13/07/2022 – PCR Day 4

It turns out that the dilapidated abandoned stone house that I stayed in was surprisingly chilly despite missing both a roof and windows.

Nevertheless, I set off at 5:13 (nearly classed as a lie in) headed off.

I had been warned that this was going to be one of the hilliest parts of the course with several big climbs to look forward to.

I made my way in what was the valley or bowl in the middle of a set of mountains. It was a nice easy morning to settle into with nothing too steep to mention.

The PCR Media Team van pulled alongside to my surprise and we had a little chat, asking where I spent the night and how I was feeling. It was nice to see them and definitely gave me a morale boost.

After they swept past and went off right where the route double backed on itself and I took the left route, I encountered a road full of cows.

Steadily making my way through them, there was a group that wouldn’t seem to let me past and I could see why, there was a very angry elderly Irish man shouting and making sounds at the cows shaking a very aged and rusty bike in the air.

Stood in a kind of stalemate for a few minutes, I decided to turn back a few hundred meters, hop a gate and stayed there whilst the cows eventually made their way past.

Safe to say the farmer wasn’t best pleased with me and he gave me a slight telling off, I hopped back over the gate and went on my way. Serves him right for being a cattle farmer.

On that topic, being Vegan had been a bit hindering on this trip so far, most of the offerings in pubs, cafes and petrol stations catered mostly to a non-vegan diet.

It was harder to pick up “real food” so was largely having to stick with sugary snacks and hash browns which I was getting a little tired of.

Amazingly there seemed to be quite a high percentage of people following a vegetarian/vegan diet doing this race so I felt that at least I wasn’t the only one suffering with lack of choice.

I carried on my merry way and made my way up the first steep climb of the day and was rewarded with some stunning scenery.

The climbs just kept coming and coming and when I stopped for a snack, I checked the tracking website and saw that in the night I’d managed to overtake Tamzin and Joules (from the train to the start).

I’d stopped in Sneem as there was a nice corner shop there so stocked up on food. Tamzin then arrived and grabbed some stuff and then as a fellow vegan, noticed that they had some delicious vegan sausage rolls!

Some other riders joined us at the table outside the shop and it was nice to chat to them and have some company before setting off alone into the morning sun

Joules had been flying the first few days having ridden through the night on the first night but he was having some knee issues so had a long nights sleep in a BnB not too far after I had stayed in the stone house.

He was a quick rider so eventually he caught me up again and we got chatting about how the ride had been so far.

It was nice to have some company for a while and then when we stopped for another snack further down the road, Tamzin caught us up and we then tackled a steep climb.

It was really good fun and it really stung the legs but as ever, the view was worth it.

The day continued as it had started and eventually we made our way back to where the “out and back” double backed on itself and we stopped in the BnB/shop for a quick rest.

The Race Organiser were there and it was nice to see them for the first time this ride and they were full of energy despite all that they had to keep up with.

With the majority of the climbing done and “only” 90km to the second checkpoint where there was a hostel for us to stay at and rumours of a pizza place, our spirits were lifted as we set off.

We split up and chose to ride at our own pace for a bit and get into our own heads/zones which was nice, I do quite enjoy riding solo, part of the reason why I chose this race.

The roads were nice and quiet and the weather was still causing it to be nice and warm in the sun but cooler in the shade.

There was a slight decision to make.

The route took us to Dingle for CP2, a loop of Dunmore head which worked out to be about 50km, then back to Dingle and CP2 before setting off again.

You could theoretically stay the night before or after the loop depending on personal preference.

I decided to make the decision early and agree with myself to just get to Dingle, stay the night then head off early as it had been a really hilly day and some rest would do me good.

A quick stop for some more snacks and Joules then caught me up and then proceeded to power on to CP2.

The route followed the coast west towards Dingle and it was a block headwind. The last small hills were a real struggle and Tamzin and I made our way into Dingle together and got our Brevet cards got stamped.

Not only were our vegan dreams answered by the Pizza place doing vegan pizza, but there was a Chinese next door which had some vegan options too so we settled for Double Dinner.

Scoffing as much as we could down and then I headed up for a well earned first shower of the trip.

Sadly due to the number of people arriving that evening, my bed for the night was on the floor of the hostel.

It was probably the comfiest nights sleep of the trip so far but if you’d have asked me “pizza or bed”, I’d choose pizza every time.