PowerCycle

06/24 One of these days I’ll need to go back and try to figure out how many ferry crossings I’ve made. It’s got to be at least 20 by now. Rosslare to Fishguard was 3 1/2 hours of watching Happy Feet Two. OK, it was on but I never watched it. I was pretty impressed that they had free wifi on board for the crossing. The crossing cost a damn fortune though. $58 to get across. I’m so tired right now. Birds woke me up at 4am and I couldn’t get back to sleep and then by 5am I figured I’d better just stay up or I’ll sleep through the alarm.

No rain for the 5 mile ride to the terminal. I bitch about the rain a lot but let me tell you how bad it is. In Wales the newspaper headline from a couple days ago was something like, “June could be the wettest in 200 years.” There is major flooding right now in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Maybe I mentioned this before but when I was in England last time the guy running a CG said he hadn’t seen a spring this wet in the 52 years he’s lived here. Every time I look at the 10 forecast for anywhere in the UK it almost always shows some chance of rain.

The Celtic Sea crossing wasn’t all that smooth but nothing a couple cups of coffee couldn’t cure. There were some freaky looking Hells Angels motorcycle gang members on board (from Wales). I haven’t seen these guys around since–I don’t even know–maybe South Dakota. There was one other bicycle touring rider but I didn’t talk to him because when I first saw him without realizing he’s riding a bike I thought, “Man, that guy is creepy looking.” I guess I would have thought he was creepy on the bike too. Actually maybe the problem is I think all guys with mustaches look creepy. He looked a lot like that guy on Breaking Bad. I hope he doesn’t read this.

Thanks to some dark clouds rolling in and figuring I’d have about as much luck wild camping in Wales as I did anywhere else in the UK, I stopped after 19 miles and lot’s of climbing at Rosebush Caravan Park. I’d been warned the guy turns away tent campers sometimes and sure enough he pointed at the grass and said it’s too wet so I couldn’t stay. I had to turn on the charm big time but he gave in and we found a perfectly fine spot. He’s actually a friendly old fellow named Gareth. The bathroom faculties aren’t going to win any awards but he went over and cleaned them up which was nice. Paid 5 GBP which wasn’t bad at all.

My plans for July have changed for the (much) better. I’m meeting a friend in Lincoln, England on July 7th and I’ll be there until the 15th. Since I still have a couple weeks to kill the plan is to keep on heading east. The big destination is Stonehenge (and Woodhenge) but on the way I’ll head through Bath and check that out. I won’t have time to ride up to Lincoln, nor do I want to after my joyous time riding in England last time, so what I’ll probably do is catch a train from London.

GPX track

It doesn’t all look quite so picturesque

First night camping in Wales

The harbor at Fishguard

06/23 With rain clouds overhead and a strong wind pushing me along I set off from Cashel. The plan was just to ride down toward the ferry at Rosslare but at the last minute I cut over to see the touristy town of Kilkenny.

Kilkenny has, of course, a medieval cathedral, a castle and many shops and pubs. Walking would have been a better way to see the central area because the roads are very narrow and traffic is heavy but it worked out OK.

There was a bike path that ran along the river from the town center almost all the way to the CG. As with every pathway people love taking their stupid dogs out without keeping them on a leash which means I get to have some stupid rat dog try to bite at my legs when I’m going by. Then the people look at me like I’m the one with the problem. I’m not the one following along behind some stupid animal waiting for it to take a crap so I can scoop it up and walk around with it.

The CG near Kilkenny where I stayed was called Tree Grove Camping Park (€7.50). Wifi was €3 so I skipped it. The showers were actually pretty decent. Rode 46 miles with 1795 feet of climbing.

My next stop was to the coast to a CG called St. Margaret’s Beach. Nice enough place it seems. Good shower and a very nice sitting room with wifi (horribly slow unfortunately) and tables/chairs to sit at. There are even free electrical outlets so I can charge my laptop. A plug is a bit of a rarity so kudos to the owners. It started raining as soon as I got here and hasn’t stopped since. I just hope it’s not raining in the morning for the 8km ride to the ferry that leaves at 9am.

The only excitement today was getting chased by another dog. This time there was a young kid standing there pleading with the stupid dog to stop chasing me so I couldn’t even unleash my usual profanity laced tirade. When you have 6 hours of riding with nothing to do it’s not healthy to keep things bottled up inside. Covered 60 miles with a lot of freaking climbing (3460 feet).

