A Ride around Wicklow

We went for a ride yesterday around Wicklow, but I forgot to pack the Satalite tracker. I suppose it was the fact I was riding with a group of friends, so felt safe in not having it with me. I forgot that it is also tracking the routes I take, building the history of my motorbike trips, never mind.

There was a break in the weather so we decided to head off towards the Wicklow Mountains and stop off for brunch at a biker restaurant called the Wicklow Heather. The weather was so nice I even put on sunglasses, but chilly enough to keep my waterproof outer layer on.

We set off and headed South out of Bray taking the side roads and headed to the Sally Gap, a pass through the Wicklow Mountains with spectacular views of the surrounding bog (big open grassy muddy sort of thing, not a small porcelain thing) and the Wicklow Mountains. Sally Gap is one of two east-to-west passes across the Wicklow Mountains. A bit like "What ever did the Romans do for us"?, the Sally Gap road was built by the British after the Irish rebellion of 1798. It was built by British Army forces looking to flush rebels from the hills, and to this day is known as the Military Road. Highlights of this winding, twisting feat of engineering include the Glencree valley, the dark waters of Lough Tay, Kippure Mountain, and Glenmacnass Waterfall, which was amazing to see due to the torrential rain that had been happening for the last few days.

The riding was great but challenging. The challenging bit was staying focused on the roads when the views were so great. If I had been riding alone I would have stopped for a few photos, but hunger was driving us forward.

Amusingly we saw the opposite of a Ruined Castel. This was a Part-Compleated Castle. Obviously, a film prop as it was made from wood sheets and scaffold poles. Perched high up it will probably look quite impressive when finished, we will have to see what film it appears in.

More great riding through tough narrow wet roads with greasy slippery leaves and mud kept us alert.

We went in a big loop around the Wicklow Mountains National Park and finally stopped off at Laragh for lunch at the famous biker restaurant. Except we were the only bikers there. Earlier that morning Ireland had lost to Japan in the Rugby World Cup, so I assume they were all far too depressed and crying into their Guinness to venture out. Apart from the persistent Wasps, we had a nice brunch.

We then set off South East to pick up the coast road at Arklow (sounds like an industrial cleaner) and one of the chaps wanted to stop off at Avoca where there apparently is a famous poem, by a famous chap about where two rivers join.



Really quite a nice spot, so I took a picture of one of the rivers, but I have no idea which one.





We then set off along more country roads through Wooden Bridge that were virtually empty of other traffic so we were able to really indulge in the twisting roads.

North out of Arklow the coast road is so close to the coast it was covered in sand in places, not deep, but enough there for you to be wary of. Then we shot past Wicklow, Newtown and Greystone and headed to our final destination, the new Distillery at Powerscourt for coffee and a few very, very, very, small samples (yes, so small they bearly coated the tongue).

They had three whiskeys on sale, none made there as the spirit needs to have been stored for a minimum of 3 years (I think) for it to be called a Whiskey. So what they have done is being in another Irish whiskey that is supplied exclusively to them. The cheapest was a blended whiskey that was quite light and very aggressive. The mid-price one was a 10 year, pleasant, but lacking in depth. The top of the range was the 14 years old and exceptionally nice. Like all Irish Whiskey, it is not smokey and quite soft with deep rich complex flavors that are best "opened" with the smallest hint of water and a wonderful rich finish (the label goes on and on about hints of chocolate oysters, citrus, spices, larks tongue, ok I lied about the last one, but you get the idea, well they have to write something. The 14 year old was so nice we bought a bottle to drink later. It's a nice little distillery and well worth stopping off at.

Why do I carry so much stuff?

Everyone asks why I carry so much stuff, especially tools.  Why carry tools when the AA or RAC is just a phone call away?   Indeed, I am a member of the RAC and I have European cover.   However, when I have called out the recovery service in the past they have taken between 5 hours and 6 hours to turn up.   In 6 hours I can take the bike apart and rebuild it.   So as long as it is fixable then I might as well fix it.   Especially if I am in the middle of nowhere.    

But those tools are also useful for fixing other people’s bikes...............

My tool roll.   

My tools being used 

Guess where I am heading!

On board

It’s like being the captain.   

