While the whole of Ireland is under a hosepipe ban and the South and East of the country are concerned about soil moisture contents and crop growth, it’s Summer as usual in Donegal! It’s warmer and probably drier than during the Winter but for some reason it feels harder to get out when we’ve been used to the dry and warm weather.
Monday was a Bank Holiday with us and as I’d booked the previous Friday off, it was the end of a four day weekend for me. I’d planned to cycle with the Club that morning but it was raining heavy at 8am and only one other guy had ticked the poll to say he was going out. I dropped him a message and went back to sleep. My legs were still quite achy and stiff from my Sliabh League walk on Sunday so I did manage a short, easy leg loosener later that evening. I’m not sure it had the desired effect!
Tuesday, I was working from home for the day, catching up from the couple of days off and planning my week ahead. The upside of this meant no rush to get home in time for the evening Club spin. Again I opted for a shorter ride as my legs still felt heavy and tired. I really need to work on my hill fitness! Despite a dry forecast we had persistent heavy drizzle for much of the ride. It wasn’t cold but it was definitely damp!
Wednesday saw the next instalment in Conor’s summer of fun with his Leaving Cert Prom. The last of his secondary school events, just the exam results to go now!
Thursday I was working a bit further from home in Ballymoney, Larne and Belfast meaning I didn’t get home until well after 6pm and too late to get out on the Club spin.
I was reasonably close to home on Friday and had planned to get out for an evening solo spin but there’s something about Friday evenings that really bring out the lazy side of me and I wasn’t arsed in the end.
Saturday I planned to go hillwalking. I fancied climbing a mountain that I was last up in 2012 and one I drive past quite often. It’s an impressive hill sitting above Lough Finn. I got away in good time but as I got closer the drizzle started and eventually turned to quite heavy rain. The radar showed more coming in for most of the morning and the summit was mostly obscured by cloud. I missed the views back in 2012 and didn’t fancy repeating this again so I decided to abandon those plans.
Rosie at the Summit in 2012. She loved the hills but hated stopping for photos.
On the way home I did a recce for another walk. It’s shorter and further east so I had a vague hope this would be an alternative. However, the rain and low cloud followed me. Not a wasted journey though as this could be a handy one for me on short notice.
The rain threatened at home all afternoon but eventually cleared without showing up so I managed a 4.7km walk around the local roads with Cooper. I also finally worked out the ideal lead length that allows him to sniff and explore without him running off or pulling the arms off me on a short lead.
I went to bed on Saturday night with vague hopes of getting back to Aghla and with a Plan B to head to the Sperrins instead. Catriona was up and away to Liverpool at 4:30am on the Sunday morning. When she woke me to say goodbye I could hear rain on the roof and when I woke later at 6am it was heavy and forecast to last until well after lunch. I eventually got up about 9am and spent a very lazy morning watching TV, reading and a very average film called “Shelter”.
It eventually dried up about 2pm which made watching the boys play their first Senior Championship game at 4pm a lot more enjoyable. Unfortunately, they played very poorly and were well beaten in a game they expected to win.
On the way home I decided it was too good an evening to waste and went straight from the car, into my gear and on to the bike for a 30km loop to Raphoe. Plenty of climbing for a short route and the stiffness seems to finally be gone!
I know we say it all the time but this year is flying. It seems like no time at all since my last post which was just over three months ago, or to put it another way, one quarter of the year.
It’s been an eventful 3 months for me but it’s taken me a long time to be able to put it in words.
What Happened?
My last post was at the end of April, just a few days before I had planned to complete my second Audax of the year. That didn’t go at all according to plan. The event was scheduled for Sunday 26th April but on the Saturday I had a massive panic attack about being able to do it and I ended up pulling out at 6am on the Sunday morning after a night of broken sleep and bad dreams. During the Sunday itself I had a complete meltdown! It was as bad a mental health experience as I’ve ever had and unfortunately, Catriona bore the brunt of it. I’m just thankful that she was so understanding and supportive as it was pretty ugly and I said and did things that I am far from proud of. Ever since I have been grateful every day for the love and support she gave me that weekend and in the months since.
