The blue line is the route I planned to take from Castlerock train station, a wee stop in Articlave and then bomb down the main road to catch the next train home. It's got great views, steep hills, a couple of offroad sections and a reservoir that I could stop to look at. I stopped to buy a pastie in Castlerock before I started, stuck it in my bag and ate it when I got to Bishop's gate. Riding through Downhill wood I noticed that it's well used by mountain bikers, I could see tracks everywhere, but although I knew roughly what direction I needed to head, I was never quite sure where I'd pop out the other side. There were also a couple of pretty steep drops that tested my nerve (OK I failed on one occasion and walked the bike down) Again, that's the whole psycology thing. I wasn't expecting them and would probably tackle them much more confidently if I knew in advance they were coming up.
And this is the route I actually took. It's approximately the same as the plan, but my route following skills still need work. It was getting dark sooner than I expected, so I missed a lane that's marked on the map. I was also covering ground quicker than I expected. I'm a bit more used to using a map while hillwalking, so on the bike turnoffs were coming up before I expected. That's a good thing of course, so long as I don't keep riding past them. The snow didn't help either; I thought it had all gone, but once I got away from the coast and the main roads there was snow, slush and ice everywhere. The big climb wasn't too steep, but it was a long slog. Didn't cause any consternation though. I did get to the reservoir and take a picture, but it was too dark to make a trip into the forest worthwhile. Pity.
After the reservoir most of the journey was down hill, especially from Articlave to Castlerock - that's downhill all the way. I'm sorry now that I turned off the GPS, because I'm sure I was speeding coming into Castlerock.
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