Ireland's Extremities Trip Was Simple Enough in Concept

Ireland’s Extremities

23 – 30 May 2009

Davy Creighton, Rick McKee, Enda Reynolds, & Mark Wright

Notes by Rick McKee, June 2009

The Challenge:

• 8 days, 800 miles • North, South, East, West, Centre of Ireland • Highest mountain in each of the four provinces • Mountain-bikes unsupported (carry all gear) for the trip • Bikes and all gear go with us, up the mountains too

Introduction

Our challenge for the Ireland's Extremities trip was simple enough in concept:

• Visit North, South, East, West and Centre of Ireland • Climb the highest mountain in each of the four provinces • Use mountain-bikes and be unsupported (carry all gear) for the trip • The bikes and all the gear were to go with us, up the mountains too

At 800-odd miles, we carved it up into a neat 8 days and booked our B&B's, which looked doable enough as long as we could make good progress on the mountains with everything on our backs.

And so it turned out. The mountains were hard going in places, and we had some very long days (up to 17/18 hours!), but a lot of the time was eating and chatting and goofing about, all of which we are well-practiced at!

The challenge team started out as Davy, Rick, Enda and Mark, but unfortunately Mark had to leave us on the Thursday due to a prior engagement, so we completed the trip as three. Mark does have the mental and physical scars to prove he was there for most of it anyway!

We had the pleasure of the company of a few friends along the way as well, which was a great boost to the trip.

We also took the opportunity to raise some money for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice, and were amazed at the generosity shown by friends, family, work colleagues, some folks we had never met, and those we met on the road during our trip.

This report records our journey for future generations.

The Route

The following was our broad planned route, with extremities and night stops marked.

Itinerary

The following was the planned itinerary, which ended up changing slightly on the trip due to circumstances:

22 May - Travel to Crookhaven near Brow Head, and visit Mizen Head, getting a lift all the way

23 May – Bike to Brow Head (South point), bike circa 90 miles to Carrantuohill (highest point in Munster, and Ireland), climb it with bikes, then bike 10 miles to Killorglin B&B

24 May - Bike circa 120 miles to Tarbert B&B (on the Shannon), via Garraun Point on the Dingle Peninsula (West point)

25 May - Quick ferry over the Shannon, bike 40 miles to Doolin via Cliffs of Moher, ferry to Arran Islands, have lunch, circle island on bikes, ferry to Rossaveel, bike 40 miles to Killary Harbour B&B

26 May - Speedboat across Killary Harbour, climb steep side of Mweelrea (highest point in Connaught) with bikes, then bike circa 80 miles to Mountbellew.

27 May - Bike circa 120 miles to Donard B&B, Co. Wicklow, via the geographical centre point of Ireland at Ballymore, just outside Athlone, the Catstone.

28 May - Climb Lugnaquilla (highest point in Leinster) with bikes, bike circa 100 miles, as far north as we could manage basically.

29 May - Bike circa 100 miles to Belfast or Antrim, via speedboat across Carlingford Lough, climbing Slieve Donard (highest point in Ulster), ferry to Portaferry, and Burr Point on the Ards Peninsula (East point)

30 May - Bike circa 90 miles to Malin Head (North point), getting the ferry at Magilligan to Greencastle, and after we get there, get a lift back home to Antrim.

22 May - Day of Travel

Antrim to Crookhaven

Extremities: None

Other points of interest: Mizen Head (pretend SW-most point in Ireland)

Bug and Sparky were our hosts for the ride from Antrim to Crookhaven, location of our first B&B, in County Cork. We managed to get all four bikes on the roof of the Ford Galaxy, and off the six of us set at 12:30pm, 2.5 hours later than planned, as Davy had to work and I had to spend the morning knocking 3 months of cobwebs off his bike.

Trying to bring Davy’s bike into the 21 st Century the morning we left

I had already fitted pannier racks to the backs of Davy’s and my bike to take the weight off the shoulders, so the first thing we had to do was get the same for Mark and Enda, which we sorted in Halfords in Lisburn.

The trusty Galaxy – Crookhaven-bound

There was much discussion around what we would do if the bikes were to fall off the roof of the car, and we got the shock of our lives to discover, about 10 miles from our destination, that the whole roof rack was about to come off!

It was around 8pm when we arrived on the south coast, and we took our chance to go visit Ireland’s assumed most southerly point, Mizen Head (the actual most southerly point, and our first extremity, is Brow Head, on the next peninsula to the east from Mizen).

The mist and light rain prevented us from seeing too much, so we took a couple of snaps and headed for the B&B in Crookhaven.

Mark was plagued by shin-splints all week, injuring himself on the 200 yard stroll from the car to the bridge at Mizen Signal Station, down “The 99 Steps”.

Mark, second from left, grimaces for the camera, suffering his shin-splints in silence

Bug and Sparky were struggling to understand why we would cycle, when there was a car at the top of the hill waiting for us

As we were spending the week unsupported (carrying all we needed for the week with us), we made our final kit checks before finally waving Bug and Sparky off in the car with what we didn’t need for the week.

It was only after their departure that we realised that the spare tubes I had bought for Davy for the trip were for 14 inch wheels (a 5 year old’s bike) instead of 26 inch!

