Ireland day 15 Belfast to Dundalk

We started riding out of Belfast much later than planned, mostly due to not wanting to get out of bed but also a few technical issues with our Garmins. We eventually got on the road about 10am, 2 hours after our intended departure time. Heading through the quiet Sunday morning traffic, we soon found ourselves on the standard city escape route for cyclists - follow the river Lagan for a bit, then the canal tow paths.

Heading out it soon became clear that we were missing our tour buds...

...at one point both of us thought we saw Alison in the distance.

Another city...

...another escape route by canal.

We made stunningly slow progress, as if peddling uphill, which in fact we were, climbing a paultry 50m over 20km. What was actually slowing us down this morning were morning joggers. Well I say joggers, mostly they were making a running action actually slower than walking pace, whilst enjoying a Sunday morning catch up. I noticed two runners wearing Sunday Squad running shirts. A squad with two members is a bit of a stretch. Tracy had what she described as a "coming together' with a pedestrian. I would describe it as her ramming a father with his child in a stroller and a dog on a lead. She ended up doing the classic comedy falling over as she couldn't unclip from her pedals.

Looking for the Brew stop...

...disappointingly there was no brew van, so we had to make do with this 

Tracy made good use of her caramel bars. I had run out of tea cakes by this point.

We passed through a town called Lisburn - we took this as a sign that we would need to do the Portugal end to end at some point in the future. We will have to retire first though - Peak Tours only run this in term time.

The day was feeling psychologically difficult, having had a false finish at Malin Head - a bit like climbing to the top of a hill only to find it a false summit. We had this feeling all day - 65 miles.

We experienced rain showers all afternoon, although our mood was lifted by hitting the Newry canal - no joggers, so our average speed increased. We found very little in the way of shops on route, so missed lunch - we were fuelled by Tunnocks today. 

Love a canal.

Arriving at Newry, Tracy was insistent that we stop for something to eat, although we both knew that she was trying to delay the challenging climb out of the town. We ordered a bit of food and managed to score an extra drink - I had initially said that I didn't want one. Tracy eventually had to accept that we had to move, by which point I had major cool down due to the ice in the diet coke. I was physically shivering outside getting my bike unlocked. In classic Tracy style she showed no sympathy whatsoever - and there's me the ever dutiful, caring and compassionate husband who is always looking out for her. Well reap what you sow I suppose.

The climb was a bit of a slog on this grey and miserable day. Signs pointed to the viewpoint at the top. In the final part of the climb you could see metres into the distance. Should be done for false advertising I think.

Climbs out of the way, it was downhill to Dundalk. At one point a kamikaze chicken ran out in front of Tracy. The shock caused a big adrenaline rush, but she didn't find it amusing when I suggested that perhaps she could use it to cycle a bit faster.

Mural in Dundalk

We eventually arrived at the Imperial hotel in Dundalk. Bikes locked in the kitchen yard, showered and we were off to get dinner. Casa Luna - a very busy Italian and Pizzeria. We managed to clear it faster than our arrival at a Peak Tours brew stop - by the time our meals arrived, all the other patrons had left. Food was good though. Looking forward to the last day tomorrow - we are ready to go home.

Distance covered: 65 miles

Total distance: 852 miles 

Cake of the day: a shared lemon drizzle cake. Too much guilt about the amount spent in Belfast

Tracy whinge factor: 2/10, mostly about the amount spent in Belfast.

Ireland Day 14 Belfast rest day

A coach took us from Derry to Belfast, with the number in our group dwindling at each stop. We were in the final group to be dropped off at Belfast railway station. A few final farewells and we were alone again with our bikes. Fully loaded panniers now added to our bikes, along with our general level of fatigue meant that everything felt like an effort. We had booked our bikes and luggage, using a luggage app, into a local business - turned out to be a barbers on the first floor. Could take the bags but not the bikes! Tracy was particularly tired as someone was snoring last night. It must have been bad because she tried to sleep on the bathroom floor in the hotel instead - all those extra cushions and pillows came in handy after all.

