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!