Davy checks his new 14 inch spare tubes

After the laughter, a short wander down to Crookhaven Harbour for chowder, steak and a couple of pints finished us up nicely for the evening, and we hit the sack early to prepare for a 7:00am breakfast and the start of our trip the next morning.

23 May - Day 1

Crookhaven to Killorglin

Extremities: Brow Head (South), Carrauntoohill, highest peak in Munster and Ireland (1041m)

Other points of interest: N/a

Distance on bikes: 89 miles

We awoke at 6:30am to the most depressing scene imaginable – strong wind and driving rain outside. We were none too keen to finally get up from the breakfast table and venture outside, as the rain was battering the windows, but venture out we did, to our first challenge; how to get the packs to fit nicely on the racks we had fitted the night before.

Putting off the inevitable 800 miles to come

All bungeed up and ready for the road

After 15 minutes goofing about with bungee cords, the rain virtually stopped. We were on our way to Brow Head, our first extremity, which was about 3km away from our B&B, heading directly into the strong wind, and up a steep tarmac climb.

Well warmed up by the time we reached Brow, we turned and sailed to Bantry with the wind on our backs, albeit the road was populated by insane drivers who gave us a fair number of frights.

Brow Head – Mark has clearly just finished a perfect gymnastics routine

The first and last team tension appeared in Bantry, when a well-timed flick in the goolies from Mark to Rick left the latter in pretty bad form for about 15 minutes, until the pain subsided.

Enda holds the bikes whilst the business is sorted 11

Bantry – Mark reflects on flicking Rick in the goolies!

The first technical problem of the trip came when Mark dropped his water- bottle outside Bantry and the lid came off. No big deal for the normal man, but the perfectionist in Mark was less than impressed with the shoddy technical design of the bottle, and it was his turn to be in bad form for a while.

From Bantry, we had a climb to Glengariff through fantastic scenery, and we stopped to take a few snaps just as a crazy American and his wife pulled up to do the same. As the American chap went to get his wife out of the car, Davy asked him whether she was going to be dressed for the photo or not.

A few more “Carry-On” gags later, and we were back into the climb, through the tunnel at the top, and into the long, fast descent through more tunnels, eventually taking us to Kenmare for lunch of, what else but, trusty chicken and chips.

Can you hear a train, Davy?

Stunning scenery as we climbed to the pass. The view was nice too

If you see a sheep, dressed as a granny, poking through the sun-roof of a 1930’s car, you just HAVE to stop for a snap.

Starter? Check. Main course? Check. Enda, are you not having anything?

Still smacking our lips, satisfied with our al fresco lunch in the glorious sunshine, we met a local chap formerly from Holywood, County Down, and we enjoyed a bit of banter before preparing to set off again to climb Carrauntoohill, Ireland’s highest mountain.

Our host for the mountain was to be Brian Galvin, to whom we had been introduced by Rowan McMahon some weeks before, and Brian led us in the climb to Moll’s Gap, and then into the fantastic twisting descent into the Black Valley, in our approach to the mountain.

Moll’s Gap, and an opportunity to browse in Ireland’s highest Avoca shop

Down-hill fun now over, we had a long drag up to a big standing stone, where we stopped for another lunch. From there, it was bikes over shoulders as we started the climb proper, up towards the lake.

The obligatory “Bike against standing stone” photo, perfect for MTBRider.com

Lunch at the standing stone, to prepare for the big climb ahead

So,... where did you say the hill was?

After a bit of a rest at the lake, we strapped the bikes on our backs and began the tricky and technical clamber up the river in the gully, then up

over Caher. The gully was the same used in the Irish Adventure Challenge – harder work with a bike and a week’s supplies on board!

Right, Rick, put it away and let’s get moving

Slogging up Carrantuohill in the evening sun

On the plateau at the top of the gully

The views in the evening sun were simply incredible

Yay! We made it. The highest folks in Ireland!

Davy screws his head back on again, to prepare for the descent

The views were incredible in the evening sun, and we hit the summit at about 8:30pm. Our descent took us back over Caher, over another boulder field, then Hydro Road, which was rough going on rigid bikes.

Getting pretty dark. We were VERY glad of our guide Brian

By the time we hit the tarmac road, it was pitch black and we put our lights on for the last few km into Killorglin.

Brian, our guide for the hill, left us at this point to head back to his car at Kate Kearney’s Cottage, and we had an easy descent down into the town and found our B&B no problem overlooking the river.

Brian Galvin, our guide and mentor on Carrantuohill

Cycled 89 Miles, plus climbed Ireland’s highest mountain, over 15 hours. A slog of a day to start the trip!

It was about 11:00pm when we rapped the door of the B&B, mucked to the eyeballs from the mountain, but big John Evans met us at the door full of hospitality; he even phoned the Chinese for us, gave us a lift into town to pick it up, and he and his lovely wife Bridie got us all sorted, way above and beyond the call of duty; really nice folks.

Following an authentic taste of the Orient and a packet of biscuits with coffee, it was lights out, ready for a 7:00am breakfast.

24 May - Day 2

Killorglin to Tarbert

Extremities: Garraun Point (West)

Other points of interest: Conor Pass (highest road pass in Ireland)

Distance on bikes: 114 miles

It was at breakfast that we got wind of the big game to take place later in the day. Our B&B host, John Evans, is the Tipperary football coach, and today was a big game for them as underdogs in the All-Ireland against Limerick (Tipperary were to lose by 2 points, we learned later).

Even though we had had a massive Chinese a few hours earlier, we made short work of a huge full Irish breakfast, had a quick photo with Coach Evans in full Tipperary fig, and then we hit the road.

Coach Evans, ready to face the mighty Limerick later in the day

We were not far up the road when we stumbled upon two hapless road- bikers trying, and failing, to fix a puncture, with nothing but a broken pump - clueless was not the word! We stopped to help and had a good old laugh with the two lads. Once we got them sorted, we set off into the

strong wind on the long, boring, straight pull out to Dingle, where we re- grouped with a healthy portion of cake and coffee.

So, guys, the purpose of the wheel is to...

Things were much more interesting from Dingle out to Slea Head and Garraun Point, where the scenery was stunning.

Lots of photos later, we were back in Dingle again for VERY expensive fish and chips (€12 each!). We hooked up with Brian Galvin again for a quick farewell and a bit of oil on our chains, then we set off for Conor Pass, Ireland’s highest road pass.

Slea Head with Garraun Point in the background

Just finishing our S Club 7 routine before we left Garraun Point

The Garraun Point Centra was in need of significant investment

Brian Galvin joined us again in Dingle to urge us up Connor Pass

The climb was LONG, but steady, and things were very warm until we hit the mist and the strong breeze at the top. Biggest surprise of the day was meeting the ice-cream van right at the top in the dense fog, where we were updated on the final score in the football!

The road up to Connor Pass – long, long and long

It’s ALWAYS the right time for a 99!

A brilliant descent with the wind on our backs was marred only by a snapped bungee cord, and it wasn’t long until we were hugging the coast again heading for Tralee. We had trouble keeping Enda focused here, as all he wanted to do was go and enjoy the surf at Fermoy.

We decided to take the back roads from Tralee to Listowel, but they were very hilly with a dreadful surface. So we dropped onto the main road, and hit Listowel at 8:15pm, where we had a guy yelling at us across the road that he had seen us earlier in the day out at Slea Head. We ended up seeing the same folks again and again in Kerry, Clare and Connemara.

From Listowel, we called the B&B to find out where we might get a feed when we arrived. Another few miles took us to Tarbert for about 9:30pm, and the B&B folks had phoned ahead to the local hotel to tell them to keep chef there, as there were four hungry lads on the way. Mary in the B&B was keen the we go ahead to the hotel without having a wash, but she about-turned when she got a whiff of us, as her husband was giving us a lift over to the hotel in his new car.

Steak and chips was the standard fayre, washed down with Guinness. Davy’s usual rapier wit met its match from our waitress, who was equal to the task, and he left at the end of the meal a beaten man – it must have been the 110 miles on the bike!

The final second before Enda and Davy fell asleep in their pint

25 May - Day 3

Tarbert to Killary Harbour

Extremities: N/a

Other points of interest: The Cliffs of Moher, The Aran Islands

Distance on bikes: 76 miles

Another mighty breakfast at 7:30am set us up for the short blast through Tarbert village out to the Shannon ferry terminal for the 8:30am ferry, where we had a bit of craic with a group of English folks doing Mizen to Malin on bikes – see http://lejig.blogspot.com/

Enda and Mark, excited at the prospect of another day on the bikes

Our ferry from Tarbert to Killimer, where we met the “Lejig” team

Priceless cargo stowed safely for the journey

Mark was reprimanded by the bosun for hanging around outside the gents’ toilets again

Despite assurances to the contrary by our B&B host, it started tipping with rain when we got off the ferry, and we got a real soaking on the undulating back-roads heading north to Quilty. But again, the wind was on our tails, so we weren’t complaining. Well, Enda was complaining a bit, as he realised he had left one of his only two tops behind in the B&B.

We reached a very damp Lahinch, very sorry that the promise of meeting the Monster Energy girls was an empty one, despite previous assurances.

We made our way round Spanish Point and up some stiff climbs to the cliffs of Moher, where we enjoyed superb views between bouts of mist and large Americans, and thankfully the rain stopped for the day. We were under time pressure to get to the Aran Islands ferry at Doolin for 1:00pm, so we did not hang about, except to grab a few photos.

There’ll be bluebirds over the grey Cliffs of Moher...

Recreating the old Hans Rey & Steve Peat classic photos

The weather was starting to ease up by the time we reached Doolin, but we had the disappointment of learning that the ferry could not run as the tides were too low. Our Arran Islands plans were stuffed, but we managed to arrange a ride across the bay for later in the day that would get us to our ultimate destination of Rossaveal.

In the meantime, we had three hours to kill, which was spent partly in the pub eating and drinking and drying out, and partly in the ferry ticket office, having a BRILLIANT time laughing with the locals.

Not every ferry ticket-office houses a bull-dog behind a fire-guard (which jumped out and scared the CRAP out of me), a Pekinese, 15 mattresses, an 85 year old woman, and a Nordic Trim-Trak – truly priceless stuff.

The craic at the ferry ticket office was UNBELIEVABLE!

First up was Mark and Enda having to shift mattresses

The madness continues

The grub in Gus O’Connor’s in Doolin was quality, unlike the music

Fed, watered, rested and dry, ready for the ferry to Rossaveal

Finally on the ferry at 4:30pm, the continued brilliant weather allowed us to enjoy some sun-bathing on the 2.5 hour journey to Rossaveal. We all fell asleep on the boat, and then felt ropey when we disembarked.

No caption required!

The ferry all to ourselves... 37

The ride due north to Maam’s Cross was hard work, but fantastic scenery in lovely weather, and we pulled in at the remote hotel to devour some biscuits and crisps as we were starving, having not thought to get any grub after leaving the pub some hours previously.

We phoned ahead to our bed for the night, the Killary Centre, to let them know we would be late and find out where we could get a feed on arrival. As we approached Killary Harbour, we saw a brilliant sunset dropping between the mountains ahead, and this spurred us on to the pub/grocery store, where we managed to pick up a few frozen pizzas and a big pack of Mikado biscuits to cook up at the Killary Centre.

We expected to see a bearded Charlton Heston at any moment

The ride into the strong wind from Leenane out to the Killary Centre was the longest 6km of our lives, as we were starving and it had been a long day. But the folks really looked after us when we arrived. We had the whole centre to ourselves, and the staff of Lorna and Alisa fired up the ovens and made sure we had all we needed for a good feed and a great night’s sleep.

26 May - Day 4

Killary Harbour to Mountbellew

Extremities: Mweelrea, highest point in Connaught (819m)

Other points of interest: Killary Harbour (Ireland’s only fjord)

Distance on bikes: 95 miles

The Killary Centre folks made a special exception for us in serving a 7:30am breakfast wonderfully prepared by Alisa, which partly made up for the fact that the heavy rain overnight had run down the windows straight into the shoes we had left outside to dry.

The last throes of the rain that soaked our shoes

Our plan was to hitch a speedboat ride across the fjord at 8:30am to tackle Mweelrea, but the weather was awful during breakfast; very windy, cold and raining, but punctuated occasionally with sunshine. We reluctantly dragged ourselves down to the water’s edge to meet Cathal, our skipper for the boat-ride, at 8:30am.

Preparing to cross Killary Harbour

All aboard the Skylark!

The ride across was rough, but we were soon off the boat with the bikes and we spent about 15 minutes strapping our bikes to our backs ready for what was clearly going to be a difficult and tiring climb up Mweelrea. 40

Oh, mummy, do we REALLY have to do this?!

The terrain was dreadful, and this was to prove the most arduous climb of our trip by a country mile. A very steep slope, long thick grass, peat hags, heather, crags and good old gravity were our enemies as we slogged up to the first spot-height.

A resolute Enda steadfastly prepares to strike for the hill

A steadfast Davy is resolutely already jarred off with the hill

A welcome break, out of the worst of the terrain, and with great views

Climbing to the spot-height turned out to be a mistake, as we then had to descend a fair bit afterwards to take on the main hill.

The wind was HOWLING at this point, and Davy was unsure as to how safe it would be taking the bikes up there, as they acted effectively like sails on our backs.

We agreed to stay well off the ridge and review things as we went, with safety as the main priority.

It’s c-c-c-c-cold up here!!

Dropping off the spot-height to climb the main hill

Our route off the mountain was directly behind us, down the valley to Delphi at the far end of the forest

Once we got into the climb, it turned out to be safe enough as long as we stayed well off the ridge, which gave way to a drop for hundreds of feet.

Just about to lose all visibility, with a sleet-shower to come 45

But just as we were about to make our final push for the summit, we were hit by sudden thick fog from nowhere and a driving sleet-shower.

Things turned very cold very quickly, so we just huddled on our hunkers against the hill about 200 yards off the top until the shower stopped and the sky cleared.

The final push for the summit of Mweelrea

After ten minutes or so, we were back in blistering sunshine and clear views, so we pressed to the top, admired the fantastic views of Achill and as far as Croagh Patrick, took a few photos, then started back off the hill, as it was still very cold.

It was very windy – we all started on the right of this picture

Davy strutted his stuff to keep warm

This particular model comes in a range of vibrant colours

Once down off the main hill, we decided to stay in the valley and follow the river down to the Delphi Mountain Resort, which was an awful slog with the bikes still on our backs, until we reached the forest. From there, we enjoyed a bit of actual fun biking on rough track back to the tarmac.

We had really underestimated Mweelrea in terms of the effort required to get up it with bikes and packs, and the amount of time it would take us – we were on the mountain for 6.5 hours, and not once did we see anything that could be described as a path or a viable route.

We were VERY happy to be down to the forest path after 6 hours on the mountain

Once back at the road, we imagined we were basically back in Leenane (where we were stopping for a feed), but we had a long enough pull round by Ashley Falls, then into the wind back into the village, where the only food we could entertain was, of course, chicken and chips washed down with two tins of Coke each.

We didn’t hang around for too long, as it was nearly 5:00pm and we had still over 75 miles to go on the bikes that day!

A quick stop at Ashley Falls for a Star Bar

Chicken and chips with Coke was still our favourite food

We had the wind on our backs thankfully as we struck for our B&B at Mountbellew, and were buoyed to meet up with a road biker who could not believe we were able to do 20mph on the mountain bikes!

To Davy’s great disappointment in Cong, we could find no trace of the world-famous Quiet Man Cottage, nor any John Wayne trinkets, as we passed through.

The only thing to take our minds off the long miles on the way was racing hard against each other to be the first into the 50km/hr zones in each village, so by the time we finally reached our B&B at Mountbellew, our legs were hanging off us, with our lungs hanging beside them.

It was a superb stroke of luck that our B&B was RIGHT beside a Chinese restaurant, and we were soon fed and watered.

Peter, owner of the B&B, was an old-school gentleman, the ultimate in courtesy and hospitality; he really looked after us, and set up the dining room for us after 11pm so we could eat our Chinese.

Zzzzzzz.

27 May - Day 5

Mountbellew to Donard

Extremities: Hill of Uisneach (Centre)

Other points of interest: N/a

Distance on bikes: 107 miles

Day 5 was the first day of our trip that we were not all baying for a fry for breakfast, so our hearts sank when our host wheeled out the most enormous fries we had witnessed on the trip so far. Not wanting to offend, we had a good go at them anyway ☺.

Settling our bill just before getting on the bikes in the pouring rain, the poor chap got a tad upset when I asked about his wife whom I had emailed with the booking, but who had passed away 18 months ago!

Mark was by this time becoming frantic in his search for Ibuprofen to reduce the swelling on his legs, but we were on the road too early for the shops to be open.

As soon as we hopped on the bikes, the rain stopped. The bog road to Athlone was really boring, but we had the wind on our backs, and Davy’s rapidly failing chainset to keep us entertained. We decided we needed to find a bike shop in Athlone to get his bike sorted, as it was now slipping badly in every gear.

One of the many Bord na Mona bog-railways on the road to Athlone

A new cassette and chain were the order of the day, but it took the chap in the bike shop an AGE to fit the stuff, as he could not work out Davy’s make-shift spacer constructed from an old single-speed cog.

The extra time waiting around gave us time to play around with a few alternative modes of transport...

We all lined up behind our dream machines

Common sense prevailed, as usual

There’s something just not quite right here, I can’t work it out

Once the bike was sorted, our thoughts immediately turned to cake and coffee in the town, and we sat about in the coffee shop for about 45 minutes.

We left Athlone in search of the High Seat of Kings, the Hill of Uisneach, Ireland’s Centre point, the CatStone, and what a disappointment. We were anticipating something akin to Stonehenge, but what we got was a lay-by, a defaced sign, and no clue as to what the many signs previously had directed us to.

Preparing for our final assault on the Catstone at Hill of Uisneach, Ireland’s centre-point

Is this IT?!

We still had a long way to go, plus climbing Lugnaquilla that night, and we realised we did not really have time for a proper lunch-stop, so we pulled into a village shop in Castle Geoghegan, bought a loaf and a few bananas and crisps and got stuck in, using the ice-cream counter as a table, as it had started tipping outside again.

By the time we reached Kildare, it had continued raining on and off, was getting pretty late, and we decided to leave a probably misty Lugnaquilla to the morning, and hope for a clear day to tackle the climb. Plus, we were STARVING and fancied Italian, so we pulled into a pasta joint in the town.

Pizza and pasta at Dempsey’s Den in Kildare, with only 20 miles to go today

Going into the restaurant, we were on the phone with Paul Mahon, who was going to guide us up the mountain that night, and he confirmed our decision to tackle it in the morning was probably a good one. So we relaxed and fed our faces, knowing we only had another 20 miles on the bikes to get to the B&B in Donard and the activity of the day would be over.

What can one say? The Italian food went to our heads

One for the Tina Turner fans...

It was hard getting going after the big feed, but it had been well worth it, and we arrived at the B&B in good time. Once we were cleaned up, we sat back to the second half of the Champions’ League final, with tea, biscuits and coffee cake in front of a roaring fire. Another chap staying there, when he discovered what we were doing on our challenge, got up from the Final to go get a cash donation for us for our charity, NI Hospice.

The icing on the cake was Violet of the B&B washing all our manky stuff for us, as some of us had NO spare clothes with us. We retired happy circa 11:00pm, looking forward to clean riding gear, having agreed to surface at 5:30am the next morning to tackle Lugnaquilla at 6:15am and then come back to the B&B for breakfast.

28 May - Day 6

Donard to Carlingford

Extremities: Lugnaquilla (925m)

Other points of interest: N/a

Distance on bikes: 118 miles

We surfaced as planned at 5:30am and got stuck into the Rice Krispies for a quick snack before heading out at about 6:30am towards the foot of the mountain, which took us about half an hour or so.

Isn’t this great? It’s 6:00am and we are off to climb Lugnaquilla

We had to hit Lugnaquilla early, as the Army firing range on the mountain was active that morning, and we had to get up and down before the Army turned up. We passed the Army centre without incident as there was nobody around, and we were soon on the open mountain, for what was a surprisingly easy walk to the summit.

It was pretty misty, but the larks overhead kept us entertained, and as we reached the large plateau on the summit, the sun made a good stab at poking its nose through the cloud.

Gorillas in the mist

The sun eventually agreed to join us briefly at the top of Lugnaquilla

Follow the leader...

The biking off Lugnaquilla was superb craic, where we just picked our lines and went for it as best we could.

We bumped into the Army guys near the foot of the hill on the way down, and we were re-routed off the mountain, after they had snubbed our photo request.

We were back in Donard for about 10:45am, where we met Karen Duggan, who was to join us towards Dublin as far as Blessington. We made our way from there back to the B&B, and got an extra two places set at the breakfast table, one for Karen, and one for Jackie O’Hagan, who had come out to join us for a spin as well.

