O What A Beautiful Country

Sunday, May 23rd --

Well the day finally arrived - the day for which we had come to Ireland - the day of our bike ride in West Cork and Kerry. Colm, our guide, arrived at the appointed time of 9:30 a.m. at our B&B on campus road. The two British women had been at another inn and Colm brught them with him. Janice, Jim, Ed and I had our stuff outside awaiting the van’s arrival.

Colm (pronounced like Column) unloaded our bikes from the van. The bikes were supplied by the tour company and he helped us set them up, adjusting the seats and the handlebars and attaching front packs and rear panniers (saddle bags). Each bike was labeled with one of our names, based on size specifications that we had supplied the company when we applied. They were nice, new Giant hybrids - sturdy and well-adjusted. Colm gave us last minute instructions (we had gotten our turn sheets the night before that described the day’s ride with instructions for turns that were pretty clear. As it turned out, nobody got lost and during the day, Colm would drive by a few times to check on everyone and hand out some extra water.

Getting ready to ride. Colm helps Janice and Jim to set up their bikes with bags. Remember, you can click on any photo to see it larger.

Heading out of Killarney town.

We retraced our ride of yesterday, entering the national park and heading to Muckross House. On the way we passed and stopped at the abbey which we briefly explored.

A Franciscan abbey from the 1400's near the Muckross House.

After the abbey we took a brief walk through the estate’s famous gardens. They were filled with giant rhododendrum bushes and azaleas in full blossom. Then we continued along our way following the turn sheet which took us through the rest of the national park.

The gardens at Muckross - rhododenrums and azaleas galore!

The rest of the ride is hard to describe in words given my level of writing skills. Even my camera has trouble capturing the grandeur of the panormas that unfolded at each turn of our bike route. After we left Killarney National Park we headed southwest to the town of Kenmare. It was a punishing first day filled with incredible beauty but also steep climbs as we had to traverse mountains that stood between us and our destination. Our route took us through two mountain gaps - Ladies’ View and Molls Gap. Passing up and over those cuts in the mountains that loomed before us, we were able to descend to Kenmare town and our hotel for a night’s rewarding rest.

We pedaled through the rest of Killarney National Park on our way southwest to Kenmare. Stopping at the edge of a Killarney lake.

Before we reached those heights our route took us through a narrow valley with massive mountains to both sides of us. The roads were narrow and curvy but it was not heavily traveled. Hiking trails criss-crossed the area and we saw lots of hikers and bikers throughout our trip. A strenous uphill portion brought us to the highest point of the morning’s ride: Ladies View, so named for Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting on their visit to the area in 1861.

A little hairy-scary -- perched out over a cliff at Ladies View so Ed could take this picture of me. Behind me the valley we had just traversed.

Cars, bikes and sheep - all share the road in these parts of Ireland.

More breathtaking views.

Hard to catch the view with a camera. You had to be there.

Finally. Kenmare! We're tired but it was well worth it (not according to my butt)!




To see all of today's photos just CLICK HERE.