By Shane Stokes
In the wake of Paul O'Donoghue's capturing of the Irish end to end record, previous holder Joe Barr will attempt to retake the mark this coming weekend. The record involves a 380-mile (608km) ride from Mizen Head, Ireland's most south-westerly point to Fair Head, the most north-easterly point.
Barr set his record back in 1993, doing the trip in 19 hours and 3 minutes. O'Donoghue successfully covered the distance on July 23, going almost half an hour quicker to complete the gruelling solo time trial in 18 hours 37 minutes and 8 seconds.
O'Donoghue, holder of the Irish 12 and 24 hour records for many years, first went for the record in June of last year but was unsuccessful.
"After the very successful ride by Paul O`Donoghue a few weeks ago to capture the long standing record from Barr, Joe feels that he should give a one off effort at responding to the superb time set by Paul," stated organiser Marc Barr in a press release issued in recent days.
"The attempt has been put together very quickly by a very supporting group of people who have worked closely with Joe over the long number of years which he has been racing. Not having raced for along time Joe has no illusions of the task in front. As technology and route has changed over the past thirteen years Joe would like a crack at the record now. This is a one-off effort and is not to take away from Paul`s great ride, but to help draw focus and attention to this great race."
Barr's attempt will be dependant on weather conditions, with a final decision to be made on Thursday.