Davy prepared for breakfast in the only way he knew how

Donard – “And don’t come back, or we WILL set the dogs on you!”

A fine breakfast was followed by a hellish spin as far as Blessington, where Karen left us and hopped in the car to head back to town. It 63

turned out that I was the only one suffering on this section, as I had replaced brake pads and they were constantly on. Davy to the rescue.

Karen and Jackie had to leave to get results of the 12:20 at Chepstow

We had a fantastic descent down into Tallaght, where Jackie bade us farewell, and we managed to make it down quicker than Karen in her car (mind you, she was stopping at the red lights!).

When we hit St Stephen’s Green, we stopped off at Enda’s flat for an hour just to chill out, and Enda’s flat-mate Ollie joined us for a bit of chat. Once we had booked a B&B in Carlingford having decided we could make it all the way that evening, we set sail again down a crowded Grafton Street, but had only made Glasnevin, when it was time to stop for a feed in McDonald’s and Subway.

The “thousand-yard stare” finally makes an appearance at Enda’s flat

A last breather before diving down Grafton Street

“I don’t think much of the one YOU’RE getting, Marjorie”

Our route north was along the back-roads, where we experienced some horrendous traffic early on, and we were glad to reach Drogheda for ice- cream (two flakes now standard) with the Cooley Mountains, visible in the hazy distance, between us and our B&B.

We added Ian O’Seibhlinn to our troupe on the north side of Dundalk, and our final push of the day was to batter into a strong breeze in the dark out the Carlingford Road.

As if the wind at the front of the pack wasn’t bad enough, I was personally set upon by TWO bats, who had been blown off course into me in the strong wind, one of them clutching desperately to my leg until I managed to scrape the thing off!

We quickly realised that we were likely going to arrive in Carlingford with nowhere to eat, so a phone-call to Mark’s folks (who were rescuing Mark from the trip in Carlingford) ensured that we had chicken and chips waiting for us when we arrived.

We hit the village around 11:00pm and were quickly in our quarters for the night. Mark’s folks very kindly sponsored our feed, whereupon we

waved our goodbyes to a trail-weary but reluctant-to-be-leaving Mark, who had provided plenty of laughs for us to date.

The final act of the night was to walk headlong into the closed glass door of the B&B.

29 May - Day 7

Carlingford to Antrim

Extremities: Slieve Donard (852m), Burr Point (East)

Other points of interest: N/a

Distance on bikes: 97 miles

Breakfast at 8:00am, and we were all very tired except for Ian, who had only done ten miles the previous day! Halfway through our food, we were rudely interrupted by a phone call from a wind-blown Henry, skipper of our planned boat-ride across Carlingford Lough to Killowen, telling us to get our asses down to the marina as quickly as possible to set sail. We finished up, grabbed our gear, and made our way down tout de suite!

An acquaintance of Henry’s made a very generous cash donation to our charity, NI Children’s Hospice, which was a nice surprise.

First laugh of the day came when Ian accidentally pulled the cord on his life-jacket, which spent the next 45 seconds inflating fully, and that provided enough comic material to keep us going for most of the morning.

Ian was well-prepared for a dip – “What does this loose string do?”

Second laugh of the day came when we saw all the size of the boat that was to take us across Carlingford Lough! Somehow we managed to get bikes, bodies and gear on board the little rib, and we set sail in choppy waters in a strong breeze.

Er... how are 5 guys and 4 bikes and gear gonna fit in that thing?!

This isn’t working 70

We got absolutely drenched on the crossing, but Henry kept our minds off it by boasting about the qualities of the superb dry-suit he was wearing.

We were met at Killowen by a well-wrapped-up Liz, who rolled the trailer down into the water, and we all helped take out the boat and unload the bikes and gear.

Henry - The Ancient Mariner

Yaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!

Liz and Henry’s mission accomplished – safe on the shore at Killowen

Banter exchanged, we set off for Kilkeel wet and freezing into the stiff breeze, where we stopped in Asda for a break and a wring-out!

Asda was a terrible place to stop, as everything comes in a 20-pack – not great when wanting to travel light. Still, a multi-pack of Tayto Bikers was strapped onto the bike, and off we set for Bloody Bridge, to begin our ascent of Donard.

As soon as we left Kilkeel it started tipping with rain, but this had cleared by the time we reached Bloody Bridge.

The mountain itself was misty further up the hill but looked like clearing as we set off up the path with our bikes on our shoulders. We had planned to join the big stone track to the quarry, but missed the crossing and just kept ploughing on up the well-worn path.

Hot work on the climb from Bloody Bridge

Ian struck the early pace, and Davy manned the back to encourage the stragglers

Enda was happy to carry the bike, as for some reason the saddle was very uncomfortable

We took a couple of breaks on the way up, and then readied ourselves for a cold ascent through the mist. As it turned out, for the last 100 or so vertical metres we were above the clouds, and had the most fantastic views across the top of the cloud, where a couple of the other high peaks, including Bearnagh, could be seen jutting through.

It was pretty cold and very windy, but the howling we could hear was not from the wind but from Enda, who was having some ankle tendon grief.

Bearnagh pokes through the clouds to get in the picture

The view to Commedagh from the summit of Slieve Donard

Put your shoes on, man – this isn’t Croagh Patrick!

