And so it begins... When planning this year’s charity cycle marathon in aid of Outreach Moldova I had not ideas that the worst summer day off all time could be thrown into the mix and make the first day one of the most difficult cycles I have ever undertaken. We started off in Limerick east in relatively calm conditions and proceeded out through Patrickswell and onwards to Adare. By the time we had reached Adare the day took on a sinister new persona and it was obvious this was going to be a challenge like no other. There followed a battle with the elements typical of a summer day in Ireland in recent years. As we headed from Adare to Newcastle West the condictions worsened and it was a relief to stop in the Mallard restaurant in Newcastle West for a hot meal and warm up... It was only a taste of what was to come... As we headed out of Newcastle west to tackle the ascent up the north Kerry Mountains to Abbeyfeale the rain continue to fall in biblical proportions and took made even seeing where you’re going difficult. With the rain the accompanying a strong force five westerly gale in our faces it made the cycle as difficult as possible. You can see from the accompanying video clip of my journey out of Abbeyfeale and onwards to Castleisland the conditions were realty appalling and really I have never cycled in such conditions before. The onwards uphill climb to Castleisland for over another 20km was probably the most difficult cycle possible. Eventually I reached the top of the north Kerry Mountains and the 8km downwards was the first time today that I did not have to pedal... It made the upward piece worthwhile to coast all the way to a snack break at Castleisland. And so the last 22km from Castleisland to Killarney proved quite easy as finally the sun made an appearance and the heat was turned on. But it was too late to dry out the clothes and I ended the day with wind chill and soaked to the skin and puddles in my cycle shoes... Never have I experienced such conditions before... And so on to tomorrow when the plan is to take the support car out to Slea Head and cycle from there back to Killarney as there are storm force 7 westerly gales forecast all day... Should be fun... Update tomorrow night It can’t be any more difficult than today!!!
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 09:14:10 +0000
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