Counselling
That weekend gave me a real scare. It shocked me how far I’d let myself go and it shocked me that I came very close to destroying my relationship with Catriona. My mental health had deteriorated gradually over a long period of time and it took that weekend to also shock me into action. Over the years I have tried a couple of different counsellors but a combination of lack of effort on my part and an inability to connect with the counsellor meant it never worked. However, this time was different. I found a counselling service online that is sponsored by the HSE (Ireland’s Health Service) called turn2me. This company provide 6 free counselling sessions with an online counsellor. I was dubious about how successful online, rather than in-person, counselling could be but at this point I was desperate and ready to try anything. The best part though was that I was able to start that same week.
They put me in touch with a guy called Paul and every Monday at 7pm we had an hour together over video. Paul was great and we connected very quickly on the first appointment. I felt very comfortable with him and pretty much vomited out all my issues in that first session which was pretty draining. Over the next 5 weeks Paul worked with me to identify how I was feeling, why I was feeling and behaving the way I was and gave me a lot of skills and techniques to finally begin to cope better and build myself back to where I want to be.
It hasn’t been all plain sailing. I had a bit of a wobble at the beginning of June and I’ve found the last couple of weeks a bit difficult but the key now is that I have ways of recognising and accepting how I feel and ways of coping and dealing with the feelings that don’t make me happy. I have a lot of work still to do but I’m confident that I can make progress and feeling better than I have for quite a long time.
That first week was pretty difficult. The amount of mental energy I had was severely limited and the weekend previous had left me feeling completely drained. I quickly realised that I was trying to juggle way too many things and that something(s) had to give. The priorities had to be my own mental health, my relationship with my family and work. I cut everything else. Cycling can and has been, a valuable tool to help my mental health but I’d somehow transformed it into another metric to measure myself against. I went from the 100km Audax Challenge to the Festive 500 and back to riding 200km events and setting personal challenges that I just wasn’t ready for. Cycling was no longer a relaxing and enjoyable hobby, it had become another stress point in my life that I had created and was beating myself up over.
Cycling
In the end I think I took nearly two weeks off the bike. I needed the time to reset and change my attitude towards cycling. I needed to get back to it being something I did for fun rather than to hit an arbitrary number or challenge. I also decided that Audax is no longer the thing for me (for now at least) and left all the Audax WhatsApp Groups. I also temporarily stepped back from PRO duties with my home Club. As well as resetting my attitude towards cycling I also didn’t have the mental energy to be dealing with people. This is no reflection on the friends I have within the Club, it was all about how I was feeling and I felt that I needed that break from people to reset. Through work I have to put so much energy into relationships with shop owners, sales staff and my own colleagues that I had nothing left at the end of a working day. I did share what I was going through with some of my friends from the Club and got messages of support that meant a lot and really did help, especially when I felt it was time to get back out again.
The first couple of rides took a fair bit of effort to get out and I think that’s part of the reason why I ended up with two weeks off instead of the one I had planned. Once the awkwardness (all in my own head as usual) was out of the way cycling definitely had changed, or rather I had changed. It was back to being more about the fun again. I dropped all my challenges and made it all about getting out again. Now my only aim is to try and get out twice a week where possible and not beat myself up about it when I don’t. I’m cycling regularly with the Club again and especially over the last 6 weeks I’m feeling good, feeling fit and enjoying myself. I’ve also taken back on my PRO duties in the last week or so which is good as someone else was having to cover for me and I didn’t want that going on for much longer.
Hillwalking
The Hiking Club helped too. I hadn’t been out for a Club walk since the middle of November when I’d completed the first phase of the Navigation Training in The Bluestacks. I had a solo hike to Silver Hill in December but until May I hadn’t been in the hills all year.
With Paul’s encouragement I reconnected with the Club and joined them for a hugely enjoyable trip out to Tory Island. I’d never been before and had a great day. It really helped that I knew all the other members pretty well that were out that day and enjoyed their company. A couple of others were also back after a bit of a gap so there was a real sense of welcome for everyone that was out that day. The scenery was amazing, the weather near perfect and we got to see an elusive corncrake, much to the annoyance of the “proper” birdwatchers who were visiting the island and were tortured by their multiple calls but no sightings.
