So we're now back from our trip having covered a total of 1800 miles and how do I begin to describe what we've just been through?
As a learning process, it has been imense. The first I learned from my two day trip to Wales last year was that plans need to be kept fluid. You might want to camp out but if the weather has other ideas, then it's probably not going to happen. What I didn't take into account was that the weather could potentially become so bad that it would make it near enough impossible to ride or very uncomfortable if you tried to. This was our first delay in Belfast when the winds picked up to 70mph gusts.
Secondly, keep tools and a stock of small parts that can easily break. After dropping the bike in Dunfanaghy, if I'd even had just a spare brake lever, we could have carried on and even possibly made it round the Ring of Kerry. As it stands, a lack of preparation on our part for this eventuality meant we wasted yet an extra day and a half just waiting to try and get parts.
Third, google maps can be a great source of information on how long a trip may possibly take. It doesn't however take into account road surfaces and rain which on a bike can severly hamper travelling time. The roads around County Donegal were attrocious. In a car, you could quite easily keep up a 50mph drive but on a bike, taking into account the amount of bumps, gravel on the roads, especially on bends and the wind which was still blowing very strongly and I would estimate that our average speed had been brought down to no more than 35mph making the days riding a lot lot longer than planned.
Fourth, road signs are great. At least they are when they point in the correct direction and have the same spellings for names that you've seen on your map. Unfortunately in Ireland both of these don't seem to apply very often and as a result, we quite often missed turnings having to retrace our steps.
Fifth, spending a day on a bike can be a great source of fun and can offer time to reflect on your own thoughts. 11 Days on a bike without anyone to talk to unless you shout when you're doing below 40mph can get very lonely and boring.
From this, we've now decided that we need to splash out and invest on those things that I'd mentioned before in the blog that we could really afford before we left.
A replacement brake lever, clutch lever and possibly even brake pedal and gear lever will be things that I look for in the eventuality that I drop the bike again. I didn't think it would happen after last year in Wales but it did so you can never be sure.
Planning shorter days travelling. In my opinion, it would be far greater to have reached our destinations early and been able to carry on going rather than finding that late in the afternoon we still had miles to go and the disappointment of not being able to see everything that I'd built my hopes up to see.
A sat nav is essential! Especially in a land where they don't speak the same language!
The intercom system should be good to have in that at least rather than pointing in a random direction, I can actually talk to Nikki to let her know what I've seen and even just to have a game of I Spy on the longer roads!
In conclusion, it was a great trip. I never expected everything to go smoothly but I did expect it to be a bit smoother than it was. On reflection this is no bad thing though as hopefully we will be far more prepared for Scotland and hopefully completely prepared to have a fantastic trip around Europe.
There won't be much more from the blog in the next couple of weeks. The rear brake isn't operating the brake light, the headlight has blown and I still need another right hand wing mirror which needs to be fixed for the bike to go in for its M.O.T which has now expired.
Maybe a couple of weeks rest is no bad thing!
Thursday 2 June 2011
Sunday 29th - the end is nigh!
Waking up on Sunday fearful after the night before of a hangover which gladly never came we packed up and headed off to Kilfenora in the direction of a certain house which was used for the filming of Father Ted! We had been told that there was a tourist office nearby that could point us in the right direction and off we went in search!
We only had a short period of time to get some pictures and the directions we were given were perfect although in some places, it really felt like we'd left the road and jumped onto a off road track! Onwards we carried on and eventually came across the house!
After taking some very quick snaps we turned back to head the way we'd come to get on the road back to Galway to find the motorway to Dublin!
Google maps, in general on English roads is fine. But experience throughout the week just gone had told us that whatever it says, add at least an hour as the roads had been so poor. Sure enough, we made a very quick journey off towards the capital and arrived shortaly before 3pm, 40 minutes later than google had predicted and this was not travelling slowly either! The toll roads, although boring, were a pleasure to ride on after having endured roads bumpier than I'd ever experienced before for the last 5 days. We jumped on the ferry and made our way back to Wales.
We only had a short period of time to get some pictures and the directions we were given were perfect although in some places, it really felt like we'd left the road and jumped onto a off road track! Onwards we carried on and eventually came across the house!
After taking some very quick snaps we turned back to head the way we'd come to get on the road back to Galway to find the motorway to Dublin!
