Awoke to no rain. Yippee. No wind. Yeehaw. Poured a bottle of water over my mobile phone to ensure holiday inaccessibility. Martina then punctured her back car wheel. Men sailed through with no problems. Sorting out the puncture cost us a couple of hours but got to Mizen, unloaded the bikes, lashed through a chocolate fudge cake and we were away. The terrain was magnificent – surf at Barley cove, hills with heather, gorse and exposed rock, hedgerows of fuschia and montbresha, sea/land/sea/land vistas. Patrick and Chris worked on composing a song as they toiled along. Think Ballylickey will get a mention. Had a gentle southerly to push us up the Caha pass. Of course it did rain for the climb up the Magillycuddy reeks so the descent from Molls gap ensured our brakes got a work out. Found the only Kerry man in Killarney, hidden amidst all the blow ins, to direct us to our hostel. Day one and 120km sorted!
Rosie

Derry to Skibberreen was a miserable display of what Ireland offered us all summer – horribly dull, wet and windy. We didn’t care. We were cocooned in the car with Martina battling against the limited visibility, After dinner in the Russagh Mill hostel Chris got out his guitar, Patrick a pair of spoons, a tin whistle was passed around and we had a sing-song before bed.

Rosie

The car is packed, the cyclists are oiling up their bikes, and tomorrow morning Martina will drive them down to Cork. Rosie, Chris and Patrick will then start their cycle on Monday morning – and I hope we’ll be getting regular updates for the website. I’m sure the team will appreciate some moral support during their trip so do keep checking the website and adding your comments. We’re hoping for a big celebration when they get to Malin Head next Saturday (the 12th), so if you’re able why don’t you join the last leg of the cycle or just come along to Malin Head for the fun. At the moment I’m guessing it might be 5 or 6pm but I’ll try and ‘tweet’ an update on the final day.