Reflections of Our Irish Bicycle Adventure

 As many of you know, Pam had experienced the joy of a catered bicycle trip when John supported her on her Cross America Adventure. Now, it was John's turn to feel this joy. It was such a pleasure to get up each morning and ride without a care. We knew that our meals were taken care of and that our luggage would be waiting for us at our night's accomodations. If you have never experienced a fully supported bicycle tour - try it - you will like it.

This was not a strenuous trip even though it was hilly. We only rode less than 150 miles total but the comradery of the group, the friendliness of our leader and the fantastic views made the trip both rewarding and memorable.

John is already seaching for a place to travel by bike for 2007. He feels that this will keep him young. Pam is just happy to have him share her joy of riding. 

Last Views

 As you can see there are lots of shops and shoppers. All throughout the trip, we kept hearing that Ireland has a booming economy. This proves it. Note: the sweep cleaner. We saw them everywhere, both hand operated and these ones.

Now for some more interesting last views from our day in Dublin. 

The Guinness Storehouse

 No trip to Ireland is complete without a trip to the home of Ireland’s national beer. Arthur Guinness started brewing beer here in 1759 when he signed a 9000 year lease at ₤45 per year. The museum part was very interesting. Along the way John learned the perfect way to pour a glass of draft Guinness. 
We wound our way up to the top floor or the Gravity Bar where we drank free beer and enjoyed the 360 view of Dublin. Pam liked how they made a shamrock in her beer foam.

Touring By Bus

 
The Old Schoolhouse Hotel is in easy walking distance to the historical sights, museums and shops. Some of our group chose to take the Dublin Tour Trolley for a quick 1½ hour ride with hop on/hop off privileges. 

Happy July 4th

 

Pam wears her patriotic American flag socks today as we leave, by train, for Dublin and the Old Schoolhouse Hotel. This hotel was originally St.Stephen's Parochial School dating back to 1861. A very charming place to stay. We will only be here for one night, so we will burn a lot of shoe leather as we try to see as much as we can of Dublin, the capital of the Irish Republic. 

Day End-Trip End

 A beautiful sunset on Cashel Bay to end a memorable trip.
Tomorrow, we will take a bus to Galway and board the train for Dublin. 

Farewell Get-Together

 We met for a farewell get together where we enjoyed wine compliments of Anita and Bill,fellow bikers and owners of Creekside Wines (in Colorado).

Catherine Dowling was a wonderful tour leader. She filled us with Irish stories and folklore in her lilty voice. She happily biked along side us or scurried ahead to point out the next turn. She has been a VBT leader for 2 seasons but is thinking of pursuing another career. Catherine has 4 brothers and a sister. She also plays a guitar and is a vocalist in the group Alphastates. Even though, she was sick with a cold, Catherine treated us to one of her songs.

Luke, who will be studying music this fall at the University of Oregon, surprised us all with his talent. 

Last Pub Stop

 This is the last time we will be able to make a pub stop as a group. It was a very impromptu thing but a great way to end the last ride.
Catherine arrived and said we were the first group to stop here but was not in the least surprised. It shows that we all got along great! 

Home Stretch

 Our return route to Cashel marks the end of our biking portion of the trip. The ride through the near-deserted roads, scattered with sheep and quaint cottages gave us all time to reflect on the beauty of this trip. 
The mountains in the background are the ones from which St.patrick supposedly banished the snakes from Ireland.

Lunch Time

 The stunning scenery made the ride to Clifden seem to float by. Lunch was at Mitchell’s Restaurant (can you tell with the bikes parked out front). This place is noted for its fish and coffees & lattes. The portions are generous so we had to remember the bike ride back. The fish cakes were outstanding. 

Contemplating

 
Our route today takes us along the coastline passing pristine beaches, silvery bays and the now familiar rocky coastlines.

What is John looking at? 

But guess who braves the Cool Irish water???

Shopping Time

 

Women shop ---- Men wait
A break for some shopping. Roundtree is a 19th century fishing village hugging the coast of western Ireland. This shop in Roundstone is one of the better (in selection and price) to do some souvenir shopping. Here, also, we learned how to make a bodhram, the national drum of Ireland. This is also the place to purchase a personalized genuine goatskin “Bodhran”. The bodhram is the instrument that the little Irish girl was playing at the pub in Innismore. 

Picture Time

 

Oops!
Picture time. Need I say more! 

Monday, July 3, 2006 – Connemara Area

 It is a good thing that we have a longer day biking today because after all these hearty Irish breakfasts, we can certainly feel a paunch forming. Our ride starts with stretching exercises and map review and then we are off. Clifden for lunch is our destination. 

The Zetland Country House Hotel

 Zetland Country House Hotel is our home for two nights. Built in the early 1800’s, it sits overlooking Cashel Bay and is surrounded by acres of gardens. The House, originally built as a sporting lodge, gets its name from the Earl of Zetland who was a regular guest. The view from our window and the fragrant flower gardens make this a very romantic place to say. 

Our dinner for the first night was:
Croustade of wild Connemara Salmon with spinach and chive butter (pictured)
Traditional smoked coley chowder
Connemara lamb shank braised with turned potato and baby onions
Or Goat cheese puff with spinach greens
Fresh garden vegetables
Irish farmhouse cheeses including Cashel blue, St Killians and Porter cheddar

Is it any wonder that both Pam and John have gained weight on this bicycle trip?

The evening ended with Irish coffee in the drawing room with Michael Gibbons as guest speaker on the archelogy of the area.

The Peat Bogs

Along the way, we rode past miles and miles of bogs. Dancing in the wind were the Bog flowers with there fluffy heads. This is the end of the season for them so we were lucky to see the flowers. These flowers were used to make Irish cotton in olden times but now cotton from the USA is much cheaper.
The bogs are the source for the peat many Irish use for fuel to heat their homes. This renewable source of fuel will last for several hundred years if the fields are harvested properly.


Peat drying for winter use.