KILMACUD CROKES / BCI NISSAN M2M 2022 DONIE'S BLOG DAY 3
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Well folks what another fantastic day,after another quiet night from my level 2 ,trainee roomie Mark,both of us were up early and fresh as daisys. Great breakfast and out on the road rearing to go at 8 10...5mins ahead of schedule. All the other groups passed us heading up the small hill out of Lehinch and after Kev arrived 2 mins late(definitely stàting to crack)off we went...down the hill !! Kev has gotten smart,and now is using lads with local knowledge to do the guiding and up stepped Burkie. We left Lehinch on the coast road out by the golf course and down through Liscanner at a mad pace,further on along the spectacular coastline,then we dropped down this really steep road into Doolin. I was terrified we were going to have to go back up to the height we'd started from cuz I was just hanging on as the group was absolutely flying. Thankfully we stayed around sea level ,which was probably a life saver for Burkie as Pat ,the cop ,Conlon was about to blow and I'd say Burkie was very close spending some time in Galway bay !! On we motored along the fabulous coastline past Doolin cave and on through the Burren passing Gortacamaun along the way,on past Fanore and all the way over to Caherdoonerish stone fort near Black head ,then we followed that coastline all the way up to Ballyvaughan where we stopped for coffee. Almost 50k done already,we had brilliant scenery in Cork and Kerry already this week but this was unbelievable. Myself and Pat,the cop were so glad of the coffee as all the route was up and down and we were hanging !! Coffee was had at the Spar in Ballyvaughan as most places weren't open yet and apparently there was a big wedding there today. There was a guy sitting at one of the tables in what looked like a best man's suit with a laptop,apparently attempting to write a speech at the last minute, Bart,seeing the opportunity rambled over and tried to sell him some Olive oil,which didn't go down to well and eventually Pat ,the cop had to rush over and take the plastic knife from Bart !! Time to go....we were now on a bigger road that was a lot flatter and we flew along here,past New Quay and crossed the border into Galway just before Kinvarra. Time for Tommy ,the silent assassin to take over directions(playing a blinder today Kev). Handy enough start for Tommy,straight all the way to Kilcolgan,turn left and thèn straight all the way to Claregalway where we met up with all the other groups for lunch. Said this before but it's one of my favourite things about M2M ,each day we try to get everyone together somewhere along the route. Another Carlsberg moment in Archers in Claregalway today,guy in the bar came up to our Kev and handed him €50 for the charity,just like that.....not the first time that's happened this week.
Tommy got off lightly from here,as we were detouring down the road to a village called Shrule about 20k down the road just over the border in Co. Mayo. So Micheál Mullin took over directions from here. I didn't mention Micheál last night as one of the lads in the group because he's just too nice a guy to slag,although I don't think I'd have liked to be marked by him in a match,back in the day,I'd say he'd have put Tommy the assassin and Pat the cop to shame on a pitch !! Obviously Micheál is from Shrule and his family have run a general store there for years and again we were looked after really well there just like in the Burkes house yesterday. What a country !! From Shrule, one of the locals got into his car and guided us all for about 15k through back roads to get us on to the famous N17 ,from where we completed or days cycling of 170k in Kiltamagh. Lots more tired legs,but I've figured out why id been struggling a bit. Proper eating is fuel in the world of cycling and i figured id got it slightly wrong,i reduced my volume of food and increased my sugar intake(pocket full of pastilles )taken at regular intervals and im flying now.....hope it works tomorrow as we've 190k up to Letterkenny to do.
Another brilliant radio interview this evening by Pat Rowley on Newstalk FM, highlighting some of what we're doing this week but mainly about how to deal with the situation if you do find yourself with the horrible diagnosis of cancer. Some lady !!
Ok,now my theory on room mates has been blown out of the water today. I actually have 2 roomies tonight,Mark,who I think I've finally trained after 5 M2M trips, and Tommy,the assassin. So after dinner I'm lying on the bed here, single finger typing this report ,Mark is doing a few badly needed stretches and Tommy seems to be very well organised. He said "don't worry the snoring lads as he put in his ear plugs and donned his little fluffy face mask (sometimes I've been known to "bend" the truth a little bit here but not this time) !! A minute later, Mark is still stretching and the mirror on the wall begins to shake, Christ I thought Mark was loud in his day,Tommy's off, and it's horrendous, Mark hands me a cycling shoe and asks me would I like the honour ?
I said we can't do that and Mark says it's either that or we give Bart a reprieve and let him loose in the room for 5mins with a real fork !! Lesser of 2 evils I took the shoe option,caught him just under the mask on the cheek bone,you can actually see the imprint of the cleat on his face now but he has shut up. Maybe I'll need Micheál Mullin to mind me tomorrow when he sees his face ,now I'm glad I didn't slag him yesterday !!
Feeling this could be a long night !!
Talk tomorrow.
Regards Donie.
