Tyred but happy

As prophecies go this was a cracker. "So you're going to the Beara Penisula?" remarked a Dubliner on a crowded pre-Easter train. She gazed beyond our smoking carriage to the equally hazy Wicklow mountains, as Dublin's light industry gave way to cows and fields. "Good food, good drink, good

I was heading to Killarney in south-west Ireland for four days of one-to-one with Mother Nature, crossing from Kerry into Cork in a loop on one of Irish Cycling Safari's new 21-speed Dawes Mojave bikes. Hugging some of Ireland's most beautiful coastline around the Beara Peninsula, 20 of us would then head inland past lamb-filled fields to the mountainous Gougane Barra National Park. There are also week-long trips, from the glens of Antrim to a Connemara walking tour, the "Jigs and Wheels" option (with dancing lessons) and four-day tours on the Easter weekend and the Bank Holiday weekends in spring and summer.

Our guide, Pat, would be driving a big white van with our luggage and carrying a mobile to save those who couldn't go on without a pint. Although you only need average fitness to cope, I soon understood the company policy of not encouraging young children - offspring that whine "how much further?" could scoop Oscars out here.

As we pedalled past historic homes and deserted lakes on the first morning, I met Mercedes, a 29-year-old Argentinian working in Dublin, on her second tour with ICS. The road veered uphill to Ladies View, christened when Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting declared they were amused by the mountains in 1861, and, as we stopped at a cafè after 17 miles for lunch and new lungs, I surveyed my fellow riders.

Only myself, Suzi, a 22-year-old New Zealander and her mother were newcomers - repeat customers are testament to a sound formula. Julian, a 36-year-old web consultant and veteran of eight tours, kept stopping outside cottages with ideas of buying one, while Sam, a 15-year-old from Devon, tried to convince her dad, Trevor, that she didn't need to do the 30-mile afternoon extension.

Dubliners Morna, a 30-year-old dentist, and her brother Thomas were escaping masses of Mass back home. That evening, after the moderate option of 17 miles between hills and alongside woods and the Kenmare River, we pulled into Kenmare. I asked Julian how he was faring and his face took on a dreamy aspect. "I've had a lovely day," he sighed. The others seemed equally blissed out and ready to wine and dine. The bars were closed, but I stumbled into a hotel that was flirting with the rules and the barman handed me a Guinness and explained the deal. "You are in room 53 if the Gardai check, as it's residents only for the dark stuff on Good Friday."

By day two the cerebral mix of local mussels and pan-fried trout we had eaten in restaurants had clearly gone to our heads and after 15 miles of coastal shenanigans to Teddy O'Sullivan's pub for lunch, I picked an optional 13-mile killer around a hilly peninsula. After hours of rain my spirit was no longer pretending to be willing. It was plain knackered. Pat, on one of his sweeps in the van, found me delirious and muttering about chocolate in the village shop in Eyeries.

The rain continued unabated the following morning, after a night of "sl·inte" in the bars of Castletownbere, a fishing town on the south coast of the Beara Peninsula. The sea had vanished into murk and sheep huddled against the weather and sang "Why weren't we born in the Seychelles?" as we trundled onwards with heads down. I burned my socks over an open fire in Glengariff on the lunch stop, feasted on toasted sandwiches and soup and transferred half the Atlantic to the pub floor.

Opting for the moderate route extensions and covering 140 miles in four days nearly finished me off a couple of times, but I was glad I never took down Pat's mobile number.

Way to go

Marcus Waring's Easter Weekend Tour with Irish Cycling Safaris (00 353 1 260 0749, www.cylingsafaris.com) is one of a variety of trips available May-September. Safaris usually begin near an international airport - the nearest to Killarney is Shannon (British Airways, Aer Lingus, Ryanair, British European flies from London City Airport) or Cork (BA, Aer Lingus, Ryanair, British European) and close to a bus or railway station. Next four-day tours: Jubilee weekend in Wexford and August Bank Holiday in the Wicklow mountains, price £140. Week-long tours cost £342. ICS also runs European tours in Scotland, Spain, France, Italy and Austria/Hungary.