National secondary roads are not for amateurs

      The orange flag jutting out horizontally from my bike is a life saver.  The vast majority of drivers give me plenty of berth; the flag keeps the inconsiderate ones from getting too close.  Starting off on N56 had little on the way of shoulders so it took steel nerves to fight for space in the lane.  The shoulders eventually widened but the noise was constant; my ear buds from my Bluetooth headset helped out.  Shortly after leaving Sligo, I arrived at the church where William Butler Yeats is buried.  An majestic church out in the countryl, not Catholic as I thought but Presbyterian I believe.  His father was the minister.  Anyways, it was a nice visit even though over run by tour buses.

    Along the way a cyclist out for a spin caught up with me and hung with me for several miles. Retired cop, nice guy and the first cyclist to join me.  The terrain was easy enough but I was pretty wasted by the time I reached Donegal.  Once again a nice town with lots of history but fallen victim to the tourist industry. Earlier today the town was shut down to traffic while Prince Charles paid a visit.  Poor guy, he would probably do anything to sneak away and be a regular guy.  Security 24/7 must be a total drag.  His uncle, Lord Mountbatten was blown up just a short ways away.  Perhaps, Charles was paying his respects. 

      After visiting the local tourist information center and getting the lay of the land, I checked into a nice hostel one kilometer out of town.  I cleaned up, napped and walked into town for the evening.  After casing the place, snapping  a few shots of the castle and monument to the four masters, I had dinner at a nice hotel dead center of town. The bartender gave me a lesson in Irish Whiskeys, the high end stuff is a precious commodity. 

        Tomorrow I head west for the Atlantic to Malin More where there are more gorgeous cliffs.  For about eighteen miles I will suffer N56 before transitioning to a rural road. Maybe I will find a hostel but camping by the sea is a

decent option.