Day 3 Blackwater to Waterford 60 miles 5 hours 40

Waterford, Blackwater, Water on the knee.

Anyhow. This morning I was awoken by a biblical thunderstorm... I decided to let the weather clear before setting off, and after that, I saw not one drop of rain all day...

After picking my bike up from Ruth and saying my goodbyes to Pat and Lilly, I was headed for Wexford... Bad news. My biggest fear has raised it's head and my left knee is giving me gip. I'm a real princess and the pea cyclist and I do need my bikes set up exactly right or my knees start complaining... And they have. I need a new seatpost and soon or I'm in trouble...

So, with a slightly despondent mood, I did my first bit of 'straighlining' of the coast as there's no real route around the Rosslare part, and I'm going to avoid N roads as much as physically possible... After a little cross country detour via Bridgetown (3 guesses where it got the name) I headed towards Kilmore Quay. A brief stop and chat with a couple of guys building a wall cheered me right up, and they recomended I stop at Kehoe's for lunch.

Good advice, it turned out... Chris wouldn't let me pay and treatred me to a fabulous locally-caught fish lunch.

Everyone knows how much I love Scotland, but the one big difference between the two countries has to be the food... Really good quality, genuinely. And I'm not being paid to say that!

Kilmore Bay to Ballyhack for the crossing towards Waterford was in part the toughest part of the ride so far... A long, almost Roman Road dragged on for miles in a straight line where I could see all the hills in front of me... not fun with a dodgy knee. The Ferryman wouldn't take my cash either to Passage East. I was in county Waterford, and Munster after starting in Leinster and County Dublin...

After a pretty quiet day I sterted to get lots of waves and laughs and cheers as I got to Waterford... A Director of Travelodge, Richard O'Sullivan contacted me about me staying anywhere there's a lodge on my route, and I took him up on it tonight. I'm writing this on the Travelodge office computer, and, as I'm finding about Irish hospitality almost everywhere, the guys here can't do enough for me... I'm off to bed. Ray D'arcy's going to call me again in the morning and I want to do more than just yawn when he does... Zzzzz

day 2 - Brittas Bay to Blackwater 47.3 miles, 4 hours 25

Another late start to the ride today... After a fresh fruit salad and pancakes made by Polly, I spent the next hour trying to sort out my mobile phone situation. How exciting... Eily sprang to my rescue and talked the guys at o2 to help me out so I won't come home bankrupt by phonebills... after putting cyclemagic stickers on the kids' bikes, I said my farewells and wobbled up off the road with Conor for company. Hopefully the guys are going to join me in Dublin for a meal when I finish the journey...

So, off south in beautiful sunshine again towards Arklow... I was planning to stop and listen to Streets of Arklow by Van Morrison, but just kept on pedaling due to my late start... I made my way to Courtown on really quiet little roads where the only drama was supplied by a BMW X5 driver slowing down for his son to shoot me with a BB gun. I hope you're proud of yourself and your kid, whoever you are...

Courtown lifted my mood immediately. I found a nice cafe with outdoor tables and ordered a mountain of food... The ladies on the next table started talking to me about the bike, etc.
I have to say a huge thankyou to the McHugh sisters for buying my meal and sponsoring me for €50, too.

apart from getting lost and adding about 5 miles to my ride total for the day, the rest of the ride to Blackwater was pretty easy. I think the guy on the mountain bike who overtook me got a bit of a shock when I was still on his tail a mile later when he turned off. I'm MUCH faster when I have someone to chase...

Anyway, my Uncle Pat was in Blackwater waiting for me with his car to take me to Enniscorthy for the night. A lady called Ruth generously put the bike in her shed, and I was whisked off...

After stuffing my face again I went to Donohoe's bar in Enniscorthy, which is where stage 2 of the 1998 Tour de France started (if you're interested in that sort of thing) and where Pat knows everyone. I met the self-styled, and possibly accurately described 'Ireland's only Leicester City fan' Skinner walsh and he bunged me a Euros towards the sponsorship... Thanks!