Author: Rob Ainsley

A super cycling day of fine weather and finer scenery. Ballina has salmon fishing right in the centre, and a few chaps this morning were wading in the clear waters angling for a fat ’un (pic). Their waist-length waders would have come in handy for me over the last few rainy days. What a fab…

Si, Sue, Paul and Chris bade their farewells after breakfast. They headed off to Cong and Galway and then home, but I carried on north through this sort of scenery (pic) to complete my End to End. As Magnus Magnusson used to say with such determined finality when presenting Mastermind, I’ve started so I’ll finish….

Better weather this morning enabled our ferry to the Aran Islands, from where we’ll hop north into Connemara. Various companies ran boats across to Inishmore, like this one (pic). We chose on a carefully-weighted algorithm taking into account factors such as price, bike spaces, and whisky on the breath of the crew. With the last…

Our plan to go to the Aran Islands was stymied by the wind: ferries weren’t running. They were more, kind of, lurching up and down and side to side in the harbour. So our Plan B, a recommendation of our top-man hostel warden Karl, was a day cycling round the strange wasteland of the Burren….

A short day in prospect today, as we headed for the trad-music hub of Doolin. A lively session of folk fiddle, flute, guitar and accordion, with Guinness as accompanist: it doesn’t get more Irish than that. Well, unless it rains. Which it did, as soon as we set off from our accomm of Crotty’s pub…

Excitement in the morning. A slow-talking Irish bloke came in to the hostel to ask uncertainly for help. He was camping in the hostel garden, but some campers’ tents had been invaded by drunks who wouldn’t leave. Of course I volunteered to help out immediately. I put the kettle on and started making some tea…

The world is split into two types: those who can be put into one of two types, and those who can’t. Well, we split into two groups this morning. I cycled with Si 40-odd miles to the hostel at Dingle to check in, and then do a circuit of the peninsula end; Sue, Paul and…

A short circular ride today to the Gap of Dunloe (pic), as I’m in Events Organiser mode, preparing a surprise birthday party for later today when I meet up with friends back at the hostel. The road up to and over the Gap is, a sign advised me, ‘primarily restricted to Horse & Trap, Ponies,…

A lovely day for cycling three gloriously scenic passes today en route to Killarney: Moll’s Gap, Ballaghbeama, and Ballaghasheen. The morning climb up to the notch of Moll’s Gap (pic) was slow and evenly-graded, the sun low, the green expanses already hot. With the new view down over the other side I struck west towards…

What could be more bracing than a cold shower in the morning? Now I know: it’s putting on yesterday’s washing that’s still wet, thanks to having forgotten to pack spare clothing. Still, once I’d got over that, I could get on my bike and get going. Except I couldn’t. My back tyre was flat, the…