Sleeping, relaxing, bike assembly, and a bit of biking too

Belcoo to Florence Court and back, plus a little meandering

Today was a thoroughly relaxing day. I knew I didn't need to do anything at any particular time when I arranged for breakfast at 8am. That's probably the right time for tomorrow too. I'll be ready to leave before I eat, so I think I should be able to get on the road by nine. That's always seemed to be a reasonable time for me - I've sometimes wished I was an earlier starter, but I certainly don't have any heat issues to deal with here, so I'm just going to go with the flow!

So, back to breakfast. I was asked if I wanted the full Irish breakfast. Of course I had to ask what this is before I could reply. Full Irish = bacon, sausage, eggs, potato bread, mushrooms, and grilled tomatoes. I said yes to the full Irish - but requested it without the meat. Then I found out that there was also cereal, orange juice, grapefruit sections, and stewed prunes (or wait, aren't we supposed to call those dried plums now?) waiting for me at the table, and Devaina brought me toast and a pot of tea while the rest of my breakfast was cooking! I don't think breakfasts are going to be an issue here - eggs for protein (probably too many... ), and cereal and toast for carbs - that should provide the fuel I need!

Even though I had a full night's sleep last night, I was still feeling pretty sluggish, so I took a two-hour nap after breakfast. Hopefully those couple of extra hours won't screw me up when I try to sleep tonight!

OK, time to put my bike together. One of the neighbors came over to chat as I was doing my magic act of pulling a bicycle out of a suitcase. She and her husband live in what used to be the servants quarters to this house. Looks like a perfectly reasonable place to live, and it's right on the lake too!

I had a bit of a scare when I opened the bike case. I had stashed my pedals in a small felt bag - and the bag was empty. I could have said "oops, I forgot my pedals" but I knew I put them in the case. When I pack the bike I dis-assemble it and pack it in the same place, so it would have been obvious if I'd forgotten the pedals. It turned out that they had fallen out of the felt bag and were underneath the bike frame. A little odd since the felt bag started out under the bike, and ended up on top of the bike - but then again I remember the airline throwing the bike case on the conveyor belt upside down! I was pretty sure the case hadn't been opened since everything else looked like it did when I packed it, there wasn't a note on or in the bag from the TSA, and I know that all checked baggage at Logan Airport is Xray-screened. I have to admit that the thought that the case was opened did go through my mind, although I don't know why anyone would take a loose pair of pedals. Before I found the pedals in the bottom of the case I started thinking about how (where?) I could pick up a set of pedals, since it's impossible to ride a bike without them. Oh wait, I remember seeing an antique bike that was propelled by bouncing on a platform between the two wheels, no pedaling needed - but my bike doesn't work like that! No problem - I have the pedals!


See, I didn't make that up. Here's a picture of a 1935 Ingo-Bike, which is propelled by bouncing on the platform between the wheels. They were manufactured by Ingersoll-Rand from 1934 to 1937, and I actually saw one demonstrated at a rally where there were a number of antique bike demonstrations. This one is pretty funky, and I'd say more of a scooter than a bike. But still, it was among the antique bicycles... Photo courtesy of The Owls Head Transportation Museum

Tony put together a loop ride for me to do today, but he said it was about 40 miles, and that was a bit longer than I wanted for a lazy day. Instead I did an out and back ride following the tail end of his route. I headed to Florence Court where there is a National Trust site with an old manor house and grounds. The house was built between 1756 and 1764. I wandered around the grounds for a while and soaked in the sunshine. It was a cool and mostly cloudy day, but when I got there the sun decided to visit for a bit. That felt nice. And I managed to remember to ride on the left side of the road. It still feels very odd to me, but I'm happy that the bike obeyed! The ride was very pleasant on narrow and gently rolling roads, with very green fields and hills and lots of cows and sheep for conversations. (You do know that I talk to the animals I see, don't you?) There was also a very well-behaved and leashed dog hanging out in the courtyard at Florence Court. He was quietly watching everyone while waiting for his person to bring him a nice cold bowl of water.



