Sat 24th July
We were delighted and excited to be on the road before 10am and heading up to Malin Head, our destination and the most northerly point of Ireland. The distance was less than 70 kms. and we had all day to do it. Our first break was in a town called Muff where some of the group were interested in visiting a discount warehouse. I was more interested in topping up my drinking bottles with proper water and a glucose drink so instead of viewing the sub-standard merchandise at cheap prices, I topped up my supplies at the local supermarket. I knew that the competition would be hot and heavy for the first man to reach Malin Head and I wanted to be there or there-abouts as my wife and sister-in-law were going to be waiting for me at the summit.
We gathered the troops together in Carndonagh and again in Malin town. On the last day we wanted to aid camaraderie and ensure that enough food stops kept the energy up for the final climb. We opened a book as to which of the two young men in their prime would reach the top first. I bet on Seamus but I secretly thought that I would be pretty close and possibly come in second.
The pace was pretty hot from the moment we left Malin town. We had 16 kilometres to cover through beautiful rugged hills but the excitement of reaching the summit was a stronger motivation than the scenery at this point. With ten kilometres to go I hit the front thinking I would split the boys. By the sea shore we hit a whirling head wind. The wind and rain seemed to go to the pit of my stomach. I told Seamus that I could not keep up. Shane then passed me and I let them go on. I tried to pace myself against the speedometer on my bike but I noticed my speed slipping below 20 kph several times and knew that the gap was widening.
The final approach to Malin Head is very steep. A friend had warned me about this and I had tried to prepare mentally for the climb. As hill climbing is still my weakness in cycling I needed my full strength but the earlier episode had sapped this out of me. I felt like walking but was not going to let myself down. I stood on the pedals, out of the saddle and with all my energy kept going. I could see my wife cheering and all the tourists visiting Malin were clapping as I approached the end. Holding back the tears of joy (not pain) I threw my arms around her as she said "well done".
All 5 cyclists were ecstatic and overjoyed about our achievement. In fact any cyclist that I know who has cycled from Mizen to Malin talks about the event for the rest of their lives. As a group we bonded and we had fun. Unlike many groups who do this in 3 days we had time to enjoy the cycling and the scenery. Saturday night we stayed in the Malin hotel which was excellent. Donal our guide presented us with our medal, certificate and map of the entire course.
Sunday morning we left our friends in Derry where John Mc Guirk got a plane to Dublin, Anna Maria got a bus/train to Belfast and the two boys got the bus towards Roscommon. I being the lucky one had my wife drive me and my bike to Naas
We were delighted and excited to be on the road before 10am and heading up to Malin Head, our destination and the most northerly point of Ireland. The distance was less than 70 kms. and we had all day to do it. Our first break was in a town called Muff where some of the group were interested in visiting a discount warehouse. I was more interested in topping up my drinking bottles with proper water and a glucose drink so instead of viewing the sub-standard merchandise at cheap prices, I topped up my supplies at the local supermarket. I knew that the competition would be hot and heavy for the first man to reach Malin Head and I wanted to be there or there-abouts as my wife and sister-in-law were going to be waiting for me at the summit.
We gathered the troops together in Carndonagh and again in Malin town. On the last day we wanted to aid camaraderie and ensure that enough food stops kept the energy up for the final climb. We opened a book as to which of the two young men in their prime would reach the top first. I bet on Seamus but I secretly thought that I would be pretty close and possibly come in second.
The pace was pretty hot from the moment we left Malin town. We had 16 kilometres to cover through beautiful rugged hills but the excitement of reaching the summit was a stronger motivation than the scenery at this point. With ten kilometres to go I hit the front thinking I would split the boys. By the sea shore we hit a whirling head wind. The wind and rain seemed to go to the pit of my stomach. I told Seamus that I could not keep up. Shane then passed me and I let them go on. I tried to pace myself against the speedometer on my bike but I noticed my speed slipping below 20 kph several times and knew that the gap was widening.
The final approach to Malin Head is very steep. A friend had warned me about this and I had tried to prepare mentally for the climb. As hill climbing is still my weakness in cycling I needed my full strength but the earlier episode had sapped this out of me. I felt like walking but was not going to let myself down. I stood on the pedals, out of the saddle and with all my energy kept going. I could see my wife cheering and all the tourists visiting Malin were clapping as I approached the end. Holding back the tears of joy (not pain) I threw my arms around her as she said "well done".
All 5 cyclists were ecstatic and overjoyed about our achievement. In fact any cyclist that I know who has cycled from Mizen to Malin talks about the event for the rest of their lives. As a group we bonded and we had fun. Unlike many groups who do this in 3 days we had time to enjoy the cycling and the scenery. Saturday night we stayed in the Malin hotel which was excellent. Donal our guide presented us with our medal, certificate and map of the entire course.
Sunday morning we left our friends in Derry where John Mc Guirk got a plane to Dublin, Anna Maria got a bus/train to Belfast and the two boys got the bus towards Roscommon. I being the lucky one had my wife drive me and my bike to Naas
hello my friend! warm greeting ^^!
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