Newry to Moira

June 18, 2025

Dave’s knee has been bothing him a bit and we are anxious about our longer days. He rides fine but his knee gets tired on long days. A few pains that he had post surgery, but which had gone away, have now reappeared. On the other hand the fluid behind his knee creating the lump has dissipated. We have our doctor’s appointment in Belfast tomorrow and it’s on our mind.

We are on our way to Moira, a 61 km ride, much of it on the Newry-Portadown cycleway. The weather was cool and cloudy but comfortable; we rarely have been cycling in just shorts. Even if it’s not rainy we have been wearing rain pants for warmth.

The trail outside of Newry wasn't all that picturesque, but the trail itself was well maintained and it avoided all the traffic in the area.

It was a nice trail through agricultural areas. We can tell we are in Northern Ireland as there is a more British feel to places, and now we are using pounds instead of euros. At km point 34 we stopped in Portadown for lunch and split a good burger at a not very charming coffee/lunch place. There is less Irish charm going on in general here. After Portadown we continued on another cycle trail most of the way to Moira and went around a pretty lake area.

Along the way we stopped and saw an old WW2 pillbox at the town of Scarva. . The British government built a series of these all along the River Bann and the Newry canal as an initial point of defense against a potential German invasion. While most military experts thought an invasion of Britain by Germany would occur on the Southern English coast (via France) after Germany occupied Norway in 1940, it was thought that Germany might possibly invade Northern Ireland from Norway. The pillboxes were designed to be manned by home Guard forces and the thought was that the defenders would just need to delay the Germans long enough for regular mobile forces to move in. After the Battle of Britain and England’s successful defense via air of England’s coast it never again looked like Germany could invade, but the war left hundreds of these pillboxes all over Northern Ireland.

This is the kind of site that gets Jill's attention. Me? Well, I guess it was worth the diversion. 😒

Moira is a tiny but cute town with a very busy, noisy road. There was one place to stay, Ralph’s, a very appealing larger b and b. As evidence of my challenge in booking accommodation with bike parking, it turned out the owner claimed that only two rooms would be suitable for bike parking, because they both were outside and next to the enclosed courtyard where the bikes are parked. That meant we couldn't book one of the rooms with a tub but it turned out to be a nice airy place and we liked it.

The room was cozy and, oh yeah, had a nice view of our bikes.

We had dinner down the street at Origins 101. I had made an online reservation but there was a technical mess up and they were very nice at fitting us in despite having a full booking. For a tiny town, Moira actually had some very good dining options. Since it was Wednesday the other three I had considered were closed! Origins 101 was excellent.

Tomorrow we are off to Belfast.

Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 1,681 km (1,044 miles)

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