Arrival
Well we broke from tradition and met at the very salubrious Jury’s Inn, Cork for our onward transportation to our home for the night! Schull.
We are an eclectic band of riders and, much to the concern of some of the riders, the women are outnumbering the chaps by two to one…… Girl power!!!
After a healthy feed at the Bunratty Inn and a very comfortable nights rest at the very picturesque Waters Edge B&B, we were ready to hit the road.
We arrived at Mizen Head and, to everyone’s relief, it was dry and relatively warm…….well no one was turning blue so for Ireland that has to be considered summery!!
After curing Roger’s whining (the bike, not Roger), we were ready to get started. The first 25 miles were dry and bright and we enjoyed some amazing costal scenery, with plenty of views to keep us amused and a welcomed tail wind we were enjoying our first coffee stop in very good ti e, Ray had laid on a very good morning spread and everyone was welcoming the bottomless coffee/tea and cake, nuts, fruit choice (Kim thinks that if there were less choice on food stops we would complete every day’s ride half an hour earlier!!)
We then commenced our second 25 miles which incorporated our first significant climb of the day, a lovely 5 mile accent…. There was local ride also happening today but they were all going in the opposite direction so we were spurred on by the shouts of encouragement coming from across the road.
We finished the accent and, alas would be expected, took full advantage of the joys of the well earned decent, well we would have taken advantage if we hadn’t been almost blown off our bikes with the cross winds we encountered. Whilst we weren’t able to hit the heady downhill speeds we might have liked, we all got down safely and were greeted with the sight of Ray T the second food stop of the day.
Suitably fed and refreshed, we began our last 20 miles of the day which included the second climb on the day, Moll’s Gap, and the wonderful run into Kilarney taking in the Ring of Kerry. Whilst the weather began to close in and we found ourselves riding through our first rain encounter, we were still able to enjoy the beautiful scenery this part of Ireland has to offer.
Before too long we were heading into Kilarney and our hotel for the night. An amazing feed at the highly recommended Laurels Restaurant then followed before everyone retired at a very reasonable time to ensure they were fit and ready for tomorrow’s adventure…………..