While I was enjoying the views at Florence Court I met a very precocious little boy on a bike. I chatted with his parents and grandmother too, but his questions came first. They came so fast it was hard to answer them, hard get a word in between his! His questions... how do you brake on your bike? What's that (pointing to my bike computer)? Is it a clock? He was fascinated and cycled through the functions several times. What's that (pointing at my pump)? How do you shift your bike? Can you do a wheelie? Do you ride with a sweet in your mouth? And of course this last question was followed by him sticking his tongue out to show me the hard candy in his mouth. I managed a couple of questions of my own at the end - I asked him where his helmet was (it was in his mother's hand!), to which he replied that he didn't need one. And I asked if he could do a wheelie. He said he couldn't, but that some of his friends could. I loved his enthusiasm, and I hope he doesn't fall on his head before he or his parents decide that he really does need that helmet! I spent a bit of time talking with the adults who were with him after he tired of playing question and answer. They were curious about my bike and my trip...

I only saw one other cyclist on the road today (besides the little boy who really wasn't on the road), and I didn't actually see him riding. His bike was leaning on a fence, and he was leaning on the fence too - smoking a cigarette. Those two activities really don't go together that well!

I got back from my ride at about 3:30 and decided it would be smart to check on restaurant hours for tonight. It's Sunday, and I figured I needed to be careful since this is a tiny town and things tend to close earlier on Sundays. I ended up going for an early dinner - at 4:30. I was ready to eat, and that allowed me to order off the lunch menu, which was a bit cheaper even though they were serving full meals. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be craving fresh vegetables before I get back home again. I had fish for dinner, which was supposed to come with chips. All of the other meals came with "fresh vegetables and the chef's choice of potatoes". Of course the vegetables caught my eye, so I asked the waitress to switch to the other side dishes. The vegetables turned out to be very overcooked grated carrots, grated broccoli, and cheese-covered cauliflower. I prefer my vegetables lightly steamed or sauteed, almost raw! The good thing was that the mashed potatoes were great, and the meal came with a salad too. More food than I needed. And I finished up with a scoop of mint-chocolate chip ice cream. That was good, and the amount I wanted - rather than the restaurant's standard 3 scoops! Maybe if I'd done more miles today 3 scoops would have worked for me (I rather doubt it based on past trips), but today just one scoop hit the spot!

It took me until the end of the day today to do what I said I'd do last night - to stash my loose change in different places so I could easily pull out the right kind of money (pound sterling vs. Euros - I've stashed my US coins in a totally out-of-the-way spot) depending on which side of the border I'm on. I noticed that the one-pound and two-pound coins have writing around the edges instead of having a smooth or ribbed / patterned edge. The one-pound coin says "DECUS ET TUTAMEN" - anyone know what that means? And the two-pound coin says "STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS". Now I'm going to have to keep an eye on the coins I get to see if there are any other sayings.

Update on September 14th: Brian Huntley very nicely satisfied my curiosity about the writing on the coins. Here's the translation he supplied: "Decus et Tutamen" is Latin and is a clever reference - it means "An Ornament and a Safeguard." And "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" is a partial quote by Sir Isaac Newton, who, in a rare humble moment, said "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" (implying his work was build on the work of the physicists and mathematicians who came before him.) Many thanks to Brian for the translations!

Before I fell asleep last night at the very early but travel-induced time of 8:30, I noticed that was just starting to get dark. I have no idea where Ireland falls in its time zone, so I don't know if the difference in daylight (it's getting dark by 7:30 now at home) is due to Ireland being on the west side of a time zone or whether its due to how far north it is. I'll have to look at a world map when I get home - I believe that Ireland is either at the same level or further north than Newfoundland. I won't complain about extra daylight at the end of the day!

An abbreviated night, & a long day's travel

From Boston to Dublin to Belfast to Belcoo

August 29th

It's hard to know what date to put on this journal entry. My travel day started Friday, August 29th, but it won't end until Saturday, August 30th. The night will be a bit short since there is a five-hour time difference between home and Ireland. Unfortunately, I do much better with a westbound time change, and this one is eastbound. Hopefully it won't take me too many days to get my body onto Ireland time!

