Say goodbye to Dingle,
Oh dingle you cute little Atlantic soaked tourist trap, mountains at your back. The hostel full of hikers, bikers, campers; fun. We've made you sing a cheap song for us goodbye and thanks. Ireland is the opposite of India. Only a little construction but buildings hundreds of years old immaculately maintained. India, a beehive of construction but a 5 year old building is dirty and crumbling. On the way out of dingle we went to paddy's bike shop. It was a big as a large closet. I bought four esoteric items. He had them all and barely moved to get them for me. Cash from pocket perfect. The ride from Dingle to Inch Beach was a steady uphill on a major road, though the views were also steadily improving. The traffic was distracting. The people here are mostly very polite with cyclists but the tour buses are wider than the road i think. Exciting...no,. hair raising! Joyce is adapting well to biking here though she is sure we will die soon. Inch beach is the Daytona of the area. We met Sue who loved our bicycles. She said she never envied anyone their possessions but envied their experiences. She was lots of fun. I think she was from Britain and she married a big gruff, fun Irishman; friction on every level. Talking to them was a riot - everyone is a fountain of helpful knowledge. A tour bus full of Frenchmen came, so we left inch beach after a long and another cup of the famous seafood chowder (#7 for me). We wet our feet in crystal clear Atlantic ocean water, enjoyed dogs and babies and headed down the road again. The trip from inch to Murphy's farmhouse b&b was more of the same,. Slow steady climb on a relatively heavily traveled road. Not unpleasant, just traffic distraction. The b&b was a real working dairy farm. We put our bikes in their working cow building. It was much more elaborate than a barn. Charlie got a kiss from a big calf, just after he licked his own nostrils. Friends for life. He said the cow smelled like slightly fermented grass. We met three generations of female Murphy's at breakfast, all delightful. B&b type lodging seems to really suit the people here. Open your home to welcome new people, treat them like royalty with lots of interesting conversation, then on your way...roll wheels roll! -Mark!
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Biked into Dingle for provisions, enjoyed coffee & Bfast just outside a grocery which turned out to be a great place to see the ~200 racers come down the hill at 11:00 for the start of their race that day to Sneed. Back to the hostel to drop off food; then we got to do our 1st ride; with no packs. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As an overview, we took a partial southern loop out Dingle Peninsula, following the sea coast initially. We stopped at Paidi O Se's (a famous GAA footballer) for a pint near the beginning of the ride. Nice pub with great statue of the Gaelic football player (posing with statues) & a small church across the side street (a common layout in these small communities, sometimes with the addition of a gas station). We had already stopped at Penny's Pottery, another posing like statues (or wall tiles) opportunity (Thanks to BJ for that idea!) Penny had a lovely shop, lots of wall tiles & blue pottery pieces including cups - we found most everyone's name. There were also wooden toys for sale. As we walked through the small cafe in the back, there was a lovely wooden porch looking over the back yard. Several chickens came up to visit or perhaps just look for crumbs. We saw a work area off to the side & met the woodworker. Mark especially enjoyed his tiny shop & appreciated a spinning device for quickly sanding each small toy. After Paidi's pub we stopped at the Celtic & Prehistoric Museum. Apparently an American ex-pat had collected antiquities for years & built this small museum. He had items from all over the world including a woolly mammoth skull & a full bear skeleton. I especially enjoyed the Celtic artifact room with many bronze age artifacts. Next was Dunbeg Promitory Fort. There was a stone Restaurant /Visitors center across the street where we saw a cool video that depicted what life might have been like in the 800's & gave us a detailed tour though the ruins. The site juts out into the Atlantic with 3 cliff edges & would have thus been easier to defend. Sadly, it is being eroded & was particularly damaged in a 2014 storm. A short distance further was the Beehive huts. Each of the historic sites had entrances to collect a small fee, manned by locals with a thick Gaelic accent. We were in a part of Ireland where Gaelic is still the primary language for some. The Beehive huts had similar construction to the fort but all were round - flat stones stacked on stones with no mortar which is built in to a lesser diameter up to where 1 capstone is placed on the top, thus the old fashion beehive shape. Most were ruins but the construction, especially of the entrances was fascinating. One had been rebuilt with a top & some had underground tunnels to connect them together. From there we continued the route along the coast with great views of the cliffs & Sleahead Peninsula & the Blasket Islands coming closer into view. The Blaskets are famous because of a small group of people that lived there, very isolated until they were removed