The Hiking Club was a real tonic. I have a very different relationship with these people, much more superficial but supportive in a different way. They barely know me so I was able to relax and enjoy myself a little easier. The welcome back I received was really nice and in addition Joe was encouraging me to attend the second phase of the Navigation Training he was holding the following weekend. I did want to do this but felt awkward as I hadn’t been active in the Club for nearly 6 months but he was adamant that I should attend and I did. Again I enjoyed it a lot and as it was a small group I spent a lot of time talking to Joe. He was clearly lining me up and encouraging me to become a walk leader. This had been at the back of my mind but I didn’t feel that I had the skills for it. Joe’s encouragement and support from Paul at the counselling sessions saw me putting my name forward a few weeks later and when the new calendar came out my name was on it to lead a walk in July along with Joe.
I completed a solo recce walk at the end of May and on 19th July lead the walk with assistance from Joe. It turned out to be a larger than average group of 16 which was a bit daunting but we got everyone up and down safely. I got a real buzz from leading and I’ll definitely be putting my name forward for another one in the Winter calendar. Joe was very complimentary and everyone was full of praise for the route which made me feel really good.
Since then I’ve only had one hike which was at the weekend on a solo recce of the Sliabh League cliff walk. We’re planning a Cycling Club day out on the 15th. We climbed Errigal last year and Sliabh League was suggested for this year. I wanted to walk the route in advance to see how suitable it would be for occasional walkers. Again, it was hugely enjoyable but I can still feel the aches 3 days later! I need to work on my hill fitness!
In a similar fashion to my new approach to cycling I’m not setting any big challenges or targets but I have committed to myself to get out at least once every month on either a Club or solo hike. I miss the hills but only really realise this when I’m in them.
Family News
It has been a pretty eventful few months for our family too. Conor turned 18 in March and did his Leaving Cert in June. He worked hard, didn’t get too stressed about it and although we didn’t have a mad exam-stressed house it was there at the back of everyone’s mind since Easter and the topic of far too many conversations to not have an effect. He finally finished on Friday 19th June and after a weekend of celebrating we headed off on a family holiday to Malta on Monday 22nd.
We went Monday to Monday and stayed in fantastic apartments in a small fishing village called Marsascala on the South West coast. On our first night we had a bit of a panic that it was very quiet but we didn’t arrive until just before 11pm and all the restaurants also close at 11pm! We managed food and a couple of drinks in a takeaway place and did a basic food and drink run in the local Asian shop that stayed open late. Over the next week of consistently hot and sunny days (28-33°C) we totally unwound and relaxed while enjoying trips to Valetta and a few other towns as well as a full day trip cruise along the Maltese coast to Gozo and a stop at the Blue Lagoon on our way back. We ate in a different place every night and had a fantastic time together. It was exactly what all of us needed!
I had hoped to get a hike on Malta, just as I have on the last two holidays, but it was simply too hot. I had planned a 14km coastal walk that started just around the corner from our apartment but when I tried it out with 6km on the Wednesday I realised it wasn’t feasible. I arrived home a sweaty mess with a banging headache that was probably the start of heat stroke and decided to scratch it and just relax. That was a lot easier…
On Tuesday 28th July Catriona and myself celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. It feels weird hitting that milestone as both of us remember our own parents celebrating the same and at the time they felt so old and we felt so young! No party or anything but we did go out on Sunday night for a lovely meal and a few drinks to spend a voucher bought for us by Catriona’s sister. It was for Jacksons Hotel in Ballybofey where we had our wedding reception so full circle back to where it all started.
The weekend past also marked 21 years since we moved into our house. The first few years we had been living in Letterkenny but we decided we wanted to move out of the town to somewhere quieter to start a family. Our home here meant we would be close to my Mum and Dad, still close to Letterkenny and Catriona’s Mum and Dad and gave us a choice of a number of playschool and National School options for any kids we would have. Catriona was heavily pregnant when we moved in and Owen was born just 6 weeks later on the 14th of September. Of course this means we have a 2nd significant birthday coming up in a few weeks. An 18th, 21st and 25th all in the one year.
