Steve's Adventures 

Weekend in Hereford

With the end of my contract in Ireland looming on the horizon I decided to go home to Hereford this weekend and return my PC along with some of the more bulky and heavy of the gear I seem to have accumalated in Dublin.

Took the ferry back on the Friday and spent the best part of the day getting there. Had some food over at mothers and got to see Davids "new" house. This makes his fourth and I don't know how he does it. Ok each of them were wrecks when he took them over and the one he is living in atm is a more of a building site but kudos to him for having a morgage repayment bigger than his salary.

Saturday was spent cleaning up the house as various insects had died there the last 9 months since somebody was living here. Spoke to Heather next door and got all the gossip about whats going on. Took the bicycle out to see B and had a lovely lunch followed by a walk in the woods. Got to walk through badger country and could see their tracks and holes everywhere, was great. Visited fathers grave and said a prayer, its his birthday in just over a week, oh how I still miss him. We all went out for a meal in the evening though my hayfever was playing havoc with me. Exhausted and in bed by 10.

Up early and mooched around the house getting ready to go. Went and said hello and goodbye to Edna just as mother came and picked me up for the drive to Birmingham airport. Was home just in time to play for a bit and watch the world cup.

Lovely to go home even if its so short and sweet

Day 16

Sunday June 25th - Port Stewart to Belfast - 108 miles - Total so far 1623 miles

To say I slept soundly is an understatement, comotose is probably a better description. I woke at the seemingly unearthly hour of 3.45am and enjoyedbreakfast that had been left out for me whilst overlooking the beaches of Castlerock in the distance,

The route today was destined to be one of the best of the trip so far. The combination of excellent roads, hardly any traffic, stunning coastal views and perfect cycling weather made this by far the best day so far.



I slipped out of Port Stweart and headed across to Portrush pausing just enough time to take a photo back towards town. It was a strange feeling because suddenly I was back in a typical British seaside resort even down to the chip bags blowing in the wind. The road signs were the familiar British ones, I had pounds in my wallet and the whole "feel" of the place was more British than the Irish I was so used to. Perhaps it was the fact that the roads didnt look like roadworks in progress or the fact that the coastline was so developed with all sorts of tourist attractions but it certainly felt like a completely different place.



The cycling was a joy. With no cars except the occassional taxi heading home I had the whole road to myself and as it wound gently up and down I had some spectacular early morning views.





Dotted along this part of the coast were a number of castles all perched on precarious clifftops. One of these was Dunluce Castle, built in the 13th century, which was occupied until the 17th century. This magnificent castle was quite a sight





From there the route took me through Bushmills home of the oldest legally brewed whiskey in Ireland (or so the signposts said). Being a whiskey brewed in the North I hadn't actually heard of it until this weekend. It was only the weekend before I had been taking Susie back to Sweden when I saw a bottle for sale in the Duty Free at Dublin airport. For some reason I thought it was an American whiskey, fine connoisseur I make!

From Bushmills the next place of interest was the Giants Causeway. This is Irelands first World heritage site and is a very unusual rock formation formed 60 million years ago. 37,000 or so black basalt columns, mostly hexagonal columns on the edge of the sea. Legend has it that the giant Fionn McCumhail built the causeway out to the Scottish island of Staffa where his fancy lived.









What seemed strange is that access to the stones were so unrestricted. Many of them showed signs of wear and tear from the countless tourists that have walked over them. I guess at some stage they will have to rope it off to save it from just wearing away which would be a shame.

Not far from the causeway was yet another unusual attraction. The rope bridge at Carrick-A-Rede was quite impressive as was the coastline out to it.







The bridge itself used to be constructed each year by the Salmon fishermen who ran the salmon fishery on the island. Now its a National Trust site and the bridge is permanent.



Next stop was Ballycastle and then out on the coast road around Torr head where I was able to see the Mull of Kintyre in the far distance, yes it really was Scotland that I could see. The scenery in this area was just stunning and the climbs up the hills were perpendicular!! Still it was well worth the effort and I was so glad I chose to come this way instead of taking the A2.













