Ireland 2012: Day 9: Knock to Rosses Point

After an easy day yesterday it was back to the more usual 50 miler today. It was to become the only day of the challenge in which it rained from start to finish. The route was fairly unspectacular - in fact today was in some ways written off as a repositioning ride to get the boys back into their familiar west coast surroundings. The route took the lads over undulating green fields all day; classic Irish dairy country.

Should be more effective than the GPS

As if by intuition Tom's choice of Italian riding jersey appeared perfect for the lunchtime stopover at Albertos in Collooney. The Irish breakfast and tea was a real treat but made it quite difficult to go back outside and face the rain again, which by now was quite heavy. Better news came in the form of a text from Jan to say that the van was safely installed at Rosses Point near Sligo, overlooking the sea.

The day's ride done the boys slipped into the familiar routine of showers and re-fuelling, tonight a great chicken curry from Jan to the accompaniment of suitable Indian music. As the day drew to a close the clouds thinned and there was a glorious sunset providing hope for us and the shepherds of a better day tommorow for our rest day.