Those nasty butterflies are gone. I started to feel like my normal traveling and biking self as soon as I left home. That's good.

Traffic wasn't too bad getting to the airport - but I did learn a new "back roads" way to the airport. I'm sure I'll make use of that at some point in the future. Many thanks to my taxi driver! I was very happy that I arrived at the airport early once I saw the check-in lines. It was actually pretty funny. Each new person would walk up to the snaky and very long line for the Aer Lingus flight to Dublin, ask if the line was for Dublin, then just groan and say "I thought we were early". Maybe we were all early and there was no line at all later on. But there was another reason to be glad I was early - the flight was overbooked. Maybe if this wasn't the start of my trip (and I didn't live in the Boston area) I wouldn't mind a free night in Boston - but somehow staying home for another night doesn't seem like the right start to my trip! No problem, I'm on the planned flight.

People's perceptions are funny too - I overheard a couple of older women in the next section of the line saying "all of these people can't be on our flight". And of course, all of us really were waiting for the same flight. Aer Lingus has two flights leaving at times somewhat close to each other (at least they were checking both in at the same time) - one to Dublin, and one to Shannon - but there were separate lines. It was a fairly large plane - an Airbus 330 with a seat configuration of 2 - 4 - 2, but when I saw our home for the night next to a 747, it looked pretty small.

I'm not used to waiting in line to check in for flights anymore. In fact, this is the first paper ticket I've had in years. I guess the long lines are what happens when everyone on the flight has to check in. No e-ticket kiosks, no one outside to take bags... It took an hour to check in and another half hour to get through security. I grabbed a slice of pizza for dinner - no airline food tonight - and now I'm just hanging out waiting for my flight. Not too long now...

It took me until almost the minute I walked out of my door to finally make the decision on what shoes I was wearing. My Chaco sandals - my usual choice - almost won out, but the temperatures in Ireland right now - at least the forecasted ones - made it seem like closed-toed shoes would be a better choice. Merrell slides won - closed toe, open heel, mesh upper, very comfy, can be worn with socks if needed. My feet are happy right now, and I assume they'll stay that way for the next two weeks. At one point I was talking to my mom on the phone and I was walking around the house with different shoes on each foot. She warned me not to walk out of the house like that - a good warning, because that would have been pretty easy to do this afternoon!

August 30th

It was an uneventful travel day - just very long. My flight arrived in Dublin about a half an hour late due to a gate hold in Boston, which is pretty normal for Logan Airport. Then... through customs, baggage claim, and off to find out where to find the bus to Belfast. I waited for the bus in a cool but sunny Dublin morning - 7 degrees Celsius when we landed, although it did warm up to a more reasonable temperature.


A flying pig at the Dublin airport. And yes, that's my bike in that suitcase sitting off to the left...

---

I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep on the plane, and probably another hour or so on the bus. Not quality sleep, but it was better than none at all. Tony met me at the bus station, and we drove to Belcoo, my home for the next two nights. After all that travel, it was another 3 hours in the car. I dozed off again for a bit, but by the time we got here I really felt like I was sleep-walking! After we got to the B&B, Tony and I sat and talked over cups of coffee and tea. Tony gave me a good map, and directions for each day of riding, and we discussed the options available on each day. The directions are very explicit with miles and turns, and the map shows me the details. He also told me where to find points of interest, shops, food, etc. Looks like a good plan, and all of the B&Bs I'm staying in are within walking distance of restaurants. That definitely meets with my approval.

I'm at the Bella Vista B&B here in Belcoo. My room is lovely, there's a lounge to sit in, and the house is right on a small lake. Devaina, my hostess, is doing a great job of making sure that I'm comfortable. Her parents usually run the B&B, but they're gone on what seems to be a well-deserved vacation. Devaina has stepped in like she's been the hostess here for her entire life - and who knows, maybe she has been helping out for years! She's two years out of University, and about to embark on getting her teaching certificate for secondary school French and Spanish.

