Support Team signing-off...

Can’t believe it’s the last day of the ride! Gorgeous weather (if a little breezy) and a stunning road to enjoy. After the obligatory photos, me n’ Nic continued along the coast road of Loch Foyle to Greencastle. The ferry crosses to Magilligan’s Strand from here, and it’s a working fishing port with lots of history, as we discovered in the Maritime Museum; 60 of the North Atlantic U-Boat fleet were moored here when ordered to surrender. We enjoyed a cuppa in the sunshine outside on the lawn and then thought we ought to make tracks as the boys were en-route to Malin. We got the call at Moville, and headed for the end...
It wasn’t clear which bit was “the head” at first, but seeing those boys round the final bend was really quite special. WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT!! Bottles of Guinness to celebrate in the sunshine topped the day off, for what has been a real adventure.
Well done Pricey and Garfy; we feel privileged to have been a part of such a worthy, funny and quite awesome trip across the Emerald Isle.
BMW dent watch: ooops! Scraped the off-side rear skirt whilst attempting a U-ey on the Malin Head single track road. Bored with insects now...
Onwards to Dublin...
With all the hard work finished for the boys, we loaded the bikes, stopped in Malin for a bite to eat and set off on the journey to Dublin. Alan told us our eta was 18:30, so just enough time to get ready and get into Temple Bar for the England game. After a couple of stops we arrived at 7pm, so watched the first half at the B&B, with a taxi to town during the break. The Guinness made up for the disappointing match, although the price of a pint (after 11pm) was a mere 5.90 euros...no wonder it was notably quieter in Temple Bar than I remember it last. It was an evening of hearty back slapping and mutually respectful bonhomie, interspersed by Guinness and Powers. Rob was (and no great suprise) – “on one”!! So three weary souls returned to the B&B at a respectable 1.30am, leaving “The Machine” to enjoy his well deserved evening of revelry.
The next morning we managed a breakfast, and eventually made contact with the boy around 10ish; the full story is elsewhere in the blog/Facebook domain. So we made the ferry ok, and home around 11pm.
BMW dent watch: propshaft grounded on over exaggerated make-shift speed bump – thanks!! Also had a mechanical failure of the rear window kind. No worries Garfy; we know it wasn’t your fault really!! Duck Tape to the rescue again!
1,722 road miles covered...phew!!

Conclusion

As ever, the fantastic people of Ireland were so kind. There's never enough they can do for you.
A big mention to Darrin and Gandhi for keeping in regular touch and bouying our spirits. Cheers guys.
Thanks again to our lovely wives for looking after the little fellas in our absence. Not an easy job.
Last but not least, huge thanks to the best support drivers in Christendom, Dave and Nicola Holland.

We've raised 121% of our target so far to date, which is amazing, and will be of great benefit to the Motor Neurone Disease Association. A massive thanks to all who have been so kind as to donate.

Today would have been Mum's 66th birthday and I'm very proud to have done this in her memory.

This blog has been brought to you by Jelly Babies, Deep Heat, Lucozade Sport, Bulmers and Guinness.

The last push - Muff to Malin Head - 29 miles

One of the best decisions we made (partly, of course due to my pedal problems) was to leave the last few miles until Saturday morning. We woke up to a beautiful (but windy) day, drove down to Muff, took obligatory childish photos near the sign, and headed of on the last 29 miles.
This is without doubt one of the most beautiful routes to cycle in the British Isles, with rugged rocks and bright blue sea all around. The last 100 yards is probably the steepest bit of road on the whole trip, but as we rounded the final corner, "Diesel" Dave and "Tour Mum" Nic were there with bottles of Guinness and papparazi style photo taking.
So we've done it! Dave and Nic have been brilliant, acting above and beyond the call of duty on several occasions. Garfy's kept his spirits up despite only sleeping for about 9 hours in the entire week, and I've managed to do something I'd never considered possible this time last year.

Thanks to everyone. It's been emotional.

Day 6. Muff to Malin. 29 miles of hangovers and headwinds.

We had a cracking night in Carndonagh where we were staying. Went to the local sports bar to watch the France game. Having had a number of bad nights sleep and with an easy day of cycling to come, I was determined to force a few beers down me. I think it was sometime after the 5th pint that I saw Rob hugging a huge tatooed man called John, so I decided it was probably the right time to leave.



