Keep Calm and Pedal On

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Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Ireland you…

~fed us with your healthy, wholesome food

~quenched our thirst with properly poured pints of Guinness 

~kept us clean with gentle (sometimes lashing) rain

~challenged us with your lofty hills

~reminded us of your country’s deep faith and our own every time we passed a Marian grotto or church

~made us stronger and more confident with your wind gusts and headwinds

~made us smile at your tailwinds

~wowed us with spectacular scenery, your green fields, majestic coastlines and let’s not forget the hydrangeas 

~kept us safe with your courteous drivers allowing us to safely travel on bicycles for 1,200 miles

~entertained us with your musical reels and jigs 

~astonished us with your exceptionally clean public areas, restrooms, hotel rooms, restaurants and well kept homes

~piqued our curiosity and taught us with your ancient structures, stone fences, memorials and customs

And above all you loved us and embraced us with all you had and we couldn’t be more grateful.💚

What would we have done differently?

• We wouldn’t bring our tent, sleeping bags or pads. Didn’t bring the kitchen equipment on this ride and didn’t need it.

• We should have brought our collapsible coffee cups.

Bike ride bloopers:

• My Garmin stopped working after a week which means I had no idea how far, fast or high I was going. And I had no route to follow; I just had to be sure I didn’t get separated from Tom. That happened just one time when I stopped to take a pic and the one fork in the road that wasn’t marked with an EV1 sign got us in trouble. Tom was ahead and he veered right when I was behind and veered left. I was pedaling as fast as I could to catch up with him until I finally got a phone call with his voice asking “Where the heck are you?”🤣

• A bee stung Tom’s head near his eye with 10 miles to go on the last day. He’s going home with a swollen eye and looking like a battered husband. Maybe he is after having to give me turn by turn directions and climb data for the last two weeks since my Garmin stopped working.

• My sandals fell off the back of my Tailfin bag. Worst part was that I left them somewhere they weren’t supposed to be (littering).
• The snaps on my high visibility jacket wouldn’t snap after I washed it once. For the rest of the ride, I wore the jacket every day for safety but the sleeves irritatingly flapped in the wind.

Tips for cyclists:

• Ride northbound. Winds are predominantly southerlies.

• If using a helmet mirror, bring one for right side of your helmet so you can see traffic approaching from behind.

• Bring rain gear and I mean the whole shibang, coat, pants and booties.

• If new to bike touring you may overlook the importance of a light weight back pack. Bring one. We used ours every day to load items off bikes to take inside, we used for quick stops at the store and trolling around town with raincoats in case we need them.

• Get proficient with the pro version of Ride With GPS. There are times when routes need to be created on the fly and downloaded to your Garmin. For example, Tom created routes to and from the train stations and bike friendly alternate routes when need due to weather.

Tips from Tom:

People ask, “how did you find your places to stay every night and did you reserve it before your trip?”

On these trips we always look forward to finding camping sites since we love sleeping in our tent.  I researched ahead of time where the caravan and camping locations were, (that’s what they call it in Ireland) and put them as POI on our gpx RidewithGPS routes that get downloaded to our Garmin.  

First of all there aren’t a lot of tent camping spots along our route and after our first two tent stays waking up in a soaking wet tent in the rain and wind, it just wasn’t that much fun.  

So our focus was on living it up on this “Holiday” bike trip and do inside stays.  My daily routine was to tell Chat GPT, where we were riding the next day and make suggestions of highlights we shouldn’t miss, places we should stay and suggest a pub of the day.  

I would then go to the place’s (Hotel, B&B, Hostel, Glamping) website, booking.com, Google Maps and try to find the best place and go ahead and book it a few days ahead of time.  You really couldn’t go wrong with any stays as they were all so clean and beds/showers were glorious at the end of the day.  

