My hostess Peggie was an absolute gem: laundered my gear with no dramas and insisted that she would be up and about to see me at 0615 for breakfast. Surely there ain’t enough money in the world to compensate for that sight, hah-hah! Oh yeah, she even made porridge for me too. For these kindnesses she is absolved for her Hallmark-inspired furnishing war crimes, hah-hah! Good on you Ma’am.
When I asked if it was raining, Peggie replied, “Not yet.”
In the event, I didn’t have to don my rain jacket at all today. One minor shower was about it, and a few spots here and there. Excellent! The winds were out of the south-west, as forecast. This meant no aggro apart from in the middle bit and I loved the helping hand towards tonight’s destination. Nice one.
And in today’s ‘You wot, mate?’ section…
Outrageous standards of scenery set early doors!
Some art gallery half-way up the first slog. No, no idea whatsoever. Fair play!
And lo! The first bit of naughtiness accounted for.
Satisfactory.
There’s always a descent to be enjoyed…although with damp surfaces it was steady as she goes. In any event, I almost always stop for at least a couple of photos somewhere. Speaking of which…
A cousin of the Wealdstone Raider, hah-hah!
Ho yus indeed!
The earliest known ELP and Van der Graaf Generator fan in Ireland.
Quit with the sights otherwise I ain’t getting nowhere fast.
After a quick Mocha stop, it was away westbound for 25 miles or so…and the winds could’ve been a sight worse for me. That said, it was a joy after lunch to finally make the inbound turn for Killorglin and feel that help. Bueno!
There’s always one, isn’t there?
Chrissie Hynde would’ve approved of these sausages rolls, such was their sausage:pastry ratio! Anyway, we’re back firmly in Team Tayto.
Quality fringe-work.
S’alright I suppose.
An old gag, but their disclaimer gave me a chuckle!
Okay, so what’s the deal? Turns out he holidayed here a load, and was a popular addition!
Sorry- thought it said the birthplace of Daniel O’Donnell.
Only gotta put-up with this awfulness for another 10 miles or so…
Span time!
Alright Kerry- that’s enough showboating for today!
Tonight’s acco is a cut above: restaurant is fantastic and I may need to be winched on to the bike tomorrow, hah-hah! While we’re here and at the real risk of sounding like a stuck 45, thank you to everyone who has pushed the total past £8500. You are amazing and are helping those who need it. Two items of business remaining then…
Room to roam and make the whole gaff untidy!
Good things come to those who wait, yadda yadda! Gone all too soon…
Nah, I meant today’s stats and the Tune Of The Day! The internal jukebox kept jumping around but couldn’t decide, so we’ll have all three contendahs!
Would’ve shaken on that at 0715 this morning.
One for Geoff then…
Washed-up? Not a chance.
“Well I woke-up this morning and grabbed myself some porridge!” doesn’t quite fit.
Breakfast was a couple of bowls of cornflakes before facing the decidedly damp outdoors. What ho! My front tyre had gone flat during the night- a phantom puncture pain in the a*rse had chosen to strike…
Cue 15 mins of faffing…
Was away into it (after stopping at a Centra to get water and a sandwich to continue fuelling) and slavishly followed the route that I’d ‘planned’ a month or so ago: no improvisation today, no bonus miles thanks all the same. I know, no sense of adventure…certainly not when the weather is grim. My sources told me that it was gonna improve. Honest!
Lads- you got to let this go!
That’s as good as it got until maybe 1000?
Mind you…this’ll do nicely!
Most agreeable. Poor sod in the boat probably disagrees, hah-hah!
Another day, another bridge. Them’s the rules!
After lunch I was left with just under 50 miles, starting at 12.30pm. Not a disasterama, given the delayed start.
Old Skool Garmin.
I didn’t eat all of it. Not until later, at least! #heft
Ballydehob’s finest: book him Danno…Murder One!