We awoke to a very sunny day with slightly thick heads. After a fantastic brekkie served up by Sharon at the B&B, we jumped in to the car and headed back down to Muff (I'll never get tired of saying that). After having a series of pictures taken by the sign (well you have to don't you), we set off in to the sunshine and strong headwind. The scenery along here was absolutely gorgeous as we traced the coast until we turned left back towards Carndonagh. Then up the longest hill we've encountered on the tour, and along to Malin, the small town around 10 miles from the head. The view was all mountains and coastline until we had to head inland slightly to begin the climb to Malin. Some fairly steep stuff to climb right up to Malin Head, where Nick and Dave met us with a bottle of Guinness each. It was a fantastic morning's ride in beautiful coutryside and beautiful weather. I'm actually really pleased we finished on the Saturday rather than Friday, as that ride in the wet would have been nowhere near as nice.



I've really enjoyed this trip, despite the constant headwinds and rain. It's been great to see Pricey push himself through it. We've both kept our tempers and our spirits up, and I'm very proud that a guy who has done no exercise since his school days managed to complete a total of 372 miles in the time that we did.



Also, a huge thanks to Nic and Dave, our support team, without whom the whole process would have been much, much harder. They have rescued us on a couple of occasions and their company and good humour has really helped us along.

Support Team Update #4

Having set the boys down in Irvinestown we returned to the west coast and the town of Ballyshannon. It has a few claims to fame in terms of people, the most notable of whom was Rory Gallagher (1948-95) guitarist and vocalist of The Taste. Nice statue of him in the square. We traversed the Highlands of Donegal and stopped for lunch in Letterkenny. It’s a bit like the Inverness of Ireland in terms of it being the last big town before the rugged unspoilt landscapes take over. Onward to the Inishowen peninsula, around Loch Swilly, through Buncrana and up the pass to Carndonagh – a hilltop town in the middle of the plateau. We had just booked into the lovely BnB out on the Malin road, when we had the call about the stuck pedal. Once it was all sorted we made it to the Sportsman pub where we watched the Uruguay v France game and ate our Chinese takeaway. A relaxed evening and a good night’s sleep for everyone...
BMW dent watch – nothing to report. Insect collection growing.

Day 5. Irvinestown to Muff. 45 miles

The day dawned cloudy and very, very windy. You've guessed it - a headwind. After yet another rubbish night's sleep (definitely been struck down by the insomnia goblin, although how this is possible after cycling 70 odd miles per day astounds me) and our first and last Ulster fry, we hit the road and were immediately confronted with 10 miles of hills. Rob's legs are killing him, so the going was slow, despite my helpful advice to him that pain is only failure leaving the body (a Vingoism). We then had a nice, if slightly damp route across country in order to hit the main A road north leading to Londonderry. Then it all started to turn a bit crap. The wind was vicious and right in our faces and the road was narrow and extremely busy, with no hard shoulder to speak of. Passed through Strabane as quickly as possible and then started climbing in to Londonderry. Just before hitting the city, Rob's pedal completely jammed up, making the bike un-rideable. We called our guardian angels who located a bike shop in town and we called a six-seater cab to get the bikes there. Londonderry is where Bloody Sunday took place and is full of the gable-end sectarian murals that we've all seen on the news. Our cab driver (Sinn Fein Sean as his protestant best mate calls him) gave us a mini guided tour of the city walls and Bogside, scene of many of the "Troubles". We arrived at the bike shop, which doubled as a sweet shop (yes, really), but they didn't stock pedals with the right clips for Rob's shoes. In the meantime, Dave and Nic had found another bike shop close to our B&B, so we loaded the bikes on to the car and headed for Carndonagh. The bike shop was in the middle of nowhere and also sold toys (I'm not sure there's any shop in Ireland that just sells one type of thing). Pedals changed, we decided to call it a day as it was nearly 6, so we'll hitch a ride back to Muff (yes, really) tomorrow. 30 miles left....

We were not attacked by any dogs today, which is the first day that's not happened.

