Ireland Day 1 - Dublin to Wicklow

 A short warm up day of just 30 miles - we originally planned to take an overnight ferry and cycle straight out of Dublin on arrival. I had offered Tracy two choices, either climbing through the Wicklow mountains or the coastal route, with a stop at a vegan restaurant for lunch. She decided that healthy eating was the lesser of two evils.

A short day meant a later start for us - riding the Donnybrook Greenway out of Dublin, past the Leinster rugby ground. 

We weaved our way along the excellent cycle tracks, making slow progress out of the suburban area of Greater Dublin. We were impressed by the quality of the cycle provision in and around the city. We paused at a Spar shop to grab some pastries for breakfast - Tracy complaining of hunger after only 3 miles.

Pastries - the socially acceptable way to eat cake for Breakfast. Is it cake? I think so, but they could also be baked goods, like sausage rolls. Or are sausage rolls savoury cakes?

We took a long while before we escaped the built up area - makes sense since we were following the coast from the capital city. We finally, but briefly reached the countryside before dropping down into Greystones 

First bit of countryside

The Happy Pear - veggie heaven, Tracy hell

I have wanted to visit the Happy Pear for years, having been a big fan of their cookbooks. Tracy is not a fan of lentils or beans, being able to stomach them only if hidden in a meal, in the same way that you disguise vegetables from a toddler. Despite this she ordered the lentil and bean lasagne, claiming that it looked tasty. We both loved the food - so many interesting flavours in the accompanying salads and kimchi. We noticed the local thrushes picking up scraps left from other tables - must be the healthiest birds in Ireland, dining out on wholefoods all day.

Better than climbing hills all day, apparently 

Well of course we had cake. Rude not to!

After lunch we had some time to kill, so took a stroll along Greystones beach.

Strangely sinister Beach Bear sculpture in Greystones

Sleeping off a spot of lunch

View from Greystones

The roadsigns after lunch read like a hitman's to do list; Kilquade, Kilruddery, Kilpedder. Passing through Kilcoole I felt relieved to be so average. Apparently kil means church though. Cycling on to Wicklow, we have to remember that the signs are in km - seeing a bigger number than you expect could be disheartening on a longer day.

We arrived at Knockrobin cottage - our accommodation for the night. Lovely room and a warm welcome from Rita, our host.

We wandered into Wicklow to recce the place for Tracy's essential morning coffee (there being no kettle in our room) and hoping to find an open mini-mart, it being a Sunday. To our surprise, Lidl and Tesco's were both open until 9pm. We had assumed that Ireland, being an overtly Christian country, would have Sunday trading laws. Apparently they're not bothered. Most of the local population, who were not working in the supermarkets, were already in the pub anyway. Walking past the rowdy pub garden, it was interesting to hear our shared language, just spoken twice as fast.

We passed an amusement centre and decided to see what was on offer. Tracy didn't see the point of Axe throwing - darts but more violent? Seemingly we were too old for the soft play, so settled on ten pin bowling for half an hour. We do this every so often to remind ourselves that we don't really like bowling. We are both rubbish and get bored half way through the first game. This time we had to endure two. Still, won't have to do it again for another 5 years or so!

Yep - bowling. Still dull.

Looking forward to our first proper day tomorrow - 60 miles to Wexford.

Distance ridden: 31 miles 

Tracy whinge factor: 1/10 - too concerned about a potential lack of coffee in the morning 

Cake of the day: Custard crown (If pastries are cakes)