Martin McShane

In Clockwork John Cleese is lying in a ditch and responds “It's not the despair, Laura. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."

I packed up the bivvy after a couple of hours sleep and set off in the pre-dawn light.

I had to suppress the thought of finishing today. I knew I had three objectives

Your eating habits on rides like this could not be described as 'Healthy'. I had another pot of instant porridge and some cold rice pudding for breakfast. Through the day I would be alerted by my Garmin to eat every 30min. I would grab a Twix, Snicker, Chunky KitKat, crunchy bar, Rice Krispie bar or

I set off from Annie's to ride across Connemara. I was beginning to realise that this route kept unfolding more and more of the beauty of Ireland.

I was beginning to feel the effort in my legs and contemplated a slightly shorter day. Westport looked like a likely destination and I booked myself into

Riding through the Burren was a real contrast to the scenery from the days before. I needed to catch a ferry at Tarbert and, as luck would have it, pulled up to the jetty just as the ferry was pulling in. There were other riders waiting and we could enjoy a cup of tea onboard before disembarking and

After an early morning breakfast (where someone nicked the one I ordered for 4.30am!) I set off into slightly more clement weather. The waterproof socks had proved their worth the day before.

I had two passes to climb today: Healy and Conor. One thing my coach, Niel Copeland, has taught me is to pace

As a child I spent many happy holidays on the east coast of Ireland. We made the occasional foray north to Derry, Carndonagh and Malin Head. We spent our honeymoon on the south west coat, visiting Kinsale and Dingle before heading across to Dublin. So when I saw the TransAtlantic Way entries were open

First climb of the day was Cheddar Gorge which is gorgeous! Loads of wild goats everywhere. Today's route was often on the A38 but at least there was marked cycle lanes (mostly).

Almost missed my second breakfast stop as the Golden Arches were partially obscured!

I worked in Eckington through the 1990s

As I had a bike it seemed logical to start riding home from Plymouth. A solid breakfast on the top floor of the Crowne Plaza with a lovely view set me up nicely. Had hills and headwind a lot of the way there but the countryside was magnificent and the roads mostly quiet. Stayed in a nice room in

No photos just a delightful amble with another pub stop.