Body Issues
Over the last few years I’ve been having progressively worse issues with sleep. I’ve been getting less quality sleep, waking most nights at least once and feeling less and less restored as time went on. This became even more noticeable with my change of job when I started needing a 10min afternoon nap more and more often to avoid falling asleep while driving!
I had put a lot of it down to being generally unsettled and a level of anxiety that wasn’t allowing me to switch off properly. However, back before Xmas I decided to start tracking my sleep and with a month’s worth of data I was able to identify that my overnight stress levels were far too high. Dr Google suggested that this was a significant indicator of sleep apnoea. Combined with my persistent snoring, afternoon sleepiness and a few other symptoms it was pretty clear and my GP agreed. He referred me to the respiratory clinic and back in May I was called for a sleep study. This means wearing a suite of sensors that monitor various body metrics overnight from 11pm to 7am. These were then forwarded to a consultant and in mid-June I was called to the clinic. The consultant informed me that I definitely had sleep apnoea with a score of 16 (<5 is normal, 5-15 is mild, 15-29 is moderate and 30+ is severe) which was significant but not worrying. However, the only way to treat it is with a hugely attractive CPAP machine which I’ve now had for about 3 weeks.
What it reminds me of… What I sound like… What it’s actually like…
The machine is taking quite a bit of getting used to and I have two versions of the mask as I found the first one a bit annoying. I’m alternating between them and some nights I’m taking it off in my sleep! However, I’m gradually getting used to it. My brother also has one and he said it took him about 6 months to get used to it but he wouldn’t sleep without it now. He had similar scores to me and described it as a life changer! The nights that I do wear it all the way through my score hasn’t been above 2 so it’s definitely having an impact.
Incidentally that score I initially thought was apnoea events during the night. At the mask fitting the nurse informed me that it’s the number of events per hour which I found pretty shocking!
On a much more positive note last Friday, after a 26 year break I finally got another tattoo! This one has been in the mix for at least 5 years and possibly longer. I’ve been ruminating on different designs off and on but in the last few months the idea started to gain a bit more momentum and then I eventually found a design that I really liked.
The exploded compass design grabbed me as it’s very different to almost all other compass tattoos that I’ve seen and the outdoor theme really suits me I feel. I then added the designs below which are Catriona and the boys’ names in ogham which is an ancient celtic script in which old Irish was first written. It’s purposely done quite rough to mimic the ogham examples that have survived from ancient time as they are mostly carved in rock.
Altogether, it took just over an hour and hurt far less than I remembered from my earlier tattoos. A combination of modern needles and guns and the fact that it is mostly fine linework with very little shading. Overall I’m absolutely delighted with it and have one or two more ideas rattling around in my head.
What’s Ahead?
Despite a couple of wobbles and a bit of a struggle to get back in a steady groove since the holidays I’m feeling in a pretty good place and in fact, writing this post has helped me a lot. I’ve missed blogging and want to get back to regular posting again. I’m going to aim for a minimum of two posts per month and see how that goes. I really like the weekly style that Unironedman and OMIL produce but that might just be a wee bit adventurous for now. I also really like the monthly recaps that Rootchopper produces so I figure that every two weeks would be a good compromise.
As part of my counselling Paul suggested keeping a journal. Not a digital one, but a pen and paper one. Over the last few weeks I’ve been looking at the various different systems out there and I quite like the Bullet Journal approach. I’ve adopted most of the principles of that but have tweaked it to be more like the Life Tracker system (basically a Bullet Journal rip-off). I’m still trying to get into the habit of using it but I’m getting there, trying not to force it too much and let it grow on me. It’s definitely very useful for tracking stuff though like To-Do lists, important dates and events and activities such as cycling, walking, books, TV shows and any recommendations I get. It’s very easy to get distracted by the phone and the idea behind pen and paper is that everything is in the one place. Writing forces you to slow down and think more and it removes the temptation to doom scroll and waste time on useless shit. I’m also hoping that journaling will help stimulate me to blog more often and more easily.