Google maps, in general on English roads is fine. But experience throughout the week just gone had told us that whatever it says, add at least an hour as the roads had been so poor. Sure enough, we made a very quick journey off towards the capital and arrived shortaly before 3pm, 40 minutes later than google had predicted and this was not travelling slowly either! The toll roads, although boring, were a pleasure to ride on after having endured roads bumpier than I'd ever experienced before for the last 5 days. We jumped on the ferry and made our way back to Wales.
Friday 28th and Saturday 29th
Again, we awoke to an overcast day although it did appear dry. After the 7th day of scrambled eggs on toast (Ireland doesn't do beans or anything remotely vegetarian!) we got our bits together and made our way to the car park where the rain promptly started to fall.
We carried on and after a fairly boring ride the rain became so bad that we gave up and decided to stop at the nearest B&B which happened to be in Bangor Eris.
Now, I've never come across a village so quiet. There were a couple of shops and a takeaway which server fish and chips and fried chicken. Nowhere accepted card payments including the B&B and the nearest cash point was in the next village along. Not bad you say. It is when the next village is 12 miles away!
Luckily, I had a bit of cash left on me and we were able to just about afford a dinner of chicken and chips! Seeing as there was nothing else to do around, we had our first early night of the holiday!
We woke up refreshed and after a quick blast on my own to get cash to pay for the B&B we made tracks to head down towards Galway.
On the way down, the lonely planet guide recommended a trip along the Atlantic Drive towards Mount Slievmore which sounded great as there was an abandoned village there that we would have liked to have seen left from the famine. Unfortunately the road was so battered that it seemed too risky to travel down especially with the sheep that littered the road and scattered in every direction at the sound of the motorbike!
We carried on following the N59 and ended up at the Connemara National Park. As soon as we entered, we realised that we were in an area with spectacular scenery with mountains all around. I found a sign that indicated the Connemara loop going along the R344 and followed that down back to the R59. The scenery was amazing and along this road we hit our 1000th mile!
Zoom in and you can see the mileage - 999.9!
Off we carried on stopping in Galway for lunch. I was aiming to push on to Limerick to try and squeeze in a quick look at the Cliffs Of Moher. It was apparent though that it was still going to be quite a long ride to Limerick and after failing to book a hotel room, decided to see if I could find one as close to the Cliffs as possible. A small town called Lisdoonvarna appeared on the map as the closest town so a quick look on tripadvisor and I booked us in at Sheedy's Country House Hotel. Being our last night in Ireland, I really wanted to get down to see these iconic cliffs and we eventually arrived in Lisdoonvarna at around 4pm. The roads were obviously getting better!
As Lisdoonvarna appeared before the cliffs, we stopped to unload our luggage and jumped back on the bike to go see the cliffs. In their own right, the cliffs were impressive but I think that it was spoiled a little by the fact that you can see very similar sights in Wales without being ripped off by the local council charging 6 euro's each just to park the bike up. We spent a short amount of time there taking the obligatory tourist photo's and made our way back to the town for some dinner.
Sheedy's had a lovely menu but unfortunately, due to my fussy palate, we didn't actually like anything on the menu although it did all smell great. Instead, we opted to go to a pub round the corner where we had yet more chicken and chips! Looking around the bar, there were signs for live music later in the evening. As we didn't have much cash and I'd had a drink, we opted to leave a card behind the bar and come back later.
After dessert back at the hotel and another pint of guinness we made our way back to the pub which was now filling up. Whilst ordering our drinks, I got chatting to a man named John who kindly pulled up a stool for Nikki and myself. Well for those that know me, I will talk to anyone and after a couple of pints, he'd introduced me to others at the bar and soon we were all laughing and joking. The pub filled up with even more people and I've got to say that it was the best night out I've had in a very very long time. I don't think I've ever been to a pub where everyone was so friendly and happy to talk to everyone else and for this reason and near enough not much else, I will probably try and get back to Ireland sooner than I had anticipated up to that point.
John, I know I gave you my email address in my drunken state and if you are reading this, it would be great to hear from you!
Just a little plug for the hotel we stayed at too Sheedy's Country House Hotel.
The room was the best value that we had all weekend and the breakfast was fantastic. The owners were friendly and always helpful and they're very charming children. The daughter who kindly led her mum to show us our room but ran away without a care in the world when it came to boring things like food and their son, who called from reception across the baby intercom to advise that "SOMEONE IS HERE FOR YOUUUU!". I love the fact that this place was family run and you could see that a lot of care had been put in to making it a lovely place to stay. We'll definitely be back if we're in that part of the world again!