Once I was past Torr Head and through the Glens of Antrim I joined the A2 again and followed its lazy meanderings all the way to Belfast. This road was a joy as it was level, flat and barely a few feet from the sea the whole way. It was also very popular with motor bikes that whizzed up and down past me. At Carrickfergus was a very impressive castle and of course coming into Belfast I could make out the famous Harland and Wolfe shipyard with their distintive cranes where the Titanic was built.





On arriving in Belfast I was able to locate the main railway station and took the short trip back to Dublin. An amazing weekend of cycling and amazing to think that I am almost finished, only 1 weekend of cycling left to get back to Dublin.

Day 15

Saturday June 24th - Derry to Port Stewart - 140 miles - Total so far 1515 miles

This day also includes 18 miles from the Friday as I decided to leave work a little earlier and catch the bus back to Derry with the idea of staying in a seaside town rather than in Derry itself. After a rather unpleasant stay in Sligo where it was bought home ot me that most B&B in the city centers are flop houses for drunken stag parties the idea of getting out of Derry had great appeal. Also I just dont feel comfortable being a Brit in Northern Ireland, I know its totally unreasonable but my only other dealings with Northern Ireland have left unpleasant memories.

Arrived in Derry for about 6pm on the Friday and rode out to Buncrana which is a pretty little seaside town on the shores of Lough Swilly. Apparently there is a ferry service across to Rathmullan and a couple of the department guys had recommended that I take this ferry and explore the West bank of the lough. I was tempted as I had skipped this part last time as I was racing to catch the bus back to Dublin the last time I was cycling. However with so many miles ahead of me this weekend I thought better of it and instead kept to my original plan.

The B&B was easy to find and exceptionally comfortable. I took the landladies advice and visited a local hotel for a meal (which was very bland) and watched the football. An early night and equal early rise the next morning and I was on the road by 5.30am.



The early morning ride out to Irelands most Northernly point was very was one of "undulating" terrain, so in other words was absolutely knackering. As I hadn't been cycling for a month it proved to be a tough day as my legs weren't used to the workout they were getting.

The most surreal event was half way up Mamore Gap when I stopped to chat to the occupants of a Ford Escort coming down in the opposite direction. This pass was extremely steep so I was happy for the distraction but was somewhat surprised to find that the cars occupants were 5 young lads drinking beer at 6.15am. Anyway we chatted about various things such as was I mad to be cycling this early and increduality at the distances I was planning to do when it transpired that the lads were actually joy riders. So I got to meet the "criminal element" and must say they were very friendly, just hope the car gets back to the original owners and they didnt get into trouble.



The views over Lough Swilly were fantastic and it was interesting to note that this is where the British Fleet under Lord Jeleco was anchored here prior to the Battle of Jutland in World War One. In fact there was a rather impressive fort at Dunree that I had a quick look at that was built here in 1798 to guard against possible landings by the French.





The views up to Malin head were just stunning and the area as about remote as it gets in Ireland. How anybody can live up here so far away from a large town escapes me, I guess I am just too used to having all the mod cons around me.











Malin head itself was a collection of little farms clinging to the hill side and holiday homes. I did get squeezed off the road by a big 4x4 who stopped and had a chat. Seems he was one of the "bad guys" as he was not only the owner of the local shop and pub but also a devloper. I guess these remote communities fight tooth and nail to resist change to their way of life and the building of numerous holiday homes must be very contentious.



Heading back down South I had to make a decision as to which way to get across to Port Stewart. The easiest way would have been to catch the ferry from Greencastle across to Magellan point. This would have let me skip aboout 50 miles of coastline as the other option was to cycle back to Derry and then pick up the A2. Now I don't like the main roads and up until now I hadn't had to take many, basically Ireland hasn't got any. However in the North the roads are much more developed and the coast road from Derry to Belfast is bacially a main road. The other thing about main raods is that those in the North tend to be narrower and busier than the South and they don't have the slow lane that I have come to love so much.

