Kevin O’SheaPigeon Hill, Leamlara, Co. Corkand formerly of Ardea, Tuosist, Kenmare, Co. Kerry

I took today off. To be honest, that’s a decision taken the day before, while still in Kenmare. Essentially, I didn’t know whether or not O’Sullivan’s in Killarney would have been able to fix my bike, nor how soon. Worst yet, I didn’t know if it’d last to Killarney. If you read yesterday’s post, you’d know how fantastic the owner of the bike shop was, but I wasn’t about to set off again at almost 15:00, so I booked into a camp site. ## Cold I caught a cold of some sort, so 1st thing in the morning I speak with a voice that’d have made Leonard Cohen green with envy. I also have a slight cough, from time to time. Obviously, I was concerned about COVID as I’d hate to be spreading it. However, I’m certain that this isn’t COVID. For starters, my lungs are fine and if I had COVID, I simply wouldn’t have been able to cycle the distance I did yesterday, especially since it crosses a mountain by Molls Gap. Someone suggested that I try antihistamine, to see if my symptoms are due to pollen, so I did. That’s helped a lot, though I’m not in the clear yet. Still, ALL the cycling days remaining will be short days (40km or less) and I’m sure I can manage that. ## Best-laid plans and all that This trip most certainly didn’t go to plan, and I’ve had to deal with a lot of mechanical problems. I had a lot of help – Jack and everyone else at Bike Circus in Clonakilty were amazing, as was John and his wife. Also David O’Sullivan! However, I was surprised by how few and far between good mechanical support services were. This is not a criticism, but rather me thinking out loud about business opportunities. See also #RubbishRide ## YOUR Wild Atlantic Way Though it’s not there quite yet, I can only see the Wild Atlantic Way growing in popularity. And for good reasons, too! The landscape is simply magnificent, but it’s the people who will steal your heart.Wh When you travel along the Wild Atlantic Way (and please, PLEASE do yourself the favour of doing so!) you too will fall in love with Ireland. ## Competition! To be in with a chance of winning John Devoy’s fantastic book, Quondam, you need to answer _all_ the questions that I post on a daily basis. Here’s today’s question: In Dublin Castle, in 1922, the British flag was lowered for the final time. But how many years were the Irish trying to get the British out of Ireland? Was it 30, 75, 150, 300, 500, 750 or 900 years? ### Share this: * Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X * Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp * Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit * Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email * Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads * Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky * More * * Click to print (Opens in new window) Print * Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn * Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr * Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest * See also Audax, baby! ### _Related_

Full-year charge is three times the amount taken in the first half of 2025

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