Husband and wife complete the Wild Atlantic Way
A Hayling couple set out on a 12 day cycle to push their boundaries and embrace the Irish scenery.
Bill and Tricia Farnham, 75 and 65, two Hayling pensioners, set off on a 12 day cycle of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, simply for fun and a personal challenge.
The route was about 600 miles along the West Coast. They flew from London Stansted to Cork and on arrival were taken to Mizen Head on the south coast of Ireland. From there they set off pedaling with 23 others of whom were of four different nationalities and a variety of ages.
The route was filled with hills and ‘stunning scenery’, said Trish.
One of the laws of Ireland says when overtaking cyclists, drivers must allow a gap of at least one and a half metres.
Trish said: ‘The people were generally friendly and the drivers were very considerate towards cyclists.’
The group stayed at hotels every night, which was needed after the challenges they faced cycling through hills and country roads every day.
The weather stayed mostly cloudy and with less rain than expected, the temperature remained in the mid teens. All went well and by day six the group had reached the halfway point at Galway.
Up hills and freewheeling down them continued until the evening of day ten, by which time they had reached the northern part of the Irish Republic.
However, there was some concern when everyone noticed that Storm Ali was predicted to hit the next day. With very strong and blustery winds said to reach 55 mph, team leader Paul Kennedy decided that it would be too dangerous to cycle. He quickly organised for a coach to take them onto the next hotel and bikes and cyclists were transported in the two vans.
This left a final day’s cycle for Letterkenny to Malin Head, Ireland’s most northerly point. By then the weather had calmed down and all continued as planned.
Bill and Trish completed the 534 mile ride end-to-end, known as MizMal, in 11 days and headed home from Belfast to Stansted very tired and very proud.