to the mainland in the 1950s. There have been several books written by or about the residents who had maintained much of the Gaelic language, traditions & customs. The ride had another sweet spot as we took a hairpin curve through shallow flowing water over a cobblestone section of road. We stopped at Sleahead which had a large guarded white tent at the entrance- Starwars location according to the locals but filming may have just finished up, so no star sightings. We also could see the beach far below & a few remaining sunbathers enjoying the end of the day. From there we cut back inland & the old folks did some bike pushing but Charlie said our total elevation was even more than the Conner pass day! (no gear & it was many ups & downs, so a different experience). At the bottom of the hill was Paidi's Pub again & a plan for our second pint, however the kids were hovered around the bicycle investigating a slow leak probably from glass. We were so excited about no gear, we didn't even have a pump. The locals were helpful. No pump that worked, but they suggested a garage a short distance away. This was another opportunity for a unique experience. We knocked at the house next to the garage but there was no answer. However a fellow came around the corner and looked a bit shagrinned at our request - " first day with no bike pump and we get a flat" Charlie explained with a big smile. He took us back to his shop which was a thrill for the guys and of course he had an air pump and quickly accomplished the job. He accepted some quarters with a big smile and surmised if the pub might take a few. We quickly headed back to town. Joyce, not peddling fast enough at 1 point, was chased in circles by Boris the young but large puppy who was playing with his two young masters in their yard. She was pretty much done for the day after that, but Charlie and Skye went into town to get food and we settled down for a second sleep at the Rainbow Hostel. -Joyce Today we woke up at Finglas House, and Kathleen made us an Irish breakfast. Charlie and Joyce chose to have beans on toast this morning. For unknown reasons, my eyes have a blurry fuzz and I am struggling to focus my hearing. I think it might be from lack of sleep. My normal sleeping schedule back home usually gives me close to ten hours. Now I get about seven, but according to the group that's the average for an "adult." Regardless, I like my ten hours. With my groggy mind, I spilled orange juice all over Kathleen's linens that cover her breakfast table. I believe my blurry vision, lack of hearing, and the spilt orange juice to be an omen for a bad day.
The plan for today - tackling Connor/Conor Pass. A gap that reaches ~1,500 feet in elevation and is five kilometers from the start of the climb to the peak of the mountain (from the northern approach). At breakfast, Kathleen said she heard about a cycling race on the radio that would close Connor Pass from 1300 to 1500. The race An Post Rás, that began in 1953, has eight stages and the 185 cyclists cover 1,235 kilometers within eight days. In this race they have 25 climbs, three of which are listed as "category one" and Connor Pass is on this list as a category one. Category one climbs have a mix of the most challenging distance, grade percentage, elevation change, and highest elevation. Only one more level, HC climbs, are higher than category one. After breakfast, we went outside and put all of our gear on the bikes and began stretching. If the road to Conner Pass is closed by the time we get there we will go on a hike while we wait for it to open back up. We left the B&B and began our day. To get to the gap we rode on a country road that had several sheep farms. Since we have been here I have seen sheep, cows, and horses the most. One thing I notice about all the animals is how they are much happier here than in the USA. We have not been by one farm that has been over-run by too many animals, and they are all happy and healthy. It truly has been one of the most beautiful things about Ireland. We made it to the beginning of the pass before the roads were blocked off. **Side Note: The sheep have colorful paint marks, (orange, purple, blue, or red), on certain parts of their body that allow their owners to differentiate whose are whose. The sheep farmers do this because the animals will jump over the rock walls or fences to graze other parts of the grass. The climb was steep from the beginning, starting off with a six percent gradient. Charlie and I made it two kilometers, with the gear, before the first "granny stop." A granny stop is were you completely stop cycling to catch your breath before beginning again. If an individual decides to continue by walking their bike it does not give them enough of a break to come back down to equilibrium. This method was taught to me by, the marvelous, Erin Conners Bergfield. At this point, I could feel my heartbeat thumping in my ears, my chest pumping up and down, and the heat radiating off my body. As I leveled back down to normal, I appreciated the stream running next to me and the sheep running around freely. I splashed water onto my flushed face and started again to conquer this mountain pass. Thanks to the granny stop, on our second start I felt brand new. It was not long before the feeling of my heartbeat returned, and