The Cycling Heroines of the Wild Atlantic Way

“Do you want a wee drop of water of life in there?”, asked our host Brian at Culmore Cottage B&B, when we were about to take off on our very first day of riding along the Wild Atlantic Way.

We should’ve said yes. And we should’ve followed all the advice we got regarding which routes to take and which to avoid, but fresh from Finland and Norway and ready to take on every single little piece of the Wild Atlantic Way there was, we just went. Wobbling slightly at first, with feet clipped to the SPD pedals for the third time ever, we swerved cautiously on to the busy road out of Derry (and/or Londonderry) city. Feeling the weight of our bikes and gradually finding our balance, it didn’t take too long until we could lift our heads up and start soaking up the views.

Hence the thought of topping our water bags with uisce beatha, also known as whisky, didn’t seem like such a good idea first thing in the morning. We were the heroines of the Wild Atlantic Way after all, cycling so fast along the route that for a moment it seemed like hundred kilometers a day would be a piece of cake. But as we would later find out, this speed only lasted for the first thirty kilometres of this scenic route. After that it was all steep uphill, and sharp downhill, bit of magnificent scenery in between and then more of those uphills. And it’s not that we came totally unprepared. In preparation for this we had been biking up mountains in Norway after all.

But I got a give it to you Irish hills, you guys are tougher than tough and you could challenge any mountain. Bit of watered down whisky might have been the perfect medicine here.

That would’ve been a lovely hill. Going down.

When it comes to daily route planning, that has been easy. All we have to do is to follow the Wild Atlantic Way signs that are plenty. Knowing our optimistic plan though a good map would’ve been gold, but instead, we had a pretty touristy one why vibrant colours, which took us to places we had planned to avoid so that we would have time to reach more faraway spots along the route, Malin Head, Ireland’s northernmost place included. Although we did end up missing a quick visit to Malin Head, the first Signature Discovery Point as Tourism Ireland has labeled them, we discovered plenty. So much so that it hasn’t been only the hills slowing down, but the continuous photo stops that I have insisted on.

Seaside views along the Wild Atlantic Way close to Greencastle.

Stroove Lighthouse, one of many of lighthouses to come along this route.

The tiny little beach at Stroove.

You know what happens in Ireland when you try to take a cycling selfie? Passing cars stop to take that photo for you!

Kinnagoe Bay along the route we were advised to skip due to its mean hills. I’m so happy we ended up there after all!

Little luxuries in life – early arrival to the comfortable Malin Hotel and long night’s sleep. 

We only have two days of biking under our belts, but it seems like we’ve got a good overview of what the next weeks will have in store for us. There will be sunshine and there will be sudden, violent showers that will soak us to the bone before we dry out again, surprisingly fast. There might be more thunderstorms when we will be either miserable on the road, or thankful in the comfort of our hotel room with a hot cup of tea and soft bathrobe roped around us. There are going to be moments of euphoria and moments of slight desperation, and for sure there will be amazing scenery.

But if there are going to be more text messages sent to new acquaintances we will just have to wait and see. Text message that might go something like this: “Hi! We are making our slow way to Letterkenny, soon in town. Any chance the offer to put our bikes in the boot was still on? Absolutely no worries if not!”

During the day you can also follow our progress via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Ride Wild 2014 is supported by Ireland Tourism, North West Adventure Tours, Skimbaco Lifestyle and Birk Sport, see all the partners here.