We carried on and after a fairly boring ride the rain became so bad that we gave up and decided to stop at the nearest B&B which happened to be in Bangor Eris.
Now, I've never come across a village so quiet. There were a couple of shops and a takeaway which server fish and chips and fried chicken. Nowhere accepted card payments including the B&B and the nearest cash point was in the next village along. Not bad you say. It is when the next village is 12 miles away!
Luckily, I had a bit of cash left on me and we were able to just about afford a dinner of chicken and chips! Seeing as there was nothing else to do around, we had our first early night of the holiday!
We woke up refreshed and after a quick blast on my own to get cash to pay for the B&B we made tracks to head down towards Galway.
On the way down, the lonely planet guide recommended a trip along the Atlantic Drive towards Mount Slievmore which sounded great as there was an abandoned village there that we would have liked to have seen left from the famine. Unfortunately the road was so battered that it seemed too risky to travel down especially with the sheep that littered the road and scattered in every direction at the sound of the motorbike!
We carried on following the N59 and ended up at the Connemara National Park. As soon as we entered, we realised that we were in an area with spectacular scenery with mountains all around. I found a sign that indicated the Connemara loop going along the R344 and followed that down back to the R59. The scenery was amazing and along this road we hit our 1000th mile!
Zoom in and you can see the mileage - 999.9!
Off we carried on stopping in Galway for lunch. I was aiming to push on to Limerick to try and squeeze in a quick look at the Cliffs Of Moher. It was apparent though that it was still going to be quite a long ride to Limerick and after failing to book a hotel room, decided to see if I could find one as close to the Cliffs as possible. A small town called Lisdoonvarna appeared on the map as the closest town so a quick look on tripadvisor and I booked us in at Sheedy's Country House Hotel. Being our last night in Ireland, I really wanted to get down to see these iconic cliffs and we eventually arrived in Lisdoonvarna at around 4pm. The roads were obviously getting better!
As Lisdoonvarna appeared before the cliffs, we stopped to unload our luggage and jumped back on the bike to go see the cliffs. In their own right, the cliffs were impressive but I think that it was spoiled a little by the fact that you can see very similar sights in Wales without being ripped off by the local council charging 6 euro's each just to park the bike up. We spent a short amount of time there taking the obligatory tourist photo's and made our way back to the town for some dinner.
Sheedy's had a lovely menu but unfortunately, due to my fussy palate, we didn't actually like anything on the menu although it did all smell great. Instead, we opted to go to a pub round the corner where we had yet more chicken and chips! Looking around the bar, there were signs for live music later in the evening. As we didn't have much cash and I'd had a drink, we opted to leave a card behind the bar and come back later.
After dessert back at the hotel and another pint of guinness we made our way back to the pub which was now filling up. Whilst ordering our drinks, I got chatting to a man named John who kindly pulled up a stool for Nikki and myself. Well for those that know me, I will talk to anyone and after a couple of pints, he'd introduced me to others at the bar and soon we were all laughing and joking. The pub filled up with even more people and I've got to say that it was the best night out I've had in a very very long time. I don't think I've ever been to a pub where everyone was so friendly and happy to talk to everyone else and for this reason and near enough not much else, I will probably try and get back to Ireland sooner than I had anticipated up to that point.
John, I know I gave you my email address in my drunken state and if you are reading this, it would be great to hear from you!
Just a little plug for the hotel we stayed at too Sheedy's Country House Hotel.
The room was the best value that we had all weekend and the breakfast was fantastic. The owners were friendly and always helpful and they're very charming children. The daughter who kindly led her mum to show us our room but ran away without a care in the world when it came to boring things like food and their son, who called from reception across the baby intercom to advise that "SOMEONE IS HERE FOR YOUUUU!". I love the fact that this place was family run and you could see that a lot of care had been put in to making it a lovely place to stay. We'll definitely be back if we're in that part of the world again!
Thursday 26th
So after an early start and a 2 hour drive to Omagh, we eventually found the motorbike dealer. Being a main Suzuki dealer I was expecting the large types of warehouse shops that we get in England but it was in actual fact, a small shop with barely a few bikes in with some helmets and clothing! £50 lighter and a brake lever and a left wing mirror up, we headed back to Letterkenny where we had hired out the car to return it and get a lift back to the hotel.
Arriving back at midday, it didn't take long to fit the parts and we were soon on our way in the rain. After travelling a few miles, we realised we'd missed breakfast and lunch so made a stop at the first cafe we came across to refuel ourselves.