If you’re curious about the post title it’s a track by Bonnie Tyler. She passed away a short time ago and this was her follow-up to the massive hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” . I like it as it fits my post but it was also featured on “Heaven and Hell” which was a compilation album with Meatloaf. I had that on a pirate knock-off cassette and pretty much wore it out. Back in the days when I had 15-20 cassette albums and thought I was made for life!
Happy New Year Everyone. I hope everyone had a happy Xmas and wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2026.
At the end of 2024 I didn’t set any goals for the year ahead but ended up hitting a good many milestones regardless, almost 5000km cycling for the year, starting the Audax RRTY 100 challenge, completing the Festive 500 and ticking off a good few summits on my various Mountain lists. We had a great family holiday in Spain at the end of August and Catriona and myself had a really enjoyable long-weekend visit to the Xmas markets in Budapest at the start of December.
For 2026 I’m not setting any massive goals either but there are things I’d like to do this year. I definitely want to keep up the progress I’ve made cycling this year. I want to finish the RRTY 100 but I’m also determined to get back to full Audax long-distance cycling. In 2016 I completed the Audax Ireland Four Provinces Challenge and I’d like to do that again 10 years later for 2026.
I’ve identified four events I’d like to do for the Challenge. The first of these is on Saturday March 21st so that gives me 11 weeks to train for it.
All four events have been chosen to hit the four Provinces but also to find events with as little climbing as possible. The first goal is to get fit enough for March and then I’ll see how the rest go.
I want to keep ticking off my mountain lists but this year I’d like to get a better mix of solo hiking as well as walking with the Club. In 2024 I only managed two solo hikes in Ireland plus one on holiday in Spain.
I did no camping in 2025 at all, partly due to the lack of solo hiking and an increase in cycling. However, a big part of that is nervousness about solo camping. I have all the gear so no excuses. I’m not setting any big goals here either but I want to get one camp done by Easter and then set a new goal after that.
I think the main thing is to have a number of plans to keep me focused for the year and to give me something to work towards. It’s also important not to set overwhelming and unrealistic goals that only end up demotivating. Anyway, here’s to a great 2026.
I had signed up to do a walk today with the Club but only two of us and the organiser were going so it was cancelled last night. I guess it’s too close to Xmas for most people but it will be run again in 2026.
The weather was looking good and I had myself geared up for the hills so I decided to go myself instead. First time walking solo since January!
With limited daylight I wanted something relatively easy and not too long so after a trawl through my saved routes I found one that fit the bill in the Bluestack Mountains taking in two summits I haven’t been on before and at 10.5km manageable in about 4 hours.
The first section is along access tracks for the windfarm that sits on the lower slopes between Silver Hill and Carnaween. It’s simple walking but steeper than I expected as it rises steeply from 200m along the Eany Beg Water to the Anarget Reservoir at just under 400m in just under 3km.
It was on this very first section that I realised I had made a bad assumption about sheep. I figured there wouldn’t be many about the hills this late in the year but I was wrong. Especially wrong here as it looks like the windfarm company have leased the land from a local sheep farmer! Also with the land sitting in a valley it’s very sheltered and a perfect location to over-winter a flock.
Cooper and sheep in a staring contest
This was Cooper’s first experience of sheep “in the wild” and he really struggled to cope. He’s hardwired to chase when something runs so it became a constant challenge to keep him under control. Thankfully I’d decided to bring my 10m long lead that allowed him to explore but also gave me the ability to restrain his exuberance!
The steep track, heavy boots that are better on hill than road and the constant stress of keeping Cooper under control meant I was glad to reach the reservoir and the main hill.
A bit OTT but the track/water interface is quite sudden!
The reservoir appears to be a small lough that has been dammed at one end to create both a larger lough and a controllable stream that has a small hydro plant close to where we started. From the map I wasn’t sure how to cross the outflow end but there’s a large concrete wall that acts like a ford. I’m not sure how deep this gets but it was only a few inches deep today and easily crossed.
