foot, never mind carrying heavy bikes.
The off-piste climb up to Commedagh was really tough and about halfway up, after about 4 hours since we'd set off, Taryn commented "it's starting to feel a bit hard"! At this point the vastness of the Mournes, and indeed the challenge that we were undertaking, really struck us. Here we were on our way to the 4th of 7 summits, but in duration and distance terms we were nowhere near the halfway point. There was this spectacular view behind us of Lamagan and Binnian in the distance, which were to be our 6th and 7th summits, but we had yet to reach Commedagh and then Donard before heading that direction.
However the visible immensity of the challenge did not deter us, but rather it put the fire in our bellies, and by no means did it detract from us savouring the majestic vista before us. The Mournes truly is an incredible place. It is one of the most stunning ranges in the world (as commented by foreign hikers and locals alike - not just us being biased!) and we are lucky enough to have it right on our doorstep.
Anyway, we finally reached the top of Commedagh and had one of many surreal moments as we emerged over the brow of the hill, pushing our bikes passed a group of people having a picnic and casually bidding them good afternoon on our way to the cairn. It was surreal for us, what on earth was it like for them?! There must have been many people that day that thought they were seeing things as 2 girls, scantily clad in bright pink, carrying bikes, came into their view!
Number "4" took quite a few photo attempts – not only because we couldn’t contort our bodies into the shape but also because Andrea's legs didn't work properly to begin with for her to jump onto Taryn's back!
After a lot of tom-foolery and laughter, which maybe we shouldn't have expended so much energy on?!, success was ours! And off we headed on the descent, which proved to be the longest ride-able section of the day – at all of about 5 minutes! We rode it because there was none of the rocky terrain we had encountered so far, but walking would have been faster! Not only was the ground so wet and very slippy, but the gradient was so steep that we rode down in zig zags across the slope, in a sort of learner-ski fashion.
Those picnicking at the bottom commented that they had heard us well before they saw us. Not the screaming brakes, but the laughter and chatting. Such comments about our gaiety were common-place all day!
How could we be anything but giddy, about to undertake the ascent to Donard and our 5th summit of the challenge?! This was physically very tough but although we were 5 hours into the day and had bikes on our shoulders, we managed to overtake many walkers on the way up. Fuelling the belief, that we would not be going home, without having conquered the 7 summits.
Actual conditions in the mountains always pose a threat, and having started the day in sunny spells, the clouds had been building for much of the morning, and as we headed up Donard the weather turned downright inclement! What started as a little rain, soon turned to sleet and about 2/3 of the way up Donard we found ourselves in proper snow. Just as well we had checked the forecast for the day. Not! Cropped lycra tights, factor 15 and false tan were our priority – not full length bottoms and fleece lined hoods!
While we appeared to be carrying much less gear than many others who would be in the mountains for less than half the time we would, our experience gained from Adventure Racing paid off and what kit we did have saw us through the adverse weather. For us, full length waterproof body cover, foil blankets and a first aid kit are the order of the day. Oh, and a compass and whistle. As well as emergency chocolate! Maybe we should change our motto to "Be prepared", rather than the Belles' one of "Life is more than a monthly cycle"!
The weather (which was to turn much worse on our way to the 6th summit) was also not conducive to the time spent at the top of Donard, due to the number of other people up there who all wanted to hear about our challenge – many of whom just didn’t get it no matter how many times we explained it. In the end we decided it just wasn't worth getting into a conversation about, and when next questioned as to why we had our bikes up Donard, we said that somebody told us there was a bike shop at the top, but had just found out they must have been joking!
Anyway, Number "5" was under the belt – and apparently our bums didn't look big in the shot that was taken – and off we headed again, having been on the go for 6 hours!
So, just 2 more summits to do eh?! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, what a 2 those were! Even to get from Donard to the summit of Slieve Lamagan involved a long distance and ascending two other peaks first of all – yes, just a couple of 600 metre-plus summits for good measure! Added to this, the weather had really closed in, the wind had picked up and hail stones were adding to the trials and tribulations!
But when the going gets tough, the tough get going – even if slowly! As if any more resistance was needed, Taryn didn't have the power to lift her bike at one stage on the way across to Lamagan, and so wearily tried to drag it through the heather! At the same stage Andrea wondered should she drag her bike too, as maybe carrying her bike on her shoulder was a bit of an extreme way to flatten her slightly raised, recently injured A/C joint!
This trek from Donard across to Lamagan was abysmal. But through the mist we eventually caught sight of the cairn marking the summit of Lamagan. The subsequent photo shoot was the shortest in our history because we were too darn cold and wrecked to mess about, have a laugh, or think about anything other than getting off the blasted mountain.
Just as well we only had the descent of Lamagan to go before the final long uphill slog to Binnian eh?! Grrrrrrrrrrr. What an awful, awful descent from Lamagan. It would be extremely slow and treacherous on foot in those conditions, never mind with bikes in hand (sorry, on shoulder!).
At 530pm we were finally at the bottom, ready for the uphill battle to North Tor and onwards to 7th heaven and the final summit of Slieve Binnian. All of a sudden the weather cleared and the sun started to shine. Talk about 4 seasons in 1 day!
Our spirits lifted with the weather, and also with the fact that we were near the finish line – well, it would be 90 minutes later before we were atop the final peak, but that's relatively near given the full day's challenge!
At one stage we did question whether we would make it to the end, as a Mountain Rescue helicopter appeared and seemingly circled us for a good 10 minutes. Tell you what, if somebody had told us via loud haler that we had to put our bikes down and that we were being lifted off the mountain – there was no way we were stopping, and they'd have had to chase us! Ha....now wouldn't that have been hard for them?! In such prime physical condition we were!
As it turned out, the helicopter had been called out for 3 hikers who were query hypothermic because of the adverse weather. Mountains have their own wee micro-climate and should never be attempted without sufficient gear, no matter what conditions are like when you first set off.
After the weather we had experienced for the previous 6-7 hours, it seemed nothing short of a miracle that the sun burst through and welcomed us on our way to the final summit. Talk about shining!
At 7pm on Sunday night the Bikedock Belles (well, half of us!) reached Slieve Binnian and the final summit of the epic 7 Sevens. From our final vantage point we had an awesome view to the north of the other peaks that we had conquered earlier in the day, and to the south a stunning view of Carlingford Lough and the Cooley Mountains in the Republic of Ireland.
In the jubilation of achieving the 7 Sevens with bikes, we forgot that we had to descend from Binnian! If that rescue helicopter had offered us a lift then, we would have taken it! Or quite happily stayed up there in 7th heaven! But where would be the fun of that of course – we'd earned the bragging rights, so we needed back into the real world in order to brag!
This was a true epic, requiring gargantuan strength in both physical and mental terms. There's a reason only two people (male pair and friends Rick&Davy) have ever done it before!
| Summits | Height |
| Slieve Meelbeg | 708m |
| Slieve Meelmore | 704m |
| Slieve Bearnagh | 727m |
| Slieve Commedagh | 765m |
| Slieve Donard | 850m |
| Slieve Lamagan | 704m |
| Slieve Binnian | 747m |