#35 Co. Londonderry
7-in-7 challenge – Day 3
Finally – a full night’s sleep! An early night enabled me to get a proper rest before setting off for the short drive to Magherafelt for the start of day 3’s ride. Unfortunately, a satnav hiccup turned a 30-minute journey into an hour or so before I arrived at the Brooke Lodge Guesthouse on the outskirts of the town.
Once again the friendliness of the B&B hosts shone through as they saw me preparing the bike and my kit in the slight drizzle they invited me into the spacious kitchen to get ready and told me to leave my bag with them and they would put it in the room once the current guests had vacated it. A short discussion about my challenge resulted in another donation to the MND fund and a promise that the weather would improve once I had got up to Londonderry.
As I scuttled away from the B&B into town I really did hope my hosts were correct about the weather. I wasn’t getting a soaking but the very low cloud was obscuring any views and generally getting me damp throughout.
The first 25km took me steadily uphill into the Sperrins AONB, were it not for the misty conditions I’m sure it would have been a picturesque route but in the dreary conditions I could barely see anything past the hedgerows and with my saddle sore already making itself known my mood dipped a little.
I had been in the doldrums no more than ten minutes when I crested the climb and before me the Sperrins burst into life, the cloud cover lifted and the sun edged its way momentarily around the clouds, this was more like it.
What followed was the sort of descent that puts every troubled thought in the wind behind you and I then enjoyed 30km of easy cruising through open moorland and rolling hills, across brooks and streams with not a soul to be seen.
A slight increase in traffic signalled my approach to Londonderry, as I dropped down to the river Foyle the sun completed its victory over the morning’s cloud proving my B&B hosts to be weather experts. The view from the Craigavon bridge across the town was a delight, getting off the bridge was not quite so delightful as I passed back and forth across the busy carriageway trying to find the access to the footpath that runs along the riverbank.
The Peace Bridge was opened on 25th June 2011, it was commissioned to improve relationships between the predominantly Unionist Waterside east bank and the nationalist Cityside on the west bank. It is an impressive curved cycling and pedestrian path supported by two sloping pillars which symbolise a coming together of the communities. Architecturally and functionality it is a pleasing structure and if my short time drinking coffee and snacking on flapjack at the Coffee Hatch on the embankment is anything to go by the bridge has helped to creating a thriving communal meeting point with a cheery and positive vibe, helped by the warm spring sunshine obviously! The group doing street yoga certainly seemed at home with their surroundings.
A short climb upon leaving the city gave views of the mountains to the west and gathering banks of less friendly-looking clouds.
The shocking pink house in Limavady with its party wig-wearing goat accompanied by Irish dancer mural was an eye-catcher, not sure I’d paint my house like this but I loved it here!
As I left Limavady the lanes returned to peaceful solitude and the Garmin climbpro warned me of the penultimate climb to come as I entered Binevenagh AONB. An area with fantastic views that I will return to one day to discover the dramatic cliffs and headlands that I skirted by on this route.
I turned south at Castlerock and left the coast behind me reaching Garvagh I was left in no doubt that I was in a unionist area by the red white and blue coping stones dressing the bridge. With the upcoming elections it was simple to determine the predominant denomination in each village by the proliferation of unionist or nationalist politicians posters to be seen. What really struck me was how villages so close to each other were so obviously from opposite sides of the political/religious divide, in the troubled times of previous decades the tension between these local communities must have been immense, I found it difficult to comprehend how tough living that way must have been for all.
As I gathered my thoughts about the troubled history of the area, a few spots of rain tapped off my helmet, and with that, I pedalled just a little more determinedly towards the finish in Magherafelt and took confidence from the fact that nearly 300 miles into my 700-mile challenge my legs felt as strong as day one. Thankfully the Sudocrem and mid-ride sachet of muc-off chamois cream was preventing my saddle sore from getting worse even if it wasn’t getting any better!
Magherafelt was a tidy little town with quite a homely feel about it, home to Harry Gregg the former Manchester Utd goalkeeper who survived the Munich air disaster in 1958.
However, in my ravenous state, I shamefully avoided the local taverns and instead satiated my grumbling tummy with a family-sized meat-feast pizza and sides from Dominoes instead.
The ride in numbers
168.63 km Distance
Elevation Gain 2207m
7hrs 54 min moving time (21.3 km/h)
3 coffee stops
5 bottles of water
No punctures
6 categorised climbs
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