BEARA BIKE RIDE

July 7 & 8, 2004

Our B&B, the Sea Front B&B, and our hostess, Catherine Sullivan, both turned out to be real treats.  After our harrowing drive from Killarney to Kenmare, and out along the Beara peninsula, we were happy to settle in.  We broke out our bottle of wine and sat in the back yard, enjoying the view from Kilcatherine Point.  Catherine cooked us a delicious meal of fresh salmon and veg.

The next day, as we enjoyed our delicious breakfast, we planned our strategy.  We decided to stay another night and made arrangements with Catherine.  Then we set out on our bike ride around the Beara Peninsula.  We were able to ride out from our B&B, along the little finger of land that sticks out and forms Coulaugh Bay, and on in to the village of Eyeries—the 2003 winner of the “Tidy Towns of Ireland” award!  Each house and shop was colorfully painted—bright yellow, blue, green, peach, ochre, burgundy.  None of that stark white we saw in Spain, no pastels like in Italy, these houses are bright!  There were lots of little flowerpots and window boxes, and the town is definitely cute.

In Eyeries we read about Morty Og O’Sullivan, who got into a dispute with John Puxley and ended up shooting him.  Then Morty Og had to hide out and he eventually became a smuggler and got rich.  Most everyone on the Beara peninsula is named Sullivan.

                               We pedaled up the hill and over the saddle to Castletownbere.  The road was good and the traffic was light.  We were away from the tourists, which is just what we wanted.  From Castletownbere we continued on, stopping at the ruined Puxley mansion, and then up the road, circling the Slieve Mishkish Mountains.  We stopped for lunch at the Knocknagallaun viewpoint, which is hosted by O’Sullivan, the dog.  He peacefully naps at one end of the long stone table, and when tourists bring out their lunch, he moves a little closer and looks longingly at the goodies.  He is very polite and does not infringe on your space.  According to one of the locals, O’Sullivan lives at this rest stop and gets fat off the offerings of passers-by.

All along this bike ride we met other cyclists.  Not too many, just enough to make it interesting.  We chatted with two girls from Kentucky who planned to ride the three rings—the Ring of Beara, the Ring of Kerry and the Ring of Dingle.  They had set out that morning from Glengarriff and expected to do about 80 miles to get to Kenmare that night.  We met them several times along the route, and began to worry about them a bit as one of the girls was lagging.  They were determined though, and continued on.

The back side of the bike ride included some challenging climbs and stunning vistas.  By the time we got back to Eyeries we were glad we weren’t going on to Kenmare.  We happily headed out our point and again enjoyed the evening view from the back yard.

Recommendation:  Sea Front B&B.  seafront@eircom.net, telephone 027 74198 www.bearainfo.com/accomm/seafront