No rain today and a magnificent tail wind. I wouldnt call it magnificent if it was in our face would I?
The Glen Gat in Dundalk was a really good stay and can be The rooms were good, as was breakfast and the place was stacked with old classy artefacts plus the staff were very helpful. They even demanded a group photo for their Facebook page.
The first point on our journey today was Blackrock which is very much like Morecambe Bay with a flat beach with a fast tide and previously a big cockle picking area as shown by the ???? on the promenade. This took us onto the R132 which has a series of long boring straight roads until we reached Castlebellingham where we turned to the coast again with the wind on our backs. The wild flat beaches with wading birds were a feature until we reached Clogherhead. At Drogheda we passed the marshland with some round stone pillars in the estuary which I do not know the purpose of. After the cement works we doubled back over the bridge onto a busy carriageway until Balbriggan. Next was a lunch
stop at Mad about the Goat cafe in Skerries where there was a championship yacht race was in progress. Rather them than me in the choppy sea with a big swell and strong wind. One of the surprises was a church in Lusk with a four tower 5th century priory attached (see photo). Malahide was a very busy holiday seaside resort as were the other small towns further south such as Portmarnock. Eventually we got onto a long cycleway taking us right into Dublin and then the fight to get us to the Gresham hotel. We took the bags,of the group behind us, out of Bills car in the Spire Q car park and stuffed them out of site under the front of the car. Big mistake, as the bags went missing shortly afterwards. To cut a long story short a guy had been going through the car park looking for lap tops and had raided the bags but only took some money left in two bags. The police caught the man and he was in custody at the last we heard. Lets hope he still had the money on him and it is retrieved.
The 18 days have passed very quickly in great weather with only 2 days with some rain. One horrendous the other a bit hit and miss. We have seen some great scenery, met some very friendly people and ridden some great roads up hill and down dale, made so much better by Bill carrying our bags every day. Many thanks Bill.
There were a few incidents at the end which were not enjoyable. Firstly, a Dublin thief stole some money from two of the group and was luckily caught, but no money returned as yet.
Secondly, three of us got parking tickets with £180 fines in Holyhead, even though we had all paid. Naturally we are contesting them and await replies.
