Brakes? Not necessary.

When planning a trip like this, or in our case not really planning at all, you do have certain images in your head of landscapes, of the people, of the food, just ideas and expectations that you conjure up and hope to see fulfilled. What comes to mind when you think of Ireland? For us, the first images are green landscapes, wild cliffs, and colorful pubs by the sea. The island truly is very green, with bright green meadows everywhere, forests full of ferns, and colorful flowers lining the paths, wild fuchsia hedges, and hydrangeas. But the other green is definitely not Ireland; there is litter and trash lying everywhere in the roadside ditch. When cycling, you get a good chance to see the trash in great detail, especially with the headwind. Quite disappointing, really. Speaking of headwinds: today it has thoroughly blown our ideal images of Ireland out of our minds. Since our cinnamon roll breakfast in Kinsale, it has been mocking us silently and is constantly blowing fiercely against us. We can barely make any progress. The Eurovelo 1 route is brutal. There is practically no rideable path along the coast, constantly switching between battling high up on the cliffs and struggling down to the sea. Fighting uphill sometimes means dealing with inclines of 20 percent. Our psyche is playing tricks on us. We are by the sea, meaning sea level, right? No! In Ireland, that's not how it works. When we descend steeply, we can even save on brake pads. The wind is so strong that we don't even need to brake. At first, it’s amusing, but by the end of the day, it’s very frustrating, and chocolate is needed. Cadbury chocolate is our new Freia chocolate. Luckily, the shops are open on Sundays and there are a few along our way. In Clonakilty, we give up and look for a Bed and Breakfast. Wild camping isn't really possible in Ireland; the entire country is privately owned and you should ask the owner beforehand. Well, finding them is a challenge; aside from cows, you don't see many people, and we are actually glad to be lying in a warm bed at the B&B without having found the owner.
On our windy journey today, however, we met very helpful and friendly Irish people who brought us anything but headwind. Well, on the road, you really have the sense that everyone wants to kill you, but as soon as you stop somewhere, everyone chats very lovingly with us. So much for fantasy images and what reality is. Green hills by the sea feel like riding the Alpine brevet, grumpy Irish people are very warm-hearted, helpful, and interested, and a full Irish breakfast does not consist of Guinness, but rather blood and liver sausage, white beans, eggs, and bacon, which requires a lot of courage from us to eat with our hosts tomorrow morning.
Dream images and expectations are nice, they keep hope and fantasy alive, but reality can sometimes be 50 km/h stronger than you and sneaks in the form of headwinds and 17-degree temperature into your mind....
Today's route: Kinsale via the R604, Ringalurisky Point, Wild Atlantic Way to Timoleague, Leganagh Point to Clonakilty.
Kilometers: 67, feels like: 670 :)
Elevation: 1000
Weather: cloudy, sunny, drizzle