Ayrshire Alps Sportif 2024

“The hill roads of South Carrick make up the ultimate road cyclist’s playground. Popularly referred to as ‘the Ayrshire Alps’, the landscape offers fantastic scenery, cycle friendly roads, and a tough cycling challenge.

This exciting new sportive launched with great success in 2022, with a choice of the long 80 mile route with 2170m climb, a medium 62 mile route or the shorter 48 mile course with 1300m climb offered a challenge again this year. Stiff climbs and sweeping descents over spectacular hills, including the iconic Nic o’Balloch, were guaranteed as were the really quiet roads. However this year, a new gravel path route had been added.

The event base was at Turnberry airfield, with feed stations in Straiton and Barr, offering soup, filled rolls, tea coffee and home baking all supplied by Rotarian spouses and partners. A network of signed hill climbs, stylish mapped and promoted forms the basis of this event. In excess of 130 riders, who pre-registered, started to arrive on a bright chilly morning at Turnberry early and set off between 8.00am and 10.00am. This exciting sportif was launched with great success in 2022, offering a choice of four routes, the long 80 mile experience with 2170 metre climb, a medium 62 mile route or the shorter 48 mile course with 1300 metre climb. And the newly introduced gravel path route.

For this third event, Ayr Rotary Club were delighted to raise £6627 of which 50% goes to the Malawi Fruits charity with the balance going to Ayr Rotary Club’s benevolent fund. An excellent result. It is therefore proposed to repeat the event in 2025 when the entries target will be 200, to hopefully raise £6000/£7000