Above Baltimore to Toormore Bay - Ireland’s Windy, wet and wonderful, Wild Atlantic Way. - CycleBlaze

July 6, 2015

Above Baltimore to Toormore Bay

Woke up to howling wind and driving rain, the huge view had closed in to 10 meters, could just barely see the bike when I looked out of the tent, there was a short discussion about the merits of setting off or staying put, the majority voted to stay put so we snoozed in the tent until midday.  Eventually the persistent rain eased off and we rolled up a sodden tent and bowled down into Baltimore.  Baltimore is the gateway to some of the larger inhabited islands,with ferries to Sherkin and Cape Clear, it’s another West Cork gem and a really popular holiday and sailing spot.  As soon as we arrived in the village it was obvious that there was something amis, there was a very somber mood with no-one about.  We then heard that a young woman had been swept off the rocks a few days earlier and her boyfriend and his father had tried to rescue her, all three had drowned.  It was a awful event, with the weather matching the mood in the village we didn’t want to stay around, it felt like we were intruding into something private.  We rode to Skibbereen, a bustling market town for supplies, it was raining so we didn’t hang around, got groceries another liter of methylated spirits for the Trangia and left town.  

On to Skull, another nice fishing village, lots of holiday houses and yachts, a bit early to camp so we headed west. When we were on holidays as young kids our favorite beach was Ballyrissode Bay, a tiny beach in a rocky inlet west of Skull.  I hadn’t been there for 20 years but from memory it had a great camping spot.  Memory didn’t fail me, it was a stunning camping spot, level grassy ground right next to the beach.

We set up and had a swim, refreshing, but nice to get cleaner after a long day on the bike.  The usual pasta supper, ravioli and sauce. Shortly after we set up the tent a police car arrived, my heart sank, rumbled, the cops had arrived to move us on, why else would there be a police car down a remote dead end?  The police car just drove past and didn’t bother us, a local told me the next morning that the guard lived there. 

View from the tent, time for a lie in!
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Getting worse, could hardly see the bike in the mist.
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Finally packed up
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A wet and not very happy camper
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On the way to Baltimore, where's the sun?
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A grey Baltimore comes into view.
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Still wet, those Ortliebs are earning their keep now
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Arriving at Ballyrissode, seems to have shrunk since I was a kid
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The camping spot
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Swimming steps
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Camping spots don’t come much better than this, Ballyrissode Bay
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Today's ride: 76 km (47 miles)
Total: 532 km (330 miles)

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