Song of the day - "Four Seasons in One Day" - Crowded House

Nature Watch:

1 x large Hare (live)
1 x cat (dead)
1 x squirrel (dead)
1 x magpie (dead)
1 x fat sweaty cyclist (barely alive)

Clothes watch:

1 x shorts (childrens - not mine I hasten to add)
2 x gloves (together, but not matching)

Counties cycled through:
Fermanagh, Tyrone, Londonderry, Donegal.

Support Team update #3

Well! The farmhouse B&B had “a feeling” about it (according to Nic). It was right in the middle of 200 acres that had been in the family since 1929. Lovely people, (and I will say this forevermore about the Irish) sooo hospitable. Tea and cake on arrival and a banquet style breakfast in the morning. The sun began to break through the clouds and by the time we got to Sligo it was clear blue. Kev the bike man of Longford recommended a tour around Strandhill and then on to Rosses Point; and it was beautiful. We had a picnic by the beach and a long walk along the sandy peninsula.
We arrived in Enniskillen to wait for an update from the boys, who said they would go on to Irvinestown, so we found Molly’s bar in the town square and had a Guiness in the beer garden that was upstairs...only in Ireland.
BMW dent watch – nothing to report, so we’ve started an insect collection!

Longford to Irvinestown - 71 miles

Today started with a bang! Dave and Nic drove us back down to Edgeworthstown to begin today's journey, where we began our morning ritual of filling up bottles with energy drinks, stocking up the shortbread box, etc. Then Garfy pumped his tyre up, only for it to explode 5 minutes later. It transpires that there are no bike shops in Edgeworthstown, so a typically friendly local pointed us in the direction of nearby Longford, where another typically friendly fellow put a new tyre on for Garfy and helped with directions up towards Omagh. Photo above of Garfy's new wheels.
A sunny day! Both myself and Garfy agreed that today's scenery was the best yet, but to be fair to the rest of Ireland, we haven't seen any of that in sunshine at all. Out of Co. Longford into Leitrim, Cavan, then across what was once the Northern Irish border into Fermanagh and Eniskillen, which is a stunningly beautiful place. Our spirits were certainly lifted by the weather all day, despite poor little insomniac goblin boy only getting about an hour's sleep last night and us going 6 miles out of our way. We were only chased by two dogs today, one of which, a sheepdog, wins the award for persistance by keeping up for 1/4 mile. Couldn't unclip my shoe whilst peddling like mental quickly enough to injure him though, sadly. Met up with our wonderful support team in Irvinestown where they'd not only already arranged for our bikes to be locked up round the back, but racked up a couple of black ones on the bar too. Nice bite to eat there then back to a big luxury B&B right in the sticks outside Omagh. A good day overall, despite the late start. Last day tomorrow - a mere 78 miles or so up to Malin Head.

Song of the day - "Fire and Rain" - James Taylor
Naturewatch:

2 x crows (dead)
1 x stoat (dead)
1 x blackbird (dead)

Over and out, so I am.

Support Team Update no.2

Day 2 consisted of a lot of time in the car as we set off from Millstreet just before midday. We went in search of the narrow guage railway at Tralee only to find it had become extinct due to the collapse of Celtic Tiger funding – sadly a common story. As time was against us we motored on to Nenagh where we located the B&B and then the evening’s entertainment at Andy’s Bar; Katine had an opinion on everything!
Day 3: Once the boys had their tyres pumped and bottles filled we headed to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast. It mizzled and drizzled all day, but we managed to get a dry-ish window to take in the views. OMG they are stunning/dangerous/beautiful/moody and we saw Puffins for the first time – Woohoo!! It is a sanctuary for sea birds including Kittywakes, Guillemots and greater black-backed Gulls, and they collectively sounded like a distant football crowd! Then it rained, so we started our long journey through the purple Burren mountains to meet Rob n Garfy at Granard. Alan didn’t like the new motorways and spent a long time “recalculating”.
Sean poured a lovely pint of the black stuff at his Great-Grandfather’s shop-come-pub the John Donohoe – a very welcome tonic for day 3’s battle against the wind. It was then a case of food and then bed for all of us; bring on the sunshine...!!