Filled up, we carried on and the road that we took (N257), although being terribly laid was in parts, spectacular. The remoteness of it was just jaw dropping with old ruins of houses scattered across the harsh land it was difficult to believe that anyone still lived here. We read that during the famine, the community had survived though due to it's relationship with the sea and being able to survive on seafood and seaweed. It was also that untouched that the sheep were also allowed to roam free and we encountered more than a few along the road!
Seeing as it was already afternoon when we left Dunfanaghy, it was getting late and after only about 70 miles of riding, we decided to stop in Donegal and rest our heads to carry on fresh tomorrow.
Arriving back at midday, it didn't take long to fit the parts and we were soon on our way in the rain. After travelling a few miles, we realised we'd missed breakfast and lunch so made a stop at the first cafe we came across to refuel ourselves.
Filled up, we carried on and the road that we took (N257), although being terribly laid was in parts, spectacular. The remoteness of it was just jaw dropping with old ruins of houses scattered across the harsh land it was difficult to believe that anyone still lived here. We read that during the famine, the community had survived though due to it's relationship with the sea and being able to survive on seafood and seaweed. It was also that untouched that the sheep were also allowed to roam free and we encountered more than a few along the road!
Wednesday 25th
Having arrived quite late on Tuesday evening, the receptionist offered to let me put the motorbike out of sight of the main road. Having mentioned this, it set in a bit of worry in that maybe they had issues previously with bikes. One of the places that she recommended was behind the hotel down a steep grass verge which was fine getting down and certainly was out of sight. Deciding that it would be safer down there, I rolled down the hill and parked up for the night.
Having had breakfast and geared up, I went to retrieve the bike in the morning drizzle. Looking at the steep hill, it was apparent it was going to be a challenge to get up and foolishly sped up the hill and lost traction on the back wheel causing the bike to fall to the left and catapault me off. My main concern as I bounced down the hill was that the bike was going to slide on top of me but luckily it stayed. As I got up to survey the damage, it was apparent the both wing mirrors had broken off and the front brake lever had too. I found this puzzling as the bike had landed on it's left hand side and can only imagine that my arm had caught them both on the way over.
The two hotel maintenance men helped me pick up the bike and park it up. Kindly, they offered to take me to the nearest garage where I hoped they might have been able to at least weld the brake lever back together. Unfortunately, with the lever and the mirrors being aluminium, this wasn't possible. The man at the garage went home too to even see if he had an old lever lying around but alas, he had given it away when he sold his bike.
To cut a long story short, after a lot of phoning around, we found one shop in Omagh who were Suzuki resellers that kindly offered to take a lever off a bike they had in store for me so we could carry on after I explained we were on holiday. They also had a left mirror too. Unfortunately, being 2 hours away, they weren't able to come and get me and for some reason, couriering them over was not an option. We ended up having to hire out a car and travel down the following morning as it was too late to leave in the afternoon.
Breaking away momentarily from the bike, we were amazed to find that securicor vans around the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic are still escorted by the army. No one had warned us about this and we were amazed to see two trucks of soldiers lining the streets guns and all whilst the cash pick up was taking place!
On the plus side, having the car meant we were able to travel round the Inishowen Peninsula in the evening visiting the most northerly point in Ireland. Predictably, it rained!
Having had breakfast and geared up, I went to retrieve the bike in the morning drizzle. Looking at the steep hill, it was apparent it was going to be a challenge to get up and foolishly sped up the hill and lost traction on the back wheel causing the bike to fall to the left and catapault me off. My main concern as I bounced down the hill was that the bike was going to slide on top of me but luckily it stayed. As I got up to survey the damage, it was apparent the both wing mirrors had broken off and the front brake lever had too. I found this puzzling as the bike had landed on it's left hand side and can only imagine that my arm had caught them both on the way over.
The two hotel maintenance men helped me pick up the bike and park it up. Kindly, they offered to take me to the nearest garage where I hoped they might have been able to at least weld the brake lever back together. Unfortunately, with the lever and the mirrors being aluminium, this wasn't possible. The man at the garage went home too to even see if he had an old lever lying around but alas, he had given it away when he sold his bike.
