ireland
09.22.25
Location: Ireland
Type: Biking
Distance: 169 miles
Elevation: 9,092 ft
Duration: 5 days, 4 nights
Date: 09.2025
Our friend moved to Ireland for love. So, for love, we went to Ireland too.
We planned to bike for 5-ish days, starting and ending with a train ride.
Day 1: Train from Dublin → Westport → Wild Nephin Way → Newport
Day 2: Newport → Achill Island → Wild Atlantic Way → Sauna → Achill Sound
Day 3: Achill Sound → Ballycastle
Day 4: Ballycastle → Downpatrick → Ballina
Day 5: Ballina → Train back to Dublin
The bike days had similar rhythms: start out with a little bit of coffee and pastries. I discovered a sausage roll for the first time and they easily became a favorite. Then we would ride a bit through greenways when possible.
After the first day of riding, I finally understood why Ireland was called “The Emerald Isle,” – the green was luscious all around us.
We would stock up at some grocery store for a picnic lunch and snacks. The Haribo selection was impressive – I personally loved the strawberry spaghetti. This is one of my favorite photos of “fiber bread” next to a castle ruin.
We had some big sightseeing thing each day.
Like the Wild Nephin Way, or the Wild Atlantic Way alongside the cliffs that reminded me of the Big Sur coastline, or doing a sauna on the beaches of Keel and intermittently cold plunging in the Atlantic Ocean.
Then we would end up at the bed and breakfast. The Irish hosts were so kind. In Achill Sound, Marie was a sweet and informative host. When I asked to take her picture, she joked, “I hope you don’t need your camera afterwards because it’ll be broken!” The camera still worked afterwards.
The true rhythm beneath the surface of cycling was friendship. Five girls just biking together, doing a physically hard thing. There were moments of joking and laughing so hard I was crying to moments of sharing deeply personal hardships and also crying. Even though we had not been together in over seven months, this trip felt like no time had passed and we were so comfortable with each other. This trip reaffirmed for me the importance of having strong female friendships. We share a safe space for vulnerability while also pushing each other to be accountable to our dreams – like adventuring on a bike.