Belcoo is just inside Northern Ireland. It's a short walk across a bridge into the Republic of Ireland. There are no border controls between the two countries, but the police station here in Belcoo looks like a fortress. Tony tells me that all of the police stations in Northern Ireland border towns look like this one.

I'm a bit money-challenged right now. Northern Ireland uses pounds sterling (after all, it is part of the UK), and the Republic of Ireland uses Euros. At one point this afternoon I picked up a few things (fruit and Powerade, couldn't find Gatorade) and I was trying to pull out the right coins. I quickly realized that at the very least I needed to get rid of my US change - it was just too hard with three currencies mixed in together. OK, OK, I'm tired, and that probably figured in to the mess too! And the smallest bill I've seen in either pounds or euros is a five, which means I have a lot of change to sort through. I think I have an extra little zippered mesh bag - I probably should use it to separate the two sets of coins. That should make my life a little easier.

As we were driving here I realized that I didn't know if the road signs were referring to miles or kilometers. It's a good thing I asked, although I probably would have figured in out eventually. Northern Ireland uses miles, and the Republic of Ireland uses kilometers. But Tony told me that the distances on many of the signs in the ROI are incorrect, and that if the sign is the type that is mounted on a single pole that I should probably ignore the direction too because it's likely that someone spun the sign around. This is going to be interesting...

I learned today that I shouldn't reply yes when asked if I wanted my coffee white! I figured white coffee was coffee with a bit of cream. Nope - it is half coffee, half milk. I guess that would have been a good choice if I liked lattes, but from here on I'll stick to black coffee or black tea. And it's a pleasure for me to be visiting a country that serves good tea.

The weather today was cool with blue sky changing to gray clouds changing to... well, I'm sure you get the picture!

Ireland at last: Time to live my dream...

Wow - I just can't believe this trip is here! It's been a long time coming, but the time has just flown. I looked at my plane ticket today and realized that I purchased it four months ago. Time to use that ticket, time to live my dream...

I just reviewed my gear list to make sure I didn't forget anything. I almost forgot my little blow-up neck pillow for the plane, but luckily it's on the list so it is now in my carry-on bag. It looks like everything else is packed - and if by some chance I missed something, well I guess I really don't need it! My only remaining decision is whether to take my Chaco sandals or a pair of Merrell slides as my off-the-bike shoes. That's my one last minute decision, since my shoe rule says I can only take one pair of extra (non-biking) shoes with me - whichever pair of shoes that is on my feet as I walk out of my door tomorrow afternoon will be the pair that's going with me!

I'm excited about the trip, but I have my usual last minute case of butterflies. It's definitely not as bad as the case I had before I left on my cross-country trek last year, but it's there. I'm sure I'll be fine as soon as I walk out of the door tomorrow afternoon - it's just my wondering about what I'll be encountering in my travels... maybe a little bit of fear of the unknown. I know, I know - I've done this often enough that there shouldn't be any of that, but I guess it's part of who I am! We all get those funny feelings sometimes.

My flight leaves from Boston tomorrow evening at 7, with an arrival in Dublin at 6 Saturday morning. Once I get through customs, I'll take either a bus or a train to Belfast. Tony Boyd will meet me there and ferry me to my starting point of Belcoo. It will be fun to meet Tony - most of our communications to this point have been over email, with a couple of phone conversations thrown in. I have my initial itinerary, and my final list of B&Bs. I'll get my detailed directions and maps from Tony on Saturday. After a long travel day (or maybe I should say a long travel night and day), I'm sure I'll be ready for a good sleep and then a somewhat quiet first day. That will be supported by my staying at the same place Saturday and Sunday nights. Sunday will be my day to get acclimated and to take a ride without my gear. Then I'll start my travels by bike on Monday. Can't wait!

A challenge: Remember to ride on the left!

Now how am I going to remember to ride on the left?

