Ride on, Highway 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. ...