We stashed the bags and were looking to store the bikes elsewhere before heading to the Titanic museum. Tracy at this point lost the plot - a combination of physical tiredness and lack of sleep meant that she couldn't face wandering aimlessly around Belfast, with us, our luggage and our bikes in 3 different places, with our planned accommodation several miles away.

Time for plan B. There was a Travelodge a 3 minute walk away. We got an early check-in, stashed all our kit and headed off to the museum. So we paid for two different sets of accommodation that night and luggage storage that we used for 30 minutes. Tracy said "It's only money" for literally the first time ever. Storing that quote for future use.

Grabbed a subway on route, but had no time to eat before our allocated slot at the museum. We walked through the galleries of the museum, quickly abandoning the audio tour as it was easier to just read the boards. Tracy was obviously starving as she kept taking surreptitious bites from her teriyaki sub whenever she found herself on a quiet corner. 

Titanic museum

The shipbuilding aspect and history of Belfast was all very interesting. Things took a dark turn though and I hope that I'm not spoiling things for future visitors when I tell you that the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on it's maiden voyage. Who knew? 

It meant that the gallery that covered this part of the story was very quiet and sombre. It gave me the perfect spot to have a little nap.....I mean reflect on the grave developments. The death and destruction seemed to cheer Tracy up no end. Personally I think the whole thing a bit overdone. You build a ship that ends up failing in the first job of any seafaring vessel (i.e to float) and you build a museum to celebrate your incompetence. With hindsight it was probably very foolhardy to get on the cable car ride with Belfast engineering skills.

We headed back to our hotel with a three point plan:

1) Buy lots of junk from the Spar

2) Eat lots of junk from the Spar

3) Sleep off lots of junk from the Spar.

Tracy managed 10.5 hours sleep according to her Fitbit. I slept less well after spending some time on the blog and being disturbed by the never ending parties of hen do's outside. They were riding the party bikes whilst drinking and singing along to the karaoke - what they lack in talent they can always make up for in volume. Payback for my snoring last night I guess.

Hen parties spreading their cheer through the streets of Belfast.

Please just pedal faster. Away from me.

Tracy whinge factor 6/10 - apparently sleep deprivation is a form of torture. She wouldn't hold out long in the event becoming a prisoner of war.

Ireland day 13 Portnoo to Malin head

An earlier than usual start today, to allow us to ride 78 miles and still have time to get a coach back to our hotel in Derry. Breakfast with Peter and Jeanette at Eden Vale B&B before heading off to the meet point at 7:45. Good job that we left early, as I overshot the start point and we ended up going round the block and up the same hill twice. Tracy was not impressed.

Mark let us slowies go early, as we had lunch booked in at 12 o'clock and a ferry to catch at 1:40pm. Tracy, ever the Mathematician, had fretted about this having run the numbers. We needed to leave earlier or she needed to pedal faster ("spin those little legs there Tracy" - said in a bad Irish accent by me regularly was in no way motivational apparently). Off we went into the brilliant sunshine, sorry I meant miserable rain.

Not sure what this sculpture was about.

Some nice quiet roads...

....wish that I could say that the rain was in any way refreshing.

It was a wet morning with some long climbs. We were overtaken by most of the group before first brew stop, but arrived before any of the group had left. This was a rare occurrence - we normally felt that there was a cry of "Get to your bikes, they're here!" whenever we appeared on the horizon.

A long climb up the head of the valley

To paraphrase American werewolf in London, keep oft moor, stay in van

Finally at the top and more importantly the brew stop

We managed to increase our speed after being caffeinated and pushed on, arriving at the Travellers Inn for lunch at 12:05. Turns out the hurrying was completely unnecessary - the ferry had been cancelled. Unusually low tides apparently. I figured that if anything the journey should be shorter and therefore quicker if there was less water to cross. Ferry company didn't see it that way I guess.

Apparently low tides are unpredictable. Who knew?

The peak tours team had managed to rustle up a coach to take us the long way around. We were so impressed by the organisation and professionalism of the team. Barely an inconvenience. Most of the bikes went in the peak tours van, but 'team slow' had theirs loaded and ready for a quick exit on the coach itself. Nobody seemed too concerned about missing out the hill and 7 miles of riding to the ferry. In fact we enjoyed (endured) a rousing sing song of the proclaimers hit, I'm gonna be 500 miles, led by Alison.

