Thursday May 31

Another cycling adventure!  Rather than do the planned route of 58 km on half the Beara Peninsula, we decided to take a bigger bite. The plan had been to cycle west from Glengarriff, north over Healy Pass and  then east to Kenmare. We all thought we would rather get out to the far end of the peninsula, though. Besides, the day was overcast so the views from the pass probably wouldn’t be all that great.  We estimated the whole route to be about 115 km, and that was more than some people wanted to do. Dan was onboard with our new plan and accommodated different drop off and pick up points. Nada, Gary, Ron and I started at Glengarriff.  Dan drove Irene, Trudy and Sherry about 25 km further and let them out at Adrigole. Having learned lessons from previous days, we didn’t stop for too many photos along the way.

We made it to Castletownbere at 33km by about 11:30. We had heard some of the story about Dr. MacCarthy and his WWII exploits, so we wanted to stop in and have lunch at MacCarthy’s Bar. Tons of memorabilia in there, and we were served by his daughter. I will look for the book “A Doctor’s Sword” when I get home. Apparently there is a movie (on Netflix maybe?) about him as well. We spent about an hour there, and our yummy paninis were probably more food than we should have had in our tummies for the next climb.  As luck would have it, the only rain of the day came while we were stopped so we moved inside.

Castletownbere looks like an active fishing village and had a significant navy presence during the war.

Back on the road....

And we soon caught up with the other three.  We saw them off and on until the village of Allihies, where they stopped to eat their lunches. We carried on through some really fun rollers and little climbs.  Then the climbs got significantly bigger and it was a struggle to stay on the bike on a few of them. Finally to the top, and some fun downhills ensued.

Since we were not on the planned route for the day, at the town of Eyeries we were unsure which way to go when we had the choice of the Ring of Beara or R571 back to Kenmare.

Well, we certainly chose the more challenging (and scenic) route. Oh my, though!  I walked a few of those hills.  As did Nada............

........ and the boys too, no doubt.  Turns out we were going around the edge of another little peninsula that really wasn’t on the agenda. Oh well - beautiful, but lots of short steep hills. Close to the end, we came upon some construction workers who directed us on a shortcut back to the main road.

We still had about 35 km to go and it was already after 5. No problem, though. The main road was easy cycling and we were all feeling good, as long as things didn’t get too steep again. As we got close to Lauragh we saw Dan driving the van and trailer the other way. We figured he was just coming out to check on us since we were later than expected. Lauragh was where the group of three was to be picked up. As we pulled in to Lauragh, Dan returned and reported he did not find them on the road. Rather than continue our cycle to Kenmare we loaded our bikes in the trailer, jumped in the van and joined the search party.  We were concerned primarily because Dan had been out of cell coverage where he was waiting in Lauragh.  Once we got back as far as Ardgroom there were a few options of directions they might come from. The plan was to drop someone at each junction. I was dropped at the first junction and lo and behold moments later three happy faces showed up.  I’m not sure whether they were smiling because of the scenic wonders of the Ring of Beara, or because they finally found a familiar face. In any case - I let Dan know and we were soon all safely in the van on our way home. Another late day - home by about 8:15.

Kudos to the ladies, though.  Not only did they do the same very hilly Ring of Beara side trip that we did, but they rode it right to the end (we took the shortcut), two of them did it with much heavier hybrid bikes and all of them were fighting injuries or aches and were looking for an easier day. Here is Sherry’s description of that little section:

"At Eyeries the Ring of Beara became more steeply rolling with never-ending hills to climb and push our bikes up, winding and turning, climbing and pushing and sighing and silently swearing finding no relief from the gruelling grind of ups and downs.  Trudy cradles her injured wrist and walks down the steepest hill.  Breathtaking vistas, narrow trails, rough terrain, steeper descents, feet hurting, back aching, legs throbbing we push to finally arrive at Ardgroom, 15km from our destination of Lauragh.  How surprised and relieved we were to see Sue's familiar face, waiting anxiously to determine where we were.  We discover later that not only stalwart Trudy, but even the enthusiastic expert foursome succumbed to the relentless steep hills, occasionally pushing their bikes ahead of them.  It was a physically as well as a mentally challenging ride but one of the most superbly beautiful and unique ones I have ever done."

The Beara Peninsula was a real treat, and a nice one to do on our last day. Of the three peninsulas that we’ve cycled, this is the least touristy and most “wild”

Have I said this before?  Another great day!

Stats for the day:
94.32 km
4582 feet of climbing.