Newcastle West to Gort

Monday 19th July.
I arrived down to breakfast at 8am sharp which gave me some time to visit the Tesco store adjacent to the hotel for vaseline and sudocreme. There was no major problem with saddle sores just yet, but enough to state that preventative action was in line.
There were two punctures from the night before so I being the bicycle mechanic replaced tubes in John Mc Guirk's and Anna Maria's bike which was well appreciated. We set off at 9.30am
Our guide managed to find an 1100 foot climb at Knockanimpaha near Carrigkerry on route to Tarbert. In the village of Glin, John the American met two ladies from Boston. When he told them of his mission they serenaded us with "Its a long way to Tipperary" in full voice. We had a good laugh and appreciated their light-heartedness. The ferry was good fun we had time for photos and a lunch break at the far side.
We cycled on the outskirts of the Burren which is renowned for its fauna, rocks and scents. Our guide found another climb called Ben Dash between Kilmihill and Connolly. We passed a man working in an auto garage who had observed the brothers passing, then Anna Maria so he shouted at me "Get up there ye boy ya, you're losing it". I was only 200 metres behind on this climb and the others were still in my sight. Clare people have a different sense of humour and you must open up and tune in to appreciate it. When we stopped off for our lunch at Inagh the men at the bar wanted to know if we were entering the Tour De France next year.
There were good roads and beautiful lakes between Corrofin and Gort so myself and the brothers powered along and arrived at our destination at 8.15pm about twenty minutes before the other two cyclists.
We checked in to O'Sullivans hotel in the square in Gort. This is a hostelry that I have never been attracted to on my visits there, I service a dealer in Gort but have lunch in a pub opposite the hotel. It did the job for accommodation but could have been better on food and facilities. I would give O'Sullivans a rating 5/10