I want to tell you about Ireland. My Ireland. No, I’m not Irish, and obviously I don’t own the place. That’s not what I mean when I say my Ireland. My Ireland Each of us live our own lives, and we have our own experiences. When I talk about my Ireland, I’m referring to my … Read more
One of the things that’s important to accept before going cycle touring is that things can, and often do go wrong. Being mentally prepared for that will leave you prepared for when things do go wrong. With that said, here are the annoyingly-long list of things that went wrong on my Wild Atlantic Way ride. … Read more
Suddenly, almost abruptly, the adventure is over. For over two weeks I’ve been pedalling ever nearer to Galway. On the final day of any real cycling, I did an urban wild camp in Galway city, close to the banks of Lough Atalia, and not overly far from the Eye Cinema. The getting home part I … Read more
My Wild Atlantic Way adventure is, in cycling terms at least, all done. I’m writing this while sat in Galway train station, where I collected my pre-booked ticket to Dublin. Homeward bound Today has been a fairly long day: Doolin to Galway. I’m not a big fan of the entire area from Spanish Point to … Read more
I had a sort of enforced rest day. With only 80km (50 miles) left to cycle to Galway, I’m well ahead of schedule. The only constant is change Unfortunately, the person who kindly offered to host me in Galway on Saturday night fell ill and I had to somewhat change my plans. Originally, I’d have … Read more
The changes I was forced to make to the route, after my bike started breaking, meant that I ended up well ahead of schedule. That, in turn, means that the last few days of my ride were going to be very short days. As I write this, I’m only 50 miles from Galway – that’s … Read more
As I’m still well ahead of schedule, today was only ever going to be a short day. Mike the Pies Originally I planned to end yesterday’s ride in Listowel, which seems a very nice town. I charged up my phone in a pub called Mike The Pies (yes, that’s its name!) When I asked about … Read more
Yesterday’s post ended with me having reached Tralee. Before I continue the tale, I really need to point out that my journey is a snapshot in time, filtered through my personal views. A personal journey If I passed though a place 30 minutes earlier, or 30 minutes later, my experiences and perceptions may have been … Read more
I’m still adjusting to suddenly having such short cycling days! I started my day slowly, and that was intentional, knowing the ride from Killarney to Tralee was short an easy. A short, easy day To the west lies the Dingle peninsula, with its mountains. While I had no mountains ro cross, it still wasn’t a … Read more
I took today off. To be honest, that’s a decision taken the day before, while still in Kenmare. Essentially, I didn’t know whether or not O’Sullivan’s in Killarney would have been able to fix my bike, nor how soon. Worst yet, I didn’t know if it’d last to Killarney. If you read yesterday’s post, you’d … Read more
I will admit to feeling a bit despondent yesterday, what with the bike shop in Kenmare being unwilling/unable to look at my bike. At first I thought about booking into a camp site, but the nearest one was 14km back the way I came. Because I didn’t feel like cycling back the 14km, I just … Read more
Ireland was back to what I’ve come to accept as normal today, and the people I met along the way were all very friendly. Good morning! At some point, as I was cycling past a field with cows, as I often do, I shouted out “Good morning!” Yes, I’m one of those odd people who … Read more
I make a conscious effort to try and avoid being negative, but the town of Bantry doesn’t rate well at all in my opinion. Bantry – best avoided When I arrived in the town, I saw a pizza place and decided to order food from there. It was well before 5pm, but I was bluntly … Read more
Today’s update also carries more news from yesterday. After waking, and packing up, I took up the offer of coffee made by the two YouTubing couples. Video killed the radio star Now I’ve always known that obviously there needs to be direction of some sort when making a video, but I gained some first-hand insights … Read more
Today was different: for the first time on this ride, I had nobody to meet. Like cycle touring normally is (for me, at least) I was on my own. I could stop whenever I wanted, and go as fast (or slow) as I wanted. That’s liberating. Having said that, meeting John Devoy and his wife, … Read more