14th June, 2025.

As I write this up, some weeks later, I look at the record of the ride on Strava and see that I started at 5.22am. It wasn’t until I had done about 50km that I took my first photograph two and a half hours later.

Now, I reflect that I was so into the ride that I was not prepared to stop. I just wanted to keep moving. On the first day I rode for 12hrs 33m. My elapsed time was 13hrs 50m. The previous day I rode for 14hrs and stopped for less than 2hrs. I was eating on the bike and only stopping to resupply or maybe grab a pie or a sandwich and a coffee. I wasn’t moving particularly fast but like the tortoise I was keeping up with some of the hares. I only realised that later as I never look at Dotwatcher when I am racing. maybe I should but I feel it would make little difference. I just need to ride the ride I ride. if I started to chase others I would probably burn out or get despondent.

Today I had to catch a ferry at Tarbert. As I turned the corner and the slipway came into sight so did the ferry and it was pulling in.

Other riders (the hares) had been waiting a while so I was really lucky with my timing. There was even a little booth selling coffee on the ferry.

The weather was a bit mixed but good for riding. There was the obligatory stop for hot food at a petrol station late morning.

The coastline we were riding is drenched in history. There are memorials on the route to the Spanish Armada. Spanish Point was named after the Spanish who died here in 1588, when many ships of the Spanish Armada were wrecked during stormy weather. Those who escaped from their sinking ships and made it safely to land were later executed by Sir Turlough O’Brien of Liscannor and Boethius Clancy, High Sheriff of Clare.

It was not known by the English authorities in Ireland whether the Spanish sailed this way around Ireland because their ships were damaged and the storm prevented them from sailing back the quick way or if it was part of a Spanish plan to invade Ireland.As news of the English victory had not reached William FitzWilliam, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, he had issued a blanket command that all Spanish found in Ireland were to be executed with their ships and treasure seized. The executed Spanish were buried in a mass grave in an area of Spanish Point known locally as Tuama Na Spáinneach (Tomb of the Spaniards). Despite this, there was no archaeological evidence for the claim until 2015 when a group of historians investigating the location of the wreck of San Marcos stated they had found a mass grave under Spanish Point which contained the bodies of the executed Spanish sailors. ^{[cc Wikipedia]}

The landscape also changed and I was now cycling through the Burren with its karst landscape of bedrock incorporating a vast cracked pavement of glacial-era limestone, with cliffs and caves, fossils, rock formations and archaeological sites. [cc Wikipedia]

It was here Fergus used his drone to capture me cycling through this landscape. A video I will treasure. At one moment a large coach passes me yet I have no recollection of any traffic!

I was about to turn east and ride towards Checkpoint 2. This was located at at a farm run by a cousin of Adrian’s, Anne. Anne had insisted he route the riders there so she could meet them and look after them. It was pretty flat until the Francis Gap which had a section of 18% climb. Then down toward Duniry and the farm – pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

There were bikes littering the courtyard and riders milling about or asleep in various rooms. Anne thrust a large paper cup of hot soup in my hand and exhorted me to have some soda bread and butter, biscuits, fruit cake, bananas, tea and anything else I could lay my hands on in the kitchen! Meanwhile Adrian swopped my tracker as it had stopped working properly.

There were two riders asleep in the room Anne showed me to and a spare mattress for me. I got a quick shower and then snuggled into my sleeping bag. At midnight, the other two got up and headed off into the night. I rolled over and slept until the morning.

It had been a good day.