Dave Byrnes

Round Ireland - 2016

Overview Planned Schedule Map Diary Pictures

Day:	066
Date:	Sunday, 29 May 2016
Start:	Belleek
Finish:	Ederney
Daily Kilometres:	33
Total Kilometres:	1811
Weather:	Warm and sunny to late afternoon, then thunderstorms and heavy rain
Accommodation:	Glendarragh Valley Inn
Nutrition:	Breakfast: Full Irish Breakfast Lunch: Muesli bars and chocolate Dinner: Chicken pieces, salad & chips, fruit trifle
Aches:	Some chafing from wet shorts
Highlight:	The vast Lough Erne, dotted with tree-covered islands, and backed by hazy hills.
Lowlight:	There were a few today, but the worst was slogging along flooded busy and narrow roads in a torrential downpour for the last hour of a long day of roadwalking.
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	There was quite a lot of noise at the hotel B&B overnight with drinkers outside and wedding guests returning in the small hours, but I still got a good night's sleep. Annoyingly, though the advertised breakfast time was between 8am and 10am, I was told that the earliest I could get it was 9am. Not a big deal, but I had a long day of roadwalking ahead and was keen for an early start. It became doubly annoying when breakfast was not ready until 9:15am and I didn't get on the road until 10:15am. It had been a warm night and looked like being a warm day. The sun was shining and there was a heavy haze limiting the views. I had discovered yesterday that this is a long weekend in the UK (but not in Ireland), which helps explain why I had some trouble finding accommodation, and why there were so many tourists about. It was already quite busy and I was soon into my routine of eyeballing every approaching driver and being ready to jump off the road surface onto the verge or into a hedge if there was no sign of them giving me space. It was going to be a long day. The scenery was rural, though there were some heath-covered mountains visible to the north through the haze. As I approached the western end of Lough Erne, there was some relief from the sun when the road passed through some old forests, but I was soon back out in the sun and on the shore of the vast lake which stretched out to the east and was home to a number of tree-covered islands and recreational fishing boats. I took my first break at a small picnic area around 12:30pm with a view over the lake. It was warm and my chocolate was melting. The road I was following was even busier in the afternoon, with many vehicles travelling at high speed and close together. It was not very relaxing, and I kept thinking about how much better tomorrow would be when I get off-road again. My road crossed onto Boa Island, a long thin island that separated the Lower Lough Erne from the Upper Lough Erne, and for a while I could see water on both sides. I took a second break around 3pm under increasingly threatening skies, but it stayed dry for another hour or so until large drops began falling. I persevered in my shorts and T-shirt in the hope it would pass over, but was quite wet by the time I reached a service station where I looked for a few supplies. When I was ready to leave it was raining steadily so I donned my raincoat and was glad I did as it quickly got heavier. Soon I was sploshing along the very wet road, or more often along the saturated grass verge, getting wetter by the second. My boots started getting water in them because I was only wearing shorts and I regretted not putting on my rainpants as well. I passed through the village of Kesh with an hour to go, rain pouring down amidst occasional flashes of lightning and claps of thunder. Many drivers slowed as they passed and I fancied I could see pity in their eyes, while a couple drove carelessly through large puddles on the road, saturating me with water. I was starting to get cold and my shorts were chafing to add to my misery but I just kept plodding on, knowing that I would get to my night's accommodation eventually if I just kept going. I reached Ederney at 6pm and presented myself at the reception desk of my B&B dripping water everywhere. The girl wanted me to fill in a registration form which was pretty much illegible by the time I finished. It's a pricey hotel/B&B, but the room is good. I showered and rinsed out my wet gear, hoping that the room heater eventually comes on to dry them and my boots out. Otherwise I will be wearing wet gear tomorrow. Later I went into town and bought a few things for the next few days and some take-out dinner. General Entries for the GNW100s trail race open at midnight, my time, tonight so I will stay up or wake up to make sure it works as it should.