Coast to Coast Day 5
I passed the half way point yesterday somewhere near Lough Talt, so I was feeling good this morning knowing that today would eat another big chunk off the second half of the challenge.
Boyle is a great base to explore a region that is very underrated. There’s loads to see and do around here; the only problem is there’s not much accommodation in the town.
Getting our of Boyle was great – my route took me through Lough Key Forest Park, a place I have fond memories of from a training camp with Mary, Patricia & a bunch of their international team training group. Lough Key is on the edge of the Town and its a gem. Full of beautiful woodland and lakeside walks and activities. A really nice place. Lovely route through for me that took me onto the back roads of lovely Leitrim.
I’m going back to Leitrim at some stage. I like this county. Small. Understated. Beautiful. Quiet. Rural. Not flat – lots of small hills, I was moving into drumlin country. Some wise man described drumlins as akin to half buried eggs and he was right! Up and down, up and down and though not very high, the gradients could be challenging! The early part around the Shannon was nice and flat and beautiful surfaces for biking. Shortly after crossing the Shannon at Battle Bridge I rolled into Leitrim village the gateway to the Shannon Erne Waterway and is a popular stopping off point for cruisers.
The county is very sparsely populated and while I was travelling the back roads, it was even more isolated than expected. I had one 57kms stretch before I came to a shop!
Would the real Fenagh please stand up! We have our own lovely Fenagh village in the centre of Carlow and Leitrim has one too. Even smaller than our one! Its located close to the River Shannon and it wasn’t long before I reached a jetty near Keshcarrigan where I had a great chat with a guy cruising up to Enniskillen who was also a keen cyclist.
Between every drumlin there must be a lake! The route I took brought past so many pristine lakes, too many to have names! It really is beautiful biking country. But the hills are relentless, especially with full panniers. I broke at Carrigallen and had a well earned sambo.
If the hills in Leitrim were a challenge Cavan literally topped them! My elevation graph is like a printout of an ECG… and I thought I might need one of those when I got into Cavan! A bustling town, another place I have good memories of games in Breiffni Park. I though I would have no difficulty in getting a room in town but it bursting at the seams and I was lucky to get one in the Kilmore Hotel. It was my earliest finish yet to a days cycling which I was glad of.
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