Day 7 - Part 1

An easy 35 miles to finish off the tour...or was it? Dark clouds and sheets of rain followed the group from the outset as the river Foyle led them towards the Malin peninsula. The group soon split when Ryan got a puncture, a fateful event that was to prove very fortunate for the young hero and his helpers Phil and Simon. Ahead Mark had formed a Scandanavian group on his own and the middle ground was occupied by Elliot, Jonny, Chris and his trusty GPS device that ensured he always stayed on route. Even if the route was wrong. Even if the route was very wrong. Even if the route took them over the top of a mountain on a sheep track full of boulders. Even if the track meant they had to dismantle a barbed wire fence in order to continue on it. At the top of the mountain it was cold and gales whistled through the barren landscape, littered with dead sheep and strewn with the bones of deceased cyclists who had naively ventured on to the mountains without a GPS system. The boys dismounted and weaved their bikes through the boulder field for the next mile and a half. Closer to Hypothermia than Malin Head. Meanwhile on the newly tarmaced R234 Phil, Ryan and Simon where enjoying the level terrain and marvelled at the majesty of the storm crested mountains that encircled them for mile after mile as they cruised though the valley bed. Somewhere North of all this the Great Dane had decided to create his own route through the less frequently traversed Northern glacier. It was after all a more picturesque route and despite being 20 miles longer it offered beautiful views of the valley bed, some 830 feet below!
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