Yesterday was near perfect cycling conditions, today, terrible.
No matter how I planned it, I had to cycle over the hills. The route I chose, the Loughrea hotelier assured me, had no steep climbs. My a*se!
Signposting was practically non existant and the national road - the N67 - was diabolical. Ive never known a main road in such dire condition. Testiment to the wonders of 'goop' and the sturdiness of my bike that I didnt get a puncture. I was constantly riding into a headwind (my fault I suppose for chosing a SW'ly route across Ireland) and it was raining throughout. It got very dark towards the end.
Ok, moaning over (the opportunity to vent later was the only thing that kept me going on the stoopid poxy N67...grrr). Managed to take some scenic pics along the way.
Roadside flora was particularly nice.
Later, in Co. Cork, there were some amazingly colourful hedgerows awash with red fushias, wild pink roses, the purples as here and these really delicate orange flowers that only seem to grow wild out of roadside stone walls.
No matter how I planned it, I had to cycle over the hills. The route I chose, the Loughrea hotelier assured me, had no steep climbs. My a*se!
Signposting was practically non existant and the national road - the N67 - was diabolical. Ive never known a main road in such dire condition. Testiment to the wonders of 'goop' and the sturdiness of my bike that I didnt get a puncture. I was constantly riding into a headwind (my fault I suppose for chosing a SW'ly route across Ireland) and it was raining throughout. It got very dark towards the end.
Ok, moaning over (the opportunity to vent later was the only thing that kept me going on the stoopid poxy N67...grrr). Managed to take some scenic pics along the way.
Roadside flora was particularly nice.
Later, in Co. Cork, there were some amazingly colourful hedgerows awash with red fushias, wild pink roses, the purples as here and these really delicate orange flowers that only seem to grow wild out of roadside stone walls.
I didnt take any photos of them because I knew I already had loads at home. Unfortunately, I forgot that some time ago I got rid of all my flower pics because I thought it was a bit too girlie. Ive searched the internet to find images of these orange flowers or their name but have failed on both counts.
Lisdoonvara is famous as Ireland's singles capital. In September they have a month long festival of singles events. 24/7 'Blind Date'. Can you imagine! But I didnt stay in Lisdoonvara. I camped at Doolin, which is where the boats go to the Aran Islands and to the Cliffs of Moher. I was expecting just a field with the odd tent in it, but I got a sort of Disney version of 'Arh shure, harny harny Paddyland-on-sea'. It was very cheesy, very commercial.
I counted 52 postings. A driver stopped me (everyone seems to think you are a local and know where stuff is if you are on a bike - despite the onboard tent that might suggest otherwise) and asked where O'Connors was."Just follow the sign" I helpfully replied.
Went to O'Connors in the evening and got talking to a very chatty American called Tim who was travelling with his wife. Chat chat chat. His poor wife didnt see much of him that night.
Distance = 50.9 miles
Time cycling = 5hrs 32mins
Av. speed = 9.1 mph
Total = 535 miles
Am wondering if the orange flower is Montbretia? have tried to put a pic on here but it wont let me :(
ReplyDeleteAh, I shall look that up. The flower in question looks a bit like the yellow one above but a bit more spindly.
ReplyDeleteYes, thats the stuff. One website describes it as; 'it's a plant that infests hedgerows in the mild west of Ireland'
ReplyDeletethe yellow one above being Honeysuckle!
ReplyDelete