Most B&B’s offered a great Irish Breakfast as part of your stay (Eggs, Bacon, sausage, tomato, white and black pudding, toast, and baked beans). Now you know why I didn’t lose any weight on this bike trip

Thanks again for taking an interest in our ride. Your prayers and encouragement meant a lot. And special thanks to Tom who is a bike trip planning expert. He really knocked it out of the park with this one!☘️

Click on the image below to ride highlights video:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

We have finished our ride at the Peace Bridge! 💚🤍🧡

Thanks for your prayers, good vibes, comments and encouragement. 😘😘

Post ride wrap up with deets coming soon. For now, we celebrate.🎉

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

After today, just one more day of riding.😉☘️

Today’s route brought us back to the countryside, past Sheephaven Bay and Doe Castle, home of the McSweeney clan back in the 16th century.

The rural riding continues to be our fave although we will be missing the views along the rugged wild Atlantic coast.

We’ve been giving way to tractors for the last three weeks and happy to do so but today, one pulled off for us.😊

Since we have a day “in the bank” we’re taking a zero tomorrow in Letterkenny. And bonus, there’s an Oktoberfest event at Kinegar Brewery and it’s right on our route just a couple miles out of town. So “hoppy” about this!

Tomorrow, our Sunday Funday will include Mass at St. Eunan’s Cathedral and coincidentally, the Colts play in London so the game will be televised here in Ireland at 2:30pm.🙌🏻

Though this won’t be our LAST Irish pub, it will be our last Pint Size Review. 🍺 Tom ordered up his usual Guinness at McGinley’s while I spotted a Jackrabbit ginger beer on tap (one of Kinegar’s tastiest). Exceptional!

The thing is, McGinley’s is quite large with two stories and so is nearby Sonny McSwine’s with three stories (scouted this one out also to see if the Colts game would be televised.) Neither of these Irish pubs serve food.

Apparently, we don’t need a menu to make a pub worth visiting and remembering. We just need a proper Guinness pour, a place to sit, share pics and do our route rap. And in these chillier days, a fireplace is always a bonus. Raising our last glass to McGinley’s! Slainte! 🍻

Towns we cycled through today: Milford and Ramelton

Click on the image below to view today’s video:

https://videopress.com/v/ZHPjhGcG?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

I’ll say one thing, weather predictions in Ireland are usually spot on. And today was no different. We got spanked! We got wet to the core; we got cold. The worse part was cycling near Glenveagh National Park and missing some stellar scenery because of the driving sheets of rain.

When riding on the bike in conditions like that, besides watching my mirror for rear approaching traffic, I have a lot of questions like:

• Why aren’t there flat sheets on the beds in Ireland?

• Where are all the pastured piggies in Ireland? We’ve cycled past hundreds of sheep and cows after eating ham, sausage, and white and black pudding included in our Irish breakfasts, however we’ve seen no pigs.🐖
• Why don’t Irish homes have landscaping (bushes and such) around them?
• Why do Irish homes have names instead of street numbers? How does mail find them?

• Why do most conditions cyclists want to avoid all have four letters?

And after we say, “At least there’s no rain today.” here comes the pop up shower with a rooster tail off your riding partner’s back tire. And of course you’d be riding on a hill.🤣

Then I started thinking, “could I make a game out of it?” like when Dan, Christie, Tom and I rode the OTET with Beer Bingo Cards?

Maybe Tic Tac Toe would work with nine squares. All I know is I ate a lot of rooster tail today.

Prayers answered though. We arrived safely. Tom found a workaround on the route that shaved off eight miles of misery and… the sun eventually came out about 3pm.

We rolled into Creeslough too early to check into lodging for the night and it was still raining hard. We knew we needed to get out of the weather as were both wet and cold and once we stop moving the chill gets worse.

Our Indy pal, John Finneran ☘️ who is an aficionado on all things Huckleberry must have been thinking about us. Look at the cafe in Creeslough at our route’s exact finish line. It was a sign to get off the bikes and get inside to get warm.

And sip on hot chocolate with lots of marshies.

The skies cleared and we hopped back on the bikes peddling to our lodging for the night. Another glamping pod!

Our Pub of the Day (and there was only one today) goes to Rose’s, a wonderfully warm, welcoming and unpretentious Irish pub with locals enjoying a pint after work on a Friday and a glowing fire.

