Day 3 Cycle Report - the Road to Stabannon.

There we are - most of us, after arriving at our destination, Stabannon, 340kms and 3 days after leaving An Cheathrú Rua.

Some of us awoke with very sore heads on Saturday morning last in Mullingar... I went to bed at an early hour, being knackered from two long days in the saddle, but reports at the breakfast table told of high-jinks until 5am from some quarters! 

I was glad of the early night, it left me in great form that morning.  The final leg of the cycle was to be a 95k trek from Mullingar to Stabannon, via Delvin, Athboy, Navan, Woodtown, Ardee and finally Stabannon.  11 other cyclists joined up with us in Mullingar, so now we were a party of 41 (having one dropout from the previous two days).  

Sunblock was a must on that Saturday... it was one of the nicest days of the year - perfect for a homecoming!  We broke up into two main groups again and the extra riders were divided out between the fast and slow groups.  Whilst the road out of Mullingar was fine for awhile, the narrower road to Delvin, and then on to Athboy, became a real hazard with so many cyclists.  Lines of traffic were held up behind us and some of the more insane drivers tried their luck at passing us out on the worst of spots.  We were glad to see the back of those narrow roads when we finally got on the road to Navan.  

First off though:  a brief stop in Athboy, 30kms in.  And once more, some lovely cake from the two Missuses!  Some of the 5am drinking crew were still nursing sore heads, but they were slowly coming to.  

The Navan road itself was a far safer cycle, and we really were ticking down the clock now to the finish so spirits were definitely high.  Word got out that we would be 'well received' in Woodtown (it being the seat of 'O'Donoghue's Bar', cousins of some of our main cyclists!  So we got to Woodtown at about 4pm, with only around 25km of the cycle left, and sandwiches, sausages, pints and more all for hungry, thirsty and overexcited cyclists!  We were greeted there by family and friends, and were joined by another dozen cyclists for the last leg to Stabannon.

The final part of our journey, from Ardee to the village of Stabannon, was a ceremonial jaunt, as we were joined by still more cyclists, many children amongst them.  We still had about 10k to cycle but it was at a very leisurely pace and with great chat and cheer.  Entering the village proper, after three days and 340kms in the saddle, was actually quite emotional.  We were greeted by half the village and feted at the local pub - where we danced and drank until the early hours of the morning.

What an experience, and what a fantastic event.  I'm delighted that a daft idea that I had last year when I cycled solo across the country has turned into a serious event that seems set to raise in excess of 20k for a very worthy charity.  Don't get me wrong - it's no great shakes on my part, the organising has of this year's event has been the genius work of others, but it feels good to have come up with the germ of the idea!  Will we do it next year, or the year after - who knows?  And then again, who the hell is going to stop us??????