Cooper’s talents include the ability to walk on water
Across the lough and it was straight into open hillside. I should know better by now but I had expected better ground than what was in front of me. The Bluestacks are renowned for heavy, wet and boggy terrain but above a certain height it tends to be drier and rockier making for really nice walking. Today I had about 100m to go to get onto the good ground and in between it was some of the most difficult I’ve crossed. A constant mix of peat hags, boggy sections and cut by small steep ravines that knocked my legs for six! I was still hyper alert for wandering sheep so I’d kept Cooper on the long lead and it was a constant challenge to keep it from getting tangled in my legs and from getting caught on rocks and clumps. He had his own ideas about the best way to navigate this terrain and at 10 times the speed I was moving!
Once I made it to the drier ground it was pretty clear that I was going to need more daylight than I expected to get the full route completed. The day was quite dull with patchy low cloud rolling across from about 500m and above. Combined with my slow pace I made the decision to skip Carnaween for today and just focus on Silver Hill and getting home safe.
Looking back at Carnaween hiding in the clouds
The downside of hitting the drier ground is that it’s also steeper! Legs that were tired from the boggy bits were now complaining about the power being demanded to scramble up the rocky slope 🥵
Silver Hill is a really nice mix of rocky outcrops on this side. It was a challenge to pick the best route through but it made for interesting walking and very atmospheric as wispy clouds were blowing in and out.
After the inevitable false summit at 550m 🙈 I got sight of the summit with a distinctive rocky cairn built on a small crag. A very regular shaped rock has been inserted into the cairn. Covered in moss, it has obviously been there for many years but gave a strong impression that it was a man made mini trig.
Cooper’s first summit. He wasn’t as impressed as I was! Very picturesque views all around with intermittent cloud cover.
Rather than head back the way I came I decided to drop off the summit staying above the route in and heading for the highest of the windmills. This brought me roughly parallel to the planned route across to Carnaween but at a lower elevation and with an easy finish back along the windfarm tracks.
Despite improving visibility I was happy with my decision to do the shorter walk as I was once again in the same kind of ground I’d experienced just above the reservoir. Descending though was a bit easier than climbing up through it.
Descending the first section off the summit with Cooper was a challenge for the two of us. Still on the long lead Cooper was bombing on ahead in full 4×4 mode. He was happily picking his own route that usually didn’t suit me and once again at 10 times the speed I was moving. I had to keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t go over too steep a drop, hit the limit of the lead and jerk me off my feet. Poles were once again, unmanageable due to the lead so I was already feeling less stable than normal and was very wary of taking a tumble on slippery, steep terrain.
Pausing on the descent to admire the brightening sky
Finally reaching the windfarm again the afternoon decided to brighten up. The clouds had mostly blown away and the sun came out to give me fantastic views of Carnaween and its craggy summit. Despite this I was happy with my shorter walk and I’m looking forward to reaching Carnaween’s summit via a different approach, hopefully in the Spring.
Carnaween in the sunshine Fabulous, clear views down the Eany Beg Valley Glacial erratic with a turf top. How many years did that take to develop!
Running the final sheep gauntlet with a tired and therefore, better behaved Cooper, I was back at the car just under 3hrs after starting. I finally took the chance to have lunch and sat in pleasantly warm sunshine. You wouldn’t think it’s Xmas in 4 days!
⛰️ Silver Hill, Bluestack Mountains, Co. Donegal. 600m which qualifies it as an Arderin and also the smallest of the Vandeleur-Lynams, just sneaking over the line. Also on my Local 100 and 50 Highest in Ulster lists.
Silver Hill is definitely a summit I’d like to go back and revisit in a different season. Gerry McVeigh has a video of a wild camp on the summit as part of a longer two day hike in May this year. It’s a bit adventurous for me but I think the loop taking in Lavagh Beg and Lavagh More from Silver Hill would be manageable.
I was going to start this blog update by saying I’ve neglected it quite a bit this year but to be honest I’ve found myself stepping away from all forms of social media and at the risk of sounding very pretentious, all forms of creativity. I’ve thought about blogging and YouTube quite a bit but the drive to put something in words or on film just hasn’t been there. I’ve also been less inclined to take and post photos this year which is a big change for me. The majority of photos that I have taken have stayed on my phone only.
Last year that would have worried me as over the last couple of years I’d been struggling mentally to get the motivation to get anything done. A large part of that was that I was desperately unhappy at work and that was affecting me mentally and bleeding into my daily life. The main symptom was an increasing lethargy and lack of drive to do anything.
