It was a calm
and close morning with slight drizzle in the air. The main problem
was it was also ideal conditions for midges and there were plenty of
those. I tried the Skin so Soft spray which seemed to work for a
while then didn’t. I had a fine mesh net designed to anti mosquito
and that worked, though it made seeing difficult. I was packed up by
07:30 and on my way. I wasn’t able to take the net off untill I
reached the road and started cycling. It was a Sunday morning and
hardly any traffic. I continued north along the straight road with
slight drizzle, though not enough to need waterproofs. The low cloud
made the visibility bad and the riding was dull. As I rode in to the
town of Cahersiveen the weather brightened up and I stopped at a
garage store who sold sandwiches. They had homemade specials on
offer and for 4Euros I could have a chicken & cheese with all sorts
of other stuff on. I ordered one and watched the young lady make it.
She seemed new at the job and had trouble operating the pricing
machine that printed a priced label to stick on the package. Even
with another lady and a man they couldn’t get it working and after
waiting a long time I asked just to write the amount on the bag.
They did and I was able to pay at the checkout. I ate it outside and
even though it was good it was difficult to eat with its contents
trying to spill out at every bite.
I continued
along the N70 and after a few miles started to see signs in the
fields saying Cycleway Yes CPO No. It was on a long climb and as I
approached the summit saw the remains of an old railway line on my
left. At the top was a lady tending her garden so I asked her about
the railway and signs. She conformed my suspicions and said CPO
stands for Compulsory Purchase and the proposed cycle way along the
rail line was having problems.
Kells Railway Station
Kells Railway Station (1893 - 1960)
Kells Railway Station in use
She said the
line closed in 1960 and pointed out the buildings that used to be
Kells Railway Station. I had a closer look and the platform was
still there. On my long descent back to the coast I could see where
the line had been and there was even a large and intact viaduct.
Last used 1960
I had hazy views
across Dingle Bay to the Dingle peninsula. I was hoping to reach
Dingle but didn’t know what the roads would be like. Shortly
after leaving Caragh Bridge here was an interesting museum by the
road which was very busy with tourists. I stopped for a look round
but didn’t go inside.
Advertising building materials
The next town
was Killorglin where I stopped for a few minutes. In the square was
a marker giving details of the
Puck Fair and
how the dates were changed in 1752 in line with the Gregorian
calendar.
I continued to
Castlemaine where I stopped a garage to buy some small iced cakes to
eat and get me through the rest of the day. It was early afternoon
and I’d decided to head out on the R561 road to Dingle. In the
garage shop was a commemorative magazine to the Irish risings and I
asked if they had a cardboard roll I could put it in and keep it
from getting creased on the rest of my journey. There wasn’t
anything so I bought it for 4.50Euros, rolled it up with plastic
bags outside and tied it to my front pannier. I set off along the
minor road to Dingle, the main N86 to the north comes in from
Tralee. The road was narrow but still very busy with almost nose to
tail traffic. It was uncomfortable cycling made worse by a headwind.
There were no
tourist coaches as presumably the road is too narrow for them. They
may have helped me by slowing the traffic down. I pressed on to Inch
and a spectacular peninsula stretching out across Dingle Bay. When I
got back to the coast a large area of sand was packed with tourists
who had parked their cars on the sands. The sun was out and everyone
was enjoying themselves. The coast road improved as it became more
picturesque and a bit less traffic.
Parking on the sand
It didn’t last
long as I arrived at the N86 and had to put up with heavy traffic
going to and from Dingle. Some steep climbs made it even more of a
slog. On the final few miles there was a dead straight stretch of
several miles which never seemed to end as I could see its full
length not seeming to get nearer.
View
from my tent at Ventry Bay
I was thankful
to reach Dingle where I bought a 5lt of water and continued to try
and find a place to pitch my tent. There were houses everywhere,
many with large well-kept lawns around, but nowhere for a small
tent. Eventually, after 70miles of riding, I came to a narrow road
and an un-gated entrance to some waste land overlooking the sea. It
was rather lumpy but I found a spot level enough to pitch my tent.
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Whittle Wanderer