GPX track

Kilkenny Castle

A view from 1/2 way up the big climb of the day

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No rain today but it looks like it’s going to pour any moment. This hostel, Cashel Hostel, isn’t a bad deal at €20 so I plopped down cash for one more night in a private room which means I leave Friday. The bathroom is shared but for the price who cares. I even managed to get internet in the room with my awesome Alfa WiFi Adapter.

The town is fairly picturesque with the highlight being the huge slab of limestone rising up off the plain called the Rock of Cashel. The rock originated from a mountain 20 miles to the north after St. Patrick, arriving in Cashel in AD 432, baptized King Aengus, who became Ireland’s first Christian ruler. During the baptism, the devil, quite pissed off at this, hurriedly flew over Ireland and, hindered by the mountains, took an enormous bite out of them. After he reached the opposite side of the mountains, the devil spat out the hunk of rock and inadvertently formed the Rock of Cashel.

Crowning the rock are the walled ruins of 11th and 12th century buildings including St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Cormac’s Chapel. It was €6 to get in which was much less than I thought it would be.

What was going on here?

The town

The Rock of Cashel

Lot’s of little heads on the walls

None of the paintings on the walls are doing very well

An old Celtic high cross the lightning destroyed

The ruins of an old abbey down below

The ruins

Even the Queen came to the Rock

06/19 Limerick was a bustling little city with lot’s of cafes/pubs/restaurants, a big shopping mall and crowds of people (pop. 90,757). The 2nd outdoor store I went into had Coleman fuel for my stove so I’m all set with that. I should asked to see if they had any stove parts since I just used my only spare fuel tube O-ring but I forgot. The MSR DragonFly stove has been doing quite well after 3 years. I’ve only had to replace the rubber pump cup and now the O-ring. I replaced the fuel line filter a couple times but could have just removed it instead.

The siteseeing opportunities in Limerick were good although the weather (rain) made for some terrible pictures. I stopped in to visit the small but well-stocked Limerick Museum and learned a bit about the history of the city. It was also free which was a pleasant surprise.

Nothing but farms from Limerick until Cork. Had a great chat with an older fellow while having a road-side bite to eat. For lunch a while later I found a bench at what I thought was just a little park. Turns out it was a memorial for a train derailment that took place in the area (Buttevant Rail Disaster, Aug. 1980). 18 people died.

Perfect weather until about 3pm and then rain came. Lot’s of climbing over the 65 mile ride (3008 feet). Not sure what changed but stupid dogs seem to be more common south of Limerick. Riding by every other house either involved a short chase or just loud, annoying barking. I only had to stop and throw one rock; the rest all hung out in their driveway. Stayed at Blarney Caravan Park for 9 euro. Pretty standard deal. If the shower had hot water it would have been just about perfect.

The next morning it was off to 566 year old Blarney Castle, home of the famous Blarney Stone. Yes, I kissed it. I even bought the picture they take of you for the bargain price of 10 euro. I tried to get the girl behind me to take one so I wouldn’t have to pay but she took it before I was even laying down. Since I can’t lug around an 8×10 photograph I took a picture of the picture and threw it away.

When the big moment arrived it happened so fast I barely had time to look at what I was even kissing. Not the first time this has happened but usually I’d had a few drinks first. Now, according to legend, I should possess the gift of the gap (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The whole thing was quite touristy but would I do it again? Sure. Would I use less tongue? Probably not. The castle was actually pretty cool and I would have spent more time walking around but it was raining and there’s really not that much open since it’s mostly ruins.

It stayed raining all day so I cut the ride short and stopped after 32 miles. With the rain still coming down I’m looking forward to a nice hot shower when I get to the CG. I stop and grab some dinner (milk, cookies, gummy candies, bananas, bread, apple squares, sausages and beans) and head to the campground, Blackwater Valley CG in Fermoy. The guy isn’t there so I have to wait for him to show up (10 minutes). I pay the 10 euro plus another 1.50 euro for a shower. Of course there’s no hot water for 90 minutes until he turns it on and it heats up. Argh.

Made it a bit further the next day. 44 miles which got me to Cashel where I’ll be spending 2 days. The famous Rock of Cashel is here so I’ll post some pictures of that tomorrow. Easy day riding. Nice weather until 2pm and then the rain started but I’d just arrived at a hostel so I didn’t care.

My love of the Garmin 62stc just keeps growing. This morning I noticed condensation under the front screen. This made it very difficult to read until the sun had a chance to dry it out. Worst purchase ever.

GPX track

Seriously?!

Cahir Castle

A rare "wild" looking area

Good one

Dinner (or part of it)

Looking across the river at Fermoy

Me giving the stone a kiss!

Blarney Castle

Waiting to kiss the stone at Blarney Castle

A burial ground along the road