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!

Cannonball WTF?

Day 5,
Sat Sep 7, 2019

Tralee - Limerick. Stats: Accidentally erased data, F#@k! Dist. on N69 102km (not counting the runaround) Est. Time, 6:20



My route was actually on the N69

     Anyway, after the complimentary breakfast, I headed to the desk for checkout and to rescue Shirley from her dungeon. Dumbass desk girl was nowhere in sight. 15 valuable minutes wasted.
     On our way out of Tralee, we found a Subway. These chain stores are rare but helpful. It's interesting to note the difference in toppings. No, I don't want CORN on my sandwich! Also, why is there a need to put a sausage on everything?
    We were blessed with an "American Style" highway for maybe 40 km. Woo Hoo! A REAL shoulder all for us! Of coarse, as usual, it returned back to the standard Irish Special. Zero shoulder, narrow lane, bushes and rock wall to prevent bailing. Lets not forget that raised reflector in my path every 5 metres or so. F#*k!!! The good news was the weather. Overcast, comfortable temps and a light tailwind along a mostly flat topography. Nice. After about 3 hours we found a nice rest area to inhale my 6 inch corn free sub. I decided to check Shirley for any possible warning signs or Gremlin activity. Glad I did. Her rear wheel was loose! tsk tsk.
    We happened upon an old cemetery and decided to hop the gate and do a photo shoot. If one was driving, this little gem would never be seen. The area is concealed and there is no signage. Very cool diversion for us!
    A few hours later, the road conditions worsened. We found ourselves competing for road space with race cars and triathlon bikes! Hey, heres a good idea, lets hold a triathlon on the same day as the "Cannonball Ireland" Cannonball  It was stressful but an interesting distraction.
    Ive been feeling kinda stupid hauling all this camping gear around and staying at lodges or hotels, so. when I saw a sign for camping, I had to check it out.
    Camp fail   It was just a crappy field with no picnic table trees or fire pit. Lame. This diversion cost 40 minutes. Anyway as we neared Limerick I began to was worry about accommodation because of the time.
    We rolled into the town (more like a city)  and were blown away by the traffic and confusion.
With a population of about 190, 000 in 2020 and a zillion tourists. Aaakkk! I had no idea where to go but I spotted a tourist info sign, yes! So I followed the directional arrow a few blocks. Traffic made unexpected turns a challenge, so I had to toggle back and forth from cyclist to pedestrian. I was excited to find the tourist office and get some help! As I continued rolling along, my excitement turned to confusion and then anger. Apparently, the office was relocated and the old signs were left standing. I was chasing an Irish ghost 🚧  ! Well,  after chasing the ghost around the "Loop of Despair" for a while, I finally located the new office. Luckily, I was the only visitor and the cute girl behind the counter was a HUGE help to me. Almost everything was booked and I was getting worried but she found me a room at a Hotel only a couple blocks away. I walked past it 3 times as I couldn't see a sign. The hotel sign was written vertically and was higher up and obscured by a tree. Ughhh.
    The hotel was condensed to a small footprint for its hight. I actually had a bellboy help me with my stuff including storage for Shirley. This was a strange experience for us, but we were happy to get settled. "The George" is shinier, busier and more expensive than our taste at €125 we felt sooo out of place but relieved just the same.

The top right one

Freshly trimmed green wall! Nice to have the 0.5 inch shoulder, This is one of the good roads

Awesome impromptu break area!

No go zone

Impromptu cemetery find. This pic should be below the "Bar" pic. This blogsite is terrible. Very restrictive. Sometimes it's impossible to move a photo. ...

The red compliments my yellow. Artsy

Cemetery Cat

Tombstone selfie!

Spot the cat

HWC hangin out

Unidentified ruins

Nice route when there were no race cars...

Race car busted for racing?

Triathlon and race car event on same road as the Highwaycat gang. OK

Finally!

King George Castle

Busy place, Limerick

Limerick scenery

Not a lot of room to move

The George Hotel. No wonder I couldn't see the damn sign!

TRALEE

Day 4, Fri. Sep. 6 2019
Killarney ➜ Tralee: 36 km, 16.7 km/hr, Time 2:10, Cal 1069, Hr. 119

    Super easy ride at only 36 km. The weather kept me hopping like a "Cirque De Soleil" athlete as wardrobe changes were fast and frequent.
    My original plan was to ride the Dingle Peninsula and stay there for the night. Unfortunately, I couldn't secure a home base, so I opted for Tralee. I have some relatives of more distant connection living somewhere here. My navigation skills are terrible and my introverted persona became the barrier to looking up these ancestors.
 Anyway,  I was not happy about this plan, but I thought that maybe I could get settled in Tralee and do a road trip to Dingle on a light Shirley. The Benners Hotel was not easy going with my bike. Had to take Shirley outside, around the corner, through the courtyard to a secure area that could only be opened by someone else on the inside. This major pain in the ass ruined my road trip plan. I was really pissed about skipping Dingle and angry at the Hotel manager. My day got worse as the wi fi wasn't working and I needed to plan the next day. I found a nice coffee shop nearby with wi fi which was great but there were mothers and their screaming kids everywhere. I couldn't stand it and left. 👿 #K!!
    There is a cell phone shop across the street from my "Hotel" called "Fone Dealz" For 20 Euros, he unlocked my phone so I could use the data plan from Voda Fone. This place was sketchy. It's obvious that the phones he was selling were stolen. A super sketchy guy came in while I was there and made me nervous. He was moving around erratically and mumbling. A couple times, he got the owner's attention by waving an I Phone in the air. The guy behind the counter tried to seem oblivious to the sketchy guy, but it was obvious as to what was going on. I learned later in my trip that these businesses are everywhere in Ireland.
   I had no idea what to do for tomorrow, but I thought that beer and pizza might help in the planning. I needed to find a happy place as this day was terrible. No one to blame but myself for bad planning.

Cheers

Heading to Tralee.

Nice break spot. This 36 km ride will kill us. Ha ha, sigh. pathetic

Ghost Bike. Surprised that I haven't seen more

Nice scenery

Not safe for cats

Crappy stay. Not bike friendly (This was the norm everywhere in Ireland I found out later)

Cell phone place across the street. unlocked my phone. Lots of illegal stuff going on in these places. They are everywhere. 

Sketch of my experience Fone Dealz. (used, or probably stolen phones) Sketchy guy made me nervous. Seemed like a regular just selling stolen phones.

A street