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Published: April 23rd 2018
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The next day, I woke up feeling excited that I was back on the bike. Granny Ann greeted me in the morning and said, “Last Supper”! Will it be the same Irish breakfast?” We smiled at each other interpreting that as “Last Breakfast”. I said yes and I got the same sumptuous meal with added fried mushroom in it. As usual, I did not finish the big breakfast and ended wrapping myself a ham sandwich for my next escapade. Granny Ann even asked me to bring mandarin oranges which in hindsight was a treat as I rested on the trail. It was bitter sweet leaving
Trade Winds B&B. I spent 3 nights in the area, the hosts were friendly and accommodating. Most of all, I had what I considered a
priceless view: The beach surrounded by lush headland; its radiance magnified with the caress of a sunset. I also loved hearing the birds chirping and the sea waves crashing as I rest on my room from a long ride or hike. Being surrounded by nature worked wonders for me.
By 9:30am, Granny Ann and I had exchanged hugs and I set out on my bike from
Biddy’s Bar. Along the way, I ran into Seamus who stopped his car to greet me and gave me last minute tips for the next leg of the tour. He was on his way to Trade Winds to pick up my luggage and drop it to my next accommodation. I truly love this pick up and drop off arrangement. My suit cases were heavy with all my gadgets from the business trip. Seamus would always go out of his way to carry them to my next destination. Sometimes, it entailed bringing them upstairs. Mind you, my bags were heavy, in fact, overweight from the moment I left Toronto (clearly, traveling light is not my cup of tea). Seamus jokingly asked if there was dead body inside. It was a witty jest but seriously, finding my luggage neatly stowed in my new accommodation is a testament how
Ireland by Bike Team go out of their way to make life convenient for their customers. Kudos to IBB! Off I went to my next destination. Again, I forgot to reset the bike computer to zero so my distances were a few meters off. Given my biking experience in the last few days, I
came to trust the GPS route. I learned that the maps were accurate and that as long as I stuck to the route, there was zero chance of being lost. Ohhh, did I say Seamus did a wonderful job mapping all cycling routes?
The route from
Glencomcille to Glenties ran through some of the most remote areas in the county. It was a beautiful Irish landscape with mountaintops, hills, pine trees, sheep, pastures and birds. Except for me, there was no other cyclists in sight. To justify my solo ride, I thought, “Who would go biking on a random work day Thursday?”. The other nuisance of this route due to its remoteness was where to do a bio break. At some point, my bladder could no longer hold water and I had to pee in the middle of nowhere (excuse me here). Well, I made sure the sheep were not looking when ‘nature called’. The grass were wet from the night’s rain so there was no evidence that ‘Yoli was there’.
I pedaled on enjoying the company of sheep and the 360 view of cloud-kissed mountains around me. Then came
a point marked red in the route map: “
WARNING:
STEEP DESCENT WITH LOOSE GRAVEL AND POTHOLES FOR 3 KMs”. As I anticipate this point, I remember Seamus’ statement when he met me for the first day during our orientation. He said his recent client broke a wrist going downhill on this route. When I reached this point on top of the hill, it was indeed a steep long winding trail! Shivers went down my spine for a moment but that was overtaken by an adrenaline rush seeing the stunning view that awaited me downhill:
Maghera Beach. Exciting! I stopped to take photos at the starting point, made the sign of the cross,took a deep breath then rode my way down. With a combination of soft breaking on my bike and saying to myself “Slow and steady, look ahead”, I rode down in a breeze. My days of mountain biking downhill paid off this day. I coasted the 3kms downhill unscathed, the loose gravel did not bother me at all. I immersed myself into the exquisite view around and ahead of me. Also, truth be told: As an avid fan of photos, I couldn’t help but stop twice to take pictures
of the landscape surrounding me (in hindsight, a GoPro would be handy). It was an exhilarating ride down. I felt accomplished and blessed to enjoy the moment. The drivers that passed by gave me thumbs up.This was another wonderful and memorable experience for the books. I celebrated and rewarded myself with Granny Ann’s delectable ham sandwich for lunch after the descent.
Next destination:
Maghera Beach and Caves. The downhill ride continued with a stop at the beach. This was one of the widest fine sand beaches I had seen in the area, which almost appeared white. It also had several caves. I saw some visitor’s rock climbing to enter one of the caves. I managed to go inside for about 50ms but headed back out after a few minutes. The note on my travel guide said
“Check the tides. At the onset of a high tide, one risks getting stranded”. Since I did not check the high tide timing, I went in and out of the cave quickly, took a few photos, then headed to Glenties. I was happy to see a toilet at the entrance of Maghera Beach.
After a long day in remote trails, it was rewarding to use a decent washroom with 0.50 Euro fee. To be honest, I was willing to pay more given my constant need to empty my bladder.
I was halfway to
Glenties and I started to feel a cramp on my right knee. I thought it was some lactic acid building up for lack of hydration or stretching. I took more frequent breaks to shake off the cramps and took more power bars. It helped that some of the trails to Glenties were downhill and I was just coasting through. At this point, I decided not to pursue the Extra Cycle at Portnoo to see the Dolmen Site. I still wonder to this day how it might have looked like as I missed the dolmen sites on previous destinations.
Passing by the town of
Ardara, I passed by a
waterfall before reaching my final destination for the day at
Lisdanar B&B in Glenties. The host, Rosaleen greeted me and welcomed me to her lovely home. Lisdanar B&B by far was the most beautiful B&B of all my tour. It was
a lovely Irish house with very fine decors. My room had 2 single beds with fine linens, a TV, a collection of coffee/tea makers and cookies. It was bigger than some B&B I had stayed in, and it gave me enough space for a long overdue yoga stretches. Rosaleen was also the most hospitable. Seeing me exhausted from cycling, she offered to make me a tea and carrot cake ( made by her 90-year old Mom). We spent good amount of time chatting about my trip and she gave me a few tips where to go for dinner and shared a bit of the town’s history.
Per Rosaleen’s recommendation, I rewarded myself a
Seafood Platter and a
Guinness at
Highlands Hotel for completing 42Kms of trail and braving the 3Km downhill at Maghera. The meal was sumptuous! In Glenties, I also passed by
Museum Tea Room which according to my IBB Tour map, was the location of a 1998 film starring Meryl Streep called “Dancing at Lughnasa”(an adaptation of Brian Friel's play). Another trivia I learned is that the town is also home for a great literary son,
Patrick McGill also known as the “
Navyy Poet” who used to work in the navy before becoming a poet. As I wind down for the day, I was thankful for another great day to experience nature’s beauty and also learn literature.
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