I awoke and whilst I was gathering up the energy to leave my sleeping bag, a man started to walk from his house over to me.
Worried that I was in for a telling off at 5am, I got out of “bed” and started to gather my things.
Turns out he just wanted to make sure I was okay and after reassuring him that I was fine, he went on his way.
As I was getting ready I saw a cyclist pass me and suddenly remembering that it was a “race”, I hurried up and hopped on the bike where instantly I took a wrong turn and cost myself 20 seconds.
The morning was spent cycling past other people getting themselves ready after nights spent in various bushes, fields and churchyards.
Some people overtook me at a real pace, I hung on and chatted to them for a little bit before dropping back and letting them go.
The morning beautiful as the sun came up. Watching the world come to life as you’re on the road passing it by is quite therapeutic.
It was so nice to chat to people as we crossed paths, people from all over the country, different ages and from varying work industries.
One of the most impressive people is Loz who is doing the Full PCR on a fixie!
As a fellow fixie rider, I do love riding fixed gear, but doing it around a city is very different to doing it on a fully loaded bike up what looked like a very hilly ride!
I made it to Cork around mid morning and bumped into a bunch of people all sat outside this coffee shop. I picked up a couple of snacks and had a bit of a site down.
Before the ride started, I noted down where all the Dominos and McDonalds were along the route but sadly the Dominos didn’t open until 3pm and the McDonalds was still serving the breakfast menu which I think is severely overrated.
Back on the road I hugged the coast only coming inland to go up some hills just adding to the toughness of the day.
After 150km I stopped for lunch in Kinsale which was my first real hot meal of the trip. Thankfully they had some vegan options but it was also nice to get out of the sun as it was starting to get quite warm.
The route weaved around the coast for a while and as I was on a slight drag, I noticed a park bench just off the road.
I’d heard of people taking little naps during ultra races so decided to give it a try. I lay down on the bench for 15 minutes but no dice. It was nice to have a rest but I have no idea how people can just nap like that.
The rest of the day took in some stunning scenery and the miles were ticking by and got to Glanders where I pulled over in the hope to grab some food from one of the pubs.
Sadly they were closed for food so decided to head on but just as I was leaving the village, I looked up and saw Loz outside a church by his bike, looking like he had found somewhere to settle down for the night.
It was a great spot in all fairness and I’d ridden 250km, 2,600m of climbing in just under 12 hours. I had intended to ride a minimum of 12 hours a day but this was close enough to justify stopping.
Right as my bed was set up for the night, a guy on a bike makes his way up the little hill to the churchyard and came over to chat to us.
Sadly this was not a rider come to stay the night but was one of the event organisers.
He said that someone had had an incident with a car further along the road and that 1km after our spot for the night, instead of turning left over a bridge, we were to take a detour onto the main road, cutting out about an hours worth of riding as requested by the local police.
The rider in question was alright with a couple of broken bones, but the hilly nature of those roads, with some loose gravel and blind junctions meant that the police had closed them off to us and we’d have to take the detour or face the race being banned from the county.
Hearing that someone had a crash and was in hospital wasn’t exactly what you wanted to hear when about to go to sleep but it was nice to hear that he was okay and the route had been changed to remove any potentially dangerous parts.
I set an early alarm as I didn’t get much sleep the night before and fell straight asleep.
My Belated Gap Year 
Great diary moments. Reads like a thriller!
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