I did a bike tour in the northwest of Ireland from Derry to Galway, around the coast, in April of 2023. It was an incredible 2-week, 700-mile (1,120 km) journey along some of the most spectacular coastline I’ve ever seen.
I packed up my bike in a suitcase (later blog post will explain how) and flew into Dublin. I put my bike back together and got on a train to Derry the next morning. I had last visited Derry at the height of the Troubles, many years ago, and I was so happy to see that the Town I Love So Well has really become a wonderful place again after all those years of misery! Plus, I got to hang out with my favorite group of ridiculously funny teenagers, ever!
Getting out of the city however inspired me to write a little Limerick:
There once was a road out of Derry,
That was actually quite scary,
But if you swallow your pride,
And on the sidewalk do ride,
Then it really isn’t all that hairy.
Once out of the city though, I was shortly immersed in some amazing coastal scenery and sharing the (air quote) “road” with no one but the sheep.
The riding was steep in places, beautiful everywhere, and boring nowhere.
I also had the incredible good luck to never run into rain when I was more than a few pedal strokes from a pub. So guess where I waited out the storms?
I rode through some very remote, mostly Irish-speaking districts where tourists were an unusual sight. I avoided the summer-time crowds by traveling in April, which comes before summer.
In Sligo town I met up with my hero, William Butler Yates. His spirit is hard to miss here, but for me, it was like being in the presence of an immortal. The Song of Wandering Aengus was floating in my head for days afterwards.
I wanted to pack light, so I didn’t camp on this trip. I stayed mostly at little inns that all had great little pubs with plenty of good fellowship and cheer. So after all the good cheer I had riding around the beautiful countryside, I got even more of it in the evenings. Can you have too much good cheer? Well, if it is possible, it probably can only happen in Ireland on a bike trip.
I wandered through Connemara National Park. I had to give it only a 2.5 star rating because I thought the beauty of the place was a bit too subtle for an average guy like me to really appreciate.
All in all, I have to say that Ireland is one of the most incredible places I’ve ever been. When you consider how much this wee country has impacted our civilization over the years and continues to do so today, I think it is fair to say that the Irish are really on to something. Something like magic.
I finished up this first half of the Wild Atlantic Way in Galway. I’ll be back soon to continue on my merry way for the second half from Galway to Cork.
For a good how-to resource check out the book by Tom Cooper: Cycling the Wild Atlantic Way and Western Ireland.
Michael Gambon, the Irish actor who read “The Song of Wandering Aengus” in the link in this post just took the ship to the Undying Lands yesterday. I hope he is plucking til time and times are done, the silver apples of the moon, the golden apples of the sun.