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.