An Óige, Farran
Spot the deliberate "auto-awesome" mistake!No, Skynet-- Google+ Photos, I didn't have two backpacks with me. Oops, actually, that's not a Google+ panorama, it's one of my camera's! Bad GE, rather. Another Saturday morning run with An Óige. Nearly missed the whole thing as, having passed what I correctly judged to be the "long" cyclists going the other way up Wilton Road, it turned out the Mediums were scarely moments behind them, and were reaching the end of the Mardyke just as I was. No harm, no foul, I suppose. Lovely morning, if (unsurprisingly) a little cooler. Along the Lee walkway, then the cycle path up to MFR. We'd a hold up at Grange Cross while someone was "off the back" with what turned out to be a Mechanical. I didn't notice my bikeputer had turned off here until a few K later. Discrepancies! Right to Kilcrea; you can tell I was sleepy as I'd spent several miles trying to remember (and even wondering aloud to m'colleagues) which left it was. Durr. Then the climb up Farran way. Not a route I was familiar with; I suspect not as brutal as some others, that I really only know from coming down them, either. Quite the puffer, all the same. Think we crossed the road that runs down to Currahally Cross, and we must have ended up at Beehive Crossroads. Not sure if we went right there, or straight on. I'm guessing the former. Over what's apparently called Roove's Bridge -- I didn't know that -- and then rather than Coachford, via a minor "cutout" that I don't know about. Sharp shower towards the end of that. I pushed on to the junction with the main road, and stopped to put on a cap and a jacket. Was a little startled to be whacked on the shoulder... by what turned out to be a freshly falling chestnut. Handy, as marzut had just passed on a hot tip about using those as moth-killers! Collected a large pocketful, then on to Griffins Garden Centre, our planned refreshment spot. Didn't partake, as I was more in need of rehydration than anything. Then off back the Lee Road; couldn't help myself by divert to the rec centre for a couple of snaps on the bounce, before rejoining behind. The "new island" in the reservoir has acquired vegetation! Hopefully folk with new water meters are already conserving good and hard... Right at the Inishcarra Bar. More smatterings of rain. I seemed to have mislaid the rest of the group by this point, either front or back, so went up the main Ballincollig junction with the bypass, and popped into Dunnes for some sausage rolls and some bits.
51k (plus whatever I'd missed, maybe 2 or 3?) at 18.2kph. One would have hoped that these early morning starts were helping me adjust th'ol' body clock in the direction of "normal". In actuality, the "rebounds" seem to end up being counter-productive. No AnO cycle this weekend; maybe I can manage out at a somewhat "happy medium" time, and see how that works out.