I will walk 500 miles, but for the sake of convenience this coach will do instead 

Team slow were on the move, whilst the rest of the riders were waiting for their bikes to arrive. We actually arrived at the 2nd brew stop before the brew van! 

Tracy, Judith and Jeanette at 2nd brew

A quick warming coffee, some snacks and we were off on our final push to Malin head. A nice flat along the coast was much more challenging than it should have been due to a strong headwind.

Very flat - yay! Very windy - boo!

 A couple of hills and Malin Head signs showed the distance to the finish decreasing far too slowly.

Bloody false advertising - seemed like an age to the actual finish 

 Finally it was in sight - a ruined tower atop a final hill. The last climb was brutal, so much so that random strangers were offering encouragement as we zig zagged out way up to the top. Finally crossing the finish line felt like such an achievement.

And done...

...in both senses of the word.

 Before long, the remaining peak tours riders arrived in ones and twos. Always being cheered on my those that had already finished. A paper cup of prosecco, smiles, cheers and high fives all around to to mark the end of an epic challenge.

This is why I don't take selfies 

Tracy and Ingrid the indomitable 

Team Peak tours - Smashed it!

Tired bodies but happy souls were loaded onto a coach to our hotel in Derry. The coach driver asked us which hotel we were in and was met with blank faces. It seems that the only person who knew was Joe's wife who had surprised him by being at the finish. We were staying at the Everglades hotel - famous for not being in Florida. Nice hotel though, huge bed that meant Tracy and I slept in different time zones.

What the hell? 4 pillows and 4 random cushion things that serve no purpose. 6 of those get chucked on the floor, probably by every guest ever, becoming both a trip hazard and safety mat at the same time.

A quick change and downstairs to our final meal of the trip. Everyone was in good spirits, beverages were drunk, food was eaten, but the less said about the pea ravioli the better. 

After dinner, Mark presented everyone with a certificate and a few words about every member of team Peak Tours. Tracy and I were presented with our very own packs of Tunnocks Caramel Wafers and Teacakes. Apparently we had become known for our Tunnocks addictions. 

A lovely end to our trip, made special by not only the route through a beautiful country, but all of the fabulous people that we shared the experience with. I don't think that this will be our last PT adventure, but it will indeed be hard to beat.

Distance travelled: 65 miles

Total distance: 787 miles

Cake of the day: Chocolate torte (probably not a cake)

Tracy whinge factor 0/10

Ireland day 12 Sligo to Portnoo

Woke up with a bit of a headache this morning, but I shouldn't say that about my wife. Seriously though, I felt the effect of the extra beer from the night before. When I went to order it, Tracy had given me that "Are you sure that's a good idea?" look. You shouldn't trust tipsy people to make sensible decisions. Did my best to refuel and rehydrate at breakfast, but knew as soon as I got on the bike that I had failed. It was going to be a tough start. Luckily the day started with some brutal hills with no warm up. 

Tracy, despite a night of sobriety was feeling rather flat as well, having had to take one of her migraine tablets. She had already suffered a wardrobe malfunction on the way out of the hotel - the zip on the drop down seat of her bib shorts broke. If it had happened on the road, she would have been flashing all of the traffic today.  No-one wants that. 

Rory Gallagher statue in Ballyshannon

Another hill done

Heading out into the surrounding countryside, becoming a sweaty mess almost instantly, we entered Yeats country. He lived, wrote and is buried in this part of Ireland. You know the name of Ireland's greatest(?) poet. He wrote the thing about that thing that time.

What, do you mean "I wander lonely as a cloud"?

     Nah, that was Wordsworth. 

The dog from Jamie and his magic torch?

     No, be serious.

Tis better to have loved and lost...?

     Tennyson

Rage, rage against the dying of the light...?

     Dylan

What Bob?

    Thomas, you fool

So what did Yeats write?

Nobody knows. Unless you're Irish. Or into poetry. Or just googled it. Which is what I did and was surprised that I didn't have an "Oh he wrote that"  moment. 

