Ireland Day 3 Wexford to Dungarvan

Today, at 70 miles, was always going to be one of the longest days carrying all of our kit. It became more complicated by the need for Tracy's bike to be fixed. It meant a leisurely breakfast at the Farmers Kitchen Hotel, as the bike shop didn't open until 9:30, before cycling back into Wexford to get her front mech sorted.

Tracy outside the bike shop

Whilst her bike was being fixed, we mooched around Wexford for a bit before inevitably getting coffee and cake at a very posh coffee shop and gallery. We looked at their menu - riddled with chef speak. The worst example being "Parsnip textures" as part of some meat dish. Pretty sure that they mean parsnip peelings that have been bunged in the oven for a bit, until crispy.

My raspberry cheesecake - definitely cake, not a dessert. I don't care what you say.

Tracy's millionaires shortbread - after all, we had breakfast over 30 minutes ago

The guys at the aptly named "The Bike Shop" got us back on the road and we started our actual route at 11am - 2 and a half hours later than planned,  but at least Tracy has gears.

Today I have to admit that I had no idea where we were riding - lots of countryside, well off the beaten track. So remote in fact that some of the roads were in a pretty rough state, with the roads having more patches than actual road.

First part of the day was lots of this. Could have been anywhere.

Road patching? More like Patching the patches, the road looked more like the work of an over zealous mole with a penchant for tarmac

We did eventually reach the East passage ferry - I had initially forgotten that we were doing a crossing from Ballyhack.

Looking back to Ballyhack

On the East passage ferry. Reckon the ticket collector was in the loo or something - he didn't appear until half way across and some cars had to wait to pay before getting off.

Heading on to Waterford and all of the traffic was a complete shock after the quiet country lanes from the early part of the day. One of the activities that we often play whilst riding is "Misheard lyrics". I'll give an example from the other day - I was talking to Tracy about the omelette that she had for lunch, remarking that it was quite thin. Tracy vehemently denied this, proclaiming that it wasn't, and why would they do that. It took a while to work out that she had heard me say that the omelette had come out of the bin! Today's was me hearing Tracy tell me about the Waterford creamery and me wondering if she wanted ice-cream or cheese. She went on to say that they did bike hire. Odd combination, dairy products and bike rentals, but who am I to question their business model. Turns out that she was taking about the Waterford Greenway. In the past I would absolutely have known this, planning everything by hand, I would have known almost every landmark and feature. I certainly wouldn't have missed that we were on a 50km long converted railway. The downside to using an app to do the planning for you I guess.

It was a welcome surprise, as with gradients of no more than 3%, we should be able to make good progress.

The Waterford Greenway - a big project and a fantastic riding surface

Lovely sculpture - could do with a few more to break up the miles 

A beautiful afternoon 

Feeling positive about our progress we stopped for an ice-cream  at the train station and Tracy commented about how much more enjoyable it was with the sun out and no rain. The sky began to bubble and bruise.

Got to wave at the kids on the train!

We managed about 10 minutes of cycling before the heavens opened. Shouldn't tempt the fates babe. Raincoats donned and no need for navigating, we decided to put headphones on and listen to some music. I briefly considered Tom Petty in an attempt to learn the rest of the lyrics - but no.

Freeefaaalling!! - it's all you need. Perfect as is, why spoil it!

Fairy doors on the Greenway 

Tracy found the tunnel a bit scary 

You felt the temperature change as you emerge from the clammy darkness 

The problem we had today was the late start. It left us "chasing the day". We normally like to start early and stop when we want to. Today though, we didn't stop and eat enough causing Tracy to "bonk" with about 5 miles left. We crawled on to our accommodation at Mo's Loft - a quirky converted railway goods shed, arriving much later than we would have liked.

View of Dungarvan 

Mo's Loft - it's beautiful.

Distance covered: 78 miles

Total Distance: 163 miles

Cake of the day: Millionaires shortbread 

Tracy whinge factor 3/10 low blood sugar in the last 5 miles. I could feel the resentment of each pedal stroke