Dublin 2 Dingle

The Cutting Edge Cycling Team in various guises on the D2D

At the start of day one we paid a visit to our sponsor "Cutting Edge" on the Ormeau Road for a publicity photo with the Barber of Belfast, Frankie Campbell. Henry Armstrong, finalist in the "Sprit of Ireland " awards was on hand to see the team off before heading off to a panicking wife waiting to take dad to his son's graduation. Hope all went well Henry!

We realised at this point that we were not going to make an early start, courtesy of Jonty who had some last minute poncing to attend to. So at 5pm we eventually left Sandymount Dublin with our back wheels in the Irish Sea.

Day 2 was always going to be a toughie and that's how it turned out. The terrain through the Wicklow Hills (which from here on will be referred to as mountains) was steep enough to challenge Alberto Contador even after a particularly tasty steak, so it proved to be a big challenge to us mere mortals. Add to that the dreadful wet and windy conditions and you will understand why we made 2 refuelling stops in Hacketstown and The Tara Arms, Tullow before finishing the day in Kilkenny. Fortunately we have found the innkeepers to be more than obliging (well all except Johnnie Fox's) and Kevin from Lenehan's in Kilkenny was more than a match for most(see photo). He provided sustenance to the team and we returned the favour by clearing the pub with a set of sea shanties and folk songs from Orangefield and and even as far flung as Limavady.

Adrian took centre stage with a rendition of The Fighting Cocks of Antrim and was duly awarded the "bracelet jaune" for inducing a sweat in the crew not to mention himself as he climbed Slieve Maan from Glenmalure.

After lunch in the Tara Arms, the weather did not improve and we made Kilkenny by 5.30pm ready for a long hot shower. Well rested, we are now ready to tackle day 3 to Clonmel via Carrick on Suir home of Sean Kelly who has sent us a message of support from France where he had to be be for the TdF. Otherwise we would have had a bit of company today. The forecast for today is dry which is a bonus and we have the carrot of the Clonmel champagne to look forward to.

Thanks for your continued support as demonstrated by the constantly rising total at www.justgiving.com/dublin2dingle.

It is time to apply the vaseline.

Slan.

LLL