Ireland at last

Introduction

2009-01-19T20:59:00.002-05:00

Looking back, thoughts from July 2003...

This seems to be my year for wandering far from home, and for exploring islands. I've had Ireland on my mind as a destination for a while, and it finally bubbled to the top this year.

I was leaning toward visiting Ireland in the spring, but in mid-March I realized that I was longing for sunshine and warmth, and I started to rethink my plans. I decided to visit one of my favorite islands to satisfy my need for the sun - the Big Island of Hawaii - but at the time I planned that trip, I also committed to cycling in Ireland in 2003. I was afraid that if I just went to Hawaii without continuing to plan a trip to Ireland, that the Ireland trip just wouldn't happen. Nothing like planning two trips at the same time!

Touring for me is about the journey, but it's about the destination too. Ireland is supposed to be a superb place for cycling with quiet roads, beautiful countryside, and friendly people. It feels like it's a good time for me to start an exploration of Ireland. I'm not naive enough to think I will be happy with only one trip there, especially since I'll only be there for two weeks, so I think this trip will be an introduction for me. After all, I've learned over the years that one trip to a destination usually isn't enough!

Ireland - one island, but two countries...

My first thought was to visit the Republic of Ireland and not Northern Ireland, but that quickly changed. The more I read and talked to people, the more I realized that Northern Ireland shouldn't scare me off (and you know, I'm not easily scared!). I'm sure there are places there that aren't safe places for wandering - actually the only thing I've heard is that there are some sections of Belfast that it would be best to avoid. But really - there are places here that aren't safe either, and that's probably true of many cities. It helped to chat with Maggie when I ran into her at the YMCA. She grew up in Northern Ireland and her family still lives there. It helped to do some reading too.

Of course there are places that look interesting to me in both countries, so...

My decision - one island, two countries, and I'm visiting both of them!

Country references... to avoid confusion

As you read my journal, you'll see references both to the island and to the countries that make up the island. I've tried to be specific in my references, but after a while I'm sure the name game can be confusing.

Maybe this will help (and maybe not):

I refer to both the island and the Republic of Ireland as Ireland.
I also refer to the Republic of Ireland as ROI, "the south", or "the republic".
I think I consistently refer to Northern Ireland as Northern Ireland, but there may be cases where it is referred to as "the north".

The posts in this journal are organized with the newest on top. If you'd like to read the journal in the order in which I experienced it, please use the blog archive in the side bar. You'll need to open all of the sections, then click on the posts from bottom to top. Once you've read a post, if you click "previous post" at the bottom of the screen you will be taken to the next entry in the order in which the entries were written.

And next...

2003-10-06T22:30:00.000-04:00

...it's time to dream again

People are already asking me where my next trip will be. And right now, I have to say that I don't know! I know that I'll be out there again with my bike, I just don't know where that will be.

Will it be someplace totally new to me? Or will I return to somewhere I've been before? There are quite a few destinations floating through my mind, from new places (for me) in Europe, to returning to places I've loved in North America (Glacier National Park in Montana and probably up into Alberta, Bryce and Zion National Parks in Utah), to exploring new places in North America (Vancouver Island and Nova Scotia are still on my list, and exploring new places in the southwest sounds like a good idea too). While I really want to go to Australia and New Zealand, I'm holding those locations for when I can manage a longer stretch of time. I'm still constrained by vacation time - but doing two shorter trips worked well this year. Maybe I'll try for a repeat next year.

Right now as we're going into fall and cooler weather, I'm wondering if I'll make it through the upcoming winter without escaping to someplace warm. Will a long weekend or two to a warmer locale help me through the winter, or is another week-plus trip to someplace like Hawaii in my future again? Only time will tell...

Thoughts on touring in Ireland

2003-10-05T22:28:00.002-04:00

Do you think it's possible to tour in a place only one time and not go back? When I was younger and more foolish I thought I could go someplace once, and then just move on to the next interesting spot. Now I know better - if I tour someplace and I enjoy it, I'm destined to go back. And I will be returning to Ireland someday. Besides visiting areas of the country that I didn't get to this time, I'd like to spend more time riding in Donegal, and I'd like to spend more time wandering and absorbing at Giant's Causeway.

I have happy memories of my two weeks in Ireland. It was a great place to ride for more than one reason. The people are wonderful, the scenery is beautiful, and the roads are lightly traveled. When I talked to locals - non-cycling locals that is - they always told me that there was too much traffic on their very narrow roads for good cycling. But, as we all know, traffic is relative. There weren't any roads that I rode on that I would consider too busy to be comfortable. That said I would not have been happy riding in central Dublin. But then again, I'm not happy riding in the center of Boston either.

One thing that you should consider if you're thinking of touring in Ireland is that most of the roads are very narrow and for the most part there are no shoulders. I didn't find this to be a problem, although I'd imagine it could be a challenge if there was a lot of traffic. Not much traffic, so no shoulders was not an issue for me.

I originally had planned to ride about 50 miles a day, but after some thought adjusted the mileage downwards to 40 miles a day. I've always thought that 50 miles was an ideal daily mileage, but I'm really happy I made the change on this trip. I was always relaxed, never feeling like I had to push on when I really wanted to stop and take pictures and talk to people. And I was finished riding by 3 almost every day. That gave me time to relax, take a shower, sit and work on my journal, wander and explore the town that was my home for the night. I was a happy cyclist!

The planned tour worked well for me, but if you're looking for the freedom of deciding where (and how far) to ride each day, Ireland is an easy country for a show up and just ride tour. There are B&Bs and hostels available all over the country, and unlike places where you have to know where the B&Bs can be found, these are very well-signed. And since it's a simple matter of buying an inexpensive train ticket for your bike, the trains can be used as an alternate mode of transportation when you want to avoid urban cycling (as I did leaving Derry and entering Belfast) or when you want to quickly get to another area of the island. I really wish this roll-on-board option was available on more trains in North America - I'm sure I'd make use of it!

On the reservations front - I think I'd be inclined to plan ahead and make reservations if I was traveling in an area that was a tourist magnet, or if I was traveling in high season (which I believe is July and August). There was only one night on my tour where the B&B I stayed in was full, but it's possible that was due to my visiting in September rather than in one of the more popular months. I did two tours this year, and both were planned out ahead of time with reservations set before I left home - my Hawaii tour which I planned myself, and this tour which was planned for me. The two tours were very different, and I enjoyed both of them. If I'd been able to stay in B&Bs every night in Hawaii that would have been my first choice as it was in Ireland.

A couple of plugs for my favorite B&Bs: My favorite room was at the Island View House B&B in Donegal Town, and my favorite hostess was Helen Dunlop at Ballyness B&B in Bushmills. All of my B&Bs were good places to stay (the names can be found in the journal entries for each day), but these two were my favorites.

On the travel front - that is, the getting to the tour travel - my first day was a very long travel day. I flew from Boston to Dublin, took a bus to Belfast to meet Tony, and then we drove to my first B&B in Belcoo. I was pretty much sleepwalking by the end of the day - but I'll do the same thing again on my next trip. I'm not one of those people who happily assemble my bike in the airport and ride out. I usually plan for a non-traveling day as my first day on tour. I use that day to assemble my bike, get acclimated, do a little riding, and rest. I considered staying in Dublin the first day, but then I would have had another travel day to get to my bike start location. The long travel day worked well for me, as did the non-traveling first day.

I did have some food issues on this trip, but they really should be blamed on the fact that I spent most of my time in very small towns, not that there is an issue with the food in Ireland. I had the same issues on my trip across the United States in 2002. I tend to eat a diet that is a combination of vegetarian and fish, leaning more heavily to the vegetarian side. I could get vegetarian dishes in most places - but they typically only included vegetables with no protein source and no grains. And I do need more than vegetables! Of course once I got to Belfast and Dublin this food issue absolutely disappeared. Fish was readily available everywhere, and was very good. And yes, you could get non-fried fish - it's not all fish and chips! Most pubs served lunch and dinner, but pubs were out for me. I'm very picky about the air that I breathe, and I refuse to sit in a place that reeks of smoke. There were no non-smoking areas in pubs (yes, I'm spoiled by where I live!), so I didn't eat there.

The other food issues revolved around my usual touring snack foods, which typically include fruit, nuts, energy bars and Gatorade. Fruit was readily available, and once I figured out that peanuts were often behind the counter in small stores I was all set there. I never found energy bars other than cereal bars in any stores, and that surprised me. I eventually figured out that Kellogg's Elevenses bars were good, so that filled in the energy bar gap - but next time I'll consider bringing a larger stash of my favorite energy bars with me. I never found Gatorade, but I could usually find Powerade. Of the three available flavors, I only liked one, so I was forever on the hunt for blue Powerade. I must have done something right on the food front though, because I managed to maintain my weight on this trip.

Let's see - the money... as I mentioned earlier, I was juggling two forms of currency - pounds sterling, and euros. I came home with some of each, and I ran into an issue when I went to change the money back into US dollars. There was no problem with the euros, or with the pounds that were issued in Great Britain, but I was unable to exchange the pounds that were issued by the Bank of Ireland. Luckily I only had a 5 pound note from there... So - a word of warning if you're planning on traveling in Northern Ireland (and according to the banker, there would have been the same issue with pounds issued in Scotland or Wales) - if you still have pounds left at the end of your trip, try to make sure that the bills come from Great Britain and not from a Northern Ireland bank!

Friendly people, lightly traveled roads, beautiful scenery - a wonderful place to ride. I'll be back some day.

A review and thumbs up!

2003-10-04T21:08:00.000-04:00

...to Tony Boyd of Iron Donkey

Looking back after the trip...

This trip was a first for me - a solo self-supported trip that was planned by someone else. Iron Donkey offers self-guided tours, and has a selection of 5 pre-planned trips. Of course, being me, I had to do something slightly different I asked Tony to plan a variation of two of the trips for me, and what I actually ended up with touched pieces of three of his standard trips. Custom trip planning - not a bad way to go!

Tony supplied a map, directions, B&B reservations, and his knowledge of the area and of the roads. I had a cue sheet and highlighted map for each riding day. The directions were excellent - even though I was surprised when I first looked at them to see that there were few road names or numbers in the directions. Like my back roads rides at home, much of my route through Ireland was on unmarked roads. Not a problem - the distances noted in the cue sheets helped me to make turns at the right times. And the roads were as promised - back roads with little traffic. I was on roads that I would have found on my own, and roads that I wouldn't have seen without Tony's directions. I'd say that most of the roads are small roads, but those teeny tiny ones - the ones I thought must be driveways and not roads? Well, I needed a little help to find those... and I got it!

As a self-guided tour, my day to day itinerary was planned ahead of time. As you'll see if you read the rest of my journal, I took some liberties with the directions, shortening, lengthening, or changing days as I saw fit. Having both the directions and a good map made me very happy! My behavior with following the planned route (or not) was typical for me. When I was following Adventure Cycling's routes last year I found that I strayed off route on occasion, and the same was true on this trip.

I was very happy with my accommodations. Every one was different, and every one had a very friendly host or hostess. I was often greeted with an offer of tea or coffee before I got settled in a cozy room. And all of my homes for the night were within walking distance of restaurants - which to me is very important. I know some people don't mind riding to dinner, but I prefer to get cleaned up and then give the bike a rest for the night.

Choosing a self-guided option on this trip worked well for me. I didn't need to spend time ahead of the trip really researching the entire island of Ireland. I spent enough time reading to decide the general area I wanted to visit, and used Tony's expertise to pinpoint the towns and things to see. I did some more reading after I received my itinerary from him, but I didn't feel pressured to spend a lot of time doing research before I left on the trip.

Tony did a great job of putting this trip together for me. He gave me a lift from Belfast to my first B&B. That was the last I expected to see or hear from him - but he actually stopped by at the end of my first day of cycling (he was heading home from starting another group of cyclists off in the southwest), and he called to check in with me on my last day of riding. That was a nice touch, and as I said, totally unexpected.

A long day's journey home

2003-09-13T22:26:00.000-04:00

I love traveling, but I really wish I could just snap my fingers and be instantly transported home at the end of my trip. If I could be like Dorothy in her ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz: "there's no place like home, there's no place like home..."

It was a smooth travel day, but it certainly was a long one.

Breakfast at Mercer Court started at 7:30, which gave me a chance to get a bite to eat before catching a taxi to the airport. As we got close to the airport I started to tell the taxi driver that I needed to go to international departures, but then I realized that unlike my home airport, most of the flights leaving Dublin are international departures! I arrived at the airport and found the check-in line for my flight. I was standing in line when I looked at my ticket. Uh oh - something just doesn't look right here. It turns out that when I flew over the agent pulled the wrong ticket coupon. The coupon I had left was to fly from Boston to Dublin. But, but... I left the check-in line and went over to the Aer Lingus purchase tickets line, which luckily had no one in it. I explained my problem to the agent there. She looked at my ticket - which clearly had the second coupon pulled and not the first, shook her head, showed it to the agent sitting next to her, and then wrote a change sticker for me. Whew!

Back in the line to check baggage... I was all checked in a good hour and a half prior to my flight, so I wandered upstairs for a cup of coffee. No need to sit at the gate for that long! When I finally got to the gate, I saw a swirl of flashing lights outside, luckily surrounding the plane next to the one I was supposed to board. It was a Bulgarian Air Charter plane, and there were five fire trucks and numerous security cars around the jet. For all the vehicles and the fire personnel, there wasn't really that much activity. Two of the fire trucks left after about 15 minutes, and they made an announcement that the flight would have a half hour delay due to technical problems. Technical problems? A fire? Or? About 15 minutes after that they told people on that flight to come back to the gate at 11 (another hour away) for an announcement - which I didn't hear because I was on my own plane by then. I'm glad I wasn't scheduled to depart on that plane - I think those passengers were in for a long delay. Before I boarded my plane they pushed the problem plane away and wheeled up an Air Canada jet. Time for a different flight.

We left Dublin for a 30-minute journey to Shannon. I figured it would be just a quick stop there to pick up more passengers - but I was wrong. We all had to disembark in Shannon to go through US Immigrations! OK, so it was longer than I thought it would be. Painless, but an hour-long stop.

We took off from Shannon for the real flight - and the plane was totally packed. We arrived in Boston 5+ hours later, a full half-hour ahead of schedule. That was nice - but the baggage handling in Boston wasn't. Getting checked bags at Logan Airport is usually slow, but this was the worse I've ever seen. After a while we just had to laugh. It seemed like the airplane unloaders (or whatever they are called) took a few bags off the plane, loaded them on the baggage conveyor, then took a break. Five or ten minutes later, another cluster of bags, then a break. Five or ten.... well, you get the picture. I waited almost an hour for my bike and duffle bag. They finally appeared though, went through customs (no purchases, no duty, no hassles...), and walked outside to a beautiful, sunny 70+ degree day.

Home...

Another day, another city, and a busy one at that

2003-09-12T16:21:00.024-04:00

Belfast to Dublin by train

Today is a travel and a wandering by foot day. If you're only interested in the cycling parts of my trip, stop reading now!

My room at the Malone Guest House had a phone, and I tried to access the Internet last night, but for some reason I couldn't connect. I woke up early today, and - success! I was able to upload five days worth of journal entries, and check my guestbook entries. Thanks to everyone who wrote. I'll send replies later, no time this morning - it's time for breakfast and then I'll be off to the train station to catch my train to Dublin.

I had a breakfast conversation with woman from Dublin. She's in Belfast for 10 weeks for training for her job. She grew up in Dublin, and went to university in the south - and this is the first time she's been in Northern Ireland. I guess it's not just people from foreign countries who unnecessarily stay away from here.

There was a card for a cab company in my room: "fonaCAB - BELFAST & BANGOR". That struck me as funny. Am I in Ireland? Or am I in Maine?

I asked Ruby this morning how long it would take to get to Belfast Central rail station, and how far in advance I should call a cab. She asked me the train time, then called a cab to pick me up at 9:30. That was easy. And it turned out that my cab driver is also a cyclist, so we had a good time talking on the way to the train station. He said it was a pleasure to meet a real tourist. It seems that many of the people who visit Ireland do so to trace their family roots as opposed to explore the country. And that's one of the first times I've heard "tourist" used in a positive sense! While I was in the waiting area, I noticed a sign on the wall that to me is very telling of the acceptance of bicycles here: "For your safety, please do not cycle on the station concourse or platforms". As I was walking to the platform to board my train, I saw 4 people pushing bicycles out of the concourse. No problem with getting bikes on trains here - just roll them aboard. There is a fee, but I thought it was very reasonable. The conductor was right about the Dublin train - it's much newer, with much more comfortable seats. I guess this is really more of a long distance train, as opposed to an inter-city commuting train. And by the way, Rover said that he likes this train better too - it's so much smoother!

The only bad thing about traveling with a bike is hauling it back home again. It's so much easier to travel with my bike when it's a bike and the case is a trailer. Even with my Bike Friday folding into a normal sized suitcase, it's still a heavy item to haul about. Actually, it's not the bike that bothers me since the case rolls - it's all of my other stuff. I've been using a very lightweight duffle bag that folds into a very small space when not in use. That works - I just wish it had backpack straps on it. That would make it much easier to handle the two pieces of luggage. As it is, I just try to minimize the amount of walking I have to do with my luggage. It probably means that I will take a taxi to the airport in Dublin tomorrow morning instead of taking the much more reasonably priced bus.

