Day 2 - Killarney to Galway (141 miles)

Photo 8: Paul getting ready for the first cycle of the day.

Photo 9: Chrome Domes preparing their bike for the coastal road.

Photo 10: Shannon Ferry packed with vans from the Challenge!

Alarms went off at 06:00 for day 2 which isn't bad. Day 2 was going to be a race for the ferry and as expected a lot of teams were down at breakfast when it opened at 6:30. We set off from the hotel at 7 o'clock with the sun just starting to come up. The ground was very wet from the night but it wasn't raining yet although the forecast was for some rough weather. As we headed out from the hotel Paul took the first ride and we set off in the van following. There was a small right turn off the main road which Paul spotted but we didn't see from the van. When we hit the next roundabout and there were no arrows we knew we'd taken a wrong turn and headed back. You don't realise how fast a bike actually is until you're chasing one to try and catch-up and it took us another 10 minutes to get back to Paul.

Jason was up next and he had the full works - the heaviest rain, the muddiest roads, a big steep climb and a road full of cows going to the milking shed!. Feeling sorry for Jason we left him on the bike until he got to the top of the hill which he seemed to appreciate. Rich went out next and then I took the last ride to the ferry across the Shannon. We thought it was about 10 miles to go but it turned out to be 17 so I had a slightly longer ride. We'd just missed the ferry so we had quite a long wait for the next one but it meant we were at the front of the queue and by the time we boarded there were lots of other teams with us so we'd have a fun ride the other side. We also had a chance to see the Chrome Domes new bike for the challenge which you can see in the photos.