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Day 1, Saturday 31st July.

Calum and I caught the train to Troon then the ferry to Larne.
We met Alan in Belfast and Robert in Coleraine. Cycled to Portstewart, we went out to see a brilliant fireworks display at night.
Sunshine and showers. 31 miles today.

Day 2, Sunday 1st Aug.

We headed east along the coast to Dunluce Castle where we saw a musket demonstration.
It was warm, there was broken cloud and we had a tailwind so we were all happy.
We went to Dunseverick where Grace brought us an amazing picnic lunch.
On the way back we visited The Giant's Causeway, it was incredibly busy with hundreds of people there.
In the evening we had a barbecue
35 miles

Day 3, Monday 2nd Aug.

Dry today, sun almost came out. We headed west avoiding the A2 where possible.
Cycling was mostly little hilly roads not far from the coast. Stopped in Limavady for lunch.
Arrived in Londonderry and made our way to the Travelodge.
48 miles

Day 4, Tuesday 3rd Aug.

During the night we were awoken by a bomb going off outside the police station in the same street as our hotel.
In the morning we had to change our plans a bit because so many roads were cordoned off.
We did an anticlockwise circular route through Co. Donegal.
We stopped for lunch in a lovely little diner in Newtown Cunningham.
It stayed mostly dry, a very lazy day with lots of stops.
Once back in Derry we did some sightseeing.

28 miles

Day 5, Wednesday 4th Aug.

Headed south along the same route as yesterday. The team are all still in high spirits, the low mileages might be helping?
It was all up hill and down dale as the cycle route avoided the main roads.
We stopped in Strabane for a good lunch then headed for the hills again.
We arrived at Gortin Independent Hostel where we were put in a 3 bedroom holiday home, lovely.

38 miles

Day 6, Thursday 5th Aug.

Forecast was good but the day started with a shower. Headed east, on quiet roads to Cookstown where we had lunch and avoided another shower. There are lots of new built hpuses around here but they look empty.
After lunch we contined east to Lough Neagh. We stopped for dinner in a Chinese restaurant in Ballyronan.
The B+B is near Magherafelt. 57m

Day 7, Friday 6th Aug.

Alan and Robert both had to leave very early.I had a big ulster fry for breakfast, Calum's veggie options were limited at breakfast, egg on toast cooked in sausage fat.
We headed round to Toome and ran in to a swarm of flies by the lough shore, very hard to cycle with your eyes closed.
We then headed north under dark clouds to Culleybackey and a tea shop.
It was warm and humid when weccame out and headed west to the glens.
Newtown Crommelin has closed down so no refreshment as we started the long steady climb over to Glenballeyemon and our extraordinary camping barn. It's run by story teller Liz Weir and well worth a visit.

42 miles

Day 8, Saturday 7th August.

The cloud was below us as we set off for Cushendall.
Sun came out though for the ride to Carnlough and it was a glorious day from there on. Learned a lot about limestone quarries and the harbour from a man who knew Calum's dad. The ferry was late from Larne to Troon so we missed the train to Glasgow. Got back home after 10 44 miles

Total for the week.

322m.

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