Ireland

[iswoolley]

Some bike photos from the Emerald Isle;


Cushendun, Co. Antrim


Murlough Bay, Co. Antrim


Carrowkeel, Co. Sligo


Omey Island, Co. Galway


Doo Lough, Co. Galway


Lough Nafooey, Co. Galway

Non bike-related photos will appear here in time.

[modrover]

Very nice. Finish off that ride with a nice pint and bowl of hot chilie

[DaveS]

Very good, you take some damned good pics Iain.

[iswoolley]

Finish off that ride with a nice pint and bowl of hot chilie

Umm, most of the time it was a Guinness followed by a Guinness chaser!

[kiroh]

Apart from knackering your wheel bearing - did you have any other problems on the trip? Any problems with the plod, any speed cameras, traffic, etc? Was the ferry trip expencive?

I've always fancied doing a trip to Ireland, but then ralised that Scotland is easier to get to, and gives you similar roads to ride on.

[iswoolley]

...did you have any other problems on the trip? Any problems with the plod, any speed cameras, traffic, etc? Was the ferry trip expencive?...

Had few minor problems aside from the wheel bearings. A persistant rattle really got me on edge, as an engineer I believe that things should mate perfectly, and a rattle is an indication that something is banging away at something else, a problem waiting to happen. I've not investigated it thoroughly yet, but am beginning to think it may be a loose spark plug. I'll report when I know more.

As for Ireland itself, it's easier to get to for me than Scotland. Holyhead is a couple of hours ride across Snowdonia for me (no hardship!), then 3 hours on a brand new cruise ferry before arriving in Dublin. A return ticket cost me £85, the single biggest expense of the trip. I stayed with friends for a couple of days, then used hostels. My daily expenditure was about £25; £10 for accomodation, £5 for food, and £10 for beer. Fuel is 60p a litre.

Once in Ireland, and out of Dublin, there isn't really traffic, the plod, or speed cameras. The roads are generally surfaced but undulate a lot. On the more minor roads the surface is quite poor. A big trailie with long travel suspension is the ideal tool for the roads. I met an Irish couple travelling in powerful sports coupe, who had only been able to average 40mph along a road I had been doing 60-70mph.

My experience of the Irish people has been almost universally positive. I've stopped for fuel and spent half an hour talking to the garage staff about the bike and travelling. On previous trips I've spent the day off-roading in the peat bogs, then stopped at a pub for lunch still dripping with mud, and been welcomed in by the landlord and locals, keen to have a chat. Try that in Surrey and see the reaction of the NIMBYs.

Iain

[cbrpaddy]

Nice pics Iain. Sorry once more that I couldn't meet you. So how did you manage to find all those lickle backroads, had you already heard about them? I'm just curious coz I know people who've lived in Galway for years and haven't been to those places !

I just love that road from Partry along by the Corrib and Lough Nafooey, there's a place where you can camp by the lake (signposted to the left) which is just fantastic. I often camp there and I live only thirty minutes away! The AT is just the job for this part of the country, I used to get rattled to bits on the Blackbird.