We have arrived at our winter berth in Dún Laoghaire, which is just 6nm from Poolbeg Yacht & Boating Club, still within the Dublin Bay. Upon arrival, the underwater harbour master greeted us with some intense growling.
Fair winds…
The day started with a lovely breakfast at Seacape B&B while the sun managed to cut through a thick layer of clouds presenting the bay in warming hazy colours.
The ride itself was uneventful taking me through the backroads into Cork city to catch the train back to Dublin. Weather wise it could have come much worse today as it stayed dry apart from some very light drizzle, not even enough to bother removing the unprotected iPhone from the drop bar holder. Luck was with no doubt the governing factor today!
After 472km in the saddle including 5770m of climbing during the last 7 days, I am not only pleased and satisfied with the trip but also appreciate to get back to the our tiny little floating home for some days of recovery.
Fair winds…
I believe its a merge of weather forecast, luck and ignorance, but I am not sure, which of the three governed during this trip at the time I booked it. What I am sure of is, that I cannot complain at all about the weather although getting wet tomorrow!
The ups and downs today drove me nuts especially between Baltimore and Castletownsend, a place one can easily give a miss. No charme at all but water and banana for refuelling.
Fair winds…
The tour today would be spoilt by any words trying to put around it and therefore I shall not try.
My focus was on Mizen Head, the second most southerly point of Ireland mainland. There is also the Fastnet Rock, which we missed last year and I got a glance off earlier today before it disappeared in 🎵 The Mighty Atlantic 🎵, only nine nautical miles out at sea. The mist produced by the heavy sunshine took it away too quickly.
Fair winds…
A short ride to keep bike, bones and brain going took me up the Caha Pass to the Molly Gallivans Visitor Centre with its interesting heritage and delicious coffee & homemade cakes.
On the downhill back, I took a backroad with decent tarmac but remarkable steep gradient heating up the discs over two kilometers. Ending up in the Glengarrif Woods Nature Reserve I have arrived in a different world. Nicely arranged & maintained.
Fair winds…
It was Runrig Bruce on my ears performing 🎵 The Story 🎵 at full volume to help me getting over the last long climb into Glengarriff. I was also running low on carbs at that time and my new Snack-Bag sitting on the top tube served Fruit & Nuts Mix straight into the blood. Long ride under the sun! Late summer in Ireland.
From Beach to Buddha for Coffee & Cake with a cable car run in between to Dursey Island. Packed program today.
Fair winds…
Ireland at its best would describe today‘s ride in short terms. Beara Peninsula and the Healy Pass presented themselves in a perfect manner. This trip can be added to some other top notch rides I have done so far. But besides this incredible scenery it are again and again the people here, which clearly make a difference. Two examples: a farmer passing me in his shabby car stopped and started a chat. Time was not the limiting factor and our pleasant talk went on and on. For sure it included the recommendation for the nearest good Pub in the area.
Later-on a fellow biker was sitting next to the road, so I stopped to check, if any help was needed. He just had a short rest but then we started to discuss bikes, especially titanium bikes. He got already two of those, I just started to look at them a bit more in detail. It dragged the ride on a bit but these encounters are worth every missing mile, if any.
The photo on the right went straight to René, fellow sailor and my biking coach and motivator. He did the pass a few days before but for god knows reason we missed each other out here by 48 hours…🙁. A shame. Nevertheless the advice came back instantly before I started the downhill “to be careful for some of the curves – they are tight!”😅
I will need some good rest now, tomorrow will be Queen stage, good legs needed.
Fair winds…
It was a lovely morning to start another bikepacking tour in Ireland. The forecast for the week is good. 🤞
Heading out to the southwest part of Ireland again to enjoy some more miles in the saddle paddling through this remarkable country and its scenery.
Fair winds…
With the help of the excellent public transport we enjoyed a marvellous hike today along the coastline from Greystones to Bray. Although I have been there on the bike before, the path we followed today was very different. Part of the Cliff Walk is apparently closed but neither locals nor tourists pay much attention and know how to overcome the obstacles. The last hurdle on the track required some special effort to conclude this short hike before proceeding towards Coffee & Cake at Bray‘s Waterfront.
Fair winds…