BMW Dent Watch = two clear days with no damage! Fingers crossed......

Forgot to mention the Mad Mountain Axe-Man of Granard wobbling into the John Donohoe - is it a Hurling stick, or an Axe wrapped in a paper bag...um...and why are the Garda sat in a car on the corner of the street..."ah! he's harmless enough so he is! comes to town for the day to fill up on ale! one of his brothers will bring him home alright...". Thanks for the reassurance Sean!

Nenagh, Co. Tipperary to Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford - 74 miles

74 miles of rain, 13mph headwind, two punctures, four counties.

Toughest day yet, definitely. We started out from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, by retrieving our bikes from the pub (where the staff had very kindly offered to lock them up for us last night). It rained pretty well constantly all day, and coupled with the wind in our faces, this almost made us a little bit depressed.
However, after a nice lunch in Ferbane, Co. Offaly, and after having mended Garfy’s 2nd puncture, (luckily, the local toy shop was open to sell us an inner tube for his Raleigh Budgie) we took a detour round Athlone which took us through some very very rural hilly roads, quite literally through the middle of nowhere. In this particular part of Co. Westmeath it seems that people keep dogs and keep them outside without locking them in. This results in them chasing tired English cyclists as far as they can down the road, barking like mad. If this happens again tomorrow I’m going to un-clip my right foot and hoof them straight in the jaw, the dog bastards. It didn’t rain for the dog chasing part of the day though, so that was nice.
More and more cycling, more and more wind and rain and we hobbled into Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford. Guinness and Lasagne in Granard, then to the nearby guesthouse, set in 22 acres and like a luxury version of the priest house in “Father Ted”.
Word of the day – “Bollocks” (used as an insulting noun, e.g, “get out of my way you short Welsh bollocks”).
Song of the day – “The Road” – Frank Turner
Naturewatch:
3 x crows (dead)
1 x badger (dead)
1 x hedgehog (dead)
1 x blackbird (dead)
17 dogs of various breeds (wish they were dead)

Northern Ireland tomorrow! Thank you and goonight from Craggy Island.

Support Team update...

We were sooo pleased the boys had a good first leg; after the drive from the ferry to Mizen was not the most inspiring! We waved them off at around 10.45. We drove a total of 225 miles on day one taking in the views of the Beara Peninsula and Moll’s Gap before meeting up at Millstreet at 5.30pm. Rob emptied his first barrel of Guinness at the Wallis Arms (he obviously has a lot of fluid to replace...) before we checked into Noreen’s B&B an hour later. Smelling a little fresher, we headed back to the pub - but just missed the last orders for food at the Wallis; no worries as it’s totally ok to buy a pizza from Claudio’s across the road and eat it in the bar....try that in the Moon in the Square!
RTE2fm tunes of the day included Squeeze (Up the Junction) and ELO (Mr Blue Sky) LOL!
BMW dent watch: front passenger door (Nic and low dry-stone wall); nearside front lower wishbone (Dave and deep drain gulley in Eyeries).

Day 2. Millstreet County Cork to Nenagh County Tipperary. 83 miles

A long day today! Not much sleep due to Pricey thrashing around in the bed next to me - now there's a statement open to interpretation!. After a full Irish courtesy of Noreen, our hostess with the mostess, we hit the road around 9:45. I programmed the sat nav on the phone to take us the shortest way - first mistake of the day! The short cut turned out to be a hike through the Mullaghareirk mountains. Lots of short, steep ups and downs that sapped the legs for around 20 miles. Finally cleared them and headed north to Limerick, where the problems really started. The main issue was that both our map and the sat nav took us up the N7 out of Limerick. The N7 became the M7 two weeks ago (so we later learned). We simply couldn't find a way out, mainly due to the fact that the county council hadn't bothered to change the signs to reflect the new road. Eventually, we stumbled across the right road and headed on to Nenagh, our stop for the night. We reached it around 6:45, having lost about an hour getting out of Limerick. Dave and Nicky were already in the pub waiting to greet us with a pint, and we soon got to know Cathrine the chef, who cooked us up a storm and went on to entertain us with the brand of wit only found in the Emerald Isle.