To cut a long story short, after a lot of phoning around, we found one shop in Omagh who were Suzuki resellers that kindly offered to take a lever off a bike they had in store for me so we could carry on after I explained we were on holiday. They also had a left mirror too. Unfortunately, being 2 hours away, they weren't able to come and get me and for some reason, couriering them over was not an option. We ended up having to hire out a car and travel down the following morning as it was too late to leave in the afternoon.
Breaking away momentarily from the bike, we were amazed to find that securicor vans around the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic are still escorted by the army. No one had warned us about this and we were amazed to see two trucks of soldiers lining the streets guns and all whilst the cash pick up was taking place!
Tuesday 24th
We awoke this morning to another blustery but sunny day. Feeling positive about the rest of the trip and hoping that the bad weather had now passed we made our way to breakfast where, after 30mins, the grey clouds rolled in and we knew we were in for another day of showers at least.
We left the hotel at about 10am with an aim to visit Carrick a Rede (the rope bridge along the north coast) and the Giants Causeway. The route planned was the Antrim Coast which quite literally runs along the north eastern coast not passing much further away from the beach than a couple of hundred metres in most places.
After riding through the hills to get to the coast the rain stopped to reveal warm sunshine and as we passed along the winding, perfectly laid road taking in the amazing scenery of cliffs plunging into the ocean which, given the winds still being fairly high, was glittering blue in the sun with ripples of white from the crest of the waves being rolled forward faster then they wished.
The road was fairly quiet and reminded me much of a trip to Greece a few years ago where I had hired out a scooter to go round Rhodes. After hitting the far side of the island, all that could be seen was road and coast. As I did then, all I could do was smile as we progressed along towards our destination.
The night before, we had been watching TV and caught the highlights of the Northwest 200. A motorcycle road race that takes place along the Antrim Coast. Passing the area where the race took place, I couldn't help but lean over the tank as we passed the start/finish line and rev the engine a little imagining I was riding a sports bike! Reality soon struck back though realising that I could only legally ride at 30mph!
We approaced the rope bridge late in the afternoon and not realising we had quite a walk from the car park to the bridge itself, we kept our gear on including the rainsuits. The walk took about 20 minutes from the point of paying and on the way, was downhill which made things warm but not uncomfortable. It was obvious on the way back through we were going to struggle. The rope bridge itself crosses 20 metres onto a small separated piece of land and is 30 metres high. Given the windy conditions, I thought it would be bad but crossing the bridge was done with relative ease bouncing along as I went! Others were not quite so trusting taking them slightly longer to get across (or in Nikki's case, not attempting at all!). Going from sunshine on one side of the bridge onto the island, the heavens opened again and with the strong wind, the raindrops felt like pin pricks across my face! Fun nevertheless trying to keep upright and trying desperately not to get blown off the edge, I made my way back to the bridge to cross back.
Tired and getting hungry, but also realising that we were only halfway along the route chosen, we headed off quickly to the Giants Causeway. Upon arrival, we realised that there would again be a lot of walking so off we went taking lots of pictures too as any good tourist would do!
By the time we left, it must have been close to 6pm and given the distance left to get to our next hotel, we decided to skip out the Inishowen Peninsula and head round on the fastest roads possible arriving shortly before 9pm in Dunfanaghy.
We left the hotel at about 10am with an aim to visit Carrick a Rede (the rope bridge along the north coast) and the Giants Causeway. The route planned was the Antrim Coast which quite literally runs along the north eastern coast not passing much further away from the beach than a couple of hundred metres in most places.
After riding through the hills to get to the coast the rain stopped to reveal warm sunshine and as we passed along the winding, perfectly laid road taking in the amazing scenery of cliffs plunging into the ocean which, given the winds still being fairly high, was glittering blue in the sun with ripples of white from the crest of the waves being rolled forward faster then they wished.
The night before, we had been watching TV and caught the highlights of the Northwest 200. A motorcycle road race that takes place along the Antrim Coast. Passing the area where the race took place, I couldn't help but lean over the tank as we passed the start/finish line and rev the engine a little imagining I was riding a sports bike! Reality soon struck back though realising that I could only legally ride at 30mph!
We approaced the rope bridge late in the afternoon and not realising we had quite a walk from the car park to the bridge itself, we kept our gear on including the rainsuits. The walk took about 20 minutes from the point of paying and on the way, was downhill which made things warm but not uncomfortable. It was obvious on the way back through we were going to struggle. The rope bridge itself crosses 20 metres onto a small separated piece of land and is 30 metres high. Given the windy conditions, I thought it would be bad but crossing the bridge was done with relative ease bouncing along as I went! Others were not quite so trusting taking them slightly longer to get across (or in Nikki's case, not attempting at all!). Going from sunshine on one side of the bridge onto the island, the heavens opened again and with the strong wind, the raindrops felt like pin pricks across my face! Fun nevertheless trying to keep upright and trying desperately not to get blown off the edge, I made my way back to the bridge to cross back.