We cycled through Loughanure today but I don’t think we even saw it with the rain.🤣

Click on the images below to view today’s video:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

At the route rap last night before the “catch and release” with the big lads at The Reel Inn, Tom and I had our usual talk about the following day’s route, weather and possible side trips for the day.

When he locked in on today’s ride he discovered we would be rolling over 14 climbs. 👀 Well then!

To be honest, the hills were mostly just rollers and our legs are feeling strong so it wasn’t as daunting as it looked last night.

I saw this quote in one of the pubs we visited and it’s so true.

In Ireland, the inevitable never happens but the unexpected always occurs.☘️

When coming to Ireland we certainly didn’t plan on so many inside stays but given the unexpected above average rainfall on the west coast in September we changed our plans and opted out of tent camping.

Cycling in rain and then going to bed wet, sleeping in a damp tent and taking it down in the rain, carrying a wet tent around and then having to dry it out at some point isn’t fun anymore. Was it ever fun? 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣 We’re happy to pivot to inside stays and the vacation mileage ain’t too shabby either. 😉

A bonus on this bike tour was changing from traditional bikepacking seat bags to Tailfins. They’re easy on, easy off when taking gear inside which we unexpectedly have done a lot of. There are two pins to pull out and the Tailfin comes right off the bike.

They’re stable, lightweight, expandable, waterproof and hold the clothing, sandals and minimal toiletries we need. The Tailfins are the rectangular bags on the back of our bikes.

Sweet rolls on the front still hold sleeping pads, bags, rain gear and electronics. And of course, Tom carries the tent on top of the sweet roll. No kitchen on this tour.

The white frame bags in the middle hold snacks, first aid kit, bike tools and spare tubes (just in case our tubeless tire setup gets a puncture that won’t seal).

Using the Tailfins instead of the Revelate seat bags makes it easy to grab our backpacks out of our sweet roll bags on the handlebars and load them up with only our electronics bag, rain coats (always take the raincoat in) and snacks if needed. Everything else stays on the bike.

The hardest part of our bike tour is remembering what town we stayed in the night before when asked, as people inevitably do, and for me, figuring out how to work the dang showers.

Near the end of our ride today, guess who pulled up beside us. One of the big lads from The Reel Inn riding his BMW and he’d come to say “Ow are ye?” Such a friendly guy.

We’re acknowledging The Bridge Inn as our Pub of the Day for convenience. This gastropub on the Dungloe River is located right beside our tiny apartment for the night. Their food is 💯 and their Guinness, as usual is 👍🏻.

We’ve had two sunny days in a row without rain but we’re in for a wet one tomorrow to Creeslough. 😬 With only eight climbs and another inside stay tomorrow night, we’ve got this. 💪🏻

Towns we cycled through today: Mountcharles and Andara

Click on the image below to view today’s video:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

On our way out of town we stopped to watch just a bit of the Junior European Surfing Competition in Bundoran. I had no idea surfing was a thing in Ireland but it makes sense. I mean we’re surrounded by water and one side butts up to the Atlantic Ocean.

Once in Donegal we did a quick visit to Donegal Castle, a little gem tucked along the River Eske. Built in the 15th century, it was once home to the mighty O’Donnell clan, one of Ireland’s most powerful Gaelic families, who lived in it for about 130 years.

In about 1697 the O’Donnells and others left, destroying much of it before leaving so as not to allow it to fall into British hands.

Guess they didn’t wreak enough damage to the beautiful structure because subsequent to the “Flight of the Earls” English captain Sir Basil Brooke took it over, did some renos and then added an entire mansion on the left. You can see Basil’s addition above.

The Jacobean mansion was three stories and although none of the flooring remained it was easy to see where the floors would have been based on the window, joist holes and fireplace locations.

This was our first visit to the inside of a castle and we were awed with its massiveness and history.

Besides “castling” the short riding day also allowed some down time (nap for Deb) and time to sketch out the remaining four days of riding (Tom).

Armed with rest and route planning, we ventured out for food and pints. On our way out the door of our B&B, we saw that The Reel Inn offered nightly live Traditional music. And just like that, we knew we had to see what it was all about.