stopped - this time - after 1.5 kilometers. The farther up we went the closer we were to the cyclist fans, and though we were, CLEARLY, not apart of the race they were there waiting to cheer us on. It was great to hear the encouraging words from strangers such as "Don't stop peddling," "Great Job," and "Only one kilometer to go!" We started once more and made it one kilometer, and the hill was getting steeper and steeper. We only had 500 more meters left but decided to stop and watch the racers come up. This was my first experience with watching a live cycling race. The men were unbelievable, as they swiftly and effortlessly got to the very top. Several groups went by, all of which you could tell by their body shape and posture what kind of riders they were. The ones in the front of the race were lean and cycled up the mountain as if it was flat land. As the other groups passed, their calves got bigger and Charlie informed me that it was because they were good sprinters and not as good on the mountains. Cars followed behind with managers, team members, and mechanics of each team and also four to six bikes on top of the racks for back up. After the race ended, Charlie and I started towards the top of the mountain. The last sprint was the most challenging of all. One, because it was the steepest. Two, because our friend lactic acid had returned from us standing still to watch the race. We gave it our all and when we made it to the top my dreams came true....an ice cream truck, that was thankfully not a mirage, awaited our arrival. We parked our giant green monster and indulged in the best soft served ice cream, with chocolate Flake, I have ever had. Mostly because I had worked so hard for it and my body craved the calories. The ice cream disappeared before my eyes and we (Charlie, Mark, and I) started to climb the mountain to a higher view. At the top of our climb there was a cairn that was taller than Charlie. I previously had stuffed three green rocks into my jacket from the beach in Fenit. I was planning to carry them with me as gifts for others; at the moment it felt right to give each of us a rock to stack on top of this humongous cairn. The one that I placed on the very top is there for Kelsey Horton, one of my best friends from home that I miss very much! Now, we got back on our bikes and received the reward of plunging down the other side of the mountain. We reached up to around 60 kilometers per hour on the way down; it was glorious. Upon our arrival at the bottom - the Dingle Brewery, whose flagship beer is Tom Crean's, awaited us. This was not planned, but a pint or two each was definitively well deserved. We took thank you pictures for those who donated beers and searched for a place to stay. Our discovery once we arrived in Dingle, a tourist town where star wars is being filmed and right after the racing cyclists, everything was booked. Thankfully, we found Rainbow Hostel. Charlie and I camped outside on the grounds and Joyce and Mark had a private room inside. We went back into town for dinner and I will not say much about the restaurant because there is nothing good to mention. It was the least authentic meal I have had thus far. Today easily became my favorite day. I feel strong because I am achieving goals that a year ago I would of not even imagined doing. I also thought that today was not going to be enjoyable because of how my morning started, but today reminded me that you "don't cry over spilled milk" or in my case spilled O.J. -Skye Coasts are wonderful for there walks on the beach and splendid views of old lighthouses. They are not as ideal for camping near with increased exposure to the wind and cold. Even though our warmshowers host provided a yard sheltered with hedges, everyone slept cold. This had the greatest effect on the ladies as it caused them restless/less sleep.
Though there was some general discussion and complaint of the sleeplessness in the morning, everyone started their day in high spirits enjoying warm tea and scones provided by our hosts, Ed and Noirin. Warmed with tea and filled with sugar, we began our short day to the town of Camp located on the Dingle Peninsula. We planned a short day in order to be in better position to climb Connor Pass the next day. The cold night sleep, motivated the group to choose a B&B so we stopped and enjoyed some pints along with lunch at a pub a kilometer outside of Camp, where the owner assisted us in finding a B&B that was not booked. (This was the first time we had had issues finding vacancies, and the causes to this will be brought up in a later blog...we didn't know at this point of the story so neither do you :P). The B&B was named Finglas House and our host was Kathleen. I replaced my worn front brakes in preparation for the pass the next day along with some general brake tuning. Once settled in, we headed to Ashes Bar across the street. It was a lovely 200 year old 'dry stone' building which provided a wonderful northern view down rolling hills onto the lighthouse we had stayed near the night before. We stayed there for hours catching up on journaling, enjoying a meal, and sucking up the natural warmth from their wood lit hearth. With full bellies and warm hands we mosied back across the street to catch the Z's. -Charlie Daylight here is 5am to 10pm this time of year.