One of his quotes I do like is: 

"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper"

Anyway, my senses were growing sharper, as I had managed to sweat out last night's Guinness (Guinesses?, Guinessi?). I was sensing that it was now raining. The day just keeps getting better. Sharp rain showers, then brilliant sunshine, raising the humidity even further. By the late morning I had convinced myself that I had my own personal weather system - I would put on my raincoat when a shower became heavy, rain would stop and the sun come out every time I hit a climb. Ta da! - boil in the bag Dan. 

Lunch was a surf bar at Rossnowlagh beach. We would even get to ride on the sand.

Looking forward to riding this beach...

...the reality feeling a bit like a sandy carpark.

Continuing on after lunch we passed through Donegal - a town that we've actually heard of. A busy little tourist trap it would seem as we passed through. I have to say that I expected it to be bigger.

Lots of hills today. I developed a way of making the hills pass faster.

1) look at the ground not the hill. The floor goes past much faster than a distant spot on the road.

2) Now that you're looking down, wait for a sweat droplet to fall. Which side of the crossbar does it fall on?

3) Excitement if it lands on the bar itself - you have to wait to see which way it trickles. I seem to have a 60:40 split in favour of the left 

Bonus round: If you get a drop that clings stubbornly to the end of your nose, blow it. Does it fly as a single drop or fragment?

I have called my hill game the Sweat Divide 

Pretty gross really.

When we arrived at afternoon brew, Mark was busy fixing a bike as Shirley had taken a tumble. She ended up being taken to the health centre in Portnoo, where her elbow wound was cleaned and closed with steristrips. She still intends to ride tomorrow. She is a tough cookie.

Eventually we arrived at Portnoo and our B&B accommodation. Mary was lovely. Giving us a warm welcome and offering us a hot drink in the garden. It was lovely sat in the evening sun, enjoying the views with coffee and biscuits. Rich Tea. Hmm.

View from Portnoo with sea fog

Super quick shower and down to the golf club for our evening meal. Pretty much the only place to eat in Portnoo in the evenings. Tracy had fish and chips which was very nice. I had gnocchi which was very green. I gave the beer a miss tonight - wanted to have a better start in the morning.

Distance travelled: 77 miles

Total Distance: 723 miles

Cake of day: not sure that we ate any!!!

Tracy whinge factor: 4/10. She has gotten anxious about the time constraints for tomorrow.

Elevation: 4782 ft. Tracy's biggest elevation of 2026!

Ireland day 11 Westport to Sligo or Tracy's birthday

Tracy's early night yesterday was really a cunning plan so that she could squeeze every second out of her birthday! 

Tracy's personalised card

Her bike had been decorated overnight by Mark, Wendy and Taff and a cake left on her pannier rack. We took our water bottles down to put on the bikes before breakfast and she walked straight past it without noticing because they had moved it to a more prominent position. I'm starting to worry about her eyesight, as in one town we passed 3 lifesize plastic elephants on the high street, with a sign saying not to feed them. She didn't notice the elephants or the sign!

I'm stood in the doorway that Tracy walked through. How did she miss this? What's her name, Blind Pew?

It's Tracy's birthday by the way - did anyone say?

After breakfast we had the traditional faff followed by our briefing and geology lesson from Taff. Today's lesson was all about Drumlins and Moraines, both lateral and terminal. Might be homework and a test this evening. We sung a rousing rendition of Happy birthday to Tracy, because apparently it's her birthday.

We had a gentle ride out into rolling countryside, making pretty good time. Brew stop included some of Tracy's birthday cake. 

Tracy's birthday cake - thanks to Mark, Wendy and Taff

Don't let the scenery...

... distract you from the fact that...

...it's my birthday!

Our lunch stop was an old wooden mill, now a shop and obligatory cafe. They make the apple lattices on the old looms out back. It was a good lunch though.

A Drumlin - a hill made from glacial sediment. Classic upside down spoon shape. Thanks to Muir for the photo!

The afternoon, whilst nice riding seemed to go on longer than expected - but eventually we arrived at the Glasshouse Hotel in Sligo. I immediately headed to Gary's cycles, finally getting a replacement tyre. This shop could be dangerous to my bank balance if it was closer to home - so many bling bikes and kit.

