We’d decided to take a couple of nights on the shorefront at Dungarvan. This sort of fitted in with a site we’ve booked for Sunday and Monday (Top of the Rock), and a couple of nights at Cobh (assuming we can get in) so we can then take the train into Cork.
And the Dungarvan–Waterford cycleway is supposed to be worth a go, so why not.. today’s a cycling day?
Like many cycle-ways this one’s on a disused railway.
Weather was overcast and windy all day. Warm-ish but grey.
Breakfast and Coffee
But the first job of the day was breakfast and coffee. Seeing as there’s a renowned cafe at the start of the cycleway, we didn’t have our normal coffee in the van but headed through the town and onto the route.
The Railway Cottage Cafe clearly gets a lot of traffic. There’s a ton of seating both inside and out. There are eight or ten people serving, and all the food is served in disposable boxes with paper cups and cutlery. Scrambled eggs, GF toast and tomatoes were just what we needed (the full brecky wasn’t GF enough to give a go). The coffee was also very good.
Viaducts and a Tunnel
On the bit we did (about half of the full route) there are three viaducts and a loooonnnggg tunnel.
The tunnel is ace! And we (along with everyone else) didn’t dismount.
The Copper Beech
As we sat having a not-stand-up at one of the rest places, a posse of cyclists stopped and seemed to be discussing a tree. They then disappeared further on through an underpass, but reappeared back where we were a few minutes later.
They were looking for a copper beech that had been planted in memory of a relative. The tree was found by the resting place, and we took a picture of them all. We then saw them again at various points and had a bit of banter along the way. All very good natured and super friendly.
Halfway—Kilmacthomas, The Signal Box
This is the beech tree posse heading to their table. Everyone’s so friendly.
The cafe had a key-and-mug system for accessing the toilet in the yard opposite – they gave you the key to the loos but there was a mug attached so you weren’t tempted to stick the key in your pocket and cycle off with it. But the actual toilet was also a bit of an IQ test, ‘cos once you got into the locked building, you had to navigate through one unmarked door and an unlit room to reach the toilet opposite. Once they’ve acquired the mug-and-key everyone must stumble around crossed legged looking for the unmarked loo.
Clonea Strand
On the way back, we took a 1 km detour from the cycle way to Clonea Strand beach. Apparently it had been heaving over the previous two weeks but was relatively quiet today with the grey skies. The hot chocolate and mocha were dialled up to 11.
The Route
Apple Fitness recorded our route as shown below.
What’s not to like about a cycle along a relatively flat route with a great coastal view? I’m glad our bikes are electric… 47k! My nether regions are going to hurt tomorrow!
Too many selfies again? This one was taken early on, before it got grey.
The Evening
After a SuperValu meal-in-a-tin-tray (some sort of stir-fy chicken) we haeded into town on our bikes for a pint. All sorts of people out and about, but we landed on Folley’s Bar with the horse racing playing on all the TVs.
Before turning in we christened the shower in the van… surprisingly effective… but if we want to do that again we need to take more care of the van-levelling – we had to bail out the shower tray ‘cos it wasn’t emptying due to the slope of the van.
J
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