Up, Irish breakfast about 8 am. Thanks Noreen, our Ballybunion B&B hostess. 2 eggs over easy, two bland little Weiner things, two pieces of Canadian bacon, pudding (pork based round slice of sausage, very soft center), a grilled tomato, and a slice of dark red blood pudding. This has been a fairly constant breakfast at the BnBs. Got to turn your plasma yellow and cloudy. Next pack up all our stuff in the yellow Bob bag. I have learned to hate this bag and all our stuff because of the weight we have to drag around. Back bag, front bag, clothes impervious to weather, shoes to clip to pedals...we’re off. This day was glorious! Yesterday, hard climbs, day before, rain...today, perfect! We moved through mild emerald hill country, with small fields separated by low rock walls, mostly full of happy looking cows or sheep. In the near distance looming majestic mountains. The smell of life everywhere. Idyllic. Almost no traffic. We stopped at the ruin of a huge ancient cathedral, with an attached museum. This place had its beginnings in the 10th century, with a ring stockade structure. When rehabilitating the cathedral they removed 2000 skeletons. Everybody wanted to be buried there. The guy at the counter was full of information and fun. Serendipity has followed us this trip. We have accidentally seen some of the more historically important sights. This cathedral was just such a place. It was called Ardfert Cathedral. We completed our journey for the day at Ed and Noreen's residence in Fenit. They participate in “warm showers”, which is a loose association of bicycle enthusiasts who will welcome bicycle travelers onto their property to spend the night with access to facilities. I have met some very interesting individuals this way and Ed and Noreen fit perfectly in the list. Thanks. We woke up to views of the ocean and a lighthouse. Mark Saturday was Tarbert to Ballybunion - in a nut shell- wind head on, up & down hills, shorter but harder; Stayed with Noreen in Olde Attic B&B that night.
Bfast started with porridge with cinnamon and raisens, our 2nd Irish B-fast, very much like the 1st but we were introduced to "black pudding", a type of sausage that other of our hostesses typically serve to their Irish guests. Then packing out and sweet goodbyes & pics with Bernadette and Patrick in their backyard where laundry was hung to dry & a blanket of little daisy flowers covered the lawn which were mowed as we packed the bikes. As we headed out south from Tarbert, it started to rain hard but just for a minute. Charlie & Skye stopped just outside of town to speak to John, and we had our 1st long Irish conversation. With an easy Irish hospitality that we'd experienced repeatedly , he offered for us to stay on his land but that would have been a very short day! He was quite a historian and told us about the nearby Abbey & Carrigafoyle (Rock of the hole)Castle probably built in the 1400's and destroyed by th British in the 1580's. He was a descendant of the O'Conner 's who had made their fortune from control of a toll bridge past the castle over the river. During the discussion some talk of the Irish perspective of US folks were shared. We learned that the Irish inquire about your interests and not about your job in that short list of common "get to know you" questions. I saw a description of the Irish a few days later that seemed to describe John to a tee- "this Ireland that presents many faces, loving, teasing, inscrutable, wise..." We then went to the Abbey which is now a cemetery and the family names were very interesting. The castle in the distance seemed to be a tall blokish ruin and I wasn't expecting much. However, we had found a prize. There were the usual arches in the walls but most impressive was the intact stone arched ceiling which consisted of relatively thin stones laid together like pieces of paper. The ceiling was 5 stories up and a stone spiral staircase in the back corner accessed the remaining back section with the 6th story overlooking the countryside. Amazing! I noted no safety features on the climb up so just be careful. Several other folks were visiting too. We proceeded on & it was hilly which we expected and windy which I hadn't counted on. I guess the 1st 2 days had taken their toil as this was a short day but challenging. We arrived into Ballybunion and easily found The Olde Attic B&B on the main street, run by Noreen and her family. We had a great seafood dinner at the hotel restaurant next door. Enjoyed watching a 2 yr old and she enjoyed giving all of us a hi 5's (actually low sweet hand slaps) as she left. We were pretty much comatose after dinner and only Mark heard the 3am singing from the bar downstairs. Noreen was not impressed the next morning that those "hooligans" had taken her flowers out of their containers, but she had already fixed things back. -Joyce To start our day, we had a wonderful Irish breakfast prepared by Moira. We then had our first day of gear re-packing (something we will all get tired of). This was followed by some quick bike tuning due to some gear shifting issues we noticed on the ride out of Ennis. Once loaded up, we took a photo with Moira and hit the road.
