Leenane

Forecast called for some rain today, but mostly in the evening, so today was looking pretty decent.  Our new bikes for the second leg of this trip came with some very small panniers, so I risked not including any rain gear to allow fitting everything else in.

We had a very nice breakfast at the Clew Bay Hotel.   Then we left our baggage at the front desk and went in to the back room to retrieve the bicycles.  It took a little bit to get the seat heights adjusted and helmets fitted and everything packed into distressingly small panniers but we did get on the road, climbing the steep hill out of town in granny gear.

The road out of Westport runs along Clew Bay for several kilometers, and offered scenic glimpses of the bay and of the mountains above the bay.  Unfortunately, it was hard to take in the scenery because this was one of the major roads leading into Westport.  It was narrow as many Ireland roads are, and it was rather busy.  So piloting a bicycle took quite a bit of concentration.  Especially when an impatient oncoming driver decided to pass another car around a blind corner in a no-passing zone.  He didn’t see the bicycles in the lane until he was almost on top of us.  And we had nowhere to go because of the narrowness of the road and the thick vegetation right on the lane edge.

So it was a rather heart-stopping moment, seeing a car occupying the entire lane, coming around the corner towards us.  He managed to nose partway back into his lane, missing us by mere inches.  Maybe the Irish are used to a lot less margin than I am, but that was too close for comfort.  We are thankful for God’s protection during this incident, and on the trip as a whole. 

We took a side road to Old Head Beach, a welcome change from the busy main road and a chance to get off the bikes and walk the beach for a bit.  Croagh Patrick, a mountain peak that was visible all the way from Westport could be seen from here, a nice backdrop to the beach.

A few kilometers later, we turned onto a more minor road, leaving most of the traffic behind.  A welcome change to the busyness of the last 10Km or so.  This road was curvy, it was narrow, but there was very little traffic, and no busses or lorries.  And it was amazingly beautiful.  It wound through some of the most rural and remote areas of Ireland that we have seen so far.

We stopped to eat lunch at a wide spot in the road, there out in the middle of nowhere.  Other than the occasional passing of the car, the only sound that could be heard other than the blustery wind was the bleating of sheep.  Seems to be a lot of those in Ireland.

It would have been a perfect ride but for the wind.  Growing stronger as the day wore on, the wind always seemed to be against us, making it difficult to ride even downhill.  We fought this wind all the way into Leenane.

Other than the increased use of battery power, the wind really did not diminish our enjoyment of the scenery and the ride.  It was drop-dead gorgeous the entire time.  From the descent along Doo Lough Lake to the ride along the edge of Killary Fjord, there were no bad views, only amazing ones.

The ride ended at the Leenane Hotel, our stay for the night.  Situated right on the edge of the fjord, it reminded us of Fairmont Chateau hotel on Lake Louise in Banff National Park, only at a much smaller scale.  (I didn’t take the first picture, but I took the second.)

The stress of 10Km of busy road plus the extra effort needed to fight the wind wore us out, so when we secured the bikes and retrieved our luggage, we flopped on the bed and took a nap.

Later we had dinner at the hotel as it is pretty much the only game in town.  Leenane is composed of a couple bars and a place that sells sheep and wool products, so not much to choose from.  But the dinner was very good.   Today is Terry and Jill’s anniversary.  What a cool way to celebrate it, here in Ireland.  They bought us dessert to help celebrate.  Happy Anniversary!

We covered 54Km today.