The signs were there all along. Okay, I’ll get me coat…
The hoped-for Hollywood moment for today was to reach Mizen Head, which is the most southerly point on the mainland, especially if you tilt the map. Nah, it might be a dead-heat with some also ran along the coast but MH gets my vote!
Fine place for a Saga Stop: well it is a bog, right?
Is the sky breaking un peu?
Aye aye Captain…blue skies!
Unbelievably, as I got to within fifteen miles of Mizen Head, the weather dramatically improved…sure there was a decent south-westerly breeze but this was probably as kind as it gets! It was a fantastic ride up to it, made more so because I ditched my panniers behind a wall…hoping they’d still be there in 90 mins or so. They were. Thank Gawd!
Laugh out loud beautiful. Photos will not suffice!
A decent spot for a spin…
After that, next stop is er…
I could spent longer there but there was the small matter of getting to Bantry.
Was there. Without panniers. Lightweight, hah-hah!
Basically it was then a 180 degree turn and backtrack until I retrieved my stash, and then only 15 miles north. Direction of travel is pretty key: this meant that breeze was gonna be helping push me to tonight’s acco. Who knew what delights that would entail?
Hello Bantry!
The ‘Live Laugh Love’ cobblers almost had me outta there pronto, hah-hah!
My hostess for tonight is Peggie: the lady was putting a wash on and had no issues with adding my minging Lycra to the mix. Result! I haven’t dared look at tomorrow’s weather forecast yet… we’ll give it a good go regardless. Like I have a choice, hah-hah!
Today’s tune gets the nod because Geoff, Stuart, Alex, Jonesy and the two Steves shared a house in Whitstable about 35 years ago. When I’d wind-up with them, invariably I’d crash on the settee hence Geoff christening me the ‘Bed and Breakfast Man’…happy with that as we all loved Two Tone. Dear me but Madness had some bangers though…
As unconventional as last night’s tented insanity was, and despite the temperature dropping in a Baltic fashion, it was an okay night. Aided with two duvets, mind!
No breakfast was a given, so it was up and away into downtown New Ross (a decent looking small town…way too obvious to stay there, hah-hah!) to find something. A petrol station fitted the bill and it was then game on, staying on main roads for probably 60 miles. The wide shoulder and gentle drags are all good!
My neighbours came to see me off the premises.
A decent starter for ten!
JFK not forgotten.
Some recent build around Waterford. Never saw another cyclist on it…
No charge pour moi!
Long old descents which need to be paid for by long old drags!
There was a run down to Dungarvan which looks like a terrific spot: if time wasn’t an issue, you’d definitely wanna tarry for a while. Next time, defo…
A muriel on the side of a 7-11. Provider of excellent bananas. Bueno!
Dungarvan. Another time, right?
You cannot whack some span-action!
Up to this point the weather had been benign: a south/south-westerly wind mainly and only the very odd drop of rain. After lunch, Ireland introduced itself properly, hah-hah!
By 5pm I was drenched: the wind got up plenty and I reckon this was a warm-up for what might well be heading my way! On the plus side, I got my first shout-out: a transit van driver in the opposite direction beeped and shouted some encouragement. Nice one!
Horizontal dreich. Dunno if that’s a phrase in currency but it oughta be!
More spannage ahoy…
Okay, *now* the tour begins?
As previously, the final ten miles took too long but I found tonight’s acco with no drama. The hostess is a bit of a character: an Italian lady with her own way of doing things. I bribed her 10 Euros to (hopefully) wash and dry my *slightly* grubby Lycra. Who knows what size kit I’ll be in tomorrow…
Saturated.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted that tonight’s acco favours the more traditional walls, windows, doors and ceiling arrangement, hah-hah!
Different kind of saturation. Just the one. Loadsa folks from the USA about- loving the Guinness too!
Today’s stats. No trees uprooted, hah-hah!
It is so wonderful to see the total edge closer to £8,500: writing ‘thank you’ doesn’t really cover it, I know. Tune in tomorrow and we’ll see where we have gotten to…cheers!
