Ireland Trip 2014 Part 2

Staring our first long ride with a shot of Irish whiskey

     Our second week in Ireland we did a bike trip with Trek Travel.  They provided the bikes, Trek Domane 5.9 carbon road bikes with electronic shifting.  Nice bikes!  The weather was cool and rainy though we did get some sunshine.  Here is how we started our first long ride, with a shot of Irish whiskey.  Good at keeping you warm while you ride.

One of many climbs, we had been at the beach level

     I wasn't prepared for how hilly it was even though we had been told.  The hills were steep but also very long, we would climb for 45 minutes or so and then do a descent.  

Climbing in sunshine

     The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, when I was able to look.  The roads are rather rough and with the climbing and then fast downhills you really needed to keep an eye on the road.

What's a little rain?

     The rain didn't stop us at all.  One day was really rainy, necessitating a change of socks at lunch but otherwise it was more or a drizzle followed by a little sun.

We made it to the top, at least for that day

     The nice part of the trip was that you did not have to do all of the ride everyday.  This day I did do the whole ride, rain and all.  Another day I chose to do the last climb of the day but skip the downhill.  Those downhills were scary for me, I usually rode the brakes the whole way down.

Stone bridge in Kenmare

     We also did a tour of the town of Kenmare one evening with a local resident.  He had lots of stories to share with us.  

Last night together

     I was sad when the trip was over but also a little glad as I was starting to get a bit sore from all the riding.  Our last evening we enjoyed a wonderful meal in a local pub.

Ireland Trip 2014

Picking up our race packets

     We just got back from a wonderful 2 week vacation in Ireland.  It all started with 'wouldn't it be fun to do a half marathon in Ireland'?  As we were looking into it we found that here was also a Trek Travel bike trip in Ireland around the same time so we were off to Ireland.

     Kathy Murray our travel agent did a great job booking our flights, hotels, car and train tickets.  We flew non-stop from Chicago to Dublin.  Of course the flight was late taking off, supposedly the pilot was running late, by over two hours!  When we finally landed we sat on the runway for another 45 min waiting for a gate.

     We finally got off and through customs and got a bus that took us into the city centre.  After a few wrong turns we finally got to the hotel, totally soaked as it was pouring rain.  The hotel was gorgeous though with chandeliers in the lobby and a fireplace with comfy chairs.  We changed into dry clothes and took a little nap before heading out to do some exploring.  That evening we found a small pub and had some good Irish food, bangers and mash for me and Irish stew for John.

     The next day was packet pick-up and again after getting only a little lost we found the place.  Not as much rain today.  A little sight seeing but mostly resting getting ready for the race on Monday.

     Monday dawned bright and clear.  It was definitely cool but at least the sun was out.  A great race with a couple of hills and fun entertainment afterwards.  Took the shuttle back into the city center and after a bit of a rest we set out to explore more of the city.

Pretty pink rose from the gardens of one of the castles

     The next day we picked up the car and drove around the surrounding counties.  So very easy to get lost.  We spent the next three days looking for castles, found a couple.  We visited Newgrange burial tombs and spent some time at a beach by the Irish Sea.  Off and on rain and sun but never much above the mid 60's for the temps.  I bought a hooded sweatshirt to keep warm.

John and I standing in the Irish Sea

     After three days of driving around we returned the car and then did a walking tour of Dublin using a map and podcast we downloaded.  Of course it rained most of the day but we still got to see a lot.  The line was so long to see the Book of Kells and we decided not to wait in the rain for almost two hours to see it.

Sand sculpture

    Saw these cool sand sculptures in the city.  Neat to see how they were not affected by the rain.  The next day we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the train station to take the train to Cork for the bike part of our trip.  I will write more about that next week.

Christchurch Cathedral