After a tasty meal at The Olde Castle Bar (and yes you could see Donegal Castle in the window) we ambled over to The Reel Inn for some traditional music and a potential candidate for our Pub of the Day.

The trad music sesh was enjoyable but turns out, not all that traditional. However when what looked like senior recruits for the all-island Irish Rugby Team walked in, the fun began.

They were six or so big lads, stood right by our table, and took up nearly the entire pub with their large physiques.

We got to talking to them and turns out they tour on motorcycles and were shocked when they heard about our bike ride. From Derry, Donegal and Muff, they told us to be sure to visit The Squealing Pig should our bike ride take us through Muff.

Cold Guinness and uber friendly Irishmen glad to share a pint with a fellow two wheeled traveler earned The Reel Inn our Pub of the Day. We came as visitors but left feeling like regulars. Slainte!🍻

Towns we cycled through today included: Ballyshannon, Creevy and Laghy

Click on the image below to view today’s vid:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

I’m going to be dramatic.

The wind today was absolutely insane! This wasn’t just a breezy day in Ireland; we experienced a proper Irish blow with gale-force winds reaching Force 8 on the Beaufort Scale.

That translates to sustained winds of approximately 39–46 mph. Good thing is, it was mostly sustained wind coming from the same direction and not multi directional gusts which make it so much harder to keep the bikes upright.

Even the cows and sheep were laying low.🤣

There were times I was looking ahead at Tom fighting the wind blowing. He was leaning hard to the right trying to stay upright while the wind was trying to drive him left into the ditch.

And you wouldn’t even know it given the lovely pic below. It looks calm and sunny.

We stopped in Grange to get a sammich and get out of the wind but couldn’t find any shelter. While I was in the grocery, a nice lady offered to shuttle us to Bundoran in her van. Tom declined. Guess he thought it would have to get worse for that to happen. Well I guess it did start raining a little after lunch.

All in all, on a day I was very anxious about, we arrived safely, praise God. And it always helps to know there’s hot shower and warm bed waiting for us.

Digs for the night were at The Bank House where the rooms are located above the pub. Maggie had the taps flowing and our room wasn’t ready yet soooo…

After unpacking, showering and getting the bikes situated we walked into town to Madden’s Bridge Bar and Restaurant. This pub offers excellent food and a wide selection of taps.

When we walked in, there was hardly anyone there. Fifteen minutes later it looked like this.

Apparently Bundoran is hosting the European Junior Surfing Championships tomorrow with events taking place all week and there are more than 20 countries represented.

All the youngsters were gathering at Madden’s to chat it up. After meeting one of them, I guess we’ll be watching some surfers tomorrow since we have just a short ride to Donegal. Today we’re raising our glass to the surfers! 🍻

Towns we cycle through today included Drumcliff, Grange and Tullaghan.

Click on the image below to view today’s vid:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Today’s ride felt like fall. The air was cooler, crisper and there was a tinge of color in the green trees. 🍁 Also on this rural ride in County Sligo we saw:

• More trees – both deciduous and coniferous🌲

• Stone fencing replaced with wood posts and wires 🪵

• More sheep on the streets than cars 🐏

• More wind turbines 💨
• Fewer Marian grottoes 💙
• Most signs don’t include Irish words 🪧
• There wasn’t a drop of rain 😉

Biggest “smilestone” today however was hitting the 1,000 mile mark for our bike tour.

This won’t be our longest bike tour or our shortest, but I’ve come to an obvious conclusion: Ireland and our home state of Indiana are about the same geographical size.

In pedaling around Ireland, she sure packs a big bang for our buck in terms of natural beauty, history, culture and of course there’s the Guinness, in which Indiana can’t compare.

Did you know there’s an unofficial SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for serving a pint of Guinness? The bartender places the glass with its iconic harp logo facing the person about to enjoy it.

Here’s an interesting twist: the Guinness harp is also based on Ireland’s national symbol, but the harp on the Guinness logo faces the opposite direction.