Most of my touring to date has been in countries that drive on the right side of the road. My very first tour - a supported tour of the South Island of New Zealand - was the only time I've cycled on the left. That was a very long time ago (late December 1988 through early January 1989), but I still remember the experience. There were two things I had to get used to - riding on the left, and looking back over my right shoulder to check for traffic behind me. Of course that was after I had to have the tour operator fix the brakes on my rental bike. They had the right brake lever going to the front wheel, and the left lever going to the back wheel. I almost managed to pitch myself over the handlebars the first day when (by instinct) I grabbed the right brake lever first. I asked our guides if the brakes were wired backward because they ride and drive on the left, and I got a strange look from them. Apparently they didn't realize that there was a convention to how the brakes are set up - but they did fix them for me!

Riding on the left came pretty naturally if I was with other cyclists (who remembered to ride on the left) or if there was traffic on the road - both served to remind me of where I belonged! But if I started out on my own on an empty road, I tended to go back to my familiar spot - on the right side of the road. Hmmm... I wonder if I need to tape a reminder to my map case. No, I'll just remember - think left, left, left, left....

The other thing I remember was how awkward I felt looking back over my right shoulder. I don't ride with a rear-view mirror because I've found they tend to make me nauseous. Yes, a bit weird, but I have a tendency to get motion sickness, and for some reason the mirror just seems to feed into that. So, like riding on the left, I'll have to get over the awkwardness of looking back to the right. I suppose I can practice that here, but the riding on the left is going to have to wait!

Training? Done!

...capped off with a ride along the Atlantic coast

In less than a week I'm headed to the other side of the Atlantic, so I think it's only fitting that I wrap up my training with a ride along the western side of the Atlantic Ocean (or should I say along the east coast of the United States?).

Am I ready for Ireland? I can definitely say I'm in good riding shape! I'm sure there will be some challenging hills that may make me feel like I'm crawling along, but I'm as ready as I'm going to be!

The wild thunderstorms that rolled through here late Friday afternoon left beautiful weather behind, so I awoke to cooler air, blue skies, and pretty strong winds. After a good breakfast, I put my bike in the car and took off. I snagged a good parking spot right around where I hoped to start riding - a good start to the day. Then I biked from Salisbury, Massachusetts to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and back again - a good 50 mile ride. Strong wind all day, but it was a cross-wind for most of the day, blowing from the west, off of the land and onto the ocean. I spent most of the day right along the coast, which is always a treat. New Hampshire definitely has a short coastline, as evidenced by the fact that I rode most of it twice in one day!

Some views of the Atlantic coast in Massachusetts and New Hampshire follow - if you're looking for pictures of Ireland, you'll need to skip forward to the real start of the trip! I'm sure I'll have some interesting pictures to compare with these once I start wandering in Ireland.

Back on track...

...commuting, riding, route finding, and playing with my camera!

The beginning of this past week was definitely a continuation of the last two, with more rain. Luckily, Wednesday was the last rain day - although that one was a real doozy. It was raining in the morning, but then it cleared to bright sunshine. About 3 in the afternoon we all gathered by the windows, watching in fascination at the sky turned quickly to black - OK, OK, dark gray - and sheets of rain began pelting down, accompanied by thunder and hail. Wow. You could barely see across the street, and I was very glad that I wasn't out in that stuff on my bike!

The humidity stuck around, but Thursday dawned as a good riding day, and the weather has continued to be cooperative through today (Sunday). It was a good riding week, which I really needed! According to the forecast we've got a good weather week coming too, so I hope to be able to reach my goal of one more solid week of riding before my trip. Then a bit of rest...

When I went to sleep last night I was thinking of throwing a bike in the car, driving to the coast, and riding along the ocean today. But when I woke up today I was feeling very lazy. Too lazy to drive somewhere to ride, but definitely not too lazy to ride my bike.

Let's see now, where should I go? I consulted my bike maps, and found a new route (for me) heading north to cross the Merrimack River. Then I was planning to follow the river toward the east until the road hit route 110, which I'd follow (still heading east) to where I'd cross the river again and join up with one of my usual routes. I headed out, and made it across the river on a bridge I hadn't used before. I can't believe I never found that route before, because it nicely bypassed some very commercial sections leading north from my house.

I started following Canal Street heading east, but then somehow ended up on a road that seemed to be a ramp onto Interstate 495. Oops. Not where I want to be! Maybe it went through, but I didn't try. There wasn't anyone around to ask, I didn't have my map with me, and the road wasn't marked anyhow - a typical Massachusetts road. What to do, what to do? I decided to ride west instead of east, riding along Canal Street westbound until it hit 110 west. Then I followed 110 into Lowell, where it looped back across the river and intersected with route 133, leading me home again. That was a new loop for me - with some roads I've been on before, and some new pieces. It turned out to be a very pleasant ride, with one big surprise. The surprise is that there is a section of Canal Street in Lawrence with some interesting art displayed. I was very happy that I had my camera with me today so I could capture some of the "road art", both in that one section in Lawrence and in some other locations along the way. When I get to Ireland I'll have to see if I can find some Irish road art to compare with the art I saw today.

It turns out that the art along Canal Street in Lawrence was part of a special event Art Walk. Too bad it isn't a permanent fixture - because it definitely made me smile.

The countdown continues... only 12 days to go until that long flight across the Atlantic!

And here are the results of carrying my camera today --- a little bit of Massachusetts views and road art. You can skip the rest of this journal page if you're only interested in pictures from Ireland, I'm not there yet!
















See, I wasn't kidding! Today was a practice day, practice for riding and looking and seeing things. And stopping and taking pictures...

Who said this was supposed to be a rest week?

...dodging torrential rains

Hmmm... my riding and training plans did not call for this past week to be a rest week - but that's almost what it was.

We had an absolutely wild weather week here in the Boston area - and I think across most of the northeast. We seem to be in a funky weather pattern this year; a week of rain, a decent week, a week of rain... And this past week wasn't solid rain, but it was threatening torrential rains. It would be sunny one moment, and the next moment would bring very dark skies and rain drops so thick you couldn't see between them. Rain drops? No, more like falling buckets!

I suppose I could have viewed this week as training for Ireland (where I do expect to do my share of riding in the rain), but somehow showing up at work totally soaked didn't appeal to me. Plus, I don't think my usual bike parking place (in a supply closet in the office) would have been available to me if I waltzed in with a dripping bicycle!

This was the first week in ages that I haven't managed to commute to work by bike at all. I've been pretty successful at riding to work 2 to 3 times a week ever since I started this bike commuting back in April. Not to worry, I have a good mileage base, and I still managed to grab a couple of very short rides when I arrived home to find unexpectedly dry conditions, and I was able to ride yesterday and today too. My mileage for the week was 95 miles, not bad, but only two thirds of my normal weekly riding - and less than I hoped for the week. I actually toyed with the idea of riding to Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Saturday, staying overnight, and riding back today, but I let the weather forecast scare me away. The high probability of rain in the forecast didn't result in much; it actually was a fairly dry weekend from a rain standpoint, but it was still pretty unpleasant riding weather because of the very high humidity. I came home from my rides absolutely dripping wet, and the temperature was only in the low 80s.

If I'd had a week like this before my Hawaii trip (and without a summer's worth of mileage on my legs and my wheels) I might have been in a bit of a panic. But I'm feeling good, and a lighter riding week was probably good for me. It's hard to believe this, but I leave for Ireland in just 20 days! I'm figuring on two good solid weeks of riding, then I'll have a bit of a rest before I take off. And I'll probably try to fit in one or two short rides the week of August 25th, then a very long journey by plane and train beginning on August 29th and ending on the 30th.

Here's hoping that the weather cooperates over the next few weeks; the forecast calls for this wet pattern to continue through most of the upcoming week, so I may need to be creative in finding the appropriate amount of riding time.

The days are flying by too fast to count them!