Ireland Tour 2015 Diary - Day 4 - Antrim to Dublin

Hi guys!

Just in case you missed the diary for Day 3 you can click here to have a read of that first. Today is the penultimate day in Ireland and was an absolutely lovely ride. Enjoy!

Sunday 9th August

Another early start began the penultimate day of the Ireland part of the trip. Today, we were headed across the border into the Republic of Ireland and on to Dublin. After splitting up slightly to ride in smaller groups, we started the day riding towards Tandragee via a road that took us next to Lough Neagh down some very small, single track roads that provided some lovely views of the lake. (which I don't actually have any pictures of.. you'll just have to believe me on that one!)

We were headed to Tandragee as we decided to visit the Tayto factory as it is in a castle and you can go on a tour around it. Tayto are a crisp and snack manufacturer in Ireland and seem to be the equivalent of Walkers. However, we didn't factor in that it was Sunday and therefore the factory was not open to tourists and no tours were running. So instead of doing that, we did a quick search to determine if there were any cafes nearby we could go to instead that would be open on a Sunday.

We found the Scarva Visitor Centre and stopped for some cake and coffee there. The visitor centre was in a beautiful spot right by a canal and park. We sat outside under the awning and unsurprisingly, rearranged the tables and chairs so that we could all sit in huge group earning some disapproving stares from the cyclists who were sat there after having the same idea as us.

Some people decided to have soup or a panini but with this sign outside, it was rude not to have a slice of one of the delicious home made cakes!

Scarva Visitor Centre

We then split up again and headed to the Spelga Dam along the Spelga Pass where the whole group seemed to be stopped to take photos of the dam showing me, once again, that you're never too far behind despite what you might think! The roads up to the Spelga Dam are made to be ridden along with the easy sweeping bends allowing you to take in the views as you ride.

Spelga Dam

The slightly unfinished car park for the visitor centre..

Beautiful views as ever in Ireland

Photo opportunity = everybody off the bikes!

Upon entering the Republic of Ireland, there was no obvious border and the only indication was the change in road signs from the UK ones to Ireland's signs with the Irish names written underneath on direction boards.

We arrived at our hotel for the night in the late afternoon which was just outside Dublin near Howth and Baldoyle. We had some debates about whether to go to Dublin for dinner, to one of the towns nearby or stay in the hotel and go to either the bar or the restaurant for food.

I was among the 9 people that decided to go to the restaurant in the hotel and after a relatively posh dinner full of laughter and story-telling, we headed back to the bar for a couple of drinks before going to bed.

Day 5 was our last full day in Ireland and saw us heading to Rosslare via Sally Gap before our ferry on Tuesday morning. Even more gorgeous Irish scenery is on the way, keep your eye out!

Ride safe,
TFB