Fri 30th Jul : Monaghan - Cavan

How can I sum up today?

RAIN. Rain rain rain.
I had planned to make up for the unscheduled extra rest day I had in Monaghan yesterday by cycling all the way to Longford today. But, by the time I got to Cavan I was really wet and fed-up, and Cavan looked really interesting. Ok, there were loads of pubs and takeaways so I was hooked.


I took National Bike Route 91 : The Ulster Canal from Monaghan to Belturbot via Clones (famous for being where Barry MacGuigan is from - apparently).

Of course, I was the only one on the bike route which was interesting in that it took me through housing estates, forest, farmland (turning into a muddy track at 1 point - thank goodness for knobbly tyres), over hills and along main roads.

In Cavan an old man stopped me in the street for a chat about my bike ride. He had seen me a few times, he claimed. At one point a young guy joined in, and, despite 2 repeats, I can honestly say I have absolutely no idea what he asked me. Not even a single word. He was smiling though so..err..cant be all bad.

Bought an excellent map of Ireland that showed campsites. I would use this to plan my stops in future. Had my now customary couple of arrival drinks and then went for a nap in my hotel. It was a good thing that I did have this afternoon snooze because when I returned to the pub in the evening it was all taped off and there was a police/ Garda guard. Oh, and blood all over the pavement outside. Some travellers had decided to use the pub as a battleground to settle a few old scores. Nice.

Seemed to have mislaid my cycling data but guess it was about 32miles so total now = 383 miles