We then headed south leaving town on an Irish 'N' road that would run us along the Northern side of the Shannon river. Half way to our final destination, we made our way onto a less busy 'L' rode that took us through a hilly and beautiful country side looking out onto the Shannon river at a distance. After a few other roads we made it to the Shannon River ferry which took us across to Tarbert. The morning started out with a light rain which would occasionally progress to heavier showers with brisk winds. These systems moved very quickly; none would last for that long. This allowed the ride and the touring of the country side to be very enjoyable even with the light rain; I would say that the rain did not dampen anyone's spirits. Needless to say, by the time we got to Tarbert we were soaked. Luckily for us, after the 30 minute ferry ride, we entered Tarbert to immediately see a B&B named Keldun House (we were ready to be out of the rain). Dad (Mark) knocked on the door with the hopes of a warm bed. From his knock, a sweet face emerged from behind the door to greet us with joy and excitement; Bernadette! Along with her husband (Patrick) they were incredibly accommodating. They assisted us in hanging all of our wet items in their boiler room and kicked on the boiler for its wonderful thermal heat, which also heated the radiators in our room...(that might be a little backwards)! From there we had our meal at the local eating place, Enright's, which was manned and chefed by the owner Mr. Enright. It was a delectable and cost effective Irish dinner. We then went to the pub, Swankies, to enjoy a pint. The group of local men were watching the (horse) races. We joined in, occasionally letting our conversation get to loud. The bartender would simply crank the volume whenever this happened. It was an effective tactic. I appreciated it, as it let me know we were near the sprint of the race. From there it was time to go enjoy the bed and pass out. The rainy day with rolling views of the Shannon river and its surrounding country side was a wonderful beginning to the days ahead. -C After leaving the airport in Atlanta we flew to JFK in New York. As we glided in we could see ships sailing off into the Atlantic during sunset. We got on board the flight to Shannon around 11:00 p.m. The crew served us dinner and we all attempted to get as much sleep as possible. The flight was only five hours long but we were arriving into a different time zone, so at 10 a.m. (Ireland time) we arrived in Shannon and began our first day with about three hours of sleep.
First, we headed down to claim our baggage and gear. Once we got everything outside, Charlie and Mark worked on assembling the bikes. While they did that, I organized the gear and and made as much as I could fit into the b.o.b bag. Joyce had already left for Ennis to rent a bike from a shop owner a friend suggested. Once we were done gearing up the bikes we headed her way. We made it safely into town, and when we had Joyce situated on her rented bike we headed to a Bed and Breakfast that she booked for the four of us. We locked all the bikes up into a garage and went to dinner on foot. Sitting at the dinner table I realized it was the first time we had all stopped moving since we got off of the plane. My body started preparing itself for sleep and my eyes were already closing before my clam chowder arrived. We all made it through dinner without dozing off, but when we made it back to the house our 'food comas' knocked us out around seven. Charlie and I woke up around midnight and knocked out some things such as updating the map page, checking emails, updating facebook, laundry, and writing in our journals. Then we fell back to sleep, waking up this morning to an Irish breakfast from our Irish host. It has been a wonderful start thus far. Thanks for tuning in, -Skye I am sitting in a tap room in Hartsfield-Jackson airport sucking some juice (electricity) out of their wall. We started our day in Gainsville GA in order to visit and give hugs to granny before the trip. It, secondarily, is an ideal location for us to get to the airport. Due to our odd baggage, we have played it safe by arriving to the airport with oogles of time to spare. All of our gear has entered the 'magic' doors without a hitch. They do open and inspect most 'oversized' 'special' items so hopefully everything will be waiting for us on the other side. I am at the point where I think I have knocked out all of the home based tasks....though the reaching sensation that I am forgetting something is nagging; we will handle that problem when I figure out what it is. I am amazed with how many of you have donated beer already! I have the desire to spread them out over the trip - so I think we will systematically go through our bought beers by the order received. If you have a specific time or place you would like us to enjoy our beer, let us know! Once we get through our current (awesomely) long list, we will definitely start screaming through the internet for more! I can't express to everyone how epic it is for all the beer you all have gotten for us so far. THANKS SO MUCH! We have the long night of travel, layover, and arrival in a differing time zone ahead of us. We will pop out of Shannon, Ireland airport around 11am (6 est) tomorrow the 19th. Mom will head to Ennis to figure out her rented bike. We will assemble our gear and begin heading that way to meet her. From there, our general plan is to head south to the County Kerry over the next few days. We look forward to sharing the route with you as it develops! We may play with different methods of sharing things (photos, stories, news, etc.) through the internet so if we have a method you prefer or a method that stinks let us know. Feedback is highly desired! Thanks for all coming with us on our little journey! -C |