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.