I spent about half of the train trip talking with the couple who sat opposite me. The seats in the train were a mixture of forward-facing and backward-facing seats. I was sitting facing forward of course - my tendency to get motion sickness seems to be worse when I face backwards. There was a nice couple from Belfast sitting facing me across a table. We all stayed to ourselves initially, mostly reading, but we started talking after an attendant came around with a cart selling coffee, tea, and snacks. My seatmates were headed to Dublin for the weekend to visit relatives who just returned from Australia. He was telling me how he used to cycle in Dublin many, many years ago - when it was still a reasonable place to cycle. After I arrived in Dublin and saw how packed the streets are I was very happy my bike was packed and I wasn't riding it!

Another American stopped me after I got off the train. He had overheard my conversation and asked about my cycling trip. It turns out that he cycled around the western states many years ago. It's a small world isn't it - cyclists everywhere! He's in Dublin for the day to visit his future in-laws.

I made my way out of the train station and found a taxi to take me to Mercer Court, my home for the night. Mercer Court is actually the student accommodations for the Royal College of Surgeons, used as a B&B when school isn't in session. The rooms are a bit spartan - as expected for a dorm room - but the price was very reasonable, and the place is centrally located. The hotels in central Dublin are pretty pricey, so I'm very happy I found this place. And I was lucky - my room was ready when I arrived at 1, a full hour before check-in time.

I headed out and found a cafe - lots of those around here - where I picked up a sandwich and something to drink. The sun was out for a while, so I found myself a place to sit in the sun while I ate my lunch. Then I started walking. I walked, and I walked, and I walked...

Dublin is a very alive city that is just teeming with both people walking and people in cars. As I said before I was glad I wasn't fighting the traffic on my bike - but it was fun to watch the bike messengers negotiate their way between cars, buses, and pedestrians. I guess bike messengers are the same everywhere. The sheer crowds made it a bit overwhelming for me, but I just kept right on walking. My first stop was one of my favorites - St. Stephen's Green, which is a really pretty park. Lots of people there...

I walked down Grafton Street, which is one of the main shopping streets. It reminds me of Newbury Street in Boston, but on a much bigger scale. And they are serious about their shopping streets here - it's a pedestrian area, no cars allowed! I could easily have skipped this street, but it was on the way to the next place I wanted to see - Trinity College. But if I skipped it I would have missed the living statue. A guy was decked out in a green top hat and mostly green clothes. His skin was painted gold - with what I don't know - and he was standing on a box that served as a pedestal. He stood perfectly still, and then he would suddenly start moving and reacting with the crowds. Very strange.

I stopped by the main tourist office, which is housed in a beautiful building that used to be a church. The vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows are still exposed - very nice. I had picked up a tourist map at Mercer Court, but I decided I wanted a map with a little more detail. After looking through the free stuff - mostly brochures - I found a decent map to purchase. But while I was perusing the free brochures, I saw one that caught my eye titled Baileys cow parade. What? Well, you remember those funny pictures of decorated ducks that I took in Eugene last summer? There's a similar thing going on with cows here, and the brochure includes a map that shows where the cows are hiding. It turns out that CowParade is a public art exhibition that features fiberglass cows that are decorated by artists and placed around a city. At the end of the "parade" the cows are auctioned off for charity. I did a fair amount of walking this afternoon, some of which was on a mad hunt for these cows. It turned out that instead of placing the cows on the street outside, they were hidden in shopping centers. I finally figured it out when I saw a sign at the entrance for Stephens Green Center saying "the cows are here". I hate shopping centers, but I had to go in to see the cows. I saw 3 there and one at the tourist information center. There are many more, but I was walked out for the day, so I'll have to be happy with the four that I found! There's supposed to be more information online at cowparade.net, so I guess I'll have to take a look at it when I get home. Maybe they have pictures...

Speaking of pictures, when I got back from my walk around Dublin, I decided to figure out how many pictures I've taken on this trip. And the answer is - a lot! I have a total of 639 pictures. That doesn't mean that they are all good pictures, but even so, that's a lot of pictures. I guess you could say that my camera was my constant companion. Just think how many there would be if I hadn't had some of those gray, dreary days. I'm actually amazed that I didn't have any days where I felt I had to protect the camera and lock it away in my waterproof trailer. Most of my ride-in-the-rain days were through heavy mist, and even the few times that it was really raining it just wasn't raining that hard. My rain jacket covered the fanny pack that I used for my camera, so it was protected enough for the conditions I encountered. Amazing, since this tends to be a rainy country.

Odd thought for the day - I'll be very happy to be back in a country where the sinks have a single faucet where hot and cold water is mixed. I haven't seen a sink like that since I left home.

I checked about transportation to the airport before I came back to my room for the night. There are two buses that are very inexpensive, but the closest bus stop is several blocks from here. It could be laziness, but I tend to think it's unwillingness to walk blocks hauling gear, so I've arranged for a taxi to the airport in the morning. Breakfast starts at 7:30, and my taxi is coming at 8:15, so I'll have a chance to grab a bite to eat before I leave for the airport and my day of hurry up and wait. My flight makes a stop in Shannon before heading out over the Atlantic and back to Boston. I can't believe I've been here two weeks - I arrived early on a Saturday morning, and I'm leaving on Saturday morning. I wonder if that's an equipment turnaround...

It's very hard to believe it's time to go home. I guess that means it's time to start dreaming of my next trip. I wonder where that's going to be.

Mist and sun along the Antrim Coast

2003-09-11T16:13:00.018-04:00

Cushendall to Larne to Belfast by bike and train

If I had been even slightly considering riding all of the way to Belfast the headwinds would have convinced me the train was the better end to my journey. And timing is everything - just as I pulled into the train station it started raining. I started in the mist this morning, but this was real rain.

I went to sleep at 9:30 last night, and the combination of a shorter riding day and a good night's sleep worked wonders - I feel much better today, no more exhaustion. I did feel a bit like the princess and the pea last night though. There were two beds in my room, a double and a twin. I was going to use the double bed, but it felt very lumpy to me. The twin had a good mattress on it, so that won!

It rained overnight again. That seems to be an every night occurrence. I was happy to see that while the ground was still wet when I woke up, the rain had stopped. A good sign.

I shared the breakfast room with a German couple who are driving around Ireland. They did the southern part of the island on a previous trip, so this time they flew into Dublin, drove immediately to Galway, and started wandering from there. I asked it they'd stopped at Giant's Causeway, and they had. She told me she was disappointed, because although she had seen pictures before, she believed the legend of the giant building stepping stones all the way to Scotland. The causeway stones continue into the ocean, but she thought there would be more going out into the water. Guess that's what happens when you imagine a legend to be true. We had a good laugh about it. They drove over Torr Head yesterday - the scenic route that I skipped because of the 15% grades. They said it was beautiful, but a challenging drive even in a car!

I headed out into a very heavy mist. As usual, I was wearing my wind vest, no rain jacket needed. The worst part about the mist this morning was the difficulty I had seeing through the water drops on my sunglasses! And of course, the low clouds and mist made it difficult to capture the scenery with my camera. I tried, but I won't know how good the attempt was until I see the pictures on a full-sized screen. It was really beautiful, with craggy hills emerging from the mist. The headwinds started immediately, so between stopping to take pictures (fog or no fog!) and my slow pace because of the winds, I was making forward progress pretty slowly. Then I thought I saw some cyclists coming toward me. No mirage - it was Michelle and Peter from near London. We stopped, leaned our bikes against the stone wall on the side of the road, and just stood and talked. They flew into Belfast yesterday, and are planning to spend two weeks in Ireland. They are heading for Ballintoy today, Giant's Causeway tomorrow, and then they're off to Donegal. They are staying in B&Bs too - they said they wouldn't consider camping in Ireland because it's just too wet. We were talking about traveling with bikes - packed and unpacked - and as it turns out they just hand the airlines their bicycles, totally unpackaged. They remove the pedals, and I believe they have to turn the handlebars, and then they just hope the bike doesn't get damaged. I'm not even sure that US airlines would accept a bike like that, but Michelle and Peter said that all of the UK touring cyclists that they know check their bikes on planes unpacked. They had an interesting setup - it looked like they were traveling with a single set of panniers. Peter was riding with rear panniers only, and Michelle was riding with front panniers only. And she had them mounted on the front rack. That's only the second time I've ever seen someone riding with 2 panniers on the front. Most people I've seen riding with two use the rear rack. It sounds like Michelle and Peter have done a lot of touring - including a 6-month trip to New Zealand that made me (and all of their friends) jealous.

Good conversation break over, and I headed south again into that wind. I noticed a change though - the mist had stopped, and it was getting brighter. The clouds seemed to be lifting, but the sky stayed gray. I saw one other touring cyclist heading north who waved but didn't stop. He was very heavily loaded with 4 big panniers plus stuff strapped on top. His must be a camping trip. I kept cycling into the wind, thinking of other things - and the sun came out! Wonderful warmth... I was just about to stop for some more clothing layers, but instead I stopped to get rid of my wind vest!

As I was riding through a small town I stopped in a parking area to take a picture. A man who was working across the street called out to me and asked if I'd lost my car. Of course not - this is my preferred mode of transportation!

As I wandered down the road, I began to see more and more shore birds, including quite a few herons and egrets. I thought I might be able to pull off a picture of one of these magnificent birds, but they must have sensed me coming - they took off before I could pull the camera out.

It seemed to take me forever to get to Larne, probably because the wind was keeping my speed down to 8 to 9 miles per hour, pretty slow considering that the road was flat. I pulled into the train station and bought tickets for me and my bike (or my BIKE DOG according to the ticket). One of the NI Rail folks offered to watch my bike so I could run out to the store and pick up some food. Just as I got back, the rain started. I really timed that well. My ride went from mist to chilly and gray, to sunny, to gray again - and I just missed riding in what would have been a pretty unpleasant rain. Instead I got to sit in a heated waiting room and wait for my train to Belfast. After I got on the train the conductor sat with me and chatted for a while. He told me that the train with the outside handle only is an older train, and he said that the train we were on today was also pretty old - but this one has doors that open from the inside. He said that the other doors are actually considered safer because they can always be opened by a passenger, while the doors on today's train have to be released first by the engineer before the "Open" and "Close" buttons work. He said that the train I'll be on to Dublin is much more modern. And it sounds like almost all of the older trains are going to be replaced in the next year or two. That sounds like a pretty big project.

I was a lot more comfortable on this train than on the last one because even though my bike was in a separate compartment it was in the same car with me. I pulled the bike and trailer up close to the door as we left Belfast Central station since I knew my stop was the next one. I wanted to be sure to have both pieces off of train before it took off again. I know that the conductor was signaling the engineer when it was clear to leave the station, but since the conductor was at the middle of the train and I was in the back it still made me a bit nervous. I just had images of half of my stuff continuing to the next station! Of course that didn't happen.

I got directions from the station to Malone Road and headed to the Malone Guest House. When Ruby opened the door, the first thing she asked was if I wanted to put my bike in the garage. I told her that I needed to pack it, and she opened the garage door so I could work in there. After my visions of having to pack the bike in the rain, I had a nice inside spot. Very nice. And the rain had stopped again anyway - it was bright and sunny when I arrived in Belfast! A quick half hour later, the bike was all packed, and I headed to my room for a shower. Then I went wandering through Belfast. As I was walking around wearing a skirt and a sleeveless shirt, I noticed most of the people around me were wearing coats. Am I fighting the change of seasons? I was warm enough without any extra layers, but then again I was moving.

The guest house is about a half a mile past Queen's University. I walked back to the university, then continued on to the center of town. I had two things I was looking for - a bookstore to pick up reading material for the plane, and some interesting food. I found both easily, even though it involved a good two hours of walking! I found a Waterstones Books, which when they were in Boston was my all time favorite bookstore. I browsed there for a while, and picked up a mystery for airplane reading. I'd passed quite a few restaurants on my travels, and one of them caught my eye, so I stopped there on the way back for some dinner. I ate at an Indian restaurant called Monsoon. The food was very good, and a nice change for what I've been eating. Having a variety of good foods to choose from is definitely a positive thing about being in a city instead of in a little town!

I'm actually amazed that I found my way back to the guest house with no false turns. I pretty much followed a straight line into the town center, but coming back the streets kept angling off. Hmm...which street did I come down? And you know what - I've found a place that's worse than Boston from a road sign standpoint. I haven't seen any road signs since I've arrived in Belfast. They must be there, right? Could I be looking in the wrong place?

I found the answer to my question about where apples in Europe generally come from. I've seen some from New Zealand, but it looks like the local crop comes from France and Spain. I should have guessed that, but it took labels in the stores to clue me in.

Tony just called to check on me. He's in Connemara with a group that he's guiding, but he wanted to make sure that I'd made it to Belfast and that I'd had a good tour. That was a nice touch.

Tomorrow - Dublin. I'll be taking a train in the morning that should get me there at about 12:30. There's an earlier train, but I decided I didn't want to make myself crazy with rushing around early in the morning. This one will allow me to have a leisurely breakfast before I head to the train station. I'll have a half a day to wander around Dublin, then Saturday morning I head back to Boston. It's hard to believe this trip is coming to an end. Well, then again, it's easy to believe since my bike is securely packed in its case!

Seeking the shortest distance between two points

2003-09-10T16:02:00.025-04:00

Bushmills to Cushendall

I thought when I got up this morning that I was going to have to tell you it was a bad cycling day today. But guess what - it turned into yet another great day.

I woke up at 6 - bathroom calling - and looked out the window and just groaned. It was gray, foggy, and misting. Not a good omen. I went back to sleep until 7:30 since I'd asked for breakfast at 8. At 7:30 it was still pretty dreary, and on top of that I woke up exhausted. Uh oh. Shades of last year... sometimes I just don't know when I need a rest until it's too late. I kind of hoped to get through this trip without a real rest day, but I guess it would have been smarter to schedule one. Today is my eleventh day in a row of cycling. A few of the days have been short, and some have been easy, but rest is smart. Oh well, too late now! (Actually, it's not too late if I was willing to skip cycling the Antrim coast - but that's not something I want to miss!)

I went down to breakfast and struggled to eat - for me another sign that I'm tired. But I managed to eat a normal amount of breakfast. Helen had to leave the house by 9 - she knew she'd be giving distillery tours this afternoon, but they asked her to come in this morning too. I told her that I was having a hard time getting going this morning, and she told me to stay as long as I liked. In fact, she was more than willing for me to stay another night - but I really wanted and needed to move on today. She asked me to lock the door and push the keys back through the mail slot when I left. OK, that works!

Helen brought my bike out from the shed, and left it outside the front door with a plastic bag over the seat since that heavy mist had closed in again. I locked it to the railing, and went back upstairs to look at my planned day and the map and figure out what to do. The planned day via back roads was 43 or 44 miles. But there was clearly a more direct route to Cushendall. I decided to stay on A2 instead of taking the scenic route that was recommended. That looked to be about 30 miles, but I wasn't really sure of the distance. I only knew it looked considerably shorter than my original planned route. I laid down for another hour and a half in the hopes that it would help. It did, and I finally rolled out of the house at 11 - a pretty late starting time for me.

My delayed start allowed me to start in dry weather. If I had been raring to go earlier I would have started in the rain, but as it was the rain was over for the day when I left. The wind was misbehaving though - the predominant wind direction is out of the west, but today it was blowing from the east, right in my face for the eastward part of my journey. I rode over some of the same territory that I covered yesterday on my way to Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-rede.

Then I turned south on A2. My ride to that point had been rolling and a good part was at a slight uphill grade. A2 at that point was the inland route, and after I turned I immediately started climbing. It was a pretty gentle grade, but easily a several mile climb. Then down, down, down - back out to the coast and into Ballycastle. As I was rolling along, I passed a deli that had posted a "best of Ireland" plaque out front. Hmmm... looks interesting. I was pretty cold at that point - it felt like the temperature had dropped a good ten degrees. I don't know if it had, but every time it got gray out it got very chilly. So I went into the deli for a bowl of potato leek soup and a very good baguette, and of course some good Irish butter for the bread. As I ate I watched my bike, which was parked right outside the window, but not locked - nothing to lock it to. I should have had a camera mounted on the bike to catch the expressions of people who walked by to see my little-wheeled bike and suitcase trailer. That would have been an interesting set of photos. And it was a good lunch and a good break.

I put on some more layers before I started riding again because it still felt pretty chilly out. As I was leaving town I saw a tourist information office, so I stopped to ask how far it was to Cushendall. I'd ridden 14 miles, and the woman manning the tourist info desk said that it was 16 miles by the A2. She also said that the A2 was a lot flatter than the Torr Head scenic route, which on my map showed 15% grades - not something I'd like to ride even on an unloaded bike! I have no idea whether my original planned route was hillier or flatter than the one I took, but I was still interested in shaving off some miles. I took the turn onto A2 heading south, and immediately saw the ruins of an old friary. I stopped to explore. And I removed all of my extra layers since the sun decided to poke its face out and share some warmth.

Entering the grounds of the Bonamargy Friary, a third order Franciscan friary founded in 1500.

Riding again, I started climbing and climbing. The grade was relatively gentle, but the climb continued for about 8 miles. Remember, I started the day tired, and I believe on a normal energy day it would have been a lot easier. The day got grayer and grayer, and the temperature got cooler. In spite of the fact that the A2 is classified as a class A road - the equivalent of a national road in the south - there was almost no traffic on it. As I got higher, the terrain continued to change. I went through forests to heather-covered rugged looking hills, with sheep grazing on the sides of steep hills, and some sheep in the road. Fences? There were fences, but some of the sheep were outside of the fences. When I finally reached the top I was greeted by a somewhat surrealistic view - the sea in front of me, with cliffs and green fields covered with misty floating clouds. The heathery hills were behind me - with beautiful colors that were impossible to capture in photos (although I did try). And it was cold enough that I could see my breath. I was already wearing my wind vest; I stopped to add my rain jacket and my knee warmers before I started flying downhill. If I'd been smarter I would have pulled out the nylon mitten shells and my wind/rain shoe covers. Both were in the trailer, and both would have helped. Not thinking.... I saw the sea for just a bit before the road headed inland, up a valley (or are they called glens?). I crossed a high bridge, then the road started heading back toward the coast. Almost there, only three miles to go, and I had to pedal again. Today I took the supposedly non-scenic route, and it was gorgeous!

I'm staying at The Meadows B&B tonight, which is about a 10-minute walk south of the village of Cushendall - and directly across from the Irish Sea. I can see Scotland from my windows...

Ann, my hostess, greeted me, told me my bike could sleep in the garage tonight (I love these places where there's a home for the bike), and asked me if I'd like a first-floor room so I didn't have to haul my stuff upstairs. I took her up on that! We chatted for a while, and she provided tea and a snack. I took my hot shower, and hey - there's a silver lining in that cloud that says tomorrow is my last day of cycling here - for the first night, I don't have to wash out my cycling clothes. I brought 2 sets, and only need my remaining clean set for tomorrow.

I headed into the village in search of food. Ann told me that the only restaurant in town is Harry's, so I headed there. It's a pub and a restaurant, and you know there's really a reason that I haven't been taking advantage of "pub grub" for lunch - pubs are always smoky. Harry's was smoky, and the menu was marginal, so I left. Before I left I asked if there was a non-smoking area, and the bartender looked at me like I had two heads, saying "there aren't too many smokers in here". That's true - there were 4 patrons (5 including me) and only two people actively smoking, and the place reeked! There was a Chinese takeout place across the street, so I ordered chow mein, then stopped at the Spar (one of the little grocery store chains) to pick up some fruit. The takeout place gave me plastic silverware, although I'm sure I could have borrowed a real fork from the B&B kitchen. The chow mein I had in Belleek was better, but this worked - and for me it was much better than sitting in a smoky pub. And if the takeout place hadn't been there I would have picked up enough for dinner at the Spar. Yikes, I guess I'm being picky! Well, whatever makes me happy...

Tomorrow is a bike and train day. I'll be following the A2 from Cushendall to Larne - but now it's the coastal route instead of an inland route. It's supposed to be flat, and it's supposed to be beautiful. And I'm heading south along the east coast in a country where you drive on the left - and that means that I'll be riding on the side of the water. Cool. Now all I need is a day that allows me to see some vistas. I'm really hoping for good weather. I could ride all of the way into Belfast, which is my final destination for the day, but Tony recommended taking the train from Larne. From there into Belfast the traffic picks up and becomes city traffic, not my favorite. And both Ann and Helen agree that the prettiest stretch of the road is between here and Larne. So it looks like I'll be on the train again. At least now I know how to open the doors!

Magnificent, spectacular, awesome!

2003-09-09T15:22:00.026-04:00

Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

What can I say about today but wow! What an amazing day.

I've wanted to see the Giant's Causeway ever since I first read about it, and I had in the back of my mind that I wanted to walk across the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge even though I knew with my dislike of heights and exposure I'd probably never make it. I went to both places today, and I was even lucky and had a totally dry riding day.

It rained overnight, and the ground was still very wet when I woke up. There were clouds in the sky, but there was blue up there too, at least in the morning. It was very gray by the time I returned to the B&B, but it was dry. It was quite cool, and there was quite a strong wind coming out of the west. My out and back ride meant I had a push from the wind in the morning, and a fight with the wind in the afternoon. I must admit it's much easier to ride into a headwind when I'm not hauling my trailer behind me. Definitely no complaints on the weather front - dry is good, and cool can be good too - although I really needed that hot shower this afternoon.

I had what's become my usual breakfast to start the day, and I spent some time talking with Helen. I'm so glad we didn't get our wires totally crossed yesterday and that she arrived home before I booked myself into the hostel. Helen clearly loves this area, and is very good about sharing her knowledge with her guests. She took early retirement when it was offered, and came back to Bushmills where she grew up. She runs her B&B, and she has a part-time job as a tour guide at the Old Bushmills Distillery. For those readers who are Irish whiskey fans, you'll just have to imagine that I went on the tour - I didn't. Much more typical of me, I spent the entire day outside. Helen and I talked about both the Giant's Causeway and the rope bridge before I left this morning. She told me that she thought the steep set of stairs leading down to the bridge were worse than the bridge itself.

It was a short 3-mile ride to the Giant's Causeway. There was a charge for the car park, but bicycles were free, and they even had usable (upside-down U-shaped) bicycle racks. I spent a couple of hours walking there, and probably could have spent even more if I didn't want to also get to the rope bridge today. There's a lower path along the water, and an upper path along the cliff tops. I started down the lower path Just as I got to the area known as the wishing chair, or the giant's columns, I heard a dog bark - and I knew without even seeing the dog that it had to be a dachshund. I walked just a little further, and saw the dog sitting next to her owner, barking to protect her. And of course she didn't need any protection. I just had to laugh. They can be such funny dogs!

Giant's Causeway is spectacular, magnificent, fabulous. The area that is most shown in pictures is an amazing looking basalt structure. The vertical columns of basalt, mostly 5 & 6 sided, have both the tops and the sides exposed. Legend has it that the causeway was created by a giant by the name of Finn MacCool. And it does look like it could be manmade. But the truth is that it is volcanic in nature. You could climb all over these columns, and it was almost like walking on stepping stones. The tops were flat, and if you stayed on the dry sections the footing was fine. There were warning signs all over to stay off of the black (and wet) stones. Apparently the waves often roll over these structures and can be quite dangerous.

I continued along the lower path, and I eventually followed it to its current end point. The path actually goes on a bit further, but it was closed because of rock fall. I spoke with a woman I met at the end of the path, and she told me that an acquaintance of hers said that he wasn't impressed by Giant's Causeway. She said "how can you not be impressed?", and I had to agree with her. This place is awesome. Actually the comment reminds me of one that I was told about in the Grand Canyon. I did a Backroads cycling and camping trip that went to Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and Zion National Parks, and one of our tour leaders told me that he was standing at an overlook in the Grand Canyon when he overheard someone say they thought it was too big. The "not impressive" comment about Giant's Causeway seems the same to me. They are both spectacular.

I headed back along the cliff-top path. It was possible to walk for miles along the top of the cliff, and there is a bus available that runs fairly often so you could walk a long distance one way and get a ride back. (That is, a bus is available if you visit in season. It was still running when I was there, but it was about to stop for the season in just a few more days.) I walked a little further along the cliff top, and then I turned back and headed for my bike. More riding to do today, and another place to explore... I hope some of the pictures I took do the place justice!

Back to the visitor's center, time for a bathroom and snack stop. A cup of hot chocolate warmed me up nicely. Then I rode on to the east with a nice wind pushing me. I actually considered not continuing to Carrick-a-rede because of the wind, but I decided I wasn't going to let it get the better of me. And actually, although it was quite strong it wasn't terrible riding back.

The Carrick-a-rede rope bridge is just what it sounds like - a rope bridge between the mainland and a small offshore island with a salmon fishery and hundreds of nesting birds on it. The bridge is about 20 meters long, and about 25 meters above the water. It is made of rope, but it does have wood planking down to walk on. And it swings in the wind. A lot.

It is another National Trust site where they charge for parking cars, but bikes are free, and bike racks are available. I parked my bike and took off on the 20-minute walk to the bridge. The views along the way were beautiful, and there was a funny moment too. I passed a couple who were posing with a cow. There was a black cow standing close to the fence who apparently wanted some attention. The man was petting the cow, whose head was over the fence, and the woman was taking a picture. As she said, a Kodak moment! We laughed together, and I continued on to the bridge. They caught up with me after one of my false starts across the bridge. I stepped onto it, and ventured maybe a quarter of the way across, then came back. What some of you may not know about me is that I am a bit freaked by heights. Not just any heights, but heights with the feeling of exposure. That's the reason that I've never made it up Angel's Landing at Zion National Park - even though I've hiked to the steep part twice! OK, I backed off of the bridge - and by the way, Helen was right, the steep stairs down to the bridge were very freaky too. I took a couple of pictures, thought to myself that I must be out of my mind, and tried false start number two. I was about to give up when the couple of the cow picture showed up. She headed out, and stopped halfway across to have her picture taken. He followed her across, and both of them encouraged me to come across, saying "How far did you ride your little bike to get here? You have to come across". Another couple came up behind me. The second man started across, gave me his hand, and helped me across. About halfway over I took my hand back so I could hold onto the rope "railings" on both sides, was told to "look at me" by the woman on the other side, and - I made it! Now all I had to manage was to make it across again. After all, I didn't want to be stuck on that little but tall rock of an island! And I managed to make it back across to the starting side. I might have been stuck in the middle of the bridge if I had looked down - 75 to 80 feet to some wild water. But I looked across, and I held on to the ropes as the wind pushed me around. Wow. When I talked to Helen later she said if it's really windy that the bridge is closed to the public. That was a pretty strong wind today - I wonder what really windy is like. And I found out the the bridge originally was just rope - no wood planks. No way would I have even attempted to cross it if it was only made of rope!

The "cow picture" couple passed me on the road later as I was riding back to Bushmills. As they drove by they gave me a wave and a big thumbs up.

Back at the B&B, I had tea and scones and pastries again, but this time it was a bit earlier in the afternoon - early enough to leave me with a good appetite for dinner. And the scones here are Irish-style scones, reasonably sized (small) and flakey. Yum.

I went back to the Distillers Arms for dinner. When I find a place that I like I tend to look no further... This time I ordered an entree instead of two starters. I arrived at the restaurant at 6:30, and it turned out that they had an early evening menu that was available until 6:45 in addition to the normal evening a la carte menu. The prices on the early evening menu were significantly less than the regular menu. I wasn't driven by price in my choice, but I did select something from the early menu - a trout fillet, with potato salad and dressed leaves. The trout was excellent, the potato salad was small white potatoes, roasted tomatoes, and black olives in a vinaigrette, and the dressed leaves - well I would have called that greens, or a salad. I guess dressed leaves is technically correct though. A very nice dinner. I asked for a cup of tea to finish, and as a side, my tea came with a shot glass of chocolate-covered malt balls. What fun!

My rain luck for the day didn't hold through the evening. I walked back from the restaurant in a light rain. I don't know what made me grab my rain jacket as I walked out the door - maybe those evil-looking gray clouds this afternoon - but I was glad I had it for the walk back.

Tomorrow I'm headed for Cushendall, on the east coast. The guide book I was looking at earlier today said that Cushendall is where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Irish Sea. I wondered when that was going to happen.

A picture perfect day - wait, where did that rain come from?

2003-09-08T14:58:00.025-04:00

Derry to Bushmills via train and bike

It was another wonderful day of riding today, and I'm really glad that Tony suggested taking the train out of Derry. No riding in city traffic, which I really dislike, and it gave me a jump out to the coast. A good way to start a good day...

Remember my complaining of a queasy stomach two days ago and blaming it on the food? Well, it wasn't the food. I think I had some sort of 48-hour intestinal bug - which thankfully seems to be totally gone today. Last night I realized I was feeling both nauseous and achy - and the aches weren't biking muscle kind of aches. At that point I also realized that I'd been feeling kind of draggy all day. (And thanks for reminding me Mom - I did use both the Pepto and the Imodium!) I went to sleep at 9, which is early even for me, and slept until 7 this morning. Having a room near the entry to the B&B didn't keep me awake, and when I got up this morning I felt like a new woman.

The morning greeted me with bright blue skies, but very cool temperatures. I needed both my wind vest and arm warmers for the short ride to the train station. I rode along the river on a bike path and then continued on the lower deck of a double-decked bridge across the river which dumped me onto another bike path. That path ended at the train station. It was a short bike ride to a relatively short train ride. I bought 2 tickets for the train - one for me, and one for my bike. The ticket for the bike says "BIKE DOG". They must use the same ticket designation for people who are traveling with a dog - I thought it was very strange.

I rolled the bike and trailer into a car that had an attendant in it, then sat in the next compartment. I looked at the schedule before I got onto the train, so I thought I knew the stop that was right before mine. It turns out I had the right name of the stop before mine, but the train ride was a bit disconcerting. There were no station announcements, and some of the stops were very, very short. I started to worry about getting off the train and having time to retrieve my bike before it took off again. That's not a nice worry to have! (Yeah Steve, I know, just in time worry...) One of the other people sitting near me must have noticed my worry, because he asked where I was going and told me he'd let me know before we got to that stop. And shortly after that the attendant who was sitting with my bike came through the train, and I told him where I would be disembarking. When we reached the stop he rolled my bike and trailer off of the train for me - a quick and easy exit. At least it was an easy exit for the bike. For me, it was a different story, because I had to figure out how to open the train door. It took me a minute to see the directions posted above the door. They went something like this:

>>> This door cannot be unlatched from the inside.
>>> Do not open door while train is moving.
>>> Press window bar in and push down to open window
>>> Reach to the outside of the door for the handle, and turn the handle
>>> Open the door.

No lie - I am not making this up! It's a good thing I speak and read English well. I can imagine that a non-English speaker might have had a little problem with that door! I saw another passenger getting up to help just as I figured out how to get the door opened. Safety? Do you think a door that opens only from the outside is a safe design? Oh well, at least I'll know how to get out of the train the next time!

I left the train station, and rode some nice back roads into Coleraine. At that point I could head east to my final destination, or I could add on an out-and-back ride to the west. I chose to head west first, although I didn't go as far as I'd planned. I was following the Sustrans cycle route 93, and as I was riding I stopped several times to try to get a photo of a very hazy rainbow. It never occurred to me - rainbows show up when it rains! I continued down the road, fighting with a pretty intense headwind. Actually I didn't realize how strong it was until I turned around to head back and got a nice push from the wind. I got as far as Castlerock and turned around. My original plan was to continue on for a couple more miles, but when it started raining I decided to stop fighting the wind. I headed back in light rain, still wearing my wind vest but with bare arms and legs. On and on, and all of a sudden I realized it was raining pretty hard! At that point another cyclist came up next to me and we started chatting. He was planning to take a ferry to Donegal for the afternoon, but he turned back because of the rain too - mainly because he left home without a jacket. About that point I decided I'd better put mine on. This time I put it on top of the vest - it was chilly enough that I figured the extra layer wouldn't hurt. Soon after I put the rain jacket on it stopped raining, but I kept the jacket on until I was warm and the jacket was dry. Then it jumped back in the trailer.

I haven't seen as many cyclists here as I expected to - and one thing I've noticed is how few cyclists are wearing helmets. The other Americans I met were wearing helmets, and a couple of the other folks were too, but I'd have to say the helmet-wearers are definitely in the minority. I find that very odd. I've been wearing a helmet for years, and I wouldn't think of riding without one. I know someone who fell years ago and ended up with a concussion - and he was told if he wasn't wearing a helmet he most likely would have had a skull fracture.

I stopped at a small grocery shop to pick up a sandwich for lunch, and as is my usual habit, I wandered around a bit. I can't find energy bars here, but I found pancakes in the bakery section! Yes, baked and packaged pancakes... That doesn't sound like a food that would react well to reheating, but I guess they're not much different from other bread products. Not something that I think I'll try on this trip though.

After I got back to Coleraine, I continued following the Sustrans (national biking route) 93 to the east. It is a signed bike route, sometimes on road-side paths, sometimes with on-road bike path markings, sometimes just on the road. I was planning on following it as far as Portrush where I was going to switch back to the Coast Road. I actually switched to the Coast Road a few miles early - got tired of following the twists and turns of the bike route! I'm following the Atlantic Ocean across the top of Northern Ireland. What beautiful scenery! It was one of those take a picture, ride a little further, take another picture days. Spectacular.

At one point I passed a field that had the funniest looking birds in it. They were chasing around on foot, and they had long red beaks. I don't have a clue what they were, even though I was able to check a bird book when I got to my home for the night. Maybe they were oystercatchers, but maybe not.

[Update on September 14th: Yes, they were oystercatchers! I found a description and a photo on the Birds of Britain website. Very cool.

I stopped at Dunluce Castle late in the afternoon. It's the ruins of what must have been a pretty spectacular castle right on the coast - built on top of coastal rocks. There's a sea cave under the structure, but the path down to it was closed because of rock fall near the entrance. That would have been interesting, but wandering around the ruins was interesting too. Apparently one of the ladies of the house didn't like the sound of the sea. That's a bad place to live if you don't like listening to the ocean! And to top it off, a wall in the kitchen was undermined and fell into the sea while the kitchen was in use. The plaque in the kitchen area said that 3 servants were lost in that accident, and that the lady of the house refused to set foot in the place again. I don't remember the date it was built, but there's a brochure in my room that says that the castle was restored in 1588.

As I arrived in Bushmills this afternoon, I saw a sign for Ballymoney - the town where I started riding this morning - saying that it was 10 miles away. I rode 43 miles today. Do you think I took the long road?

I arrived at the B&B at close to 5, which is later than usual for me on this trip. I've been finishing between 3 and 4 - except for yesterday which was a pretty short day. I had a bit of a scare - no one home... First I passed a B&B with no name, and turned into the Ballyness Caravan Park. Since my reservation was at the Ballyness B&B I thought maybe it was on the grounds of the camp site. The office was closed, so I wandered over to a trailer to ask someone. The woman who came out pointed out the B&B, which was the one I had ridden by. I headed back to the B&B and rang the bell. No answer, no cars around, no note. Hmm... I'll admit I was a little freaked by that. But - no problem. I headed back into the village and tried to call. The pay phone didn't like my coins, and it didn't like my credit card. I walked into the shop next to the phone booth, and the woman there made the call for me after saying "how odd, someone should be at Ballyness". She got an answering machine. At this point it was a little after 5, and I asked if there were other places to stay in town. It turned out that there was a hostel just down the street, so I headed there. They had room, but I decided to try to call the B&B one more time. And - Helen was home, so I headed back out. When I arrived she apologized for not being here when I arrived the first time. She works until 5, and comes straight home from work. I must have just missed her - guess I should have sat on the front steps and soaked in the sun for a while... Helen said that she told Tony she wouldn't be home until after 5, but somehow I missed that. As I think back, I think he might have told me and I just spaced it - if you remember, I was pretty much sleepwalking when he was going over the route with me. Oops! It all worked out though, and I'm here for the next two nights. Helen provided a home in the shed for my bike - inside again. And she offered, and I accepted, tea or coffee when I got here. A pot of tea, scones, and pastries. It was a nice greeting for a hungry cyclist - but as it turns out an appetite suppressant when it came to dinner!

My room has a drying rack hanging from the radiator. It was stone cold when I left for dinner, but I hung my laundry there anyway - and it was giving off heat when I came back. So far I've only needed to use the trailer drying rack one day. I've either had access to a hair dryer, or the heat was turned on in my room at some point in the night. That's a good thing - I was afraid that it would be so damp here that nothing would dry! And as it turns out, most of my hosts hang their clothes out to dry. The B&B in Derry last night was the first one I saw with a clothes dryer.

I walked back into the village (about 3/4 of a mile from the B&B) and went into The Distillers Arms for dinner. It turned out to be a very nice restaurant, one that I'm sure would meet with both my sister's and my father's approval. There's a lounge area in the front with some low tables and comfortable chairs. They have you sit in the lounge with the menu and a drink of your choice, and they move you to a table just before your food is ready. A very relaxing atmosphere. Of course after downing tea and a scone and a piece of chocolate pastry at just before 6, I wasn't prepared for a big dinner - so I ordered 2 starters again. The soup of the day was wonderful. It was a very spicy soup made of red peppers, red onions, and aubergine, and probably some other stuff I didn't catch when it was described. Very nice, and accompanied by some excellent bread. My second starter was prawns with a Thai dipping sauce, a side salad, and cucumbers that had been sitting in some kind of sweet sauce. Yum! There were a couple of interesting looking entrees, so I may have to go back there again tomorrow. Actually, I'm sure there were more than a couple of interesting entrees if you are a meat eater, but I'm still looking for veggies and fish...

At dinner I was seated at a table between two couples. I believe the couple on my right was from Germany, and I know that the couple on my left was from England because we ended up talking together for quite a while after we finished eating. They live about 18 miles from London, near Windsor. They came to Ireland for a 3-day oyster festival which they described as a 3-day party, and extended their stay for a few more days to travel around the country. They drove 220 miles today, and it took them over 5 hours, mainly because the roads here are all small - except for the motorways around the major cities (Belfast & Dublin) and all go through instead of around towns. They also commented on the lack of places to pull off of the road to rest or soak in the scenery. That never really hit home to me until they said it, because I've been able to stop by pulling as far to the left as possible - but still on the road because there's no where else to go. I don't like standing in the road, but there hasn't been any other choice. That certainly wouldn't be possible in a car. I was assuming that these conditions were similar to those in England, but they said not.

When I pulled out a 20 pound note to pay for dinner, they said "look at that note". It was from the Bank of Ireland, and they'd never seen one before. They told me that you used to have to be careful about accepting bills because it used to be that notes from the Bank of Scotland weren't accepted in England in shops and had to be exchanged in banks. It's not like that now, but talk about a pain! I asked them about the writing on the edges of the 1 and 2 pound coins, and their initial reaction was that the sayings were in English. Nope, they're not. The sayings on the 2 pound coin is English, but the others aren't. I handed over some of my change, and they were able to recognize Scottish vs. Welsh coins. The back side of the coins are different, but you'd have to recognize the symbols to tell which country they were from - it's not like the "state" quarters that include the name of the state right on the coin. We talked about the pound sterling vs. Euro issue too. They said that before they left their B&B tonight they asked their hosts if the money here was Euros or "proper money"! They agreed with me that it would be much simpler if the UK switched to Euros. But I can't even imagine what that conversion would be like. But, most of the other EU countries managed to make the switch...

We were talking about bikes, and when they heard that I was riding a folding bike they told me that their neighbors just bought folding bikes from a shop in Bath. I wonder if they bought Bike Fridays. And my tablemates bought their neighbors gifts for their bikes that made them laugh - bells! It's funny, people riding tandems seem to have bells, but I haven't seen too many on single bikes.

Tomorrow - a day of riding without gear. I'm headed to Giant's Causeway, which is only a couple of miles from here. Then I'll probably head down the road a ways, just to enjoy unloaded riding for a while.

To the walled city

2003-09-07T14:31:00.018-04:00

Castlederg to Derry via Strabane

And yet another wonderful day...

It was a short ride, and despite my late and lazy start this morning I arrived in Derry by 2.

I continued with my choice of a simple breakfast before I was on my way. Cereal and toast definitely works better than eggs for me - but boy, I'd love some French toast or pancakes right about now! That will have to wait until I get home. I guess I've just proven I prefer a good American breakfast! I was the only one in the dining room this morning (other than the guest house owner, of course) and as it turns out that was a very good thing. When I walked through the dining room to get to the back door to retrieve my bike, the other folks who stayed there last night were waiting for their breakfast - and they were smoking up a storm. I'm certainly glad they weren't there while I was eating. I may be a bit picky, but I like my air clean.

I paid my phone bill before I left - for my connection to the Internet last night. I thought I was using a toll-free number, but who knows since I know nothing about the phone system here. I had my fingers crossed, and whew - the number I used was definitely toll-free. I still had to pay 2 and a half pounds for using the phone, but that wasn't too bad! Of course the connection time is more expensive when I'm using a toll-free number, but I think it's better than paying a for a long long-distance call. Unfortunately there weren't direct dial numbers for too many cities in Ireland - and Castlederg wasn't a city that had one..

I woke up to a very cool and gray day, with a forecast of rain in the afternoon. I wondered if I'd beat it, but somehow I didn't think so. I altered my planned route a little bit because yesterday I read about some statues in Strabane. They are called the Millennium Sculpture, Let the Dance Begin, and were created by Maurice Harron. There are 5 semi-abstract figures made of stainless steel and bronze, standing around in a circle. The figures are about 18 feet tall, and each is playing a different instrument (flute, violin, drum), or striking a pose in dance. I just had to see them! My route was short today, so adding a few miles really didn't matter. As it turned out the route was flat to rolling too, really no climbs to speak of. The scenery today was very different - back to rolling green hills and farms. Yesterday seemed like much wilder countryside. Both were beautiful, but I preferred yesterday's scenery.

I headed out of Castlederg on the main road heading toward Victoria Bridge and Strabane. I made it about a mile and a half when traffic absolutely stopped. A traffic jam? It didn't seem possible, but it was. This time it was caused by cows! Yesterday was sheep, today cows. Luckily they weren't being moved as far, but it seemed like it took longer to get through. And equally luckily, there wasn't too much cow shit on the road. There was some, but I managed to avoid most of it - unlike yesterday when there wasn't any way to avoid the sheep shit. Speaking of cow shit, I noticed for the first time yesterday and again today that there was definitely a farm animal smell in the air. Funny that in spite of all the animals I've passed on this trip, this it the first time I've noticed what I would consider an unpleasant smell. I wonder why.

I stopped on the outskirts of Strabane to ask where the sculptures lived. They were awesome - definitely worth the detour. It's really hard to see the scale in my pictures. I took one picture with the bike leaning up against one of the metal people, but that's not as good as having a person next to one. There was no one else around, and no good place to set up the camera on my little tripod for a self-portrait. I'll just have to remember.

I could have continued on the main road to Derry, but I decided to go back to my back roads route, which included a 5 mile section on a bike path (rail trail). I crossed back into the south and was immediately greeted with a traffic circle with signs that didn't include my destination. There was a man standing by the side of the road, so I stopped to make sure I was on the right road. When I asked for the road to Derry, he told me that the straightest route was behind me. I told him I really wanted use the back roads, and after asking me if I really wanted to go to Derry, he verified that the road I wanted was up ahead.

A note about the city name - Derry vs. Londonderry: I've used the name Derry in my journal, but that should not be construed to be a statement as to which side I think is correct! It's a convenience, nothing more - a short visit to Northern Ireland certainly does not give me enough insight into the political issues here to take a side. The city name is a source of controversy, with Unionists using the full name Londonderry and Nationalists shortening the name to Derry.

Update on October 19th, 2003: And after hearing about the name controversy, I had to do a double-take as I was driving north along Interstate 93 in New Hampshire last week. There was an exit sign listing both Derry and Londonderry. Hmmm... I looked at a map when I returned home and found that there is a town called Derry and a town called Londonderry. No name controversy there!

There's actually a signed cycle route from Strabane to Derry heading close to the route I took, but the visitor center in Strabane wasn't open today, and I didn't want to attempt that route without a map. Tony told me that he sent some other cyclists on bike routes from Strabane and they complained that the route was impossible to follow. I think that might have been a route through the Sperrins, but I wasn't sure, and with a threatening sky I didn't want to risk inadvertently heading in the wrong direction - so I just headed back to rejoin my original planned route.

Just as I entered Carrigans, the rain began to get heavier. Until then, I could put up with the droplets, but the heavier rain called for my rain jacket. I started out wearing my wind vest, and kept it on and zipped up until I replaced it with the rain jacket. I still wasn't wearing any arm or leg/knee warmers because I would have been to hot with them on - even through the temperature was low enough that I probably should have worn the knee warmers. (I wonder if I woke up with aching quads in the middle of the night because my legs were complaining about all of the work they did in chilly temperatures yesterday.) I rode in that in-between rain for the next five miles, and I consider myself lucky to only have that much rain. Later as I was walking around Derry it became quite a downpour.

My directions to get to the bike route said "about a half a mile after Carrigans, the R236 bends left. At this point take the right turn onto a minor road". OK, so does the town start when you see the sign for it, or does it start when you hit the town center? Today, it started at the town center, and I headed down the wrong little road for a bit. Not far - I certainly realized I was in the wrong place (how could I not, as the road really disappeared after a while into a maze of driveways) and headed back to R236. When I got back there I took a quick look at the map and realized that my right turn should really be a veer right as opposed to a hard right. And if I'd thought about it I would have realized that there should have been a bike route sign at the intersection since where I was headed is part of the national cycle route. Once I went down the right road the bike path appeared. I'm not a huge fan of purpose-built bike paths because many of them are overused and as a result are very unsafe for cycling. This one was one of the good ones - mainly empty. I passed several groups of walkers, all under umbrellas, one single cyclist, and then a group of 8 or 9 cyclists who were what I would consider bad users of the path. They were spread out across the entire width of the path heading towards me, and they didn't look like they were going to move. I was heading down the left side of the path, behaving like a vehicle - but apparently these people (mostly children, but there was an adult with them) have no idea of proper bike path behavior. They finally moved - just before I was about to come to a stop - and the rest of the ride on the path was very pleasant. It followed the river into the center of Derry, where I stopped someone to ask how to find Queen Street, the location of my B&B for the night.

Or at least I thought it was the location of my B&B. My reservations were at Merchant House, at 16 Queen Street. I found it after initially heading down Queen Street in the wrong direction. Joan answered the door, and told me that I'd actually be staying at the other house. It turns out that Joan & Peter own two B&Bs just a few blocks apart, and if there are only enough guests to fill one house then they consolidate everyone in one place. So I'm at the Saddler's House B&B. Joan walked down here with me, gave me an inside location for my Air Glide to sleep tonight, and provided a towel to dry the trailer off before we dragged it into the house. She also switched me from a third floor room to a first floor room. That's good and bad - good because I don't have to lug the trailer up two flights of stairs, bad because it's one of two rooms that is right next to the front door, and the walls are pretty thin. It hasn't been too noisy so far, so hopefully it will be OK. My trailer works really well when I'll pulling it with the bike, and it works fine as a suitcase (bike case) when it doesn't have the trailer frame attached - but it's really awkward to carry as a suitcase with those wheels on it. I've had the best luck rolling it up stairs, but the staircase needs to be relatively wide to pull that off, and quite a few of the places I've stayed in here had narrow staircases. I guess I get stronger every time I haul it up stairs - but I'm happy to be on the first floor tonight. And I'm so glad my bike has a home inside tonight because the rain got pretty hard later on. Hmmm - what happened to that gentle, drenching mist?

Joan provided a tourist map of Derry, and recommended that I walk the city walls and visit the museum. She pointed out the location of some of the sights and cafes, and she showed me how to find both a grocery store and the railroad station. OK, I'm all set - all I need now is a hot shower.

I was standing locking my door, and I said something to Joan about the locks. All of the places I've stayed at so far have used skeleton keys for the room locks. Joan told me that the locks in the room doors are the originals, and date back to 1871. The keys have been replaced, but the locks have remained.

I headed out to walk the walls of the city. Derry is the only walled city left in Ireland, and it is supposed to be one of the best examples in Europe of walled cities. There is a path along the top of the wall, and it's about a mile around. It was a good way to spend some time this afternoon, even though it was raining. St. Coloumb's Cathedral stands within the walls, and it the oldest church in the city (actually, I think Joan said that it's the oldest church in Ireland - built in 1633). It is a pretty building, but impossible to capture in a photo since I couldn't get far enough away from it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to visit the museum because it turns out that it's closed on Sunday. It's open for a few hours on Sundays in July and August, but closed the rest of the year. It's probably for the best, because I really needed to take a food break!

As usual, I snacked earlier as I was riding. But as I walked around Derry I realized that I was very ready to eat, so I stopped for a late lunch at 4. I had an excellent grilled veggie wrap, but unfortunately (as usual) it was totally without protein. I knew that I'd want more food later, but I didn't think I'd feel like going out for dinner, so I headed to the grocery store on my way back to the B&B to pick up more food - some fruit and cheese, and of course my nightly ration of chocolate. That should do, and the cheese should help with the protein issues! Am I eating? Of course! Am I eating well? Probably not..

I'm feeling a bit tired tonight - I think from being unable to fall asleep again for a long time after I woke up at 1:30 last night to use the bathroom. Let's see, I can try to stop drinking earlier and maybe sleep all night, or I can keep on drinking and make sure I'm not dehydrated. Since I find it much harder to drink enough during the day when the weather is cool, I don't think I'm going to cut myself off earlier. And yes, I do mean water!

Tomorrow's ride starts with a train trip from Derry to Ballymoney. Tony recommended the train to avoid the heavy traffic leaving Derry. The couple I met from Florida a few days ago actually rode in and out of Derry and said that there was traffic but that it wasn't too bad. But they also told me there is a wicked hill leaving Derry in the direction that I'm going. I decided to follow Tony's advice and take the train. After all, that's a new experience for me. I've never rolled my bike aboard a train before! In spite of warnings from the people who live here - even the major roads don't carry enough traffic to bother me, but I'm really not fond of city traffic. Avoiding it tomorrow is probably a good thing.

A ride in solitude, and then? a sheep jam!

2003-09-06T12:13:00.014-04:00

Ardara to Castlederg

You know that rain I mentioned yesterday? Well every time I woke up last night I could hear the rain coming down. Then it would stop, and it would start again. I thought it was going to be a very wet day... When I finally crawled out of bed and looked out of the window, I could see a big gray cloud over the house, and blue sky all around. By the time I went down for breakfast, the blue sky was over the house, no rain. But then as I was eating it started again. Given the on again off again rain at the start of the day, I didn't have too many hopes for a dry ride. It wasn't bad though. I went through some rain early in the day that caused me to grab for my rain jacket. It wasn't heavy rain, but I would have been pretty wet if I didn't wear my jacket, and it's just too cool to start the day wet.

Last night I thought about moving my breakfast time back to 8, but I didn't do it. It turns out leaving it was really the right decision for two reasons - Maureen said she overslept, didn't wake up until 8:20, and, probably more importantly, a slightly later start worked better with the crazy rain day. I had a good breakfast, and a good send-off by my hosts. I left the house wearing shorts and a jersey, no extra layers. Not too long after I started - after I walked up the steep little hill leaving Ardara - it started raining. Rain jacket on. And for some reason I turned and looked behind me at that point to see a beautiful rainbow. That's a good way to start riding in the rain. The rain stopped fairly quickly, but I kept the jacket on long enough for it to dry out. I stashed it back in the trailer where it stayed for the rest of the day. I did ride through more rain, but each time it stopped before I felt like it was time for the rain jacket. And a lot of the rain was sun showers. Looking back on the day, it was probably cool enough that I should have been wearing my knee warmers, and there were times when the wind vest would have helped. But somehow I never stopped for those extra layers.

The ride (again) was beautiful. I rode parallel to the Blue Stack Mountains, and I suppose that the relatively long uphill was heading across and up the mountains. That's what I'd guess anyway. The uphill started in Glenties. It was never a steep grade, nothing that required my granny gear, but noticeable. I think it was about 8 miles up, and 8 miles down. Unfortunately the downhill wasn't as much fun as it could have been because the road surface was pretty awful. It was still a rest, just a vibrating one. It was a solitary ride for the most part, on a little road with only an occasional car passing. At one point I started to see people walking; soon after I saw the church they were leaving. There weren't too many houses up there, but I guess many of the church-goers (wait, isn't it Saturday?) walk rather than driving their cars. I was still heading uphill, so I just waved and carried on.

It's funny. Although today's ride was quiet and solitary, it didn't feel desolate like that road on the day I was headed to Belleek. I suppose it was the fact that there were obvious farms along the road, and signs of life.

I finally reached a flat part of the hill, and had to do a double-take, because up ahead on the road was a sheep jam! The sheep were heading up the road toward me, and they were taking up more than the width of the road! It turns out that there were 3 people with them, as well as one dog, and they were directing the sheep forward. The guy on my side of the sheep told me to just ride forward and to stay to one side of the road. The sheep did move! That kept me laughing for a while - except for all the sheep crap I managed to pick up on my tires. Yuck. Unlike my normal behavior, I spent the next hour or so aiming at the puddles of water on the road to try to get my tires cleaned off. It worked!

Tony told me that the distances on the road signs are often incorrect, and I saw an interesting example of that. As I left Glenties, I saw a sign for Ballybofey that indicated it was 23 kilometers away. Hmmm, according to my direction it was 22 miles away at that point, which is closer to 37 kilometers. I rode 8 miles, another road came in, and look, there was a sign for Ballybofey saying that it was 23 kilometers away - again! That was much closer to correct at that point, although I did see one more sign saying 23 kilometers before the distance began to decrease.

Balleybofey was my stop-and-calm-my-stomach stop. I woke up with a queasy stomach today, which I think was from a combination of fried food from last night and food that was too rich the night before. That rich stuff really tasted good, but I knew it wasn't a good idea as soon as I finished it! I took some Pepto Bismol this morning, but it appeared I needed more. So I stopped for a cup of tea and a banana, and I took some more Pepto - and somehow my stomach returned to it's normal self. I hate it when that happens! Going back to cereal and toast instead of the full Irish breakfast helped, but I guess I have to make better choices for dinner!

I headed out of Ballybofey, and as I passed two cars on the side of the road, one of the people said "you're beating us". I didn't know we were racing, but of course I stopped to chat. There were two (gray-haired) couples and a cute little dog. One of the men came over and asked if my bike was a folding bike, then said he'd never seen one before. We talked about my bike and about my trip, and then he asked if he could take a picture. So he now has a picture of a Bike Friday Air Glide for his picture album. They were from County Armaugh in Northern Ireland. They asked if I was visiting there on my trip, and I told them that I've been wandering back and forth across the border since I arrived.

I took my last turn of the day to head from Castlefinn 6 miles south to Castlederg. And, surprise, surprise, the road immediately turned up. The first 4 miles were at a slight uphill grade and into a headwind. Ouch! Not what I really wanted at the end of the day, but of course I kept riding. The last 2 miles were downhill, which means I'm going to have to climb out of here in the morning. Oh well...

I arrived at the Derg Arms - the bar, restaurant, guest house that is my home for the night. I have to admit that I was pretty concerned about it when I walked into the bar to ask about my room. The bar was very smoky and very loud, and all I could think was that my room would be over that noise. I was pleasantly surprised when the woman came up to show me my room. First we took the bike to the back of the building where I could lock it up in a safe place. When I asked if I could get back out there to clean and re-lube the bike (we'd wandered through the guest house dining room, office, and kitchen to get to the back yard) she said "sure, just come out the same way - and there's a hose there you can use too." Then she led me to my room on the third floor, which is a lot more modern than I expected after seeing the bar. I actually have a phone, and I can dial up to iberpass.com to upload my journal entries. Very cool! Comfortable bed, hot shower, I'm all set.

The dining room here appears to be the only restaurant in town. Luckily it's separate from the bar, and no smoking is allowed. I had vegetable lasagna for dinner, which seemed to be more like a ratatouille than a lasagna. Of course the only protein in the dish came from the cheese. It also came with a green salad topped with coleslaw ( a bit odd, but it tasted good), a pasta salad, and a potato salad. Interesting combination, and of course I ate everything. I followed that with a pot of tea and desert for a change. They had what was called a chocolate orange gateau. Sounded interesting to me, and it was. It was a very thin layer of chocolate cake topped by a thicker layer of orange something. Suze, I'm sure you can help me out here. It wasn't a pudding or a custard, but it reminded me of something like that (although set a bit harder). Whatever it was, it was good!

Tomorrow's ride is supposed to be a short one, but I think I may extend it a bit by taking a side trip to Strabane. I was looking through some brochures in the lobby, and it looks like there is some interesting metal sculpture there.

Starting gray & rainy, ending with blue skies

2003-09-05T12:00:00.020-04:00

Around Ardara

I woke up to a very wet and gray day today. I didn't hear the rain, so I was hopeful as I pulled the curtains back. It's wet out there, a very heavy mist that is visible, and that absolutely soaks everything. It appeared that today would be a lazy day...

I headed down to breakfast, and Maureen checked the forecast for me. It called for the day to "lighten up". Didn't look like it at the time, but after my leisurely breakfast of cereal, fruit, toast, and tea, the mist appeared to stop, and there were lighter patches of clouds. Oh look - even though there are still dark gray clouds over the house, I see some rays of sunlight peeking out! My plans right now are to sit and relax and read this morning, and give the roads a chance to dry out. Then, hopefully, a ride this afternoon. Maureen told me to feel free to use their sitting room, so I have a comfortable place to sit. It looks like accepting that I would be having a quiet day was a good thing - even though there is a small blue patch of sky, it just started raining again. It's very nice that the weather has turned wet on a day when I actually have a choice on whether to ride or not! I saw some Riverdance pictures on the wall in the dining room, and when I asked Maureen about it she said one of her daughters danced for (in) the Riverdance traveling company. She's currently finishing up university. What a cool thing to have done!

This is definitely a place where the ocean has a large influence on the weather. Although Ireland is very far north, the winter temperatures rarely go below 4 or 5 degrees (Celsius). Maureen confirmed that the rain is typically of the heavy mist variety, but she did say that there were quite a few gales last winter with high winds and driving rains.

I asked Maureen about the presence of sheep and cows in what appears to be people's yards. And I also commented that I expected to see more sheep. It turns out that a lot of the farm land extends quite a ways to the back of the farm house, and that the older habit was to treat all of the land around the house as part of the farm. More recently, people have started reserving the land immediately around the house for gardens - and the gardens that are there are beautiful - and moving the animals back from the house. As for the sheep, this time of year they are up in the high mountains where the fields are more lush. They are moved back to the lower areas for the winters. I also asked about the spray paint blotches (spots) on all of the sheep. The paint is used by farmers to identify their sheep. She thought I was asking about the twice yearly sheep dips too - turns out that the sheep are dipped in the summer to protect them from insects, and in the winter to add some oils to their fleece to help protect them from the cold.

How very odd. I'm in the sitting room, and the television is on. It's tuned to a station called SkyNews, and they're currently showing a reenactment of the Hutton inquiry (Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, the related suicide in the UK) with a banner across the screen saying "reenactment by actors". I've never seen anything like that before - especially on a current inquiry. Although I'm not sure it's any worse than what we get at home with the inane commentary on some of the news programs.

When I was talking to Maureen about my route yesterday she told me that I made the right choice by staying on N56. They've recently chip-sealed the road I was supposed to take up from Inver, and she said it's very nasty to drive on it right now. I hate riding on chip-seal, so now I'm even happier that I took the route I did!

Almost noon, and I've managed to laze away the morning. It's no longer raining, but it's quite cool and very, very gray, and I'm still feeling pretty lazy. I'll get up and move soon...

Patrick just stopped by the house to talk. He's a Belgian cyclist who has been in Ardara exploring for 6 weeks now. He is fascinated with this area, and said that he's been able to see different places almost every day - although he has some favorite places that he's visited more than once. I can see that there are a lot of little roads up here to follow for day rides, but I'm amazed by his 6 weeks in such a small area. It is absolutely beautiful though... He recommended the same route that I had planned for today as a very scenic one, but given the time and the threatening look to the sky I'll probably do a shorter ride. Patrick's cycling so far has all been in Europe - Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and now Ireland. He's been camping at a farm up the road. He started in his tent, but the farmer asked him to move into a shed since he wanted to do something with the spot where Patrick had his tent. So for a good part of his time here Patrick has had indoor shelter as his base. He'll be in Ardara for just 3 more days, then he's headed further north in Donegal for another week or two. At that point he'll head to the Causeway and Antrim Coast, and then to Dublin where he'll fly home. He plans to stay home for a few weeks to visit with relatives and get his pictures developed. Then he said if the weather is gray that he'll head south for a bit, probably for some riding in Italy. Patrick said that he was encouraged to start touring by bike (instead of by public transportation) by an American woman who he met in Turkey.

I was just outside watching the swallows. I've been told that they spend the winter near Table Mountain, close to Capetown, South Africa. That's a long way to migrate. Makes my short two-week bike trip seem even smaller! But the hummingbirds go that far too, don't they?

I wandered into the village to get some food, then changed and headed out on my bike. It was still gray and cool, so I started with arm warmers, leg warmers, and my wind vest. The warmers came off pretty quickly, but the vest stayed on for quite a while. After I warmed up I passed through some of those lingering mist showers. Then the sun came out, and I finished my ride to a beautiful blue sky. Because I started so late, I just did a short ride around Ardara instead of my planned loop over a couple of mountain passes. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to ride the loop because it's supposed to be beautiful. But I'm not sorry I made the decision not to ride in the rain this morning! Remember, no regrets! I rode out to Loughros Point, then came back to the main road, went south a bit, and headed out one of the roads leading up into the mountains to the west of here. The road was on the other side of the water (inlet) that I'd followed out to the point. Another beautiful and enjoyable ride, and my bike felt like it was flying since I was riding it without the trailer! Riding unloaded like that really makes me realize how much my gear slows me down on the uphills. Of course it also reminded me of the cyclist I met last summer in Yellowstone who pointed out that the weight slows all of us down, not just me!

I spent a lot of time traveling a pretty short distance. I took quite a few stops to soak in the scenery, take pictures, and laugh at the animals.

After I got back to the B&B I figured I'd better check out the picture situation. I keep seeing more beautiful scenes and taking more pictures, and I didn't know if I needed to worry about having enough storage space. I didn't bring my digital wallet because I figured the CompactFlash cards I brought would be enough. But there was a niggling little worry there... I have 3 CompactFlash cards with me. Shooting at 4 megapixels, the 512 megabyte card can hold 440 pictures, and the 128 megabyte cards can hold 110 each, for a total of 660 pictures. That sounds like a big number - but I just found out that I've already taken 314 pictures. Not a problem though - if I take 50 pictures a day, I still have enough space for seven more days, and that's what I have remaining. Wow. I'm really glad I'm not going to have to pay for processing all of my photos - digital cameras rock! Of course it's the digital camera that allows me to keep taking lots of pictures. I don't remember taking this many when I was using a film camera.

Back to the village for food again. It was a fish and chips night for me. As I expected in these small villages, they don't seem to have figured out that vegetarian food should consist of more than vegetables - or vegetables smothered in cheese. I haven't seen anything like beans or tofu since I've been here. I guess it's a good thing that I eat fish too! It's really no different than my cross-country trip last summer, and the food here has been pretty much what I expected. I still have some more nights in small towns coming up, but I also have nights in three larger cities too - Derry (or Londonderry), Belfast, and Dublin. It will be interesting to see what kind of restaurant choices I have in the cities. And by the way, whether people call the city Derry or Londonderry appears to be based on either where they are from (Northern Ireland vs. ROI), or whether they are Protestant or Catholic. I can't figure that one out, so I guess I'd better call it something else (or nothing at all) so I don't offend anyone inadvertently!

Tomorrow I head east to Castlederg - a pretty small town that you probably won't find on the map. Next stop after that is Derry (or Londonderry, depending on where you live or what your religion is...). The Blue Stack Mountains will be to my south as I ride east, and hopefully the sky conditions will allow me to see them! I'll be crossing back into Northern Ireland for the night, then I'll be back in the Republic of Ireland for most of the next day's ride (Sunday, I think) before crossing back to the north for the next few days.

Wait - I think I hear rain again. I do - I just looked out the window. It's just dark out, but there's still enough light for me to see a big dark cloud right over this house, and light spots not too far off. Hopefully this is just a passing dark cloud and not a sign for the morning. I have to admit I've been pretty lucky weather-wise so far.

Headed for the hills

2003-09-04T11:49:00.022-04:00

Donegal to Ardara

A short ride today, but again a very enjoyable one. And it was a great people day too. Between the conversations and the fabulous scenery it was a very good biking day.

My destination for today was Ardara, which in spite of the existence of three a's in the name is pronounced Ardra. I'll be here for two nights. I'm hoping for a nice day of unloaded riding tomorrow, but the weather forecast doesn't sound too promising as the forecasters are calling for rain. If it's a real downpour there's more than a good chance that I won't ride. I'm hoping for just another gray day, but only time will tell! I'd prefer a little bit of blue in the sky, but I'm not even hoping for that.

I had a very late start this morning, but I knew it wouldn't matter since the cycling distance wasn't very far.

Breakfast was a half hour later than usual at 8:30. I skipped the cooked breakfast this morning, having juice, cereal, yogurt, toast, and tea. That worked well. While I do like eggs, I can't face them every morning! I met 4 women from Sweden at breakfast and had a nice talk with them. I asked if I would have a problem touring there with my poor language skills - no Swedish! They told me I'd be fine with English. They said there are some older folks who don't speak English, but most people speak it as a second language. I really wish I was better at learning languages; maybe someday I'll figure it out. For now, I'll have to try to get by with English and a smattering of words for the countries I'd like to visit. And the Scandinavian countries are definitely on my list of places to see.

I made three stops on my way out of Donegal Town this morning. The first was at the tourist information center to look at maps. I really wanted to see if there was a map that from a detail standpoint was between the map that I have and topographic maps. I wasn't too surprised to find that there wasn't. The map I have is a good one, and while I'd love a little more detail on the small roads I don't really need it, and I don't want to carry the number of topo maps that I'd need. When I came out of the information center a man came up to me and said "I don't want to be nosy, but do you have your route sorted for the day?". It turned out that he is a cyclist too - it was great that he asked, even though I didn't really need help. It's always fun to talk to a local cyclist.

The next stop was the Internet cafe to put a quick journal entry in for today and to check for guestbook entries. Brian Huntley very nicely translated the writing around the edge of the coins for me. When I have a chance to upload my full journal entries I'll add his translation to the appropriate spots. It was fun to see some messages there - that's part of the fun of keeping my journal up-to-date from the road. But, not having access is exactly what I expected when I started this trip. I'm coming to realize how spoiled I am by having good access at home! Before I left the cyber cafe I had a chat with a woman from San Francisco who was in Ireland for a wedding. She said she's been interested in touring by bike. You know me - I encouraged her, plus gave her my card with my email address and a link to my journal.

My last stop was a bookstore, the first I've seen since I left the Dublin airport and probably the last I'll see until I get to Derry. There are newsagents in all of the small towns, but they seem to be more convenience stores than anything else. They usually have some newspapers and magazines, but no books. I'm not out of reading materials yet, but given that I half expect to be holed up with a rainy day tomorrow, and since I read pretty fast, I wanted to be sure I had enough to read. Yup, books are heavy, but nope, I don't really care! It's weight that eventually disappears, since I usually leave books where ever I finish them. That way the next traveler can have a choice of something to read, and I can happily leave a little bit of weight behind.

All that, and I haven't started riding yet!

Tony gave me two options for today. The first started and stayed on back roads, but he said there were some rough stretches in there. The second started on N56 heading towards Killybegs, then turned onto the same back roads after Inver. I was on the beginning of the back roads route yesterday on my way to Lough Eske, and the road surface was definitely not the best. In fact I bailed rather than ride the back side of the lake. There was a T intersection with N15, and I opted to take that back to Donegal Town instead of continuing. But back to today. It's possible that the rough road surface from yesterday didn't continue onto Blue Stack Drive, but Tony did say there were some rough bits to the route today. I decided to take the N56 option, and once I was on my way I just stayed on N56 all of the way into Ardara. There was actually a paved shoulder for about the first half of my ride. The shoulder disappeared, and then the road got narrower as I headed north from the turnoff to Killybegs. There was definitely more traffic on the road than I would have had on the back roads, but nothing that bothered me. And for a change of pace, staying on N56 meant no navigation today. I could just ride, no need to think about that next turn. Well, almost. At one point there was a sign for N56 pointing straight ahead, and another sign for (N56) pointing to the right. The road pointing to the right would join up with N56 in some miles up the road because N56 later circles around. But I don't know the meaning of the route number being placed in parentheses. I continued straight at that point after a quick check of my map. And the hills? There were some, but nothing very steep. My directions for today - the ones I didn't follow - indicated that there would be a steady climb after I turned to the north after Inver before the road turned down again toward the coast. I don't know if I chose a less hilly route, or if what I encountered was the same as it would have been if I'd stayed on the back roads. There's no way to tell without going back down and riding the other route, so I guess that will have to wait for another trip.

The scenery was amazing today. I followed the northern shore of Donegal Bay as I headed to the west. The water wasn't always visible, but every so often it would pop up to the side. Once I headed north, the scenery became a lot more wild, with craggy hills, large pastures, some evergreens. It was a far cry from the sculpted and very green fields with rock walls between them that I saw on my first few days here. It was my first windy day too. The wind was coming from the south and west, which apparently is the prevailing wind direction here. My ride started heading straight west, and then turned to the north. So I had a bit of a headwind for a little over half the ride, then a tailwind after I turned north at the Killybegs / Ardara turnoff. The tailwind was a welcome change. There was a while this afternoon when I was just standing by the side of the road listening to the wind and to the sheep. Those sheep were loud, with many different variations of ba-a-a-a. In contrast, I came upon a field of sheep after dinner tonight that were so focused on eating that I could hear them chomping and biting the grass. Obviously the wind had died down by then...

On one of my small town, check out the store and buy snacks stops, I also picked up a small notebook. Last summer I started keeping notes during the day to remind me of things I wanted to write about, and somehow I left home without any paper. Interesting that it took me the better part of a week to fix that shortage. I don't think I forgot anything, but it's so easy to forget individual special moments when you look back on the overall day. I need to add a small pad of paper to my equipment checklist for the next trip. Last time I forgot to bring extra shampoo for hand washing clothes, but luckily I remembered to add it to my list so I didn't forget it this time. Sometimes the simplest things make me happy.

Do you think it's odd that as a cyclist using food as fuel (energy) I am very happy to see gas stations along the road? Let's see, gas stations have bathrooms, and many of them also have convenience stores. I did find one good spot today for a side-of-the-road bathroom break, but it was a bit precarious - in a ditch with blackberry bushes all around. I was probably lucky I didn't fall into the thorns! So yes, I was happy to see a gas station the next time I needed a bathroom break. (You didn't want to hear about that? Sorry, it's just part of touring!)

Today was a day of a lot of stopping - mainly to take pictures and to talk with people. At one point I stopped at a craft shop that had Irish linens, sweaters, and other gift items. As I walked in the door, one of the women browsing in the shop looked at me and told me that she thinks she and her friend had been following me around Ireland. "Look, there's that lady on the bike again." It turns out that they were from Newfoundland. Then I went back outside to start riding again. As I was stashing my wallet in the trailer (no, I didn't buy anything...), a couple from New Jersey came up to ask about my bike. My Air Glide has certainly attracted a lot of attention on this trip, but the funny thing is that I think it's the suitcase trailer that people have noticed first rather than the little wheels on my bike! The folks from New Jersey are in Ireland for a week, combining a few days of sightseeing with a wedding. Hmmm, that's two sets of people from the states that I met today who are in Ireland to attend a wedding. Does two make a pattern?

After the road turned north, I started a bit of a climb. When the hill flattened out I saw a man trimming the weeds in front of his farm. I stopped to take in the scenery, said hello, and he came across the road to chat. He asked where I was going, then told me that he thought I'd made a good choice of areas to visit here - especially since I am very attracted to different kinds of scenery. He said that the southwest area of the country is more built up, and also that it attracts more (most?) of the tourists. I've heard that several times before too. He told me he visited Boston for a week last November, and that he saw the Big Dig. He even asked me about the Zakim Bridge (although he didn't know its name). He said he thought it would be beautiful lit up at night. I told him that I agree, it is a beautiful bridge, and it looks great at night. I was so happy I had a chance to walk on the bridge last year before it opened to traffic this past winter (or was it spring?). Interesting talking to people about home when I'm so far away from there. Before I pushed off, he said "this is bloody N56 - how do you deal with the traffic?". Mind you, at this point N56 was a narrow 2-lane road. Yes, there was traffic, but nothing that I'd consider to be heavy. The worst thing was a number of large trucks that kept thundering by. I usually just kept riding as close to the left side of the road as I felt safe, but there were one or two times when I actually pulled off because there was oncoming traffic too. I turned out that the trucks were carrying dirt and were bound for a "road works" site just a short distance up the road. Once I passed there, the truck traffic was gone. There does seem to be a pattern though. Many of the Irish people I've met think the roads carry too much traffic. It's just so much less than I'm used to...

I'm staying at Rossmore House B&B here in Ardara. It's an older house and quite a contrast from yesterday's B&B, but my hosts are very nice and my room is fine. I was again greeted with a pot of hot tea and cookies, which I enjoyed before heading to a nice hot shower. And my bicycle was given a spot of honor inside. They have plenty of space inside for bicycles. So although I may think this place is a little bit funky, my bike thinks it's wonderful. At the very nice B&B yesterday my bike spent the night outside, but here it is well sheltered. I asked if they get a lot of cyclists staying here, and they do. Just last night there was a cyclist from California staying here. He left this morning to head back to Belfast and County Down. It turns out that I am not very far from Belfast (just all of the way on the other side of the island) if I were to travel in a straight line. Of course I'll be meandering, so I won't get to Belfast for another week!

After my nice hot shower, I headed into town to explore. It's not a big place, but there are several choices for food, and I even found a restaurant that has a single computer with Internet access. It's a bit more expensive than the cyber cafe in Donegal Town - 4 Euros for a half hour of access - but it was worth it for a quick journal entry. It almost didn't happen though. When I walked in, someone was sitting at the computer trying to get it dialed up. Yes, believe it or not, the access was by a slow dialup line. I sat in a comfortable chair and started working on today's real journal entry on my Jornada while he tried to fix the computer. I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a temporary server problem though - he gave up on it, and another guy came out to try to "fix" the computer about 15 minutes later. He finally got it to connect, and told me I could use it. After I finished, I decided to stay there for dinner. I ended up getting two starters instead of a main dish. I had a big bowl of seafood chowder, followed by sautéed monkfish and prawns with melted mozzarella cheese and a small salad. Sounds like a full dinner to me, and felt like one too. That's possibly because both dishes were very rich. I usually use low-fat dairy products, but I'm sure everything I've had here has been made with full-fat milk, cream, and real butter.

I also stopped in a shop that sells wool clothing - knit sweaters, and clothes made from woven wool. They had 3 looms - large and fairly old ones - in the back of the shop, and a man was sitting at one of them weaving. I stopped to watch and to talk. I have a loom at home, and while there were similarities, there was one big difference - in the way the shuttle was thrown. The weaver actually had a mechanism that allowed him to switch between 3 shuttles with a rope that he controlled with one hand while the other was occupied with the beater. That same rope mechanism also allowed him to control throwing the shuttle. He was weaving with a pretty fine wool. He handed me a bobbin so I could feel the yarn, and allowed me to walk around to take a look at the looms. I took a picture of him in action - after asking for permission. That was definitely an interesting stop. I need to go back to the Heritage House tomorrow too - the restaurant where I used the computer and had dinner. The other half of the building holds an exhibit that I believe deals with weaving, spinning and wool, and the history of this area.

I met Maureen (my hostess) when I returned to the house after dinner. She was out when I arrived, and her husband got me settled. She told me there is a pub down at the corner that has Irish music every night. I'd actually seen the sign when I walked by, but it was too early when I was in town. Unfortunately, the music doesn't start until 10, and by 10 I'm usually fading. Guess this would be a good place to be a late-night person. That's not me, but I'll see how I feel a little later. I have a feeling I won't want to go out again.

An unusual milestone for a cycling trip

2003-09-03T09:58:00.024-04:00

Belleek to Donegal

It was a relatively short ride today, easy too - and very enjoyable. It stayed gray all day, a bit cooler than yesterday, and nicely still dry. I was again able to ride in shorts and a jersey, although there were a couple of times when I thought about grabbing my wind vest. It stayed in the trailer though - I didn't really need it. Sounds like I'm going to get wet on Friday, but I'll worry about that when it happens.

I headed out of Belleek on a small road that went by the fire station and the (very fortified) police station, and then changed to a tiny rural road. I haven't said it before, and you'll figure it out when you see my pictures, but there are animals everywhere. There are mainly cows and sheep, in fields that could be someone's front yard. I expected to see these animals, but it surprises me that I'm seeing front yard animals instead of big farms. Sometimes I'll come around a corner and see a field of what looks like a bunch of white rocks. Nope, not rocks - they're sheep! There have been some horses too, and today I saw my first goats. They were pretty funny. One of them came waltzing right up to the fence. I guess he (or she) was checking me out while I was trying to take pictures. And dogs? I'd have to say they've been pretty well-behaved. I had some chasers today, but most of them didn't leave their own property. There were two that did - a cocker spaniel was wildly barking, but he didn't seem too ferocious. And later on I saw a dog in his yard, which was enclosed by a fence and a gate. What I didn't realize at first was that this little dog easily fit under the gate. Oops! He started a chase, but he gave it up pretty quickly.

I had to verify my directions in Ballyshannon. My directions - turn left at the T, then bear right up a hill. No road names again, made me a bit nervous. So I stopped a mom who was walking with a stroller. When I asked her for directions, her response was "I wouldn't know anything about the roads". Hmm. A walking society? I'm so used to everyone driving that I forget that people don't always know how to get to the next town. OK, let's try again. I asked a guy who was walking up the street. He confirmed I was heading in the right direction to pick up R231, then asked where I was going. When I said Donegal, and mentioned some of the places I'd be riding through today, he asked why. Even though it was a pretty short ride, I still wasn't headed by way of the most direct route. It turned out that I was going to be riding right by his place of employment - an inn on the coast, on a beautiful side road, a bit off the beaten path. He was waiting for a ride, and a bit later on I heard a beep and saw a wave from him as he went by on his way to work.

At one point I stopped by the side of the road to have a snack. A man walking a dog stopped to ask what I had in my "wee trolley". OK, that's a first. I've always called it a trailer, my sister called it my truck as I was wandering across the US last summer, and now I guess it's a wee trolley!

I was starting to wonder about the reputation Ireland has of being a wonderful place for touring. I agree that it is wonderful, but I found it curious that I haven't seen any other cyclists. Until today, that is. I met Barbara and (oops, I didn't get his name) from Florida on the road this morning. They're here a few days longer than I will be, and they're traveling in the opposite direction. We stood by the side of the road and talked for at least a half an hour. They were both fascinated by my folding bike and trailer, mainly because they will need to find boxes to pack in at the end of their trip. Having a Bike Friday that packs into it's own trailer is definitely a help when it comes to packing to go home - in addition to allowing me to bypass excess baggage fees when I'm flying in the states (international flights still seem to be somewhat immune to that nonsense). Luckily we crossed paths near a gravel pullout, which is very unusual in these parts; it gave us a safe place to stand and chat. We could have easily stayed there talking for quite a lot longer, but we eventually needed to move on in our opposite directions to continue our rides. I suppose the lack of touring cyclists could be due to the fact that it is September. With Ireland having a reputation for rain, I wouldn't be surprised if there is much higher percentage of visiting cyclists during the summer.

My route today included a ride out to Lough Eske after I arrived in Donegal Town. Surprise, surprise - there were logging trucks out on that very skinny (and poorly surfaced) road. Not a total surprise, since I had just passed a sign saying "TIMBER LORRIES OPERATING". The road was definitely too narrow for both the truck and me - so I stopped and pulled off to the side to let the truck pass. It was just too big to argue with!

My ride ended today in Donegal Town, a much larger city than those I've visited so far. It's almost like a bit of culture shock. No complaints though, that means plenty of choices for dinner, and even access to the Internet.

There's a real grocery store here, but it doesn't stock energy bars either. But I've been doing OK so far with bananas, peanuts, the occasional cereal bar, and chocolate covered cookies from the candy selection. Nice that the temperature is cool enough to allow me to carry chocolate! (Rover approves too - he likes chocolate better than the macadamia nuts I gave him on our last trip - even though there are times that I personally prefer the macadamia nuts!) And on the cereal bar front, I've discovered that Kellogg's Nutrigrain Elevenses are pretty good - much better than the usual Nutrigrain bars.They have a cakey texture almost (but not quite) reminding me of carrot cake, with raisins scattered throughout and oats on the top. I'll have to keep my eye out for those. Interesting that there is nutritional information on the package, but the information is for 100 grams worth of Elevenses, and the package only contains a 45 gram bar. A similar idiocy to the packages at home that show nutritional information for eating only half the package. Actually, I suppose that is worse for people trying to watch their caloric intake who don't read far enough to see that they should only eat half of the package! Anyhow, 1 bar turns out to be 162 calories, which is slightly less than the Luna Bars I usually eat. That gives me an idea of how much I should be eating... I wonder if there is a regulation that says the nutrition information on packages has to be for 100 grams. It seems like everything I've picked up shows values for 100 grams, and sometimes also shows the values for the package or a single serving. Hmmm... The choice of fruit in the grocery store is pretty bad too. There is very little summer fruit, and the apples look like last year's crop. I wonder where the apples come from. I don't know if there are any good apple-growing regions in Europe. Seems like there should be...

Island View House B&B, my home for the night, is the most beautiful of my accommodations so far. Interestingly enough, it's also the first place where I haven't been the only guest for the night. The house is a bit further out of the center of town than I expected, but it's well worth the walk. I headed out of the center of town on Ballyshannon Road - which of course wasn't marked with a name, so I had to ask someone - and as I rode further I started wondering if I'd missed the B&B. I didn't, and it's only about a 10 minute walk back to town. It just seemed further when I was looking for it! My room has beautiful hardwood floors, with an entryway leading to the room and the en suite door hidden on the side of the entryway. The shower stalls in all of these en suites have been tiny - makes me glad I'm not a big person! And like all but one of the other B&Bs, this one has an electric shower. That is, there is a switch that needs to be turned on before the water is turned on - the source of instant and plentiful hot water. I like hot showers, so I'm very happy with these showers!

I arrived here fairly early, a little before 3. I got settled, took a shower, and headed into town with my baby computer. I was delighted that there is an Internet cafe here, and I spent almost two hours there entering only a portion of my journal entries. As expected, I couldn't use my Jornada to dial up, so the only thing I could do was build some journal entries from scratch. I was delighted to find that the computers had readily accessible USB ports, so I was able to use my Zio to view and upload some pictures. The connection speed seemed pretty slow though - it took ages to upload pictures. So I only uploaded a few pictures- not as many as I would have liked. I retyped one full journal entry (from my handheld to my crazyguyonabike journal), and that took a really long time. That wasn't a surprise at all, and I knew I couldn't sit there long enough to retype all of my entries up through today. And besides, it takes very little time when I can cut and paste my already typed entries, so it really makes more sense to wait. I entered summaries for all of the days so far, uploaded a few photos, checked email, and read a few pages from other cyclist's journals. When I went downstairs to pay for my computer time, I checked out the menu of the real cafe. lt looked good to me, so I had dinner there. A simple dinner of soup and a sandwich. Just what I wanted - something simple! It was a family-run cafe with very good food.

My hostess here serves breakfast between 8:30 and 9:45. I've been eating at 8, but I certainly don't mind an extra half hour of sleep tomorrow morning. That full Irish breakfast started getting to me, so I asked for oatmeal this morning instead. I was served porridge, which had no texture and was pretty bland. It was worth a try, but I probably won't do that again! I really wanted oatmeal - and isn't that supposed to be an Irish thing? In fact, the oatmeal that I buy at home is McCann's - and it is imported from Ireland! I asked for just cold cereal and toast for tomorrow morning, and I think that caused a bit of consternation. "You don't want the bacon, sausage, eggs, and..?." No, cereal and toast and some fruit will be fine. "But wouldn't you like some scrambled eggs? I can bring you yogurt too. And there will be a choice of cereal." OK, I'm back to the beginning again. I never accepted the "full Irish" since I turned down the meat. I was eating cereal every morning, then taking a couple of bites of eggs. Looks like that's what I'm going to do here too! I may be a little odd, but I'm going to be very happy to get home to my choice of hot cereals, cold cereals like GrapeNuts and shredded wheat, and grind-your-own peanut butter! I guess that's my complaint for the day, and although I am going through peanut butter withdrawal, that's not really much of a complaint!

How to find the longest distance between two points

2003-09-02T14:39:00.000-04:00

Rosses Point to Belleek

It was a fabulous riding day today. The weather was cool and gray to start, but it warmed up quickly and the sun actually stuck around for most of the day. The exception was the end of the day when some dark gray clouds made an appearance. No rain though; I've been lucky so far! And I didn't have to resort to the trailer clothes dryer today since I realized I had a hair dryer in my room last night - hair dryer, wet clothes, it always seems to help the drying along. That won't happen tonight though, so I'll have those damp clothes drying on the trailer tomorrow.

I'm staying at Moohan's Fiddlestone in Belleek tonight. The sign on the building says "bar, off-sales, and guest house". The B&B is upstairs, but I did need to walk into the smoky bar to ask about my room. When I walked in there was an older man sitting at the bar (smoking, of course) who asked me where I started today. When I said Rosses Point he said "oh, Sligo is about 26 miles from here". I'm sure that's true if I had taken a direct route (and Rosses Point is about 3 miles from Sligo), but like a typical touring cyclist I certainly didn't follow a direct route. I'd say my 47 mile day was a bit further than the straightest route between my starting and ending points today. Oh, and before I forget, my bike has a spot indoors tonight - but it's not in my room. It's locked in the betting office (the bookies?) next door! The B&B is right in the middle of town - a small town, only a few blocks of stores. My room is in the back of the building, so although there is some road noise, it's not too bad. And given the size of the town and its location off the main road, it should be relatively quiet overnight.

I meant to stay on route all day today, really I did! But guess what - I didn't. I know, I know, what else is new? That appears to be my normal behavior - at least it's repeating my cross-country trip last year when I just couldn't stick to the Adventure Cycling routes! I'll tell you about my switch later...

My ride today started out retracing part of yesterday's ride since Rosses Point is pretty much an out and back road from Sligo. I turned onto a back road before getting all of the way to Sligo, crossed N15 and wandered through some more back roads, then circled back to N15 again. Before I continued across the road to continue my wandering, I took a short side trip to see Drumcliffe, which is the site of St. Columbia's Church, and the grave of WB Yeats. A little bit of a contrast there - a monastery was founded on the site in 574 - and Yeats was buried there in 1948 (although he died in France in 1939). I don't know why this was chosen as his burial site - maybe because his great-grandfather was Rector at the church in the nineteenth century. The visible remains of the monastery are the Drumcliffe High Cross, and the remains of the round tower. And then there's the church on the site that was built in 1809. A nice stop, And as a plus there was a bathroom there! Important, since bathrooms seem to be few and far between on this trip, and side of the road (and out of sight) spots aren't readily available - remember, no shoulders, with fences and thorns everywhere!

I continued back up N15 to the spot where my route crossed, and headed back out toward the coast again. It was a beautiful road - but almost totally unmarked. And that goes for most of the roads I was on today. When I think about all my biking routes at home, most of them are also on roads that aren't marked - no road signs, no numbers. And I thought that was a Massachusetts problem! Not so - the back roads here are sparsely marked if at all. Today I saw the signs that Tony warned me about. There's a single pole, and fastened to the pole are individual signs that are meant to point in a certain direction. Unfortunately, they are fastened with a loop of metal that runs around the pole, so it is more than possible for the signs to be pointing in the wrong direction. Even I recognized some that were wrong today. What fun! Tony provided very explicit turn-by-turn directions along with a highlighted map segment for each day. But even so, I realized at one point this morning that I kept passing unmarked right turns, and my next direction said "at 5.5 miles from J7, keep right towards Grange". Hmm.... I had no idea where J7 was, and because of the placement of a town name on the map - don't you love it when the lines representing the road are obscured by printing? I always wish I could just move the printing! - I wasn't sure if the road just turned to the right or if I was missing my turn. I flagged down someone who was driving a piece of farm equipment to ask, but the driver turned out to be a very young person - possibly a teenager - who had no clue about directions. He told me that there was a man about a half a mile down the road who was building a wall and who could probably help. I stopped, and was able to verify that my right turn was still up ahead, I hadn't missed it at all. And surprise, surprise, it was also marked with the mileage to Grange, which was the next turn my route. I had a short conversation with the man who helped with directions, then continued on my way.

I stopped at a gas station convenience store in Grange - time to stop for a bathroom break and a lunchtime snack. And luckily, I was able to get some more of that blue Powerade, much better than that orange stuff I was forced to buy yesterday! Then back to those back, back, back roads. The roads were very tiny - very tight for more than one car. I rode for a while, then made a turn onto a really tiny road. I rode about a half mile out of the six I was supposted to spend on that road when I realized how desolate it seemed. It was very narrow (even more so than the roads I'd been on all day, although there was one earlier that I thought was a driveway). And there was a little bit of grass growing in what would be the center line of the road if there was one. I didn't see any cars on it, and I question how many drive down that road given the road conditions - mainly the grass in the middle.

I rode down a very desolate stretch of road in British Columbia on my first solo tour, and I promised myself I wouldn't do that again. If I was riding with another person I would have continued down the road I was on this afternoon, but when I'm alone I'd rather not have that feeling of being on a really desolate road. It could be that this road would have changed in another half a mile (or not), but I didn't give it a chance. I retraced the half mile and headed toward N15 and the coast on the road I'd just turned off of. I figured I'd ride the extra option to Mullaghmore Head, then ride on N15 into Bundoran, then I'd head south on R280 until I intersected with my route again. A good plan that held together until Bundoran. But I was really enjoying not having to navigate, and somehow the bike just kept heading straight for Ballyshannon and then Belleek. I missed riding by the edge of Lough Melvin, which was probably beautiful, but instead I spent some time along Donegal Bay, which I wouldn't have done if I hadn't taken my little detour. I always forget how much easier it is to ride on signed roads. Riding back roads can be very pleasant, but navigating those roads can be a bit tedious. Ride a mile, turn, ride another mile, turn, etc. - you really need to pay attention! But with my combination of back roads and straight non-back roads, it was a very good riding day...

While I was in Bundoran I got off the bike for a few minutes to take some pictures. An old man walked right up to me, looked at my trailer, and said "is that heavy?". When I told him it was (isn't the stuff we carry always heavier than we'd like?), he said "bet that slows you down going up hills", then laughed! Of course I told him he was right, and then we talked for a bit. He gave me the current weather forecast, said it's supposed to get warmer. We'll see.

Another thing about the road signs here: the newer signs on the roads are in kilometers, but it appears that the old signs - the ones that are sometimes pointing in the wrong directions - are in miles. I keep forgetting which is which. Luckily when I forget it's usually in my favor - thinking that the sign is in miles means I get to the next point much faster when the sign was really in kilometers.

When I started my trip I thought I'd be spending the first half of my trip in the Republic of Ireland and the second half (except for that last night in Dublin) in Northern Ireland. That assumption was definitely wrong! I started in Belcoo, in Northern Ireland. I rode to Rosses Point, in the Republic of Ireland, then on to Belleek, in Northern Ireland. Tomorrow I head back into the ROI, to Donegal. The way I've been meandering between these two countries I'm very glad there aren't any border controls any more. In fact, there aren't even signs notifying you of the switch. The most obvious difference (to an outsider, that is) is the switch in currency. Tonight I'm in Northern Ireland, so I'll pay for my dinner with pounds sterling. Last night I was in the Republic, so I paid for my dinner in Euros. I'm really glad that all 50 states at home share a currency. I guess that's how the folks in the parts of the EU that use Euros must feel - it's much easier always having a familiar form of money!

After I had found my room and had a nice hot shower, I wandered over to Belleek Pottery. Hey, I'm in Belleek, I thought I'd take a look. Hopefully no one at home wanted me to buy anything for them - no purchases today! It turns out that after the discovery of a local source for the components of porcelain, the company that became Belleek Pottery originally made porcelain "sanitary items" - like sinks and bedpans (or toilets).! I had to laugh! Then apparently they made porcelain insulators for telegraph poles. Somehow along the line they morphed into the fine porcelain they produce today. Their product doesn't match my taste - I'm more likely to buy thrown or hand-built pieces directly from an artist - but it was interesting to look through the Belleek showroom and museum. There were actually some old tea sets that caught my eye, and they currently make some woven porcelain baskets that I thought were fascinating. How's that for a non-biking stop for the day?

I've noticed that there are beautiful flowers all over here - both in people's yards, and in planters in many of the towns. I saw part of the secret as I was eating dinner tonight. Two people were wheeling a large container (of water, I assume) around with a hose and pump attached to it, and they were watering all of the flowers along the street. I guess even in a place where it rains a lot they don't leave the watering of the flowers to chance.

For dinner tonight I had three choices - a hotel restaurant, a pub, and a Chinese restaurant. You guessed it - I chose the Chinese place where I had a very good King Prawn Chow Mein. Hey Dad, you're right, chow mein is really good. It's not usually a choice I make at home, but here it just looked right - noodles, veggies, and prawns in a light sauce.Yum! And again, I stopped to pick up some chocolate for my after dinner treat. (Yes, I'm sharing the chocolate with Rover. He says to thank you for asking about him!)

As I expected, I've had no access to telephones, so I haven't been able to upload any of my journal entries. Rich gave me a link to a site that lists Internet cafes all over the world, and so far I haven't been in a town that had one. But - I think there may be an Intenet cafe in Donegal Town. Guess I'll find out tomorrow. If I find an Internet cafe I'll probably just put some short notes in my journal - I'll upload the full entries later. I just can't face typing them in twice!

And here's are two more sayings (?) I found around the edges of one pound coins. One says "PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD", and the second says "NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT". I still have no clue. Language? Meaning?

Update on September 14th: Brian Huntley provided translations for these sayings: "Pleidiol Wyf I'm Gwkad" is Welsh, and means "True am I to my Country." It should be on the "Welsh Dragon" pound coin. "Nemo me impune Lacessit" is Latin, and means "No One Provokes me with Impunity" - the motto of the order of the Thistle. A Scottish Thistle is on the coin. Thanks for the translation Brian!

Internet cafes? Maybe tomorrow...

Remember, I'm dangerous with a map

2003-09-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Belcoo to Rosses Point

Breakfast at 8, on the road at 9:30 - a little later than planned, but it really didn't matter. My first traveling day (by bike, that is) was a wonderful day. And hey, that trailer feels pretty normal! The official route for the day was a bit longer than I wanted for the first day - so, map in hand, I changed it. Half the day was on a Denise route, and half on a Tony route. Both were more than acceptable.

Last night I spent a bit of time reviewing the route that Tony put together, looking at the overall mileage, and comparing the day's snapshot of a map with the bigger map that he supplied. When we talked originally I had set my target daily mileage at 50 miles (obviously to be less on hard terrain days), but we talked and adjusted some things last week, including revising my mileage target to about 40 miles to give me more time to wander and soak in the sights. I was a little surprised when I realized the total mileage today was 51 miles. I thought about just doing it for a while because I'm more than capable of riding that distance, but I really didn't want a 50 mile day as my first loaded day since my Hawaii trip back in May. I'm not one of those people who trains for a trip like this by riding a loaded bike as a training technique - I just ride my bike and try to put in a reasonable amount of training miles. And remember, I'm dangerous with a map in my hands! I quickly realized that there was a fair amount of backtracking on what probably were some very pretty backroads. I also realized that there was a more direct route if I rode on what was classified as a national primary road (one of the N roads) for a bit. So - I changed my route for the day. I cut off a bit more than I'd initially planned, but it still made for a nice biking day. I did my own thing for a bit, then I rode on Tony's route for the rest of the time. Nothing like arranging for someone to find nice back roads and then doing my own thing. But both routes were fine. OK, I probably just don't know what I missed by doing my short stretch on N16, but I thought it was a perfectly reasonable two-lane road. (Other than the fact that there are no shoulders on most of the roads here. And by no shoulders, I mean that there is pavement up to a little bit of green that typically ends in a fence covered with thorn-bearing plants. Note to self - remember not to lean the bike up against one of these fences!) Remember, I do spend a fair amount of riding time at home riding in traffic, especially my commuting time. And in spite of this road's classification, it carried very little traffic. Then of course there was the time that I was sure I was on route that I probably wasn't. I was supposed to be riding on R286 in to Sligo, and I know I turned onto it at one point, but when I arrived at the outskirts of Sligo it appeared I came in on a different road. Lost, and I didn't even know it! I still got there, so I guess it doesn't really matter what road I was on! It was a good riding day, and a pretty scenery day. I'm afraid today's pictures may be a bit drab because of the gray skies, but the green of the hills was amazing.

The roads were flat to rolling for most of the day. There were a couple of longer hills - and by longer I only mean a couple of miles - but there was nothing that needed anything other than the middle chain ring, and nothing so steep that I couldn't get going easily from a dead stop. That is, I could stop whenever the spirit moved me!

I talked to a few people during the day today, and attempted to talk with a bunch of cows and sheep. Unlike the cows in Kansas, these are pretty spooked by people (or maybe just by bicycles). There were a couple of horses who came right up to the edge of their field to check me out, and there were a few dogs who let their displeasure with my passage through their territory be known. Only a couple of the dogs were loose though, and they were quickly controlled by their owners who were always nearby. Here's hoping that's how the dog situation remains here - I hate getting chased by dogs when I'm riding!

I met a very friendly white-haired woman who was standing in her yard waiting for the post. I pulled up just after the postman left, said hello, and we started talking. Before I left she asked if I'd like some coffee or tea. I turned down the offer only because I was two thirds of the way up a decent sized hill and I didn't want to stop for a chunk of time - which would likely have given me complaining legs on the rest of the way up the hill. It was a nice short stop though, and good conversation.

I came in through the edge of Sligo, but opted not to stop. I just kept right on riding to Rosses Point, a small village on the coast. And I got my first glimpse of Sligo Bay and the North Atlantic. Hard to believe that just over a week ago I was standing on the other coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

I stopped at the top of a hill right on the coast to take a picture of a beautiful statue of a woman with her arms held out to the sea - in memory of all who were lost at sea and all of the people waiting for them.

As I was standing there soaking in the beautiful view, a man stopped his car and came over to ask about my bike. He had just returned from a tour of Brittany on a more standard touring bike. He also has a Dahon folding bike that he uses for tooling around home, but he was fascinated by my Bike Friday and trailer. I really think it's the trailer that caught his eye more than the bike - especially since he was already familiar with folding bikes. We talked about touring for a bit, and then he was able to give me an idea of how to find my B&B without backtracking - the road was so beautiful I blew right by the village of Rosses Point. I kind of figured that I was supposed to bear right onto a different road, but I didn't!

I'm staying at Kilvarnet House tonight, another B&B with very friendly hosts. I was offered coffee or tea when I arrived, and this time I accepted. My nice hot mug of tea was accompanied by cookies and a chocolate bar. Happy stomach - until dinner, that is - it still wants more food, no surprise! My room here is tiny but effective. I have a bed with a duvet for a chilly night, a wonderful hot shower, just barely enough room for my trailer (but it does fit - here's hoping I don't trip on it on my way into the bathroom in the middle of the night). And my bike is out in the back yard, leaning up against my windows. I'm told (and I believe it) that this is a very safe neighborhood and the bike will be fine. My only regret is that I didn't bring my bike cover on this trip. I don't know what I was thinking of, because I knew there was a good chance that the bike would be outside on some nights. Oh well, I'm sure it will be fine.

My timing on getting here this afternoon was really good. I arrived fairly early since I'd shortened my route, just before 3pm. And just after I arrived it started heavily misting. I was glad I was done at that point. It was mostly a gray day today with some occasional patches of blue sky. I hit a little bit of drizzle, but no real rain - certainly nothing that made me reach for rain gear. It was cool all day today. I started out wearing my knee warmers and wind vest. They both came off after a very short time, but I can't tell you how many times I stopped to put the wind vest on, ride a bit, take it off, ride a bit, put it back on again. For a last minute addition to my packing list, that vest is worth it's weight in gold. Oh right, it doesn't weigh that much!

The mist that greeted my arrival quickly stopped, so I headed into the village to pick up some stuff at the shop - snack food for tomorrow. I had a conversation with the shop keeper about the money - I'm so much happier now that I have my coins separated by currency - and he was telling me about the four to five week period during the conversion from Irish pounds to Euros when they had to be set up to take both currencies. That sounded difficult, although it was probably necessary.

I came back to Kilvarnet House, showered, and washed my biking clothes (we'll see how the trailer dryer works tomorrow since there is little chance that they'll dry overnight!), and now the mist has rolled back in. Hopefully it will stop again before I head down the hill to find some dinner.

Snack food has been interesting. I'm so used to finding Power Bars or Luna Bars or some variation of energy bars in all sorts of stores - including gas station convenience stores - that I only brought a small stash with me. Surprise, surprise - they are not easily found here. And neither is Gatorade, although I do find Powerade a reasonable alternative. And, at first I couldn't find peanuts either! I'm sure I would (and possibly will later on this trip) have more choice in larger towns, but so far I've been in very small places. On the energy bar front, sometimes I can find Nutrigrain bars or some other variation of cereal bars. I can find raisins, and I finally asked about peanuts. Turned out that they are stashed behind the counter at stores so you have to ask for them. The candy bars are out where you can grab them, but the healthier alternatives are hidden. Go figure! There are all sorts of candy bars and cookies available, but somehow I feel that I do better with a better balance - having some protein thrown in with all of those sugars does me some good! I'm OK on that front now that I've found the peanuts, and most of the little shops have bananas.

The Gatorade / Powerade story is different though. I discovered on my cross country trip last summer that I have a strong preference for Gatorade, and that there are some flavors of energy drinks that I really can't stand. I haven't seen Gatorade here at all which surprises me because it is owned by Pepsi - and I have seen other Pepsi products. Powerade (which if you're interested, is owned by CocaCola) is my second choice, and over the last two days I've discovered that the blue Powerade (with a name of Ice Storm, which means absolutely nothing from a flavor standpoint) is very acceptable. So, I thought I was all set. Nope! The little shop here in Rosses Point only had something called Club Energizer, and they only had it in orange flavor - which was one of the flavors I found I didn't like last year. (For some reason the orange and lemon-lime flavors taste more like powder-based drinks to me, kind of like bad Kool-Aid.) I bought it anyway - hopefully I can make do with it until I find another store. Although I'm not worried about dehydration this trip, given the cool weather, I do find that the extra sugar in the energy drinks helps me. It's easier for me to just keep drinking than it is to remember to stop to eat (more often).

It looks like it's time for me to wander off in the mist and find some dinner...

There are two restaurants in town, and I ended up at The Waterfront, which was recommended by my hosts. I ordered dinner and was sitting and waiting when Tony came in. He swung by on his way back to Belfast from starting a group of 4 on a tour in the southwest. It was nice to chat with him, and particularly nice that he stopped by to see how I'm doing - especially since I didn't really expect to see him again on this trip! He had some coffee then took off; he still has another three hour drive ahead of him tonight.

Dinner was a very nice vegetable lasagna, accompanied by a salad and a baked potato. I thought the potato was a bit of an odd accompaniment for pasta, but the lasagna was heavy on the veggies rather than on the pasta, and the potato tasted great. Maybe my dire prediction last night about two weeks of overcooked vegetables isn't going to be true. The lasagne was excellent! It took me a while to find it on the menu, mainly because they handed me two menus when I walked in. There was a little bit of overlap, but not much. Seems odd for a restaurant to have two separate menus, unless I walked in at an in between time when they serve from both an afternoon and an evening menu. They weren't marked that way, but it's possible. No complaints though, since I had a very nice meal! I stopped at the little shop in town and picked up some chocolate as an after-dinner treat. I love bike tours - I can eat anything I want!

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

2003-08-31T14:20:00.000-04:00

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

2003-08-30T21:55:00.001-04:00

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...

2003-08-28T21:53:00.000-04:00

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!

2003-08-24T21:52:00.000-04:00

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!

2003-08-23T21:44:00.001-04:00

...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...

2003-08-17T21:29:00.002-04:00

...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?

2003-08-10T21:27:00.000-04:00

...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!

A sense of calm

2003-07-13T21:26:00.000-04:00

It's so different getting ready for a trip that comes at the end of the summer. There's a sense of calm that I just didn't have when I was preparing for my May adventure in Hawaii. I know I'll be heading out with a solid summer's season of cycling under my wheels (and under my butt!).

I've continued commuting to work by bike two to three times a week. Three would be ideal, but I'm more often successful at commuting twice a week and then doing a short early morning or evening ride on one other day. My commute is a minimum of 35 miles round trip, so typically I get to the end of the work week with a good mileage base of 70 to 90 miles before I head into a weekend during which I can usually do two decent rides. The only thing I want to do before I head out on my Ireland trip is to start doing one longer ride each week. With the mileage from commuting, I can get a decent amount of mileage in each week without doing any long rides (which right now I classify as 50 or more miles), but it would be good for my overall endurance to get back to the habit of one longer ride each week.

There's definitely a sense of calm. My body should be a lean cycling machine by the time that I leave for Ireland...

Resources: links, books, maps

2003-07-13T21:18:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the resources I've used in researching my trip. I'll add to this page as I continue to read in preparation for my trip.

My biggest resource for this trip was the Iron Donkey web site and emails that I exchanged with Tony Boyd at info@irondonkey.com. The web site contains high-level information about the standard routes. Within 3 weeks of receipt of the final payment for the trip, Iron Donkey sends out a packet of information containing all of the details of your trip - routes, reservations for B&Bs each night, recommendations on sights to see, emergency contact information, maps. Once I receive my packet I'll let you know how it's put together.

For some pre-trip reading and information about places to wander, I picked up a copy of Lonely Planet's Ireland Guidebook. Interestingly enough, this is the guidebook that was recommended by Iron Donkey.

Back when I was considering planning this trip on my own, I picked up a copy of the book Cycle Touring Ireland, by Brendan Walsh. This book includes both descriptions and directions for a circular tour around Ireland, as well as some shorter tours. It looks like it would be a good source if you want to do your own trip planning.

Dublin is both my entry and my exit point from Ireland (by air). I'll be taking the train from Dublin to Sligo to start my trip, and taking the train again from Belfast to Dublin. I've used the Iarnród Éireann - Irish Rail - website to explore my rail travel options - schedules, prices, maps, etc.

Update on September 22, 2003: My plans for the beginning of the trip changed slightly, so instead of starting in Sligo I started in Belcoo, which is about 35 miles east of Sligo. Because of this change, I didn't take the train to Sligo at the beginning of the trip. I did use the trains at three times during my trip though - twice with the bicycle and trailer, and once after I had packed the bike (so it was in a suitcase). There's a small fee to roll a bike aboard a train - that is, you have to buy a ticket for the bike - but there was never any question about getting my bike on a train.

And of course I have to check the weather! It's early August, and I'm starting to keep an eye on conditions - although the current conditions have absolutely nothing to do with the conditions in September! Curiosity, I guess. The Irish Meteorological Service seems to be the best place to start.

I'm taking two electronic toys with me on this trip - my HP Jornada handheld PC so I can keep my journal up to date, and my Canon S40 digital camera for the multitude of pictures I hope to take. I checked the power supply for the Jornada and the battery charger for the camera, and both can handle a range of input voltages - covering the power patterns in both the United States and Ireland. But of course the plugs won't work, so I knew I needed to pick up a plug adapter. Buying a whole set of adapters seemed silly, since I only need one, so I went searching on the web. I found Travel Oasis. The site has a lot of information about international electrical supplies in addition to their storefront. I ordered the plug adapter late Monday night, and had a package waiting for me when I arrived home on Friday. Good service - I'll buy from them again if the need arises.

I also checked the Travel Oasis site for telephone plug configuration. The information on the phones was half correct - it told me that Ireland uses an RJ-11 connection, which is the same as in the United States. There wasn't a listing for Northern Ireland, but there was one for Great Britain, and it showed something other than an RJ-11. I decided since I didn't know if I'd even have access to a phone that I wouldn't bother with buying an adapter, and I'd just hope that any phones I encounterd would use an RJ-11 modular jack. That turned out to be a good assumption. I did bring a phone line to connect my Jornada to the phone - and it turned out that both countries use an RJ-11 connector, so I was able to connect.

As usual, I had to order my preferred PreSun sun screen from the official online distributor, Unique Sports Accessories. I haven't been able to find this sun screen in stores (other than in Hawaii), but luckily this distributor is very quick to fill orders, and has PreSun in stock year round. Very helpful! I was actually given the name of this distributor by Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals when I emailed them to ask if they still manufactured PreSun.

Cheep Hostels (and no, that it not a misspelling!) was where I turned to look for inexpensive accommodations in the center of Dublin for the last night of my trip. I'll be staying at Mercer Court, which offers Bed & Breakfast accommodations (when school is not in session) at the Royal College of Surgeons housing facility. Trinity College also opens its residential rooms for visitors during the summer and early fall.

Hostelling International's web site is a good source of information and an obvious place to look if you want to stay in one of their hostels. If you go to the country list on this site and you're looking for Ireland - it's listed under Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. Although I didn't stay at any HI hostels in Ireland, I have stayed at their facilities in the US and Canada, and I walked into the hostel in Bushmills. It looked like it was very nice.

Independent Holiday Hostels of Ireland looks like another good source for both hostel locations and for general travel information.

And then there are the two official tourist boards. I haven't used these sources for much (yet), but they may be of interest if you're planning a trip:

Check out the Sustrans web site for information on the National Cycle Network in the UK. I was on one of their on-road cycle routes for a bit, and it might be interesting to check out some of their other routes for a possible future trip.

Good maps are readily available in stores, but if you want your maps ahead of time, there are Ordnance Survey sites for the UK, Northern Ireland, and Ireland. Maps can be purchased online on both the UK and Ireland sites, and maps of both Northern Ireland and Ireland are available on the UK site. The map I used had a scale of 1:250000. There are maps at a scale of 1:50000 - essentially topo maps - but I would have needed a ton of them for the distance that I covered! The 1:250000 worked out fine.

Where I'll be wandering

2003-07-12T21:11:00.001-04:00

Ah, another solo but planned trip...

I'll be traveling from Belcoo - about 35 miles east of Sligo - heading west and north to the coast, then north and east across the island, then heading south. I'll be ending on the east coast in Belfast. Hmmm... I'm finally doing a west to east tour!

Tony has put together what appears to be an interesting set of biking days for me. I'll be traveling on most days, but there are a few where there is a circle route planned, allowing me a day of luxurious riding on an unloaded bike. If I'm really tired I can use those days as rest days, but right now I'm hoping to ride. I'm only going to be in Ireland for a short period of time, and I want to see and experience as much as possible. Some of the unloaded days will be hard ones with steep hills and otherwise difficult terrain, but Tony tells me the scenery on those days is fantastic!

Here's the plan:

Day	Date	From - To	Activity / Mode of Travel	Which Country?
1 - 2	August 29 - 30	Boston to Belcoo	travel by plane, train, and automobile	USA to Ireland to Northern Ireland
3	August 31	Belcoo	Assemble bike, ride a bit, rest	Northern Ireland & Ireland
4	September 1	Belcoo to Rosses Point	Bike	Northern Ireland to Ireland
5	September 2	Rosses Point to Belleek	Bike	Ireland to Northern Ireland
6	September 3	Belleek to Donegal	Bike	Northern Ireland to Ireland
7	September 4	Donegal to Ardara	Bike	Ireland
8	September 5	Ardara	Bike without gear, a challenging route!	Ireland
9	September 6	Ardara to Castlederg	Bike	Ireland to Northern Ireland
10	September 7	Castlederg to Derry	Bike	Northern Ireland to Ireland to Northern Ireland
11	September 8	Derry to Bushmills	Bike	Northern Ireland
12	September 9	Bushmills	Bike without gear	Northern Ireland
13	September 10	Bushmills to Cushendall	Bike	Northern Ireland
14	September 11	Cushendall to Belfast	Bike	Northern Ireland
15	September 12	Belfast to Dublin	Train, then wandering on foot	Northern Ireland to Ireland
16	September 13	Dublin to Boston	Travel, travel, travel - by plane	Ireland to USA

Update on September 14th: When I left home I thought that my trip would progress from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland - that is, that I'd spend the first half of my trip in Ireland, and the second in Northern Ireland. It didn't work out that way, and I was actually wandering back and forth across the border for the first half of the trip. Belcoo, my home for the first two nights, is in Northern Ireland. The next day I traveled to Rosses Point, in the south. Then to Belleek, in the north. Back to the south to Donegal Town and Ardara. Then to Castlederg in the north. I traveled roads in the south as I rode back to Derry, in the north. At that point I stayed in Northern Ireland until I took the train to Dublin on September 12th. A trip of wandering between two countries...

Update on September 27th: I've updated the table above to show which country or countries I was in each day.

So what is a self-guided tour?

2003-07-07T21:06:00.000-04:00

I'm hoping that my first experience with a self-guided tour is a good one. I think it will be based on the conversation I had with Richard and Laura, and it's certainly an easy way to plan a tour!

So what do I get for my money? First, I get to make use of someone else's experience and knowledge of the roads in Ireland. I'm looking forward to beautiful scenery, lightly traveled roads, and accommodations in a Bed & Breakfast each night. Iron Donkey will provide maps, cue sheets, B&B accommodations, suggestions for interesting things to see, information on restaurants, an emergency contact number, and... The Iron Donkey web site describes the routes as "secluded minor country roads and lanes". That sounds good to me!

And how much does it cost? I think the cost of my tour is extremely reasonable. I have a tour that was customized to my needs, and I'll be riding on roads that I doubt I could find on my own. Of course I could do my own planning, but the roads I'd find would probably be more traveled than those Tony has chosen for me. And the price is very fair.

Looking back...

Could I do it for less? Yes - but for me (and in particular for me on this trip), the money was money well spent. My fee for the trip for 13 nights (including B&B, singles supplement, and 1 airport transport) was $1090, which comes out to $83 per day. A good chunk of the money went towards my accommodations, and the rest to the services that Iron Donkey provided. Done on my own, I think the money I spent for B&Bs would have varied a bit - I probably would have stayed in more expensive places in some towns, but to balance that out I may have stayed in hostels for a few nights too. All in all, I was happy with my choice - but the answer to the questions could I (or could you, if you're looking to do a low cost tour) do it for less is yes.

Supported? Not this time!

Iron Donkey offers the option of transporting luggage from point to point.

I chose not to use this option. Yes, the biking is easier. But I think that self-contained touring is a different experience than touring with someone carrying your bags. And no, I'm not trying to make it harder.

I started out in this touring world by doing supported tours. I discovered that I loved traveling by bike, but I discovered that I liked it even more when I experienced really being on my own. For some reason, a loaded bike (panniers or trailer, it doesn't seem to matter) provides an introduction to strangers, a reason for people to spend time talking with you. Although touring has taught me to be more open, and I tend to talk with more strangers than I did before I started this touring thing, I still feel that I meet more people when I'm traveling on a loaded bike.

And since part of the magic of touring for me is meeting people...

A lazy gal's approach to trip planning: Iron Donkey

2003-07-06T21:04:00.000-04:00

What's an Iron Donkey? Keep reading and you'll find out...

I started looking into cycling in Ireland last fall after I returned from my cross-country trek. I bought a cycling guide book - Cycle Touring Ireland, by Brendan Walsh, and started wandering through the tours in the book. At about the same time I noticed ads for Iron Donkey in my bike club newsletter, in Adventure Cycling's magazine, and in the League of American Bicyclists publication. Hmmm... self-guided touring in Ireland, sounds interesting. I checked out the Iron Donkey web site, requested a brochure, and started dreaming. Winter was coming, and I was dreaming of my next tour, but I was also working at a new job, so my plans didn't go beyond dreams at that point.

Then winter closed in on me. It was a wet one, and most of my riding was done on a trainer in my dining room. Very boring - so I turned toward trip planning again. The January/February 2003 issue of Adventure Cyclist had an article about a tour in Ireland organized by Iron Donkey. Still looks interesting...

I started seriously perusing the Iron Donkey web site, and I started an email conversation with Tony Boyd - the architect of the Iron Donkey tours. Questions went winging their way to Tony, and the answers quickly flew back to me. One of the things I asked was if I could talk to someone who had done an Iron Donkey tour in the (recent) past. Tony put me in touch with Laura & Richard from Chicago, and we spent a happy hour+ chatting on the phone one cold winter day. They did 3 of Tony's tours last year and absolutely loved both cycling in Ireland and the routes and lodging arranged by Tony. They had Tony carry their gear for part of the trip because they were traveling with some friends who weren't prepared to travel self-contained, but took their gear back for the last week when they were on their own. Still sounded good to me, but it was still a bit early for decisions. I continued to dream though, thinking about a trip to Ireland in the late May timeframe...

March rolled around, and I decided I needed sunshine. Hawaii first, and I moved my Ireland dreams to the end of the summer. September sounded good to me.

Time to make a decision - which Iron Donkey tour should I do? Back and forth, back and forth, decisions, decisions, decisions... I was having trouble making a decision, and for some reason a single week's tour didn't feel right to me. And looking back, I think that was the reason I was having so much trouble deciding which tour to ride - I guess I really wanted to do more than one! I started leaning toward a two-week vacation, but Tony's standard tours are 6 days biking with 7 nights accommodations. I needed extra days for travel time to and from Ireland, and I thought I'd need a travel day between the tours. I sent off another email to Tony telling him which tours interested me, and asking if he could shorten one or both of them so I could fit my trip into two weeks. His response was that he could definitely structure a trip to fit into my time frame. He also told me that I wouldn't need a day to travel between trips - I could bike between locations. Excellent!

The next step was to pick the tours. I sent off another email to Tony with my choices. He responded with a couple of questions - what was my preferred daily mileage range, and what's my attitude about hills. I answered via email, but then decided a real live conversation would be good. We spoke on the phone, exchanged some more information, and then Tony went into planning mode for me. Because I have a long travel day to get to my first biking day, I asked Tony to plan for a non-traveling first day - not non-biking, but I'll be staying at the same place the first two nights so I can do an easy ride without my gear that first day. He emailed an itinerary for my approval, and after I reviewed it I gave him the go ahead for the trip. I sent off a $100 deposit (with the balance due 6 weeks prior to the trip start). Done - I'm definitely going to Ireland!