Anyway wieghing this all up I decided to bite the bullet and cycle around rather than catch the ferry. Sadly the countryside wasn't much to write about let alone take any pictures of and almost 5 hours later I arrived at the point the ferry would have bought me too. But what the heck at least it meant my mileage for the day was something decent. The main road turned out to be a surprise as it had a slow lane and the traffic was fairly light and devoid of the huge trucks that I associate with most main roads in the UK.

The huge Army barracks at Ballykelly reminded that though most of the security apparatus has been dismantled the British Army is still here in some force. The barracks and fortified married quarters went on for a good couple of miles. It will be so good once lasting peace comes to the province as the people deserve to live their lives without fear. All the evil that has been perpetrated is just too sad to dwell on.

The beaches around Castlerock were just fantastic and I was so hoping to get an icecream there. I was to be let down though as the ice cream van was parked some distance down the beach and though my bike can get me around to most places it sucks through sand.





I arrived in Port Stewart and made enquiries at the first hotel about a room. They suggested that as it got a bit noisy there at night to go to a small B&B around the corner which I did and had a wonderful stay. They even had a bath that I could use so I watched England beat Uraquay before heading out for a meal and then early to bed.

Derry to Belfast

Wonderful weather, spectacular scenery and very sore butt about sums up this weekends cycling. My first time cycling through Northern Ireland and what a fantastic weekend it was.

Summer Party in Stockholm

Well all good things come to an end and with the upcoming annual Summer party in Stockholm it was time to take Susie home. It's been great having her here but we had to get back so now was as good a time as any to fly back. Was great seeing everyone again and the weather for once was glorious



I also got a chance to weigh myself and much to my surprise I hadnt put any weight back on even though I have had little chance to do much exercise recently. My weight was 92.3 which is actually 0.5 kilo less than last time. However I do feel that my eating has stepped up again so I really need to pay close attention to it.

Thu 8th June

Breakfast
Musili with Soya, apricots, figs, multivitamin, primrose, garlic, water

Lunch
Mixed leaf salad with walnut and mushroom, bread, water

Dinner
Japanese Noodles with Chicken and vegatables, pickles, Green Tea

Snacks
3 x Water, Tea. slice of cake, Melon, 2 x Peaches, Apple

Wed 7th June

Breakfast
Musili with Soya, apricots, figs, multivitamin, primrose, garlic, water

Lunch
Tuna on Granary with Lettuce and Tomato, Nectarine, Apple, Raisins

Dinner
Pita Bread with Salad, 1/4 Melon

Snacks
2 x Water, Tea. chips and dips, popcorn, Chickory drink

Tue 6th June

Breakfast
Musili with Soya, apricots, banana, figs, multivitamin, primrose, garlic, water

Lunch
Tuna on Granary with Lettuce and Tomato, Nectarine, Apple

Dinner
Brown Pasta with tomato sauce, glass of water, 1/4 Melon, nuts and raisins

Snacks
2 x Water, Tea, 1 x Guiness

Glorious Weekend in Galway

After last weekends aborted attempt to see more of the Galway area Fredik, Susie and myself once again went back to visit. This time it went flawlessly and I can't praise the bus company enough for the efforts they made to compensate for last weekend. We arrived on the Thursday night and had a very pleasent evening at the B&B with a picnic in the garden. The Friday we were picked up in Spiddal and taken on a tour of The Burren, Aliwee Caves and the Cliffs of Moha. A wonderful day. On Saturday we went to the Aran Islands and had a wonderful day pottering around on bikes. Susie really flew around and had an obsolute blast on the almost empty rounds. The B&B for Saturday night was a bit basic but it was ok. On Sunday we made our way back to Spiddal and went on the tour of Conemarra which was just amazing. We eventually took the train back to Galway. 3 action packed days with some amazing weather and countryside.

Wed 31st May

Breakfast
Musili with Soya, dried fruit, multivitamin, primrose, garlic, water

Lunch
2 x Sasauge Sandwiches on Brown, Apple, Tomato

Dinner
2 x Veggi Burgers, Apple

Snacks
2 x Water, 2 x Brown Toast, Nuts