Day 61
Proper mountains
Today Ireland stunned us with it's beauty. We were cycling from Kinlough to Strandhill in County Sligo. The mist of the last few days had gone, just a little low cloud covered the tops of the mountains. We decided to avoid the hills today, our aged knees are starting to protest. However, this didn’t mean busy roads, far from it. We rode all morning on a relatively flat road with almost no traffic. We stopped and checked out the Lough Melvin Eco Park, an 18-acre site on the outskirts of Kinlough, a wild open space for the locals to enjoy. We took a few moments to reflex at the site of a Catholic Mass and baptism rocks. The stones had been re-erected near to their original site from the 17th century.
The route took us through the town of Grange with a wonderful little cafe called the Jam Pot. It served the best sausage rolls we’ve ever had! The town is home to a series of stunning murals, something we see so much of in Ireland. Two great reasons to visit!
However, the star of today’s ride was the Dartry Mountain range. Dominated by the magnificent Ben Bulben. We rode for hours and each mile brought us another stunning view.
We ended the day by another beach at Strandhill, a surfer’s paradise. Bliss.
