7.20am (ish) It's bloody raining. Wow, did I choose the right day to cycle from one side of the country to the other. The first stretch to Loughrea is quite desolate and windy - there's a south-easterly wind, and the road to Loughrea is directly against it. Already I'm thinking I might turn back, stay in Galway one more night and then try again tomorrow.
9.30 Loughrea - the sky is a uniform shade of dirty grey. It starts bucketing down for about 20mins, and I end up soaked to the skin. Well, I have a rainjacket, so I'm okay up top, but my shorts and socks are saturated.
Need to wee. Consider weeing my pants. Decide not to. I don't want to smell of wee, and I probably won't get lunch if I do. What do professional cyclists do?
10am I try to change gears, but can't. The gears are too slippy, and my hands are wet and numb. I have a kind of Legoman-like claw grip.
10.30 Kilreekil - red van beeps at me for not cycling in the flooded bit of the hard shoulder, as he overtakes me at speed around a bend. Kilreekil being the scene of several fatal accidents over the past few years.
11am Aughrim - I consider booking into the hostel I did last year, decide to keep going. I think about stopping to check out the interpretative centre that I missed last year, decide I don't have time.
11.20 Ballinasloe - stop to grab some soup to warm up, same place I got my lunch last year! Change my socks and dry my boots under the hand drier in the toilets.
12.40 Pass an Emo garage. Ponder catchy advertising slogans. Decided "Switch to Emo and watch your petrol bill cut itself" was best one.
1pm Cross over the Shannon, stop to admire the view. Notice a missed call from Jason. Turns out he passed me a little while ago.
Need to wee again. Consider weeing into the Shannon. Decide not to.
1.45 Stop the far side of Athlone. I undo the dressing on my ankle (I think it's strained), and let it breathe a bit. I take a swig of water, which tastes immensely of Galway. It's an acquired taste really. I'm pretty sure this particular bottle has no cryptosporidium.
2.45 Moate - stop for tea, really starting to feel the strain of cycling for seven hours or so. The next stretch to Kilbeggan is quite tough - it's only about 15k, but takes me about an hour.
4.20 Kilbeggan to Kinnegad is even worse. 30k of desolate dual carriageway. I'm not even sure if cyclists are even allowed, but it's only a national road. There are a couple of beeps. I take most of them to mean "crazy bastard", seeing as how they come from cars the far side of the road. Plenty of hard shoulder room anyway, so it's only the slip roads I really have to be careful on.
Need to wee. Consider going at side of the road. Decide not to. Too many cars about - I'll just hold it in.
6pm I reach Kinnegad, where the batteries on my GPS gizmo cut out. I pick some more up on the way to Enfield. The M4 takes over the dual carriageway, so it's back to the slightly windier national roads again.
7.20pm I arrive in Enfield, with hardly any strength left in my legs. My knees are screaming. I take a breather by the bus stop, where I can smell the Chinese restaurant... hoghmmm...
9.05pm I pause in Leixlip to put on my lights. It's starting to get dark, and I don't want to take any chances.
Still need to wee. Consider weeing in the bushes beside the canal. Decide not to. Too many joggers about.
9.10pm I cross the county boundary - huzzah! I follow the Leixlip road down onto the Lucan bypass, where there are roadworks aplenty. This means no hard shoulder, and with trucks passing inches from my ear, I got off the bypass and headed south, figuring I'll run into something I recognise.
9.30pm Realise I really don't know where I am. West Dublin is a maze of suburbs I've never heard of - Ronanstown, Adamstown and Foxborough. I know I haven't crossed the M50 yet. I check in at home, and Daddy tells me to head east. Eventually I see a sign for Clondalkin, somewhere I actually know. Then, a little further on, a sign for Tallaght, which is where I don't live.
Really need to wee. Consider weeing at side of road. Decide not to. Too many houses - I'll just hold it in.
10pm Discover I'm cycling down the Belgard Road, and therefore know how to get home - wooo!
10.25pm Get home, have lemsip and toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Reckon I've caught a cold with cycling in the wet, not to mention my own sweat. yay!
Still really need to wee. I wee.
Some thoughts... I've seen more roadkill in the one day than I have in the entire rest of my life put together. I think it was probably the first time I've seen a weasel in real life. Not to mention countless birds, a couple of cats, a fox and several small rodents.
Secondly, to those feckers who beep/shout at cyclists. Screw you guys, I have as much right to be here as you do!
