Ballinspittle 5km?

When you're travelling by pedal power it's a lot more satisfying seeing the kilometres tick by, an encouraging reward for physically pushing those revolutions out, as opposed to the easy twist of a throttle or the lazy push of an accelerator. Clearly the man responsible for laying out the road signs south of Kinsale was not a cyclist as it appears he simply ordered a job lot of 'Ballinspittle 5km' signs and sprinkled them liberally around the area, regardless of the relationship between the position of the sign and it's actual distance from the picturesque village of Ballinspittle.

So it was somewhat disheartening to find myself, on an otherwise beautiful day, pedalling around the area wondering if I'd somehow drifted into a kind of South Cork version of the Bermuda Triangle. Ballinspittle was the turning point for my circuit, the furthest point from home, but according to the Roads Authority it was not coming any closer as sign after sign informed me it was still 5km away. I was pretty sure the wheels were turning round and the scenery was definitely changing but the elusive village remained a stubborn 5km away.

Well I must have passed through a worm hole as suddenly I was upon it and quicker than a flash through the village centre and out the other side. Psychologically I was now on my way home and the sign for Kinsale assured me I was a mere 9km away from my next landmark. Past the famous grotto just outside Ballinspittle and a quick peek to see if the statue of Madonna moved, followed by a little guffaw at the bystanding religious types waiting for exactly the same kind of miracle and here comes the next road sign..... Kinsale 10km!