Tag: transatlantic-way

TAW Day 1 – Cork to Bantry.

Jul 2nd, 2025

12th June

It was easy enough to roll out of bed as the ‘nerves’ got me up. I shuffled round to the kitchen/dining area and made myself some instant coffee and instant porridge. Final packing done, including discarding some of the extra ‘off bike clothes’ I thought I might take, and then lugging the bike and my rucksack downstairs and out into the courtyard. It was wet. I put my bag on the van hoping to see it again in Derry and set off to find the two working men.

Riders accumulated and milled around, front and rear lights gleaming. The Turn cycling gang managed to gather for a last picture of us all together in Ireland. Paul, Annie, Si and myself.

Then everyone gathered in front of the stage for group photos and a rousing ribald song based on Sweet Molly Malone with the chorus “Fuck it, I’ll do it, I’ll die in a tent”. Adrian had managed to inveigle a participant into singing the verses and roused everyone of us to sing along to the chorus.

And then it was time for the off.

The early start meant we missed the traffic in Cork. The first hill kicked in pretty quickly and was a taster of many to come. They say that comparison is the thief of joy but that depends on the comparison. of course I made note of all the riders who seemed to be carrying about half of what was on my bike but I also noted other riders who carried even more than I had! The first hill began to string the riders out and soon there was plenty of space between us and the other three Turn cyclists disappeared into the distance.

I was looking forward to going through Kinsale and evoking memories of our honeymoon some 36 years previously. To be honest it looked vaguely familiar but I was soon through and out the other side.

It was a misty morning and the temperature made wearing a jacket worthwhile. I was heading out to Clonakilty and a rendezvous nearby with Mike, my old school friend, who I had seen only a few weeks earlier in Plymouth walking with more of my school friends. He arrived armed with bananas which were to be a welcome change from the sweet carbs I had stuffed into my food pouches on the front of the bike.

The morning was shrouded in mist but the roads were quiet and the kilometres ticked by riding along the coast.

Checkpoint 1 was at Mizen Head at 145km. Adrian had picked this as an early CP so if anyone had tracker issues they could be sorted out which seemed eminently sensible.

Apparently there is a really good view from Mizen Head.

What there was, was some excellent seafood chowder and soda bread and a big pot of tea.

The next headland was Sheeps Head Drive and consisted on an in and out alongside Ballyroon mountain. It was steep climb up to yet another mist shrouded viewpoint.

The dead end U-turn was to feature more than once on the route and invariably involved a stiff climb. By now I had done 200km and was plotting where to stop for the night. Bantry looked about right and I used Booking.com to secure a room at the Westlodge Hotel. On arrival I had to store my bike in the ballroom and there were already a couple of other bikes there. The joy of Tailfin kit is it is so easy to detach from the bike and headed up to my room with just what was needed.

After a quick shower I headed for the bar and a plate of stir fried chicken noodles and a sticky toffee pudding. There was an American who had diverted to Bantry from Dunmanus cutting off the loop out to Sheeps Head Drive which he was planning to do the next day. He made good company while we ate and I was in awe of his account of doing the Tour Divide. I had got to the hotel about 7.30 after riding for twelve and a half hours and covering 236km. I’m not sure I had managed to replenish the 6k of calories burnt but I placed an order for a continental breakfast at 4.30am and went to bed.
TransAtlantic Way – getting there.

Jun 25th, 2025

As a child I spent a lot of summer holidays on the East Coast of Ireland. We had a caravan at Portoriel and I used to walk across Clogherhead to the harbour and fish for mackerel off the stone pier. My mother’s family came from Carndonagh, which is in north, near Malin Head, and we visited once, packed into a mini, and me, being so young, asking if the copper pipes in the kitchen were made of ‘gold’.

The West Coast was very much a different land to me from the East, both wild and mysterious. The first time I went there as and adult was to Kinsale, Dingle and Kenmare on honeymoon. I remember being enchanted by the fuchsia hedges around Dingle and the craic in the pubs. Unfortunately our car was stolen in Dublin en route home and we lost all the photographs (we did get the car back and I Hotwire it all the way home with no number plates and didn’t get stopped once!).

When I saw the chance to apply to do the TransAtlantic Way race, organised by Adrian O’Sullivan, I thought I could revisit some of the places we went to on honeymoon and really get to know this fabled part of Ireland. I put an entry in for the Setanta Route which is shorter than the Cu Culhainn at 1700km. There is a way marked route up the West Coast of Ireland, The Wild Atlantic Way, and we would find ourselves covering long sections of it.

My entry confirmed I planned my trip there and back by train and ferry.

I have become accustomed to plotting train trips with the bike using the Trainline app and had to sort out connections to Holyhead, then a ferry to Dublin and then a train to Cork where we would start. I now see plotting the transfers as all part of the adventure and especially like it if I can use trains. You get to meet people or read, snooze and relax en route. Oh, argue with guards about the useless bike spaces provided on some trains….

I did stay overnight in Dublin in a Premier Inn which meant when I got to Cork I could cycle straight to registration, get my tracker and Brevet card and find my overnight accommodation which was in the same place. The plethora of cycle lanes in Dublin and Cork made the transit much easier than I anticipated and I was delighted with the student rooms Adrian had secured a a bargain price in Cork. Really comfortable.

There was also a photographer on hand to capture the riders before the start.

Finally there was the pre race briefing. Adrian talked about the inspiration Mike Hall had given him. He described the vagaries of the route: sheep and cows in the road, gravel on the bends and the fact that, because there was a car rally in Donegal, if we didn’t make the cut off by midnight on the Tuesday we would have to divert inland and miss the most north westerly part of the coastal route. I particularly wanted to do the latter as it would take me to Malin Head and past Carndonagh but I thought I would be pushed to make the distance before the cut off. He briefed us on the 2 checkpoints. One at Mizen Head “which is quite early on but it gives me a chance to sort out any Trackers that aren’t working” and the second at his cousin Annie’s farm in the middle of nowhere. He told us how Annie had insisted he route participants there as she loved meeting and looking after them. We were to be aware that it was a proper working farm and not to expect too much.

Briefing over it was time to eat and go to bed as we were to be at the Two Working Men statue for 4:30am.