This post recounts the eighth day of my Mizen Head to Malin Head cycle tour in Ireland with Peak Tours in June 2024. Read Day 7: Westport to Sligo

What a day. The forecast for today was always grim, but I clung to the hope that it may not turn out so bad. For a time this morning, that hope seemed justified. But then the expected storm hit…

It was dry, if windy, for the first hour or so out of Sligo – and hilly, with one of the steepest climbs of the whole tour, at 17% early on. The mist was hanging over the hills and people’s rain jackets were flapping in the wind.

We didn’t linger long at the morning brew stop give the conditions. For many miles I was cycling with Julia, Lucy, Tizzie and Ken, and I confess I found this stage strangely satisfying, defying the elements. I’d have preferred sunshine but there are times when you just cope with what nature throws at you. We passed close to Mullaghmore, where Lord Louis Mounbatten was assassinated by the IRA along with three others in August 1979.

We cycled through Bundoran, a sad-looking seaside town, seen above. I shouldn’t be too harsh – I first visited Bondi Beach in Australia on a similar wet day in 2000 and thought it looked like Barry Island in Wales in winter. I stopped briefly to take some video so today’s highlights video would give a fair representation of our experience.

Nearby Ballyshannon was a much nicer place, and as we swept away from the coast, seen above, I was feeling reasonably positive still.

We had a stiff climb after Ballyshannon, and I waited for the others to catch me up. At this point the wind was getting stronger, which was very obvious on that exposed hill climb. Soon after, we had to wheel our bikes past road works on a narrow lane. (We had optimistically ignored the ‘road blocked’ signs just before.) This reminded me of the very wet morning of day three – it seems like Ireland’s county councils save their road repairs for terrible weather!

As Ken and I came to a t-junction, we found Mark in the Peak Tours van. At this point the tour usually has a lovely section along Rossnowlagh beach, but given the conditions we were diverted to an inland route to the Sandhouse Hotel next to the beach. ‘Is it too dangerous to continue?’ Mark asked us. I replied that it was OK for now – but I dramatically changed my mind in the next 15 minutes!

As we finally turned towards our lunch stop, the full force of the gale hit us. It was impossible to move forward on the bike as 51mph gusts met us head on. It was clear that we’d be cycling no further today.

It was impossible to imagine cycling along the beach and even the surfers were nowhere to be seen – not even in the Surfers’ Bar at the hotel, where I enjoyed coffee and sandwiches as we sheltered. I had learned my lesson from being so cold at lunch on day three, carrying my down cycling jacket in my saddle bag. I popped it on after removing me soaking wet cycling jersey. Ironically I bought the jacket to keep me warm at 2am on London Wales London, but never needed it then, unlike at 12pm in Ireland in late June!

Mark, the lead guide on the tour, worked a miracle getting a coach within an hour to take us to today’s destination, Portnoo and Narin. It is typical of the dedication and care that Peak Tours has shown during my five tours with the company so far. As we enjoyed the lift to Narin, Mark and Hamish were squeezing all our bikes into the two vans – another triumph!

The coach dropped us off with our luggage in Narin, and I struggled down a very wet lane to our B&B, Beal na Barna. (This is when I cursed my customary decision to bring so much stuff…) When we got to the bungalow, we found that this wasn’t our place, which was actually very near where we were dropped off. I was ready to cry, but the husband of the owner, Mary, kindly gave us a lift. (It turned out that Mary’s family owned both properties.)

Beal na Barna turned out to be a lovely place to stay – it was actually a self catering property, with kitchen and sitting room. Mary invited us to her home, where several of our tour party were staying, for afternoon tea and home made scones. Suddenly life seemed better.

Wendy gave Julia, Lucy and me a lift in the van to dinner at Narin’s smart golf clubhouse, and we had a wonderful meal – with a Guinness as a starter! We walked back to our B&B, and chatted in the kitchen before the end of an extraordinary day.

Read the final Day 9: Narin to Malin Head

The day’s stats

39.59 miles, 2,461 feet climbing, 3 hours 4 mins cycling, average speed 12.9 mph.

The day’s highlights video