Roadside clothing count
3 x single gloves
1 x single shoe
1 x pair of trousers (yes, really)

Nature watch
5 x crows (dead)
1 x magpie (dead)
1 x blackbird (dead)
1 x badger (dead)

Song of the day - "Zorbing"

Day 1. Mizen Head to Millstreet. 75 miles

So here we are in Millstreet, County Cork after a pretty good couple of days. The run to Swansea yesterday was good. Dave and Nicola, who are touring Ireland by car and carrying all our stuff, picked us up around 3 and we arrived 2 hours before the ferry was due to leave. Fortunately they let us straight on, so we thought it only polite to find the bar and start things off as we mean to go on. A quick pop up to the poop to see the sights and a seal swam past the boat. Rob told me he thought that it was a dog out of it's depth; a bit like most of his ex-girlfriends really.

I managed to get a pretty good night's kip in my cabin - unlike Pricey who spent most of the night sweating under his duvet; a bit like most of his ex-girlfriends really. We jumped off the ferry at 7 (by a strange quirk of coincidence, "Road to Nowhere" was playing on the radio) and hit the road from Cork to Mizen hungry, as we didn't want to spend £9 on breakfast on the ferry. Unfortunately, it's Bank Holiday Monday over here, so pretty much everything, including all the cafes, was shut. The weather was pretty much as expected; crap. We stopped at a Spar in Skibbereen that actually sold bacon baguettes and the rain really started in earnest. Morale was low, but as we drove further south, the rain started to ease. When we arrived in Mizen it had actually stopped and the sky looked a bit brighter. With hope in our hearts and energy drinks in our bottles, we struck out to rapturous applause from the local wild fowl.

I was told by a local before we left that the roads in Ireland were not the smoothest. This proved to be completely accurate, and soon we were bouncing up and down on the tracks they call R roads over here (stands for rural apparently). The scenery here is gorgeous - mountains, loughs and everything is just a deeper shade of green. We breezed through the first 35 miles, passing through pretty villages and fantastic views. We stopped for lunch in a small garage, straight out of 1950's England. We walked in and there was a cold counter full of meats and salad. Rob asked if we could get some of it in to a baguette. The elderly lady attendant very kindly and patiently explained that they didn't do that sort of thing on a bank holiday - could we come back tomorrow when this would be absolutely no problem at all? Fortunately, there were some sandwiches already made up so we tucked in to them. She then asked us where we'd come from. When Rob told her Mizen, and that we were heading for Millstreet, she just stared at him like he was from another planet; a bit like most of his ex-girlfriends really.

We carried on to Macroom and after a quick break, headed up in to the mountains towards Millstreet. For the first time during the day, the rain came down heavily, giving us a wet end to the day. The surprise of the day was that it was pretty flat going. Pricey went well, with me having to work hard at times to keep pace on my slower, heavier bike. I'm proud of the boy!

Got to Millstreet and on to the Bulmers and Guinness. Checked in to our B&B for the night, greeted by our convivial and talkative hostess Noreen and her "tree" year old niece with some un-pronounecable Irish name.

Song of the day - Mr Tambourine Man

Nature watch

2 x crows - dead
2 x foxes - dead
1 x rabbit - dead
1 x stoat - alive
1 x hedgehog - dead
1 x otter - dead
1 x pair of Pricey's socks - wet and dead.

Swansea ferry here we come

Today's the day. We leave this afternoon to get tonight's Swansea to Cork ferry, then start the bike ride tomorrow morning.
Some close family friends, Pat & Pete Lynes, held a fundraising event at their house yesterday morning in Mum's memory for the MND Association. They sold plants, books, cakes, coffee, etc and managed to reach a total of £440. What an amazing gesture. This has now been added to our donation page and I'm delighted to say that our total is now £1,596 (106% of our target!)
A huge thanks to Pat & Pete and to all of the rest of you.
I suppose we'd better spend five days cycling through the Irish rain to earn it now!

Massive thanks!

Our latest total is £1,026 of a hopeful £1,500. 68% raised in other words. The last two days in fundraising terms have been astonishing enough to enhance my faith in human nature. Good on you all! I'm sincerely very grateful and humble indeed.

