Cycling the Beara Peninsula
(continuation)

The latest rain interval stopped just as I reached Adrigole and the turnoff to Healy Pass. I was encouraged by the weather’s sudden clearing; the road shimmered from the reflection off the wet pavement. The climb up Healy Pass (elev. 330m) through the heart of the Caha Mountains is about three miles long, gaining approximately 300 meters in altitude. These numbers are modest by Alpine standards, but I found the climb difficult because of the stiff wind. Also, by the time I had put a mile of the climb behind me, the sun was abruptly eclipsed by dark clouds that quickly gave way to really heavy rain.

(Below: Healy Pass, all 330 meters of it, is a real serendipitous treat. The rain
made the quasi-Alpine experience feel more authentic)

The strong rain lasted for about 10 minutes, subsiding only because gusty winds shooed the clouds away. But rain continued steadily, though less heavily than before. As I reached the climactic final third of this wonderful twisty climb, the wind started coming from the side, and on a couple of occasions nearly pushed me over the edge and blew Erasmus and me down. This condition coincided with the steepest section of the climb. Michelin gave it a 14-20% grade, which sounded a little excessive, though justified in light of the crosswind factor. But the setting and the quality of the climb more became those found in the Alps. I enjoyed this climb tremendously, wind and rain notwithstanding.

(Above: He loved hilly Healy, really)

More Healy Pass photos.

As I reached the summit, soaking wet, the car tourists were all trapped inside their vehicles, foregoing even the opportunity to enjoy the view just to stay dry (c’mon folks, it’s only water!). Soon the rain ceased once again, delivering the shutterbugs from their metal cages. The sun came out and accompanied me for most of the four-mile descent on the northern side of Healy Pass and into Lauragh.

(Below: Crossing back to County Kerry on the northern side of Healy Pass)

(Below: Erasmus posing halfway down Healy Pass, on the R574 towards Lauragh)

I decided to take the unsigned, uphill middle road at the junction of the R571 going east and the R573 going west. This minor road was not even on my Michelin map. I just read about it in the Killarney tourist magazine, where the road was casually referred to as providing high views of Kenmare River and the Kilmakilloge Harbour. What the magazine did not mention was that this road was unbelievably steep for the area. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less travelled by, and, as with Robert Frost, that had made all the difference. To my knees, that is.

(Above: Looking south towards Kilmakilloge Harbour)

The climb gained about 180 meters, broken up into about four, horribly steep, sections (try over 20%). Since the narrow single-lane road was little used, grass was growing in its middle, and was gravelly (that was gravel-ly, not gravely). I hadn’t expected to find roads this steep and I was caught in the wrong gear a couple of times. I managed to push down on the pedals hard enough to stay upright.

I took a well-deserved Coke break at Ardea, where the lady in the shop (a wonderful elderly lady with a very cute and thick Irish accent) engaged me in a short banter about the weather.

(Below: Erasmus and a Pithecanthropus Bicicletus in Ardea)

I reached Kenmare after riding a few, quick, uneventful miles from Ardea.

(Below: Heading east on the R571 along the northern edge of Beara, Kenmare River to the right)

Last Updated: December 05, 1999