Let’s go cycling

13th July, Belcarra to Monivea, 76.5 km, hot and humid!  Oh and headwinds, of course.
Today’s ride was spent dodging thunderstorms- and somehow we did manage to elude them all despite the constant rumble of thunder nearby.

Stopped in the township of Tuam and ate our baguettes by a lovely little creek.  Couldn’t find the apricots we bought the day before…and realised that the loud rustling sound in the middle of the night must have been some critter stealing them, packet and all, from under the bikes! Oh well.

Today we “booked” a warmshowers stay.  Warmshowers is a cycling community, a bit like couch surfing I think, but specifically aimed at cycle tourers- you offer a bed or a camping spot, and as the name suggests, usually a shower!

We’ve hosted cycle tourers in Dover a couple of times but this was the first time we’ve stayed as guests.  It’s a bit daunting -you’re staying in the house of a complete stranger and you just can’t be sure how it will turn out…

But we needn’t have been the slightest bit concerned. Our host Liz wasn’t going to be home until around 7pm so we filled in a bit of time in the nearby village, Monivea,  and found a beer at one of the several pubs, along with several great interactions with the locals.

The lovely Liz appeared and after plenty of chatting directed us the 7km to her house- what a lovely spot! Gorgeous cottage with a thatched roof, oozing charm. 

A really fun night sharing travel stories, wine and pizza, along with the fabulous Aunt Bernadette, who’s 91 going on 70 something I reckon.  Wonderful Irish hospitality 🙂

14th July, Monivea to Lorrha, 66km

And this time we couldn’t dodge the rainshowers… from around 30 degrees yesterday to 12deg today- a bit of a shock to the system!

A day of ruins- little castles and churches all over the place and a tiny parish village with more ruins than people (well, living ones anyway…)

But quite interesting to see the integration with new(er) functional church buildings tacked onto crumbling shells.

We’ve camped in a field at the back of a “pub” in the tiny village of Lorrha.  The Pub’s not open today, haven’t seen another soul and its pouring with rain! But there’s a (mostly) covered area that’s pretty cool and  quirky.  It must be bustling on the weekend opening days, and it served us well as a shelter from the weather.

15th July Lorrha to Portalaoise, 68km and more rain…

A night of heavy rain and just a couple of tent leaks, (our fault for leaving a vent open!) not too drastic all things considered! So we made it a two coffee morning and finally hit the road around 10:30

The first “decent” hill for a while today.  Neil loves hills…apparently hills equate to amazing scenery.  Not sure I would know- give me a strenuous climb and all I can focus on is getting to the top.  Who knows if the surroundings were pretty…and please don’t try and have a conversation when the gradient’s at 14%.  I dont care if there’s a rare orchid, or a fascinating rock formation- are you getting the picture re my love of hills? Anyhow, no doubt I’ll sign up for another dose soon.  Sucker…

Booked a cheap airbnb for the night in Potaloise.  A spare room in someone’s house so a little weird but it did the job!

And went hunting for one of the pubs on the list of “five Irish pubs you must visit before you die”.  Found one 🙂 plus a few other random things…

16th July, Portaloise to Donard, 63 km and a lovely day!

A late start to riding today. We had planned a big ride (complete with hills) across the Whitlow mountains but Neil’s had a niggling patch of inflammation on his calf for a few weeks and a bit of googling suggested it is probably the result of finding a nasty tick in Scotland somewhere.   So, a diversion to the local GP clinic, a diagnosis of Lymes disease and a bout of antibiotics that will hopefully knock it on the head quickly.

And that put paid to the plan to cross a mountain.  I’m pretty cut up about that as you can imagine…

Instead of crossing the mountains, we stopped on the western side of the range at a lovely little campsite with dreadful reviews. It was actually pretty good, the owner’s a bit quirky and may have upset a few people we suspect.  But perfect for us!

17th-18th July to Dublin! 59km and a whole lot of traffic…

A lovely scenic route around the lakes, then a hair raising entry to Ireland’s capital.  Didn’t seem to be a lot of care or concern for cyclists despite so-called ‘cycle lanes’- they were quite heavily utilised by intolerant car drivers, until we reached the centre of the city where it’s a different story altogether!  Dedicated cycle lanes and even traffic lights just for cyclists.  You just have to make it in to the city in one piece first 🤷‍♀️

So, a hotel room for a couple of nights, a bit of down time exploring Dublin’s fair city, a fabulous performance of “Riverdance” (thanks Melly+Luke!!) and some all-you-can-eat breakfasts, and we’re ready to roll again!

Today we catch a ferry to Wales…back to the UK and see ya later Ireland!  Loved the country but won’t be sorry to see the back of the roads and traffic here.

Somewhere around 3123 km on our bikes so far…give or take a bit for random inaccuracy here and there… a bit to go yet!
https://www.komoot.com/collection/3509510/-uk

And watching today’s Tassie election with interest…although we sadly couldn’t cast our votes as Telstra doesn’t play nicely in Ireland for some reason! Could be an interesting few days in Tas by the looks…