Having drunk in all the Mourne views we could take, we made our way down to the saddle and down towards Glen River.

The strong wind and the recent conservation work on the path made most of the mountain unrideable (at best uncomfortable) on rigid bikes, which was unfortunate given memories from the mid-90s of being able to ride nearly all of it.

Ian was oblivious of the avalanche rushing down the mountain

By the time we were at the treeline of Donard Wood, we had been on the mountain for about 4 hours, and were well and truly sick of carrying the bikes.

Enda REALLY enjoyed the trip down Glen River 78

Thankfully, Sean Bradley was there to meet us in Donard Park at 4:15pm, with chilled Coke and crisps at the ready.

This was just enough to take us another mile out the road to the filling station, where we enjoyed the most enormous lunch of bread, fruit, chocolate, sweets, sticky buns, sausage rolls and chocolate bars, including the week’s favourite bar, Cadbury’s Star Bar.

Sean scours the forecourt in search of any scraps of food

With Sean leading the charge in front of us, and the wind on our tails, we flew out through Dundrum, Clough and Downpatrick, and we were soon in Strangford, where we met up with Al and Tara for Doritos in the hot sun.

Enda takes the front, 200 yards from Strangford

The sun was shining but a heavy mist hung over the water, which was of little concern until we learned that the ferry was cancelled and was going nowhere until the mist cleared. This was not great news, as we were targeting making Antrim via Ballyhalbert that night, and it was already tea-time.

After a quick dash round the harbour, we managed to blag a free ride to Portaferry on a dive boat, which actually worked out quicker than the ferry would have been, and we were on our way again after having had our offer of money for the ride refused.

Boarding the dive-boat, Portaferry-bound

Happy to be making progress, whilst the Strangford ferry-goers were at a standstill

On the approach to Burr Point, our most easterly extremity, we were joined by Jeremy, who came armed with enough bananas to sink the Bismarck.

A quick stop for chips in Greyabbey broke up the Ards Peninsula nicely, and we were soon through Newtownards and up to the top of the hill heading for Belfast.

Extremity – Burr Point, Ireland’s most easterly point

If we ever cut that album, we have the cover ready

Jeremy headed for home, Ian and Sean headed for town, and Davy, Enda and I ploughed on through town and out the Antrim Road at great pace, until Templepatrick roundabout, when I went straight over it forgetting how hard it is to bunnyhop a bike up a kerb with a week’s kit on board. Enda and I peeled off for my house at Dunadry at 11:15pm, and Davy headed the extra 4 miles to home in Antrim.

30 May - Day 8

Antrim to Malin Head

Extremities: Malin Head (North)

Other points of interest: N/a

Distance on bikes: 86 miles

We met for our final day at 8:15am at Chapel Corner in Antrim. Enda, Davy and I were joined once again by Ian, who had driven out from Belfast, and also by Phil Jamison and Jonny Laverty, who were planning to join us as far as Portglenone (or so they thought!).

Excitement at Antrim’s Chapel Corner

The weather was glorious. Unbroken sunshine and a strong breeze on our backs, so we knew it was going to be a fun day out, and a great way to finish our trip.

Phil brought a bit of designer quality to proceedings

Jonny powered up the hill into Kilrea, following the scent of ice-cream

We took the Randalstown Road to Portglenone and stopped for a brief break in Portglenone Forest, before pushing on to Kilrea for a Mullin’s Ice- Cream. Jonny and Phil were toying with the idea of turning back, but agreed they would have far more fun if they kept going with the wind and got a bus back from Coleraine.

When Hot Chocolate sang the 1970’s classic “Heaven’s in the back-seat of my Cadillac”, they had clearly never had a Mullin’s ice-cream.

We had no idea how we were getting home from Malin Head in Donegal, and we did not fancy the 80 mile pedal back home again into the strong wind, so we posted a message on Twitter that we needed a lift, and within ten minutes, Tim Swann had called from Newtownabbey to offer to come pick us up at Malin Head and drive us home – an offer we couldn’t refuse!

Getting familiar with the lay-bys of County Antrim

We met up with Ivan Park just outside Coleraine, and were delighted at the clink clink of Budweiser bottles in his rucsac, which we enjoyed in the park in the blazing sun.

Ivan even had the foresight to check our Twitter webpage that morning to see how many of us would be there, to be sure he brought enough beer.

Ivan also kept us entertained all week with a healthy barrage of ribald gags via text.

Ivan knew the buttons to push – Budweiser in the sun outside Coleraine

After waving goodbye to bus-bound Jonny and Phil, we took another food stop at the garage on the ring road outside Coleraine, and were ready for the blast out to Magilligan via Castlerock and Downhill. The sea in Downhill looked pretty inviting for a dip, but we had another extremity to attend to, so we pushed on towards the ferry.

We arrived at the terminal starved at 1:45pm, with the next sailing at 2:15pm (which did not actually happen until after 2:30pm), so there was plenty of time for a big feed of sausages and chips and Coke.

The ride over to Greencastle was very pleasant, and Davy had the eye for detail to point out that the ferry was precisely the same model of boat that took us across the Shannon from Tarbert on the morning of Day 3. Interesting stuff!

The crossing to Greencastle, in a ferry specification we now knew well

It was hard getting going again on the bikes having been sitting around and eating for so long, so it took loads more chocolate and crisps to get us back into the swing of things for a couple of hard climbs.

