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…
Category: End to Ends
Ireland 5: Killarney to Dingle
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…
Ireland 4: Gap of Dunloe
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,…
Ireland 3: Kenmare to Killarney
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…
Ireland 2: Glengarriff to Kenmare
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…
Ireland 1: (Dublin to) Mizen Head to Glengarriff
Mizen Head (pic) isn’t actually the southernmost point in Ireland – that’s Brow Head, a couple of miles east – but it’s the traditional End Point of the island, so that’s where I was going to start. But first I had to get there. (I’m not a multitasker; I work linearly.) My ferry docked in…
Ireland 0: York to Dublin
I set off from my rented house in York pleased with myself. I’m an experienced cycle tourist. It comes automatically to me now to pack instinctively what I need, without being lumbered by what I don’t. What could possibly go wrong? Panniers full – well, actually surprisingly light, I couldn’t help thinking – I trundled…
Britain 19: London to Dover
I wasn’t looking forward to my final day. The forecast was for showers, followed by heavy rain, followed by showers. Well, the forecast was wrong. It was heavy rain all day. So today was just a long, long day at the office, into unremitting grey drizzle, with lorries booming past on the A20 in a…
Britain 18: Cambridge to London
Delightful, fast, rural tailwind cycling on a grey day. It was drizzly as we left Cambridge. In a nod to the city’s role in bioscience research, the cycle path is adorned with a representation of the sequence of the gene BRCA2, which is linked to breast cancer, and Great Shelford. From the top of the…
Britain 17: Rutland Water to Cambridge
Round a bit of Rutland Water this morning. The reservoir was still farmland when Abba were in the charts. Now it’s England’s largest lake in its smallest county, and it has a bike track all around it, as well as a half-submerged Italianate church that looks as though it’s taking to sea. It was windy…