THE SOUTH COAST OF IRELAND ON TWO WHEELS

I am on the Mizen Peninsula one week after arriving in Ireland. My energy has returned after it was seriously flagging at one stage. This ride is an exploration of Ireland's coast and today I have finished the South coast. It was 340 miles of undulating coastline with craggy cliffs, sandy coves, big headlands and penetrating sea inlets.
This is Darren and he works for MTM Cycles at Clonakilty. He is replacing my rear wheel.

Darren finishing the repair of my Bike

This is how I met him. I had arrived at a beautiful unspoilt beach when there was a loud ping from my rear wheel. A spoke had snapped and buckled the wheel in the process. My next destination was Clonakilty 15 km away. I gently nursed the bike taking care to go slowly and only use the front brakes. If another spoke broke it would have meant walking. Thankfully I found Darren at MTM Cycles at 4pm. Darren got permission from his boss to do an immediate repair and at 5.30pm I was on the road again. What a great bike shop and here is how to find it MTM Cycles


This is the beach

Dunworly Bay

It has taken 6 days to reach Mizen Peninsula. The cyclist needs to be prepared for hills and to enjoy the splendour of this coastline.  It is not for fast endurance riding. As well as seeing the countryside, I enjoy listening to its sounds. It might be from the milk parlour of a nearby farm. The sounds of birds are wonderful, especially as there are so many here.  I have no idea what most of them are. A favourite that I do recognise is the chough which I have encountered several times.


Apart from Cork City, there are no major towns and, if desired, Cork can be avoided by going through Cobh and taking a ferry. There are many small fishing harbours. The area is a mix of fertile farmland, rich peat bogs and wetlands. All the way I am finding the coastline to be dramatic. The image below is a B+B that I stayed in at Goleen as it nicely shows the setting of the far south west

Herons Cove, Goleen

Tomorrow I leave the Mizen and head for Sheep's Head Peninsula. I have more images on Twitter