Also, people in the country are much nicer and generally say hello as you pass. Makes you feel human again! :)
Lastly, a big shout out to those who put me up in Galway - danke schon and go raibh maith agat! To those of you who offered, there's always a bed for you in my house! Or at least a bit of floor. Likewise to those who texted while I was pedalling - much love!
9.30 Loughrea - the sky is a uniform shade of dirty grey. It starts bucketing down for about 20mins, and I end up soaked to the skin. Well, I have a rainjacket, so I'm okay up top, but my shorts and socks are saturated.
Need to wee. Consider weeing my pants. Decide not to. I don't want to smell of wee, and I probably won't get lunch if I do. What do professional cyclists do?
10am I try to change gears, but can't. The gears are too slippy, and my hands are wet and numb. I have a kind of Legoman-like claw grip.
10.30 Kilreekil - red van beeps at me for not cycling in the flooded bit of the hard shoulder, as he overtakes me at speed around a bend. Kilreekil being the scene of several fatal accidents over the past few years.
11am Aughrim - I consider booking into the hostel I did last year, decide to keep going. I think about stopping to check out the interpretative centre that I missed last year, decide I don't have time.
11.20 Ballinasloe - stop to grab some soup to warm up, same place I got my lunch last year! Change my socks and dry my boots under the hand drier in the toilets.
12.40 Pass an Emo garage. Ponder catchy advertising slogans. Decided "Switch to Emo and watch your petrol bill cut itself" was best one.
1pm Cross over the Shannon, stop to admire the view. Notice a missed call from Jason. Turns out he passed me a little while ago.
Need to wee again. Consider weeing into the Shannon. Decide not to.
1.45 Stop the far side of Athlone. I undo the dressing on my ankle (I think it's strained), and let it breathe a bit. I take a swig of water, which tastes immensely of Galway. It's an acquired taste really. I'm pretty sure this particular bottle has no cryptosporidium.
2.45 Moate - stop for tea, really starting to feel the strain of cycling for seven hours or so. The next stretch to Kilbeggan is quite tough - it's only about 15k, but takes me about an hour.
4.20 Kilbeggan to Kinnegad is even worse. 30k of desolate dual carriageway. I'm not even sure if cyclists are even allowed, but it's only a national road. There are a couple of beeps. I take most of them to mean "crazy bastard", seeing as how they come from cars the far side of the road. Plenty of hard shoulder room anyway, so it's only the slip roads I really have to be careful on.
Need to wee. Consider going at side of the road. Decide not to. Too many cars about - I'll just hold it in.
6pm I reach Kinnegad, where the batteries on my GPS gizmo cut out. I pick some more up on the way to Enfield. The M4 takes over the dual carriageway, so it's back to the slightly windier national roads again.
7.20pm I arrive in Enfield, with hardly any strength left in my legs. My knees are screaming. I take a breather by the bus stop, where I can smell the Chinese restaurant... hoghmmm...
9.05pm I pause in Leixlip to put on my lights. It's starting to get dark, and I don't want to take any chances.
Still need to wee. Consider weeing in the bushes beside the canal. Decide not to. Too many joggers about.
9.10pm I cross the county boundary - huzzah! I follow the Leixlip road down onto the Lucan bypass, where there are roadworks aplenty. This means no hard shoulder, and with trucks passing inches from my ear, I got off the bypass and headed south, figuring I'll run into something I recognise.
9.30pm Realise I really don't know where I am. West Dublin is a maze of suburbs I've never heard of - Ronanstown, Adamstown and Foxborough. I know I haven't crossed the M50 yet. I check in at home, and Daddy tells me to head east. Eventually I see a sign for Clondalkin, somewhere I actually know. Then, a little further on, a sign for Tallaght, which is where I don't live.
Really need to wee. Consider weeing at side of road. Decide not to. Too many houses - I'll just hold it in.
10pm Discover I'm cycling down the Belgard Road, and therefore know how to get home - wooo!
10.25pm Get home, have lemsip and toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Reckon I've caught a cold with cycling in the wet, not to mention my own sweat. yay!
Still really need to wee. I wee.
Some thoughts... I've seen more roadkill in the one day than I have in the entire rest of my life put together. I think it was probably the first time I've seen a weasel in real life. Not to mention countless birds, a couple of cats, a fox and several small rodents.
Secondly, to those feckers who beep/shout at cyclists. Screw you guys, I have as much right to be here as you do!
Also, people in the country are much nicer and generally say hello as you pass. Makes you feel human again! :)
Lastly, a big shout out to those who put me up in Galway - danke schon and go raibh maith agat! To those of you who offered, there's always a bed for you in my house! Or at least a bit of floor. Likewise to those who texted while I was pedalling - much love!