Having changed jobs back in August last year I’ve now had a significant turnaround. 3 years of negativity will take some work to reverse completely but I’m definitely feeling much better than I did this time last year. I’m putting the lack of social media interaction down to the fact that I’m too busy enjoying the moment to be able to document it or even feel the need to.
Cycling
One of the very first changes was a renewed interest in cycling. I hadn’t turned a pedal in over 12 months when I started back briefly in April 2024 with a spurt of 5 short rides over a 3 week period.
Self motivation was desperately lacking though and I stopped again until September following a good start to my new job. I had a few solo short spins again before reconnecting with the Club and joining the Saturday morning Stabiliser Group in mid-October for my first Club spin since February 2023!
Very quickly this became a regular Saturday fixture and I was hitting the 50km marker by the end of October having originally thought that it would be a good aim for the end of the year!
This year, despite a week here and there off the bike, I’ve made cycling a regular activity again and I’m enjoying it too. I’ve increased my distance to completing at least 100km most weeks and hitting the 100km marker at the really enjoyable Donegal Bay Sportive at Easter when a big group from the Club did various routes with many of the Stabiliser beginners completing 50km for the first time also.
For the May Bank Holiday there was an organised group spin from Ballybofey to Buncrana with the option to join depending on the distance you wanted to cycle. I joined in Raphoe for just shy of 90km.
The Club then rounded off the Summer with a fun day on Saturday last week. We bussed to Errigal and did a summit walk followed by dinner and drinks in Lettermacaward before returning to Ballybofey and more drinks before heading home at a very late (for me!) 1am. A great day of fun and laughter and a good physical challenge that was highly enjoyable.
In the last couple of years I’ve struggled to gel with the Club. It’s been mostly my own fault, being in a bad mindset and finding it difficult to connect with the other members, despite knowing some of them for a few years. Thankfully this year has been very different.
I’m not setting any massive records for the year but so far I’ve managed to clock up 2,650km for the year. It’s not a huge amount but considering 4-4,500km is average for me, that my biggest year was 8,000km and the combined total of 2022,2023 and 2024 was slightly over 2,400km I’m doing pretty well for 2025!
On Sunday the Club is running a Sportive again. There are two routes, 62km and 135km, and I’m planning for the longer route. I’ve been doing steady mileage over the last few weeks including two longer rides of 90km and 110km. I’m feeling in a good place for 135km but I’m currently in Spain for a very lazy family holiday and not sure how that will affect my fitness. We’re back home on Friday so I’ll take a short leg loosening spin on Saturday to see if that helps.
Increasing my distance like this and the subsequent increased fitness, has brought back a hunger for Audax. I’ve stayed in all the Audax Ireland WhatsApp groups so I haven’t really lost touch but it’s taken until now to really consider the daunting 200km distance once again.
The RRTY challenge (1 x 200km Audax event per month for 12 consecutive months) has had a new version launched for 2025 called RRTY 100. Basically it’s an introductory challenge for those looking to get into full-on Audax and consists of 1 x 100km Audax event per month for 12 months. I’m thinking of using that as a pathway back to Audax similar to how I used the Club Stabiliser Group to get me back cycling regularly. I’m not setting any great targets for next year but seeing as 2015 was my first ever Audax I’d quite like to get one done before the end of the year and I’m seriously considering giving the Four Provinces Challenge (see the link above) a go in 2026 as I did it previously in 2016.
To get the RRTY 100 completed I’m going to have to get at least one route published for Donegal. The nearest is currently in Sligo and the only one I’m currently aware of in development is a massive 1600m of climbing in 106km!
Hillwalking & Camping
My last solo hillwalk was in The Sperrins at Banagher Glen in the last of the Winter snow on 11th January. I’d earmarked that route for a period of snow and just managed to time it right although I did have a mild panic at the car park, deep in the Glen, when I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get the car back back out in the compacted snow!
I haven’t given up on hillwalking though as I’ve been active with the Bluestack Ramblers Walking Club this year, completing 8 group walks from January to June with 3 in June alone. There were some great walks in there with Knockalla and the Aghlas definitely being my favourites.
