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.