Today was our longest Ireland ride – a big 75km (46 mile) loop starting from Leenane, heading north-ish through the tiny village of Drummin and onto Louisburgh. Then a return route heading back south through Doo Lough and back to Leenane. We had been fearful of rain but we lucked out with only overcast skies and very light mist for the first half of the ride. There were some sunshiny intervals coming into Louisburgh where we stopped for a coffee break.
I was feeling a little too cocky at that point and thought we were home free. We’d already done the hill climbing involved with this route and figured we would just coast on back. Haha whistled Nuada. For many miles, we had strong headwinds pushing against us and it was a lot of work for my tiring legs. Happily, we entered a relatively protected area for the last ~10 km but I was REALLY glad when we made the last turn toward our hotel. We’ve since carbo-fueled for recovery and for tomorrow’s ride.
About that. The forecast for tomorrow/Monday is hair-raising. 100% rain which I could live with, but also, strong winds with gusts up to 40 mph. Our route is only 22 miles but even so, NO. Winds that intense will tip me over. We’ve contacted our tour operator who has come up with a plan B to transport us to our next stop if needed. We’ll make a game time decision in the morning.
In the meantime, here are a few photos from today’s ride.
I'm seriously waiting to see your next post to find out how the winds turned out. I'd hate to see you miss that much of your ride, but tipping over doesn't sound great either! Love the horns on those sheep.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya!! We were out for a bitty hike with gusts up to 50mph and I was SO unsteady on my feet! I’m like, forget it.
ReplyDeleteLove the story and pics!! Especially the bottom middle one and the … sheep??