Beltra to Donegal
HAMISH has just worked out that we’ve cycled about 429 miles from Cork. That’s about 350 miles from Mizen Head, almost the most southern point in Ireland. We reckon two more days will take us to Malin Head and about 85-90 miles. After completing the end to end we’ll cycle the Antrim coast, and the Giant’s Causeway Coast, back to the ferry at Larne.
We coped OK last night food-wise. Some crisps, some peanuts, energy bars and a large Jamesons all kept the hunger pangs at bay and kept us going through a dreadfully dull Champions League final on the telly. It lulled us to sleep quite nicely. And this morning mine hostess, Carol, made us an excellent breakfast, with very good porridge.
We made just over 50 miles today, and it was comparatively straightforward cycling. The wind had abated considerably and that made a huge difference, although. It rained quite heavily all afternoon.
Early morning took us through Sligo and the roads were very quiet this being Sunday. After that we were on the N15 for the rest of the day. It was reasonably quiet as far as Bundoran and we took the opportunity of a little pilgrimage to the grave of WB Yeats in Drumcliff, below “Bold Ben Bulbin.”
Years ago my old chum Jim Perrin sent me an audio of Yeats himself reciting the Isle of Innisfree and there was something in his slow recitation against the crackly recording that I found curiously endearing and evocative; I will arise and go now, to the Isle of Innisfree...
Just outside the churchyard there was a depiction of the lovelorn Aedh, and the words of the Yeats poem, Cloth from Heaven.
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
We set off from the churchyard in fairly philosophical mode but we were brought back down to earth when we reached the holiday town of Bundoran. It was worse than Ardrossan on a bad day, and if you don’t know Ardrossan think of all the worst excesses of a run down Blackpool.
We immediately noticed the change in accent, and in attitude. We had a brief lunch stop in a cafe where the boss kept gazing at us furtively, as though we were dealing in drugs or something. But maybe he merely intrigued by two old guys wearing lycra shorts in the rain. We were a bit wet.
The afternoon was strangely enjoyable, despite the rain. We stuck with the main drag,the N15 which was nicely undulating without ever getting too steep. Best of all though was a nice wide hard shoulder which we could ride along unmolested by passing cars and lorries. Other than one ijit who thought it was clever to lean out of a passenger window and roar some indecipherable message to us. Who knows what the gobshite roared but it certainly wasn’t “Well done chaps, you’r going well.”
We reached Donegal at the early hour of 3.30pm, found a B-B, showered and then watched the drama from Easter Road unfold on Twitter. I’ve never followed a penalty shoot out on Twitter before and found it quite exciting. Can’t quite believe Edinburgh won’t have a team in the Scottish Premier League next season. To quote someone I can’t remember, “It’s a funny old game.”
We then went for a curry and checked out our route for tomorrow. Night night.
Donegal to Buncrana
We’re getting there. Another 54 mile day and by this time tomorrow we should be at Malin Head and our third national end to end (LEJOG, La Manche to Med and Mizen to Malin). Then it’ll be a couple of days round the Causeway Coast of Co Antrim back to the ferry at Larne.
We had a superb ride today. Over the Barnesmore Gap from Donegal town with the Blue Stack mountains looking very inviting in the welcome sun. Stopped in Ballyboffey for coffee and cake and sat outside in the sun, luxuriating in the warmth and wishing summer could be like this all of the time.
Beyond Ballyboffey we decided to abandon the main R15 trunk road that had served us so well from south of Donegal and take to some minor roads to Convoy and then back to the main road just south of Buncrana, our destination for the night. What a brilliant decision that was – the roads were well surfaced and very quiet and we raced along partly paralleling the border between NI and Eire, which was the River Foyle.
Sometimes you get a sense of wellbeing from feeling fit and alive and today was like that, a satisfying combination of feelgood, great weather and lovely, gentle scenery. This is cycle touring at its best, but it wasn’t to last.
We stopped at a place called Burnfoot because the sky had gone black and there had been a couple of flashes of lightning. Thunder echoed from the hills. We expected it to downpour so thought we could sit it out for a while. Another cyclist from Derry was doing much the same, but he’d had a puncture and didn’t have a pump. We offered to fix his wheel but he had already phoned his wife who was well on her way.
We chatted for a while about the cycling scene in the north of Ireland and he told us how exciting it was to have had the start of the Giro d’Italia in Ulster last week. He said the place was still buzzing…
We left our new found friend to await his wife and we popped inside for a coffee. After half an hour or so the sky looked a bit brighter so we went for it. Twenty seconds into our ride the heavens opened.
It was a fast, and wet, final few miles into Buncrana but we found what looked like a nice quiet B/B down a leafy lane and soon dried off, showered and caught up with emails etc. Now, we’re off for a wee look at the town and find somewhere to eat. And tomorrow? Malin Head!
Buncrana to Malin Head, most northern point in Ireland
We met a couple of lads in thenpub in Buncrana who asked what we were doing in Ireland. We told them we were cyclingbto Malin Head and one of the guys told us we were in for a real treat.
“We don’t really do things like cycling,” he said. “We’re more interested in going clubbing in Derry, but I’ll tell ye this. When you get up to Malin Head you”ll never have seen scenery like it. It’s just fantastic.”
We had a fantastic day for it. Ireland glowed and pouted under a blazing sun and we set off full of enthusiasm, only to take the wrong road out of Buncrana.
We cycled for almost 2 miles up a long hill when I suggested to Hamish we stop and check the map. I just had a sixth sense feeling we were going the wrong way, a sense of intuition that has got me out of many scrapes over the years, particularly when navigating.
We returned down the long hill, found the junction we had missed and set out once again up another long hill. This one took us high over the inishowen Peninsula, a superb high road across rolling moorland before a long and swift descent brought us into Cardonoagh and coffee and cake.
By now it was hot and we couldn’t believe our good fortune. We had a beautiful ride out alongside Trawbreaga Bay and through Malin village before climbing again, this time over the hill to Malin Head village, a much scattered community of farms and holiday homes. A final run along the north coast and the last climb of the end to end, and what a climb it was. Steep and sustained but thankfully not too long.
We had hoped to arrive at Malin Head cool and collected but that final climb flustered us just a bit. We dod all the touristy things – posed for photos, took selfies, did a wee bit of exploring, dumped the bikes and walked out to the actual Head then we did what every sane person would do. We lay down in the sun for an hour and dozed…
It was great to get to Malin Head, the third of our Triple Crown of national End to Ends after Lejog through the UK and La Manche to the Med through France. We both agreed this trip through Ireland was probably the best. As we lay and dozed in the sun it was good to think through some of the highlights – Mizen Head in the sun, the Caha Pass and Molls Gap, the lovely Lakes of Killarney, the West Coast of Clare, the wonderful Irish piping at Doolin, the Aran Isles, visiting the grave of WB Yeats and the lovely cycling country of North Donegal.
It’s been a joy made extra special by the lovely Irish people we’ve met on the way, folk who have gone out of their way to help us and encourage us. Thank you Ireland.
But we’re not quite finished yet. We still have the Causeway Coast of Co Antrim to enjoy and that starts with a ride down to the ferry at Greencastle. I hope the sun continues to shine on us for a couple more days at least.