Wind windy wet and windy

Made it to the port ahead of time.  But the wind was head on and tough.   I normally plan to arrive at the ferry with just a quarter of a tank.   They aggressively strap bikes down on the ferry so I like to minimise he stress on the side stand.  Plus that gives me enough fuel to find a station the other side.    But with the head on wind I was burning fuel really fast.   Hit Bingo halfway across the island and I an’t no Joker., so stopped for a refill.  

Went straight to the caffe for a hot coffee to be immediately greeted by a women with a big tray of crisps asking me to sample them.   I had my helmet on,  earplugs in, gloves on and dripping wet.   I said I needed a coffee first and she tenaciously followed me to the serving desk.   Ironically she is from Colchester, near where I grew up. 

Now waiting to board.  

   

Never go on a motorbike trip with me, it always rains

After amazing gluten free fish and chips last night in Oriel Hotel and Spa restaurant at breakfast   I was presented with the most disappointing kipper I have ever had.  It was if the cook had put it under the grill and decided to go out for a quick cigarette, then was distracted by the thought of it raining all day and had a second.   And then why not, another cigarette for luck, we’ll it was the last one in the pack.  So this shrivelled thing was presented to me  by the cheerfully smiling waitress as though this was a wonderful  delicacy  to serve at breakfast.    I suppose it could be the speciality of the house, but it was not listed under any section that referred to Burnt Offerings.   

Rain, rain, rain.   So the decision to get close to Holyhead yesterday was the correct one.   It would have been a tough morning riding through snowdonia racing to the ferry in this rain.   At least I can dilly-dally to my hart’s content this morning until the hotel throws me out.  

This is where I am and where I am going.  

Off to Ireland

So an end of season ride to Ireland. 

I was promised excellent trail riding at the beginning of October in Southen Ireland (eh Tim!), looking at the weather forecast it's going to be interesting.

Had a slow start this morning, just dilly-dallying, which was surprising as I had packed everything the night before.   Even had new tires fitted last week.   But my 09:00 push back slipped to 10:00 and off I went.

Hey, hey, witch way? (for those that remember the old board game, so the spelling is correct).  Looking at the weather forecast, and the sky as I left London, it looked like it could get bad.  So which way to go? So the decision was made to blast to South Wales and head up from there, at least if id did turn bad I would be closer to Holyhead.   So, lots of boring motorway as you will see from the map.

After the briefest of moments of sunshine, I was being blasted by the crosswinds on the Seven Bridge and dropped down to 50mph to stop being thrown into the next lane.  The wind stayed blustery on the way up to Abergavenny and I was in two minds if I should tackle the Gospel Pass, the highest pass in Wales at 550m.   It sort of goes from Abergavenny to Hey-on-Wye, the long and roundabout way and a way you would only really go if you had too much time on your hands.  But there were some breaks in the clouds and sun was poking through in places.   So, why not, how bad could it be.   Pulling off the main road and heading towards the pass the road became interesting.   The previous day's heavy rain had left the road covered in slippery mud and leaves, combined with it being single track kept me alert and focused.

After a few miles, I left the forest and the landscape opened up into rolling hills with sheep grazing everywhere.    Views were spectacular so I stopped off for a spot of lunch and a photo.   I had both food and a tripod for the camera.

Checking on Mapsme to see where I was  I discovered I was in rather an appropriate spot to stop.

Setting off it soon became apparent that these sheep were going to get quite annoying, but the views were really cool.

On reaching Hay-on Wye another decision had to be made, the fast way or the slow way.  I had planned to traverse a few other passes on the way up, but the weather still looked iffy, so I decided to select the fastest route on the Satnav and blast towards Holyhead.      I have never really been around Angelsea so I thought to find a place there to stay.  However, approaching Colwyn Bay the rain started and I could see a mist on the road ahead.   The iPhone was turned on and Booking.com loaded up.  Just 3 miles away was a Hotel Spa with an excellent room discount and including full English breakfast.    With the utmost Turnbull efficiency I turned up at the Hotel before the Hotel knew that I even existed,  so I had to wait around for the booking to come through.   As compensation, I was upgraded to a suite, me in all my muddy biker gear soaking wet.   

Food was needed so after a bathe in a bath you could fit a very friendly netball team in I went to the restaurant to be served the very best gluten-free fish and chips I have ever had.   Which is where I am now writing this blog.

Tomorrow its 2 hours to Holyhead.  So the amount of dilly-dallying will depend on the weather and how good the full English breakfast is.

Ferry at 14:00, assuming no delays due to bad weather.