Stage 4: Athlone to Strandhill, Thurs 28th August

Day four: 118.6 kilometers through Berrybeg; Barrymore (Michael?); Knockcroghery; Roscommon; Boyle; Tulsk; Sligo; Strandhill… (and unscheduled visit to Collooney)

We were waved off from the Athlone Springs by Jenny, Olga & the girls with renewed energy and in high spirits. A food and water stop in Boyle saw Phil discover the reason for the pain he’d be suffering all morning in the saddle region.. it was a boil of his own which he thinks might even be septic.. nice!

The lads made their first wrong turn of the trip into the town of Collooney. On discovering that they might be lost Rob asked a local man, explaining they were looking for Strandhill. They got a look from the old man as if they’d just said they were looking for the road to Timbuktu and with much huffing and puffing he eventually replied “ Well now, yis are on wrong road all together…” After about 10 minutes of explaining they discovered they were only about 100 meters off the right road, which just ran parallel to the road they were on. The lads thanked the man and moved off rather swiftly as the strange look in the man eyes became more pronounced…

After a tough climb into Strandhill, we were met with the beautiful view of the Atlantic. A beautiful place, lovely scenery and great surf. Peter in The Dunes Tavern had supplied us with a fantastic self contained apartment (again free of charge, very sound man Peter) and Rob made us a fine dinner of pasta & tuna. A quick dip in the Atlantic followed with a game of American football on the beach.

A visit to a local hostelry, The Strand pub, saw us meeting up with a local wedding and also with a social outing of a local Irish Dancing troupe. On explaining why we were in town, I was sponsored €70 to perform an Irish dance. Never one to shy away from a performance (or a fine looking lady with ringlets) I was quick to take to the floor with one of ladies to dance a two-handed reel Michael Flatley himself would be proud of. So with another €70 in the kitty and a couple of celebratory pints in our bellies, we slept happy men.

So, we’re all still in high-spirits. The lads will have the hills of Donegal to contend with over the next couple of days but we’re looking forward to meeting up with Tommy & Chris in Ballybofey Friday night. The lads have a few niggles, sore knees and that but reports of nappy rash are still unconfirmed.

If you want to email the lads with any words of support/slagging etc please email me on thomasblanchfield@hotmail.com

Tom

Quote of the day (as suggested by Rob):

“ Hold your feckin' horses missus, this is a RESIDENTAL DISTRICT!” - Tom, shouting at an irate driver out the window of the van, on being over-taken coming out of Boyle.