Thursday July 10, 2014

When you think of Ireland you think whitewashed houses and green fields – the Emerald Island. Ireland is pink!  We cycled through towns and villages that were decked out in pink – pink bunting, pink houses, pink park benches, and pink bikes.  The last one may have given you a clue.

The Giro D’Italia cycled through N.Ireland, the communities went all out to welcome them and the route today was spectacular.  We have no idea why the Giro D’Italia came to Ireland, but it did.

The Coastal Route was a great cycle route.  For the first 30 ks it followed the coast, through small towns and villages. It was incredibly beautiful and the car drivers were very patient.

If you don\’t want to ride this road, it is a great road to drive.

The morning started of a little grey with a few showers, it wasn\’t too cool, but cool enough to put the windbreakers on, then the sun came out and it made a beautiful ride, stunning.

We had one hill to climb – 315 metres of climbing over a 5 kilometre stretch, so very manageable and incredible beautiful.

At the top of the hill, we noticed this controlled burn – you don\’t see it very often.

We came into one village and chatted to Frances who was tending the garden displays.  The village is competing in the Ulster in Blooms competition and the Britain in Bloom competition.  The way it looked today I think it should win.  Frances told us about the fish and chip shop in Ballycastle (Moreton\’s).

We also were told by Frances that this area is a huge area for limestone.  There was a tunnel where the limestone came from and shipped to the harbour on \’puffers\’.  The garden society have created a garden around the entrance to the old tunnel.

I don’t think we passed one person today who didn’t say good morning or gave a little nod of the head.  The cyclists all wave at you as well.

We passed a training camp for hurling – the sport of Ireland.  It is played with a stick that looks like a flattened hockey stick.  It is a fast game and quite rough, similar to lacrosse only no net on the stick.  It would be neat if we could see a game being played.

We arrived in Ballycastle and stopped in at the Information Centre, again they were really helpful.  The only campsite in Ballycastle is the one we passed on the road down to the Town Centre – about 2 ks out of Town, so we back-tracked to the campsite near the old friary.

The campsite today is small and the facilities are a little dingy – two toilets and a shower, we do have power. We cycled into Town for dinner, we ate at Moreton\’s Fish & Chip Shop – they were lovely.

We are right next to the water, once again we are hearing the sound of surf gently washing against the beach, lulling us to sleep.

Tomorrow we are having a short riding day as there is a lot to see on our route.