Glengarriff to Kenmare

June 11, 2025

What a difference a day makes! In order to NOT leave you in suspense: We had a “why we tour” day. So what changed?

(1) Having a day off the bike and enjoying pleasant enough weather on that day cheered us up so we were more ready-to-go this morning. We could see how appealing Ireland could be with slightly better weather. (I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Irish have a higher than average depression rate: the dark skies, wind and rain, day after day is wearing).

(2) We had a short day (30 km) planned to Kenmare. We were able to stop to smell more roses (or whatever the local flowers are here) because we were in no hurry to arrive at our destination.

(3) We had a really nice conversation with the owners of our b and b at breakfast. Mary runs the b and b but her husband Chris helps out. Chris was formerly a chef in London and when they got married they had to negotiate where to live. Ireland eventually won out. Chris and Dave had a spirited conversation about cooking and Mary and I visited about her family and the ins and outs of running a b and b. They have two young adult sons who are both finishing, or have finished, University. I think I have that right. Mary referred to them as getting “their qualifications” which I think means University. It is very competitive to get into different programs in Irish Universities but it sounds like they are doing well. Chris decided to wind down from being a chef and he works a few days a week at a swanky lodge - Sheen Falls Lodge - just outside of Kenmare, as a porter. We contemplated stopping there for lunch on our ride in, but in the end decided we had already had some pretty fancy meals and opted for the Kenmare Brewery in Kenmare instead.

Mary said that b and b bookings are down this year. She said the angst of the economy has affected people’s willingness to book. The Germans have been historically a big part of their business and German bookings are down significantly. Our observation is that Germans like to travel and the economy in Germany has been historically good enough so that people feel like they have the resources to do it. She said that US and British bookings have somewhat improved. While we were there we were the only guests, which turned out to be great because we really hogged the breakfast room and felt we had the run of the place.

(4) The weather was better; it wasn’t exactly wonderful but far less wind (except in a few places) and we never got any rain.

(5) Dave’s knee felt better which always cheers us up.

(6) The ride itself was awesome! The first part was a long steady climb out of Glengarriff up to the top of Caha Pass. There was some traffic but it wasn't too bad and the weather was clear enough we could see down the valley. We encountered two tunnels which were mildly nerve-wracking: no lights in the tunnels and they narrowed so two cars going through at the same time would be impossible. Traffic was courteous and two cars stopped to let Dave get through all the way.

Looking back on Glengarriff Bay on our way out of town.

Jill about to enter the first of two tunnels on our ride.

The ride was the tale of two parts: after a fun descent down the other side of Caha Pass we turned off onto a beautiful, quiet road for the rest of the ride. It was kind of pavement - but pretty torn up in places - and some mild gravel. It was also steep in places (13 to 15 percent) but we managed and it was really fun. Interestingly, Komoot described this whole part of the ride as “asphalt” or “pavement” - which was really a stretch.

A shocking display of color against the omnipresent gray and green of the hills.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful trail to ride.

The foxglove were on full display all along our route.

There were a few hairy bits on our descent.

Dave started humming “Sheep Gently Grazing” when he took this photo:

We arrived in Kenmare around 1:30 and had scoped out Kenmare Brewing as a lunch stop. The town has prospered on its tourist angle and there were a lot of people there shopping and visiting the stores and cafés.

Kenmare was hopping when we arrived, and this was just on a Thursday afternoon.

We parked our bikes and enjoyed splitting an Irish burger while Dave enjoyed a local IPA. Our hotel, Davitt’s Inn, was okay, not great. It was right on the main drag and the clerk directed us to pull our bikes all the way through the long narrow restaurant to a hallway at the back of the inn. The restaurant was packed and we were pretty embarrassed to do this, but we did as told. Our bike storage was a little cramped space at the bottom of the back stairs, used primarily by the cleaning staff.

Working her way to the back of the restaurant past the toilets, beyond the laundry room . . .

Bike storage was tight. To say the least. But the back stairs led right up to our room.

Our room turned out to be up two and half flights of narrow stairs all the way at the end of the long hall. The room was worn but since it was in the attic it had great skylights and a tub. The faucets were the old-fashioned kind with a separate tap for cold and hot after so Dave spent a fair amount of effort getting the temperature of the tub right - but he did! We were full from lunch so managed to hang out and watch the Dauphiné, the time trial stage, which Remco Evenepoel won handily.

After 7:30 pm we thought we should go find something to eat. Typically we manage to book something but did not do so today. We had identified a Thai/Chinese place for a light meal. At home Thai places rarely are the type of restaurant that need a reservation. However, this place was fully booked when we arrived so we wandered down the street at a bit of loss. We walked into Mucahey’s and they were fully booked as well, but the host said we could sit at the two lone places that were available at the bar. We did and we enjoyed a light meal of scampi with veggies and salad. Dave tried a new Irish Whiskey - Writer’s Tears - which he said was aged in Bourbon casks. He gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up.

One final cool thing happened. When talking to our friends John and Harriet on FaceTime, John suggested Dave try to get into see a doctor about his knee. He said there are private clinics that we might be able to access and just pay a service fee, noting that medical costs are less in Europe. This had never occurred to us. It’s such a pain to get into see a doctor in the US, even when you have insurance.

We have plans to be in Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow in the next two weeks. I found the Belfast Knee Clinic on-line, which is a doctor’s office half a mile from the hotel we have booked in Belfast. I sent them an email explaining the situation (we are cyclists, riding through Ireland, Dave’s recent knee surgery, his self-diagnosed Baker’s cyst, blah, blah, blah) and we would be in Belfast for only two days next week and could we see someone then? Imagine my shock when I got a very nice email back an hour later saying the consultant could see Dave at 10 am on June 19. Honestly, I fell off my chair. A random email like that would go into a black hole in the US system. So, we are set for Dave to see a knee specialist next Thursday morning in Belfast. The only downside: We have to get from the town of Moira where we are spending the night, to Belfast (34 km away) that morning before 10 am. But, we thought an early ride would be worth it. We would be very reassured to know that he is not doing his knee any damage by continuing to ride.

Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 1,418 km (881 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	3
Comment on this entry	Comment	0