And this brings me to our Pint Size Review of our Pub of the Day and our bartender, Frank, at Tom Connelly’s Pub.

The pub itself is Sligo’s oldest pub dating back to 1780 and you can feel it as you enter Tom Connelley’s. This place breathes history with cozy snugs, dark wood and a stone floor.

Our bartender, Frank, born and raised in Sligo was a lot of fun to talk to. Besides sharing about what Tom Connolly’s looked like back in the day, (one side was a proper pub and the other a grocery), we discovered he’s a huge fan of live music, particularly American musicians and has been to the following live performances: Tina Turner, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and wait for it… Neil Diamond, FIVE times.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a lot of pics of Tom Connelley’s because we were too busy chatting it up with Frank but today, for Frank, we raise our glass to him and Tom Connelley’s.

Towns we pedaled through today were: Coolaney and Ballisodare

Click on the image below to view today’s vid:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Oh My-O, Oh Mayo how great it was to meet you! County Sligo you have a lot to live up to. ☘️

From the conservatory of our stay at Stella Maris we could see Downpatrick Head and the giant land form just off its coast. We knew we had to have a look for ourselves. And indeed, that was our first stop of the day.

Dun Briste (Broken Fort) is a huge 150 foot sea stack rising from the Atlantic Ocean near Downpatrick Head. It’s covered with lush green grass, surrounded by crashing waves and was actually once connected to the mainland.

Long ago, people lived and farmed on the tip of Downpatrick Head until a violent storm in 1393 severed it from the mainland, leaving its inhabitants stranded on the newly formed sea stack. To be honest, I can’t imagine what was going through their heads when that happened.

They were reportedly rescued using ropes from ships, but still. All they had was lost on the sea stack.

That story was confirmed when researchers later discovered remains of stone buildings, field walls, and evidence of cultivation, confirming that this seemingly impossible place was once home to a small community.

We reached Dun Briste right after the rain and the bluebird skies made the ocean seem even bluer and more dramatic.

We cycled a “V” today (looking at you Victoria👀) and on some nice rural bike trails.

Hard to believe soon our northbound journey will come to an end in Derry.

We popped into Gilroy’s for our Pub of the Day Pint Size Review. The pub itself was no McDonnell’s but the view was 💯.

So if you’re lucky enough to enjoy a pint while looking at Killala Bay with a Guinness in hand you’re lucky enough. ☘️ Slainte!

Towns we cycled trough today included Ballina and Killala.

Click on the image below to view more pics and videos:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Today’s ride took us through what looked somewhat like an Irish version of the prairie—miles of open, grassy coastal plain stretching toward the Atlantic. And yes, it was also very windy with gorgeous cloud formations. Distant mountains, land void of trees, occasional ocean cliffs and sunshine brought some of the most gorgeous riding yet. Not sure if there is a word for Irish prairie but that’s what we cycled through today.

Ceide Fields was the last stop on our route today before calling it a day. It’s a hidden farming community buried under several feet of bogs that thrived nearly 6,000 years ago. To put it in perspective, that’s before the pyramids were even built. It was discovered by a local school teacher who was cutting turf in the 1940’s. Stone fences, cooking artifacts and farming implements are just some of what’s been uncovered there.

Ceide Field overlooks this dramatic coastline. Not a bad place to live.

Finally in what might be one of our favorite stays of the trip, we landed in Stella Maris, a structure with a unique and varied history.

Overlooking Bunatrahir Bay just outside of Ballycastle, Stella Maris was built around 1853 as a British Coast Guard headquarters.

Around 1915 the Sisters of Mercy took it over and named it “Star of the Sea.” The sisters lived at Stella Maris and traveled nearly two miles into the village each day by horse-drawn cart to teach children.

Eventually the sisters moved their convent into town to be closer to the parish school and Stella Maris became a country house hotel.

Our host Rolf, (now owner of Stella Maris) took excellent care of us and I promise he will do the same for you should you ever find yourself in need of a night’s lodging or tasty meal in County Mayo.

Towns we cycled through today: Inver and Belderg

Click on the image below to view today’s video: