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:
