What was supposed to be a daytrip with the missus to take her on the Boyne valley drive I have been raving to her about for several months now, has turned into an impromptu weekend away.
Originally planning to do the Boyne Valley drive entering from Trim and following to Tara, Newgrange and Bru na Boyne then continuing to Oldcastlle and staying over in Cavan before coming home,. Adding another day to the plan makes it slightly more difficult, as I had already booked the hotel n Cavan so I needed an additional route that would take me far enough from home that I could make a nice trip of it, but that also made sense in terms of bringing me back to Cavan for the Sunday. I looked at the map, and by happy chance, I noticed my twice visited favorite place of Leenaun was a good choice. Last time I went was in October 2013, also with my wife, and we loved it. I tried to get the Leenaun hotel again because we really liked it in October but it's closed in March, however, trawling www.booking.com I got an excellent deal for the Delphi mountain resort. I had always wanted to stay there so for €108 B&B for us both, I jumped on it.
Last time I made the mistake of taking the motorway across to Galway just to get that part done and get in to Connemara quickly, but it meant nearly 2 hours of high speed motorway that neither myself or my wife enjoyed.
This time I chose a more indirect slow and steady route that had a mix of motorway and scenery.
First order of business, breakfast.
Leeaving Kilcock at 9am, we took the old N4 motorway to Mother Hubbards outside Enfield for a big dirty fry. Always cheap and gorgeous. It always makes me laugh when I stop here that a greasy spoon type trucker stop has the toilets of a 5 star hotel. They should move the eating area to the jacks as it is much nicer in there than the restaurant ;)
After stuffing myself with eggs and bacon, we turn right out of Mother Hubbards and then take the back roads (R402) to Carbury then Edenderry moving on to
Bracknagh R442 - R419, Portarlington we keep right to the R423 dropping down to Mountmellick we keep right again and push on down the R422 on the hunt for Clonasalee.
The route is pleasant and quick, and soon we come to the outskirts of Clonasalee where I am watching for a small left hand turn that will bring me up to "The Cut" up in the Slieve bloom mountains.
I see the brown sign post pointing me left and I make the turn.
Its a narrow road but the climb is really nice with the brief exception of some moron cyclists who decide they need to use the entire width of the road to make a repair to a puncture, as always, cyclists believe mountain roads only belong to them and everyone else can fuckíng wait behind their fat, camp, lycra'd asses. I get a poke in the ribs from herself as I rev high through them shouting some polite and patient instructions to remove themselves from my path ! ;)
After passing the Lycra brigade, we carve a relaxed path up the mountain, eventually arriving at the gravel car park of "The Cut"
The view from here looks right across a valley and gives a stunning vista of the entire county. I am struck by a stunning forest below me with an amazing collection of gravel roads that meander through the trees that of course are blocked off to motor biking Ireland as only forest rangers have vehicle access.
We have sit and a coke, I bitch about cyclists and elite forest rangers holding the keys to yellow and black barriers that every BMW GS owner would kill to own ! Oh well, we press on, through the cut itself, a deep gash in the mountain top made to fit the road that we now take. Again the views are astonishing, with the forests dominating the mountain tops and a vast amount of trees toppled over from the recent storms making it look like a battle took place between a gang of giants on the mountain.
We come to a T junction, I take the right heading up the R440 for Kinnity, it brings up the steepest road of the mountain range with the most astonishing views. I track it to a fork in the road where I take the left. More forest covers the valleys and mountain tops, We stop briefly at the outdoor fire place and then drop down the mountain for Kinnity.
The weather so far has been stunning, I can't believe its March with the sun shining and it is dry. Winds are high but manageable.
I Drop down into the small village of Kinnity and take the R440 to Birr, I stop briefly to show my wife the lovely courtyard in Birr Castle where I previously stopped for lunch with the lads on a day trip and promise that during the summer we will come back for a visit, but it's too early to stop now so soon after stuffing our faces at Mother Hubbards. We exit Birr via the R489 and cut across Portumna and then into Loughrea where the need for food gets too much. We stop at the Subway in the town where two very annoying teenage girls keep screaming for no apparent reason other than Facebook status on their phones. We eat up and leave !
The R446 out of Loughrea takes us briefly to the N6 where we bypass Galway City and cut over to Salthill, now the really nice stuff starts to appear after leaving the Slieve Blooms the trip has been lovely, but we are getting to the serious stuff now :)
The traffic along the coast from Salthill to Spiddal is very slow, I take some risky overtakes to get ahead which results in a few pokes in the ribs from my pillion, but worth it.
The coast road R336 is really nice. Very straight but is packed with really interesting terrain from the coast and a rugged topsy turvey rock filled countryside with streams and lovely traditional cottages and marsh lands.
At this point, you need to check your fuel, as you will shortly be up in the Connemara Mountains and services can become sparse, especially if you go off the beaten track a bit.
It's not long before I come to a Cost Cutter shop at Baile Na Habhann on my left. Almost a last outpost of civilization, this is a good place to stop for a coffee break and to stock up on travelling provisions (Coke, Energy bars, Muffins etc) before you follow the bend to the right taking you into the wilderness of Connemara and leaving the hectic world of traffic and people behind you.
The girls in the shop always have a nice friendly smile and you realize quickly your now in an Irish Speaking Gaeltacht region for sure !
Coffee and muffins done, panniers bursting with coke and sugary sweets, Myself the wife and Eriu keep right on the R336 and enter Connemara Proper.
All buildings and signs of clusters of people rapidly fade, the scenery switches to stark Drama as we take the narrow road. Marsh and bog land either side of us, and the dark heights of "The Twelve Pins" loom off to our right.
Small granite thatched cottages pop up and small to medium lakes slide past as we make progress. My speed is low as I want to soak in the land and views around us.
The weather is still ok as it's not raining, but it has turned dark and a bit gloomy giving the whole mountain range an ominous and eerie look and feel that adds to the whole atmosphere of the tough landscape, it really highlights one of the benefits of riding all seasons, of course I'd love the weather to be sunny and bright, but I often feel some places just look better when the weather is worse, and if you can put in the effort through the elements, it really pays off in the views you can get. The same place can look completely different when the weather changes, and I really enjoy seeing them in all guises.
After passing Screeb, I turn Eriu left taking us off the R336 onto the R340 and head for Carna & Glinsk. The drama of the mountains conitnues and the road just winds and twist and drops down and up like a roller coaster, its worth every now and then to take a few minutes to drop down some of the smaller roads as they often lead down to some stunning coves or beaches and the west coastline really does have some of the most amazing rugged coastal views I have ever seen.
Passing through Carna we get to Glinsk, and it's worth mentioning that if you can spare 15 mins I recommend dropping of the R340 and do some of the back roads of Glinsk as the cottages dotted around this area are really stunning!, be sure to hook back on to the R340 though :)
Moving on from Glinsk, It's starting to get late, we have been on the road since 9am and now it's nearly 6pm, if it was just Myself and Eriu then I would just keep riding, but I have to consider my wife on the back and I can see she is getting tired. Previously when on this road I would take the left and head for Cashel, Roundstone & Clifden etc but this time I opt to go straight and cut that whole section off in favor of a more Direct route I follow the R340 straight all the way up to the N59. I must follow the N59 for a couple of miles until I come to a turn for the R344 for Lough Inagh. I've never taken this road before so it's new to me and what a road !.
Bringing me up to a forest lined high road that over looks the huge Lough Inagh. I stop to take some photo's. I could be up in the Rocky Mountains with views from this road, it's one of the highlights of the day.
I follow the road up and to my surprise it brings me out slightly above Kylemore abbey to the N59, another stunning section of road, bringing you down off the mountain with stunning views over Killary Harbour as you make your way down into one of my favorite overnight spots of Leenaun. Unfortunately the hotel there is closed at this time of year so we keep left after the hotel following the N59 until we saw the signposted turnoff for Delphi Mountain Resort on the R335.
The R335 takes an amazing contoured route around the harbour estuary. It's littered with sheep so I take it handy. The daylight is turning dusky and the remaining sun is shimmering off the water with a deep orange glow, there low hanging clouds spilling over the mountains and we glide along until we come to the Hotel.
I get checked in and my wife insists she needs to soak in a bath to recover from a long day of biking. I jump back on Eriu and take the 5 minute spin up the road to Doo Lough to catch the sunset over the lake.
Perfect end to a perfect day. Time to put Eriu to bed and get washed fed and rested for the next day !