Cycling is a sport that I really want to love but for some reason does quite terrify me. I own quite a nice bike and years ago as a kid myself and a friend used to go cycling every evening without fail. If you are from Sligo we used to cycle quite a dangerous road – the Strandhill Road and then did the loop around the two Sea Roads, quite the scenic route but those twists on the Strandhill Road were probably not the safest – but away we went chatting along without a care in the world.
But oh how times have changed – now I am for some reason fearful of my bike and dread getting on it. It was so bad that my boyfriend bough me an indoor cycle trainer so that I could at least get over my irrational fear of physically being on the bike while indoors and that did work. And then we braved the outdoors and last Summer actually managed to cycle around the promenade in Galway without any major incident. But since then I have not been as good and a recent experience in a park in London on a rented bike has put me right back at the beginning again.
“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike” – John F Kennedy
So I think I need to start again and to challenge myself to get over this fear that has developed and perhaps choosing a scenic cycling route could be the way to do it. So here are some short cycling routes which I am thinking of perhaps trying before the end of the Summer…
Then of course if I get super confident and decide that I do actually enjoy cycling then I might move onto the longer routes around the country. This does seem like such a great way to explore Ireland and I can only imagine that the scenery while you are whizzing around on a bike would be breath taking.
Is there a sport that scares you? I don’t like being not comfortable cycling so this is a personal challenge and I also always love exploring Ireland so it is a win win if I can achieve this though I don’t know if I will get to 60+ hours on a bike! 🙂
Cycling route images kindly provided by The Ocean and Sands Hotel in Sligo, all other images my own. And it should go without saying to take all safety precautions when cycling and to plan your route well using the above as a guide only and take into consideration weather conditions also.
