Hey. Another Cyclist!!

DAY 8, Kinvara ➜ Castlebar (N84) Time: 5 hrs, Dist, 105 km, 21.5 avg/km, (wind assisted) (5:45 inc. stops) 

The Route: N67 to Galway, N84 to Castlebar  Mostly flat, some good sections, no shoulder and spotty traffic.

I was in a bit of a rush today. I wasn't able to pre-book a stay due to phone data problems. Luckily, we had a helpful tail wind. To keep the Anger level at 7 or higher, I hit many road reflectors. I try to miss one, then hit the next. This goes on for miles. Call me "The Swearing Cyclist" Interesting note; I saw a "roady" heading in the opposite direction. It felt good to see another cyclist. Seeing another cyclist is like seeing a good road in Ireland for cycling.

    The weather was OK for riding. Overcast, drizzle at maybe 10 C and a bit of rain for the finale.  This is an interesting place that has a mix of old and new (most structures are old stone and iron), yet there is a Dominos Pizza 100 metres away. My room is OK but a bit goofy with poor lighting (My eyesight sucks), The pub downstairs is an option, if I'm desperate.

    I had to store Shirley in a shed in the courtyard. After getting vital supplies at a nearby Tesco, it was time to plan tomorrows route over beers of coarse. I could hear Shirley whining quietly. I hate locking her up in a dungeon especially after a good day.

                                     On the way out, we stopped at "Dunguaire Castle

                                       Nice road with a generous 3 inch shoulder, sweet!

                                                                      Greenhouse

Roadside memorial, lots of these

Rocks and sheep

 

Good place to...

Entering Castlebar

Connaught Inn, home base

Courtyard

Black door is the way into Shirley's dungeon. Safe, but unkind

 

Cliffs of Mohen

DAY 7, 

Mon Sept 9, 2019       

Ennistymon ➜ Kinvara, via N67 W Coast

Dist, 75 km, 17.2 k/hr, Time, 4:20. (Lots of stopping for pics)  

After an awesome breakfast, I was on my way to the "Cliffs of Mohen". It didn't take long for me to get directionally screwed. About 200 metres actually. Signs that are placed to help motorists get around are not always read the same way from a cyclist's view point. Anyway, I took the first left up a steep hill into an odd neighbourhood that seemed to go nowhere. This was a record for me, 38 seconds to being lost.

    I backtracked and found "Wild Atlantic Way" The N67 along the west coast turned out to be an awesome ride. Actually, I don't mind calling it amazing! The road was busy with tour buses, but I didn't mind. As I rolled up to the Cliffs, I decided that I wouldn't go anywhere without Shirley and of coarse, Highwaycat. This made sightseeing a bit difficult with the hordes of tourists everywhere, so we kept it brief. We took in a couple viewpoints and headed on our way. My goal was to hit Galway, but do to our tardiness, we had to stop short in Kinvara where I hit the first hotel. At € 66. The Merriman Hotel was doable. Unfortunately, Shirley had to be locked up.

Leaving Ennistymon for the coast, great road!

Bike Route, Yay!!

Lonely road

Cliffs of Mohen entrance. I didn't see any other cyclists

A peek a poo over the wall

Castle on the edge

Highwaycat loving the touristy signpost

I don't normally include blurry pics, but this one is useful

Road outta Mohen tourist trap

Nice road

The Burren. A unique rocky landscape...

Spot the cat!Add caption

Moving rocks is bad. But shooting is OK I guess.

Cool landscape. No Starbucks or a transit option if a bike fail materializes

Highwaycat LOVES this environment

Break time. I past a couple humans "camping" under some rock overhangs. I love this ride through the Burren. One of the coolest rides ever. Some cool stuff in Newfoundland, but nothing like this!

Out of nowhere came a rock dining table and chairs. Damn, they love rock in Ireland!

They had bike parking! I actually wizzed passed this and did a double take. Turned back for pics. It was such a random surprising and hilarious sigh to see.! 

Of coarse we had to stop for make believe tea time! I couldn't believe that I was doing this! Ha Ha. Highwaycat was getting frisky with the hens.

Municipal water source. My fill up. I didn't include a pic of the inside showing the water because it was dark and scary, HWC was terrified.

Not sure

Deadly boring

Crazy awesome highway stretch that didn't last very long

Break

Kinvara

Kinvara street

Home base

Kinvara local

The situation room

 

    

Well shit, let's stop here ok?!

DAY 6, Sun Sept. 8, 2019
Limerick ⇰ Ennistymon. Dist, 68 km, 20k/hr Avg, 3.5 hrs, Flat and easy

The Route:
Limerick, Thomas Bridge- L8570- N18- L @ N19 (Avoiding M1), R458, N85

   After a quick looksy at King John's Castle, (Outside only) we had an easy exit of Limerick. The weather was great as usual which I'm very surprised about. After following my route for a couple hours, I stopped in a small town for a snack at a picnic table. I ate my sub not far from an outdoor washing/drying machine service. This was a new sight to behold for me.
   The ride to this point was nice but soon after it turned back to the standard cyclist's nightmare. I was wondering what would happen if I got a flat tire. I would literally have zero room to repair the flat. This would force me to walk and push Shirley which would be a death sentence because my shoulder is minus 4 inches. Luckily, we had no mechanical issues, just thinking out loud. Swearing too!! Honestly, there really should be signage on roads like this to warn cyclists. I mean, there is absolutely nowhere to go. The road lane width is minimal and there is a wall of vegetation where the shoulder line should be. No wonder I haven't seen any cyclists yet (touring kind).
    Well, I was closing in on Ennistymon and rain began to fall. I slowed down to acknowledge the very small town but rolled on through. I thought of a B & B sign that I had passed and wondered...
Should we stop here? it was only 2:30 pm. I turned around to look at the B&B, We pondered and brainstormed for several minutes.  I was exhausted from dodging debris, foliage and trying not to get run over, also, I think the introduction of rain was the last straw so I decided to bail here. The owners were very nice, the room was strange, but we were very happy to crash early. I swear that I burn more calories from the stress of the road than the actual exercise.
    Everything I needed was a five min. walk (Beer!!)

The fact that I took this picture means that I had a moment to relax, otherwise there were lots of gravel trucks. They like rock here for sure. I had a generous zero inch shoulder for a while but at least I had a painted line. I have no pics of the worse conditions because it was too dangerous to stop

Super nice section, these typically don't last long. Highwaycat was very relaxed which is always a good thing.

Not that way

Getting around the freeway via some nice quiet rural roads, I enjoyed this short portion of my route.

Rest/Lunch break spot. Picnic table set up at a gas station (closed). Was interesting to see this laundry facility.

Castle. Highway viewpoint

Rocks n cows

Ennistymon street scene

Same

Residential

Not logical, but worthy of a pic

The new stuff

Highwaycat Homebase B&B

Reminds me of "The Shining" Not sure who resides in the attic door. At 50 Euros I was cool with this anyway. Highwaycat was furious. Whatever. Beer me cat!