This challenge is starting to feel very much more real than it did a few months ago. On Sunday we'll be on the ferry to Cork. The weather forecast isn't good, but then it wasn't as if we'd decided to cycle end to end of Majorca or Malta I suppose. The "Emerald Isle" is emerald for a reason, and we both have overshoes, jackets and a fairly robust sense of humour. Looks like all three will be called upon.

Any of you following this with a direct line to whichever deity you pray to may wish to suggest nice, mild cycling weather.

Some reflections on Pricey having a blog. By Garfy.

Doesn't he talk enough already?

Some reflections and advice on cycling training.

1. Dorset as a training ground, is very, very hilly. The man who plots the "Dorset Downs" route is quite simply a sadist. The man who thought up the "five hill bastard" (my description) is a sadist too. (It was Garfy). The person who plots the British Heart Foundation 66 mile event, however, just appreciates nice scenery, albeit with a few bastard hills.

2. Jelly babies and shortbread fingers are the snacks of champions. Powerade is amazing. As a friend recently said; "anything THAT BLUE has GOT to be good for you!" Fig Rolls are also rumoured to be worthwhile, although the laxative effects have yet to be fully documented.

3. Avoid groups of women in Burkas posing for photos on Bournemouth promenade. The headgear that their crazy belief system insists they adopt results in restricted vision and they are liable to walk straight in front of fat cyclists.

4. Don't get or wear a helmet mirror. It'll make you look like a tit.

5. Maintain a positive mental attitude for the last ten miles of a long ride by picturing that pint of Guinness that you're going to have at the end.

6. Try your hardest to maintain that same positive mental attitude when you get to that faraway pub only to discover that a disaffected teenager has to change the barrel.

61% of our target reached so far! Thanks all.

It's really started to sink in that we're actually going to do this! If anyone fancies joining me for a ride this evening let me know. I need all the last-minute training I can get...

Some close friends of Mum's are holding an event at their place this Saturday morning to raise money in her memory for for the MND association. They'll be selling plants, books, bric-a-brac, coffees, etc. Hopefully it'll raise a few quid and we can add that to our growing total.
Give me a call or message me on facebook for details.

Introduction - Rob Price

Myself and my old chum Gareth Williams will be cycling from Mizen Head, County Cork to Malin Head, County Donegal (end to end of Ireland) between 7th and 11th June 2010.

We will be raising as much money as possible for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. This is a cause close to our hearts as my Mum, Judy, lost her battle with this awful condition in July 2009.

Garfy was one of three mates of mine who last August cycled from John O'Groats to Lands End. Him and Darrin dedicated their ride to and raised over £2,000 in Mum's memory for the MND Association on that occasion. So inspired and overwhelmed was I by this that I bought a bike earlier this year and actually started to remind myself how to ride it in hope of being able to cover the whole length of the Emerald Isle. Having exercised little more than my jaw muscles and drinking arm (Garfy's words) since the eighties, it's been a challenge to say the least.

Still, I've done a 66 mile and a 70 mile ride as part of the training (amongst others) so with any luck I'll still be alive by the time we reach Malin Head!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Gandhi, Darrin, Tim, Kate and especially Garfy for their support, humour and encouragement throughout the training over recent weeks and months. It can't be easy motivating a morbidly obese man in his late thirties to cycle up big steep hills.

My colleague Nicola and her husband Dave have very kindly offered to do the support driving and we're very grateful to them in advance for carrying our stuff to the next B&B each day. This is very selfless of them, of course, as Ireland is a horrible place and I'm sure they'll hate every moment of seeing pretty well the whole country and drinking all of that dreadful Guinness!

I'd also like to thank my lovely wife P and our boys for allowing me the "time out" to train for and complete this.
Having this event to focus on and prepare for has made an enormous difference to how I've dealt with losing Mum, and hopefully will be the start of lots more activity in future.

Final thanks go to all of those who have been kind enough to donate. As of today we have hit 55% of our target.

For the rest of you, please dig as deep as you can in order to one day prevent other families from going through this. Your support is very much appreciated.

http://justgiving.co.uk/priceyandgarfy

Thanks very much. Enjoy the blog...

(please note that this blog may contain attempts at humour)