A reversal of the weather, the early dark clouds conceding the sky to the sun as we rode to Plumbridge then through the Sperrins. We called at the heritage centre with cake in mind but all the notices had been removed and a note on the door declared that it was closed until further notice. We weren’t too surprised as there was barely any traffic on the road, it’s a lovely area but nobody seems to go there. The scenery was lovely, undulating roads and green hills dotted with sheep.
We dropped down into busy Cookstown and enquired about accommodation. We needed to catch the Enterprise from Portadown the next morning so were looking for somewhere close to Portadown. We opted for a family room at £59.95 at the Cohannon Inn, a motel near the M1 motorway which would leave us a comfortable ten miles or so to ride the following morning. The lanes were narrow for the next part of our ride but with a considerable volume of farm traffic. We skirted Lough Fea with only occasional glimpses and crossed the river Blackwater and then over the motorway to the motel. We were expecting a corporate experience but the staff were warm and friendly, allowing us to store our bikes in an unoccupied bedroom. We weren’t expecting much from the restaurant either but the two vegetarian options were excellent, vegetable stir-fry and vegetable fajitas with plenty of perfectly cooked crisp vegetables. I finished with Bushmills whiskey as we’d cycled past the distillery near the beginning of the holiday and hadn’t had the opportunity to try it. It was good!