We were back to racing for all the 50km/hr zones, the final scalp of the trip going to a sneaky Enda as we entered Malin village.

Just outside Malin, with only a few km to go, we met Alastair, a chap from Cookstown, who was basing himself in Coleraine for the week and biking around Donegal, and Alastair stayed with us for our final run up to Malin Head itself. He told us he had bumped into the Lejig crew (whom we had met in Tarbert) a couple of days previously.

Tim Swann, our ride home, was there to meet us as we cleared the final wee tight climb up to the signal station, and when he opened the beer fridge and threw open the picnic basket with the chicken sandwiches, we were in heaven.

A massive thanks to Tim for his help and support – we would still be in Malin Head if not for him!

We made it!

The full Malin Head squad

We sat about in the sun, chatted merrily for about half an hour, and took a few pictures, before finally loading up the bikes.

Ian was a VERY relieved man, as originally we were not going to have room for him in the car, and it was a long way home on the mountain bike into the breeze. But we managed to squeeze him in.

So Enda, Davy, Ian and I piled into Tim’s car, and we left Ivan with the questionable pleasure of heading back to Coleraine with Alastair on the bikes.

A fantastic week’s craic, we saw lots of the country we had never seen before, and met some great people over the week.

Ireland’s Extremities – Job done!

Thanks

A massive thanks goes to all our friends, and also many other folks we didn’t know, who helped us on our journey, particularly:

• Bug and Sparky for the ride down to Crookhaven in County Cork the day before we started our challenge

• Brian “Mountain-Goat” Galvin for seeing us up and down Carrantuohill on Day 1, and for waving us up (making sure we went up) Connor Pass on Day 2

• The Doolin Ferries folks, for entertaining us so well and sorting us across to Rossaveal despite the tide troubles on Day 3

• Paul Mahon for being willing to drag us up Lugnaquilla on the evening of Day 5, even though in the end it wasn’t to be that evening

• Karen Duggan and Jackie O’Hagan for escorting us from Donard into Dublin on Day 6

• Ian O’Seibhlinn, for joining the party from Dundalk on Day 6, and giving us a real howler laugh the next morning in Carlingford with the life-jacket.

• Mark Wright’s folks, for sponsoring our chicken and chips in Carlingford late in the evening of Day 6

• Henry and Liz McLaughlin for getting us across Carlingford Lough on Day 7

• Rowan McMahon, for assisting with the Killowen boat launch on Day 7, even though we didn’t see him, and for lining us up originally with Brian Galvin

• Sean Bradley for being in the engine room from Newcastle to Newtownards on Day 7

• Al and Tara for the Doritos in Strangford on Day 7 (we met Al’s folks on the saddle up Donard too, but didn’t recognise them at the time)

• The dive-boat guys for running us across from Strangford to Portaferry on Day 7

• Jeremy Biggerstaff for coming well-armed with bananas for us hungry chimps before Burr Point on Day 7, and as far as Newtownards.

• Jonny Laverty and Phil Jamison, who provided no shortage of laughs between Antrim and Coleraine on Day 8

• Ivan Park for the beer and company from Coleraine to Malin Head on Day 8

• Tim Swann for coming all the way from Newtownabbey at short notice on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon on Day 8, to open the car beer-fridge, feed us, and then run us home to Antrim. Also Tim’s wife Catherine, for preparing the most amazing chicken rolls for us

• The folks in the various B&B’s we stayed in, who were more than open to our ‘special needs’ of late arrivals, extreme hunger and early starts

• All the folks who followed us on www.twitter.com/extremitycycle

• All the folks who made cash and JustGiving donations before, during and after our challenge. Your donations go directly to Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.

• Our wives and families, for continued unswerving 100% support of all our efforts! :-o

Our Gear List

The following is all the gear we brought with us on our trip, and carried at all times:

ITEM No. Required

Wearing Shorts 1 Each Riding top 1 Each Over-shorts 1 Each Gloves 1 Each Helmet 1 Each Bike shoes 1 Each Socks 1 Each

On Bike Bike back rack 1 Each Bike bag front 1 Each Bike bag back 1 Each Water bottle 1 Each GPS 2 Front light 1 Each Back light 1 Each Pipe-lagging (for carrying) 1 Each Mud-guards 1 Each Pump 2 Spare brake pads 1 Each Spare tubes 1 Each Sidewall repair 2 Chain-splitter 2 Puncture repair kit 2 Allen keys 2 Tyre levers 2 Zip ties 2 Pen-knife 2

On Back Ruc-sac 1 Each Warm riding top 1 Each Rain Jacket 1 Each Buff 1 Each Wicking top 1 Each Dry-bag 1 Each Casual shoes/flipflops 1 Each 94

Ronhill longs 1 Each T-shirt 1 Each Pants 1 Each Pair of socks 1 Each Camera 2 Phone 1 Each Phone charger 1 Each GPS charger 1 Nuun tablet packs 2 Each Cereal bars/portions 5 Each Gels 10 Each Vitamins 1 Each Toothbrush 1 Each Contact lenses 1 Each Chamois cream 1 Each Ibuprofen 1 Each Paracetamol 1 Each Sunscreen 1 First aid kit 2 Velcro straps x 2 for bike 1 Each