The Photographic Evidence!

Download full report of Ireland's Extremities (PDF, 9.8M)




Our challenge for the Ireland's Extremities trip was simple in concept:

• Visit North, South, East, West and Centre of Ireland
• Climb the highest mountain in each of the four provinces
• Use mountain-bikes and be unsupported (carry all gear) for the trip
• The bikes and all the gear to go with us, up the mountains too

At 800-odd miles, we carved it up into a neat 8 days and booked our B&B's, which looked doable enough as long as we could make good progress on the mountains with everything on our backs.

And so it turned out. The mountains were hard going in places, and we had some very long days (up 17/18 hours!), but a lot of the time was eating and chatting, both of which we are well-practiced at!

The challenge team started out as Davy, Rick, Enda and Mark, but unfortunately Mark had to leave us on the Thursday due to a prior engagement, so we completed the trip as three. Mark does have the mental and physical scars to prove he was there for most of it anyway!!

To the extremities, ...and beyond!!

Brow Head, the REAL southern-most point of Ireland, just a couple of miles away from Mizen Head. Google it if you don't believe it!

Carrauntoohill in Kerry is a very dangerous mountain. We were glad of our guide Brian Galvin, who got us up and down late in the evening of the first day. Happily, we were able to bike much of it on the way down once we had cleared the crags, ridges and boulder sections. A pretty technical climb in places, though, given the packs and bikes on our backs.

Garraun Point on the Dingle Peninsula, just north of Slea Head - the weather was actually gorgeous, despite how dull it looks, and we spent quite a bit of time just taking in the views.

Mweelrea in Mayo was a brutal climb - horrible, horrible. The terrain on the lower slopes on Killary Harbour was energy sapping, just deep grass and hags and steep crags, and there is nothing rideable on the way down. Nobody seemed to be able to give us decent advice on the best way up and down, and there were no obvious paths, so it is clearly not climbed very much! Also, we climbed to the top of the first spot-height by mistake, then had to descend a fair bit to take on the main hill. Wind was HOWLING, but once the hail and cloud cleared, we had amazing views.

Hill of Uisneach, High Seat of Ancient Provincial Kings of Ireland, and Ireland's centre-point. A MAJOR disappointment - this sign is about as interesting as it got!

Lugnaquilla in Wicklow was a stroll in the park. We dandered up it compared to the others, and were able to bike nearly all of it down from the top. It was pretty misty, but a well-worn path showed us the way, so our only challenge was getting up and down before the Army closed the mountain for the firing range, which we JUST managed, eventually being shown off the hill by the lads in green!

Slieve Donard in County Down we know very well, but we were surprised at how long it took us, as all the steps that have been built made riding down very difficult and/or dangerous on the rigid bikes. So it was a carry most of the way down Glen River to the tree line. But the view off the top was awesome, above the clouds.

Burr Point on the Ards Peninsula we had visited last year on Day 1 of The Ulster Way, but this time we were nearing home, and the wind was on our tails.

Malin Head was a welcome sight. The scenery was incredible, ending a perfect day of unbroken sunshine with a strong wind on our backs.

Extremity Cycle Finished!

8 days unsupported with the mountain-bikes, 800 miles, the N, S, E and W of Ireland and the highest mountain in each province, with bikes and packs going up and down everything.

The three of us (Tango & Cash and Enda) were happy bunnies to finally hit Malin Head in County Donegal at 4:30pm on Saturday 30 May 2009.

Epilogue to publish in the coming days.

Follow Us on Twitter and GPS!

If you are unspeakably bored, you have already counted all the ceiling tiles in the office, and you then happen to wonder where we are during 23-30 May 2009, you should get a rough idea at http://twitter.com/ExtremityCycle/

Enda is going to operate the thing, starting probably Friday night, so if the content is brutal...

Supposedly the following shows where we happen to be at any given time on the GPS thing. Good old Enda again!

Precise Route for Ireland's Extremities Trip

View Larger Map

Contact us if you would like to join us for the craic at any point. We start pedalling from Mizen Head, Co Cork, on 23 May at 8am.

We Are Accepting Donations to NI Children's Hospice

We head off for Mizen Head to begin our Ireland's Extremities trip on 22 May. Final details of where we hope to be, and when, will be posted shortly.

Any support you can offer us through donating to this very worthy charity would be much appreciated, but we won't hold it against you if you don't donate!

Visit Ireland's Extremities donations page on JustGiving.com

The Awakening! Ireland's Extremities

It's been a long, cold winter, not that we saw much of it, as we slumbered soundly and built up our fat reserves for 2009.

Finally wakened on the 1 March by the crows starting to build again, it took the anniversary of the murder of Julius Caesar, followed by the St Patrick's Day celebrations, to finally motivate us to whip off the double duvet and spring to life.

We're back on the bikes for another epic from 23 - 30 May 2009, to try and make ourselves even more miserable than we were on The Ulster Way in May 2008... we're going for Ireland's Extremities - North, South, East and West, plus the highest mountain in each of the four provinces of Ireland, all with the bikes and all our gear, unsupported, in 8 days.

It would be great to have a few of the old crew join us for bits (or all) of it, so drop us a line if you want any details. Mark and Enda are already on board for the trip.

Rough Itinerary:

(Note, we plan to take a good lunch stop every day for a MASSIVE feed of chicken and chips, so it's not all bad!)

22 May - Travel to Crookhaven near Brow Head (which is the true South point, and NOT Mizen Head), getting a lift all the way

23 May - Bike circa 90 miles to Carauntouhill (highest point in Munster, and Ireland), climb it with bikes, then bike 10 miles to Killorglin B&B

24 May - Bike circa 120 miles to Tarbert B&B (on the Shannon), via Garraun Point on the Dingle Peninsula (West point)

25 May - Quick ferry over Shannon, bike 40 miles to Doolin via Cliffs of Moher, ferry to Aran Islands, have lunch, circle island on bikes, ferry to Rossaveel, bike 40 miles to Killary Harbour B&B

26 May - Speedboat across Killary Harbour, climb steep side of Mweelrea (highest point in Connaught) with bikes, then bike circa 100 miles to Athlone or thereabouts, TBC

27 May - Bike circa 90 miles to Donard B&B, Co. Wicklow, via the geographical centre point of Ireland at Ballymore, just outside Athlone, the Catstone.

28 May - Climb Lugnaquilla (highest point in Leinster) with bikes, bike circa 90 miles to Ardee or thereabouts, TBC

29 May - Bike circa 100 miles to Belfast or Antrim, via speedboat across Carlingford Lough, climbing Slieve Donard (highest point in Ulster), ferry to Portaferry, and Burr Point on the Ards Peninsula (East point)

30 May - Bike circa 100 miles to Malin Head (North point), getting the ferry at Magilligan to Greencastle, and after we get there, get a lift back home to Antrim.

31 May - DO NOTHING