I got a message from Tracy walking back to the hotel, reminding me of the room number in case I had forgotten (I had) and saying that she was having a shower. Not having a key to the room, I was relegated to the bar and an early doors pint of Coors. The hardships! Our bags were already in our rooms plus some extra birthday cake. It's Tracy's birthday - did you know?

A nice Brucie bonus on arrival.

The group reconvened, after a quick change and shower, in the bar, looking for a solar eclipse. The clouds did not cooperate and we unfortunately didn't see much at all. 12 of us headed to an Italian to celebrate Tracy's birthday (did she mention it's her birthday)

When is a takeaway not a takeaway?

When they sit you outside, charge you takeaway prices, but still bring you drinks 

A nice meal with great company before heading to the pub across the road from the Hotel.

A heritage pub apparently - not much been changed over the years. Kind of interesting - at home we'd call it a lack of investment.

Lots more chat, beverages consumed before lethargy caught up with us. I was feeling the effects of the beer, the birthday girl was stone cold sober.

Distance travelled: 71 birthday miles

Total distance: 646 miles 

Cake of the day: Birthday cake

Tracy Whinge factor 3/10 - mostly about making her sound like a small child with a birthday obsession on this blog 

Ireland Day 10 Clifden to Westport

 After yesterday's impromptu social, I would like to say we were up and raring to go in the morning. It would be a lie. We slunk down to breakfast. Feeling tired before any cycling exertion was a worrying sign.

We had our usual morning briefing, with Mark bigging up a particular section of the route as being very special to cycle. Hope that he didn't over egg it! We cut our faff time down, so that we left before other people for the first time ever. We almost immediately stopped as I passed a bike shop in Clifden, popping in to see if they had a replacement tyre. They didn't, but the owner was wearing a polo shirt with the name of the shop on it. Only it was inside out. It meant that despite all of the good advice about maybe getting one posted to me later in the tour, I could only focus on his inside out clothing . I asked him if he knew  that his top was inside out (this with hindsight was a bloody stupid question - why would anyone knowingly do this) - he looked confused, because he didn't. I saw the look pass across his face, trying to work out how he had managed this faux pas this morning - feel free to make up a story, maybe he wasn't at his own house this morning. Anyway, I left and we had at least successfully resumed our rightful place at the back.

These photos...

...will never do...

...the amazing scenery justice.

The ride was beautiful, and the section that Mark described was particularly so. He didn't mention the headwind at briefing though did he! It slowed us down significantly - more time to enjoy the surroundings, less comfortable doing it.

We continued on to Killary Harbour - my first ever fjord. It was an impressive sight, with the sheer sided walls and large expanse of water.

Killary - no sign of a Norwegian blue...

...must be sleeping.

We enjoyed lunch at Leenane Hotel where we were served either vegetarian pasta or beef stew with mash. Very hearty and included coffee and cake. In fact the meals were so filling, it was the only time that I have seen cyclists leave cake unfinished.

After lunch, we continued circling the fjord. This seemed to go on forever before turning away to head towards Westport. We eventually reached the steepest climb of the trip and the second brew stop. Being towards the back of the group it meant that we had an audience - the rest of team Peak Tours cheering us on up the challenging climb. Such cameraderie from a group who were mostly strangers a week ago.

Top of the big hill...

...a well earned break after the heroic efforts to reach it.

We rode on, a quick tap of the back pocket -checking that we had our phones for the 27th time that day,  we would also probably check that we'd put Strava on 3 times during an average ride. We eventually arrived at our guest house in Westport - a building that had been extended and also joined with the one next door. It meant that the floors were all different levels and the stairs resembled either an Escher painting or Hogwarts if it was made by IKEA.

We had decided that we needed a quieter evening than last night, as we were pretty tired. We went out to the Everest, a Nepalese curry house. The food was excellent. However, like all curries, it pushed us further into lethargy - we retreated to our bed for an essential early night. Do not pass go, do not collect £200.

Distance travelled:60 miles

Total distance: 575 miles

Cake of the day: Apple lattice (again)

Tracy whinge factor: 1/10 - told me how tired she was, too many times in Westport.