Wild cycling

I went for a 77K cycle with James Moore near Killarney this morning. When I woke at 07.45 I could hear the wind howling outside. It was very tempting to just turn over and forget the whole idea as the idea of cycling in a strong wind is one of the most unappealing things for me. Still I groaned and grumbled my way to the kitchen and dolefully ate my breakfast. We were heading back to Killarney on the train and the plan was to cycle around Caragh Lake via Killorglin. This is almost fifty miles long but it is the route that the Gap Triathalon will take in a couple of weeks time and as neither of us had done it we decided to give it a go. We exited from the station at 10.25 and were greeted by sheeting rain and strong winds. Still we were there now so there was nothing for it but to continue.
As expected we were into the wind for the first 15 miles but against all odds we found that we were actually enjoying ourselves. The act of cycling itself was not particularly fun but it nonetheless was good to be out and about and the exercise itself was its own reward. Avoiding the fallen debris and the occassional flood kept the mind focused. Soon enough we arrived in Killorglin and much to our great relief we turned towards Caragh Lake and now instead of being straight into the wind it was now merely quartering from the right. The circuit of the lake is indeed lovely and on a fine day will give a lovely outing in the future. Finally we turned for Killarney and the wind was now behind. Despite being tired we were on a tight schedule if we were to catch the returning train, so we put our heads down and our arses up and pedalled hard. We arrived back with a little time to spare and were very grateful to get into fresh clothes. Coffee and grub saw us fully revived and enthusing about our morning. A lesson perhaps not to be too put off by poor weather, just get out and do it.