I didn’t get out at all during July or August as the walks weren’t as interesting and I was busy with jobs around the house and cycling. As my cycling mileage increased my free time for hillwalking decreased and, if I’m being honest, I struggled to get enough fitness for cycling and hillwalking in the same weekend! However, I have two of interest in September that I’d like to do. They’re on the 7th and 14th which will hopefully allow me a chance to get an Audax 100 completed later in September to get the RRTY 100 started.
Another victim of cycling and the lack of solo hiking has been camping. Despite buying two new tents in the last 12 months my last wild camp was in April 2024 ! I simply haven’t had the time to give up two days for an overnighter and have had too many other things I wanted to do instead. I would like to get out and do something in the Bluestacks before the end of the year though, preferably in September or October. If nothing else I need to try out my new 2 person tent I bought specifically for Spring and Autumn camping! It was my Xmas present last year but I haven’t even managed to get it out of the box for a test pitch…
Of all my social media posting it’s YouTube that has taken the biggest hit this year. My last video release was in November last year. I did record my hike in Banagher Glen that I mentioned above, but somehow haven’t had the time or drive to get it edited and published. I’ve given it a go a couple of times and have it about 50% done so I probably will finish it eventually. However, I wasn’t really in a filming mood that day and it’s a bit disjointed. It could be a feeling that it’s not that great that’s as much to blame as lack of time for not getting it finished. I do enjoy filming and editing for YouTube though so I do see myself getting back to it, possibly with a return to solo hiking and camping but I’d like to start adding some cycling content also. That will involve some solo cycling as I don’t like to film with groups so might kick in if I start into Audax preparation…
More to come…
This is already too long so I’ll add the rest in the next couple of days.
Yet another absolutely stunning walk on Donegal’s North Coast with the Bluestack Ramblers. This time on Horn Head with amazing cliff views seen from multiple angles and a trip out to the tip of the horns before heading inland to the “helicopter landing pad” (Duncap Isle) and a stiff climb back up to the highest point of Croaghnamaddy (252m) ⛰️👣
9.5km and an accumulated elevation of 734m with all the ups and downs typical of a coastal walk
What a day! A hard earned 11km climbing Dooish (651m) via Maumlack (480m) and returning via Dooish SW Top/Edenadooish (528m). We had every weather today with heavy rain showers and hail that turned to snow leaving Maumlack. Lots of sunshine between the occasional shower before more heavy rain and hail to finish.
Heavy snow leaving MaumlackLooking ahead to snow capped Dooish Errigal and Mackoght from Dooish Summit Errigal and Mackoght on the left, Aghla More on the right. From Dooish Summit. A cross in the Dooish Summit Cairn
Dooish is an Arderin and Dooish SW Top is an Arderin Beg. I’ve climbed both before but not from this side and Maumlack was a new summit for me.
Brilliant walk up on the Knockalla ridge in North Donegal. Brilliant day and one of the most enjoyable hillwalks I’ve had for a while. Great views in all directions out over Mulroy Bay, Lough Swilly and along the coast to Horn Head, Fanad and even North East to Malin Head.
A place I’ll definitely be returning to and having identified a couple of possible camping spots I might even get up here with a tent.
I forgot to start my watch until I was almost 2hrs in so I’ve no real idea of the distance.
Edited 03.03.25 22:45
One of the other group members was tracking the walk and shared his gpx file with me. Turned out to be 9.7km with lots of up and down 🙂
A trip to visit the two summits on Slieve Gallion in September. A repeat of a walk from 15 years ago but this time visiting both tops.
Starting from the car park at Inishcarn Forest I followed the track through the deciduous woods, back into the conifers and eventually out on to the open mountain. Two tops with a trig pillar on the main Slieve Gallion summit before following tracks and lanes back to the car park.
Back in August I went for a hike under and over Binevenagh, the most Northerly summit of the Sperrin Mountains. I managed to lose my way in the trees, follow a track that didn’t go where I expected, logged a geocache and tapped a trig. It was a mixed up day that I mostly enjoyed and the video is now live on YouTube 👣⛰️🎥
niall harran 