The Trip - Ireland Cycling
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This page contains highlights from my trip to the west coast of Ireland in July 2005. The cycling tour started and finished at Killarney and was run by Irish Cycling Safaris.
Day 1 - Killarney
We all met for the first time. I had time for two quick walks through town before and after dinner.
Day 2 - Killarney to Sneem
In the morning we got our bicycles and spend some time getting those figured out. From Killarney, we biked south to Killarney National Park. Our first point of interest was Muckross Abbey and soon after Muckross House. From Muckross House, we cycled along a path between the Killarney Lakes before rejoining the main highway for its climb to the pass at Molls Gap. We had lunch at the restaurant at Molls Gap.
After lunch, we headed towards Sneem. There were several gentle hills as the road snaked through a broad valley. We also had our first views of the Atlantic Ocean. In Sneem, we were thankful for showers, drinks and dinner.
Day 3 - Sneem to Glenbeigh
Discovering some bruised bottoms and sore legs in the morning we had a gentle hill out of town. After backtracking for 6km, we branched on to a narrow backroad that climbed gently, steeply and finally very steeply to the Gap of Ballagheama. For much of this ride, it was raining - our first wet weather.
From the top, we descended down to Glencar and lunch. After lunch we cycled along a gentle valley with lakes before a final pass and descent to Glenbeigh for the night. After arriving at Glenbeigh, some people cycled the 4km down to the ocean.
Day 4 - Glenbeigh to Dingle
In the morning we took a bus along the coast to Dingle. From Dingle, we cycled a loop to Slea Head on Dingle Peninsula and back to Dingle for the night. The first part of the bike ride was along spectacular cliffs but unfortunately it was raining hard - our wettest day on the trip.
After drying out over lunch, we continued around the Dingle Peninsula. The coast became less steep and there were several old buildings to break up the ride. There was a final pass through wet weather before we returned to Dingle.
Continue to Part 2.
