‘Hurley Davidson’ cyclist pedals on

Mark Graham completed his 2,500km cycle in Kinsale, Co Cork, yesterday with a visit to Charles Fort and a pint in The Bulman pub, where the Waterford man announced his intention to continue cycling as far as his own front door.

Mr Graham set out from Co Derry in late June. He made regular updates about his journey to the Marian Finucane Show on RTÉ Radio 1, an posted updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Strava, an online cycling route-planner.

As news of Mr Graham’s journey spread, a chance encounter with Enda Kenny, himself a keen cyclist, at the top of the Coomanaspic Pass in Co Kerry last week began with the Taoiseach greeting him: “Are you the fella on the wooden bike?”

Woodelo bicycles in Co Tipperary made his ash wood bicycle. It is believed that ash is a good shock absorber, making a resilient, lightweight frame. Mr Graham said his bike, christened Ashling, has generated more attention on his travels than he has.

“Don’t let the fact that it’s wooden fool you,” he said. “It’s a high performance bike and it’s a dream to cycle,” he said. “I’ve been calling it my Hurley Davidson.”

The author of the award-winning travel book A Year of Festivals in Ireland, Mr Graham is no stranger to setting himself arduous challenges; his last undertaking was to visit three festivals a week in Ireland for three years.

After all those festivals took their toll, he decided to set himself a challenge that would have a better effect on his health.

“I suppose I thought that doing something similar with cycle routes would be a good form of rehabilitation,” he said.

He arrived in Kinsale a day early, having averaged around 65km a day over 39 days’ cycling in order to take time for detours and to visit local attractions.

Despite the poor summer, Mr Graham said he never felt like giving up. “The toughest day was a long spin from Sligo town to Ballina in lashing rain and a driving headwind,” he said.

“There have been windy days where I’ve felt the path of least resistance might be nudity and layer of goose fat, but nobody needs to see that.”

Mr Graham said the highlight of his journey was the many hidden gems he discovered .

“The more I look at our western seaboard the more I realise how much there is to discover, explore, and savour,” he said.

“The Wild Atlantic Cycle is just the beginning. I intend to continue doing trips in all areas of Ireland, writing about the places, photographing them and capturing the routes I take electronically.”

Kinnagoe Beach in Co Donegal, The Tin Roof Pub in Ahakista, Co Cork, and Lough Hyne near Skibbereen all got honourable mentions as lesser-known treasures on the Wild Atlantic Way, but a visit to Skellig Michael left an indelible impression.

“If you only get to visit one place in Ireland this year, I suggest making it Skellig Michael,” he said.

“The really odd thing is that now that I’ve reached the end, I don’t want to stop, so I’m going to cycle home from Kinsale to Waterford. I might as well, seeing as I’ve come this far.”