Bed and Bike Northern Ireland – cycling tours, Ireland
You would think that retiring in your fifties would be the beginning of a laid back lifestyle, but this was not the case for Comber, Northern Ireland, man Hugo McIlveen, who, after retiring from a managerial role in UTV, has gone on to begin self employment and act as tour guide with his cycling holiday company Bed and Bike Northern Ireland.
Knowing he had cycled a bit in his youth, ‘but couldn’t run the length of myself’, his wife signed Hugo up for the 600 mile Malin to Mizen Cycle Tour between Donegall and Cork.
With a lot of snow on the roads, Hugo didn’t have a chance to train, and hit the 70 mile a day trail with a cheap bike that he planned on tossing away after the ordeal was over. As the week progressed he began to enjoy himself more and more.
Beginning in Belfast, Hugo’s tours take in the miles and days his client’s are comfortable travelling, and providing as much to eat and drink as required.
HUGO McILVEEN (Comber) www.bedandbikenorthernireland.com
at Botanic Gardens, Belfast.