Monday 23rd
Not much to report today on the blog in terms of biking. High winds of up to 70mph have hit the north coast of Ireland and we're stuck! We decided that it wasn't worth carrying on as we wouldn't enjoy the day so opted for a relaxed morning followed by a trip into Belfast city centre.
Besides the high winds, there were occasional breaks in the rain revealing warm sunshine and after consulting our lonely planet guide decided a trip around the city finding the murals wouldn't be so tough.
Having never ridden in 70mph gusts of wind before with a passenger and luggage, it came as quite a shock when shortly after leaving the hotel, a gust hit us so hard it nearly blew Nikki off the bike and felt like someone had given my helmet an almighty slap on the side! Maybe we should have taken notice of the branch that snapped off the tree above us as we were preparing to leave as a sign it wasn't really safe... You live and learn!
After a short journey into the city centre, we found the cathedral and tried to find our way through the one way streets to the main square. This determination to go looking round on the bike was short lived however and 5 minutes later we were parked up in a multistorey car park and dialling to arrange a tour in a black cab to see the murals!
The tour was carried out by the taxi driver, which it turns out isn't abnormal and in my opinion quite refreshing. It may have been a little one sided but interesting nevertheless to hear about the trials and tribulations of the catholic community in Northern Ireland. To see some of the areas where what I can only describe as attrocities took place such as Bombay Street were a massive eye opener. I always liked to believe that the British media were a free media reporting from all sides of a story but as we toured the streets it seemed to me that over in England, we only receive a one sided story. The murals not only depicted events from Northern Ireland but also events ongoing around the world which I found fascinating.
We did get an opportunity to see the British side of the peace line too and I found it rather disturbing to find a mural that celebrated a man for the fact that he had killed so many Catholics.
Certainly an eye opening day and one that I will not forget for a very long time.
On the plus side, progress is being made in Northern Ireland and who knows, maybe sometime in our lifetime, the peace line may come down and both sides can live in peace. I think this particular mural covers hat most would like to see (you'll need to click the picture to enlarge and see the poem).
Besides the high winds, there were occasional breaks in the rain revealing warm sunshine and after consulting our lonely planet guide decided a trip around the city finding the murals wouldn't be so tough.
Having never ridden in 70mph gusts of wind before with a passenger and luggage, it came as quite a shock when shortly after leaving the hotel, a gust hit us so hard it nearly blew Nikki off the bike and felt like someone had given my helmet an almighty slap on the side! Maybe we should have taken notice of the branch that snapped off the tree above us as we were preparing to leave as a sign it wasn't really safe... You live and learn!
After a short journey into the city centre, we found the cathedral and tried to find our way through the one way streets to the main square. This determination to go looking round on the bike was short lived however and 5 minutes later we were parked up in a multistorey car park and dialling to arrange a tour in a black cab to see the murals!
The tour was carried out by the taxi driver, which it turns out isn't abnormal and in my opinion quite refreshing. It may have been a little one sided but interesting nevertheless to hear about the trials and tribulations of the catholic community in Northern Ireland. To see some of the areas where what I can only describe as attrocities took place such as Bombay Street were a massive eye opener. I always liked to believe that the British media were a free media reporting from all sides of a story but as we toured the streets it seemed to me that over in England, we only receive a one sided story. The murals not only depicted events from Northern Ireland but also events ongoing around the world which I found fascinating.
We did get an opportunity to see the British side of the peace line too and I found it rather disturbing to find a mural that celebrated a man for the fact that he had killed so many Catholics.
Certainly an eye opening day and one that I will not forget for a very long time.
On the plus side, progress is being made in Northern Ireland and who knows, maybe sometime in our lifetime, the peace line may come down and both sides can live in peace. I think this particular mural covers hat most would like to see (you'll need to click the picture to enlarge and see the poem).
Sunday 22nd
Hmmm, who said that a motorbike holiday meant having to leave behind luxuries? I'm writing currently from here -
The spa at the hotel Culloden in Holywood just outside Belfast.
Well, what can I say. Yesterday, for being a biking holiday didn't actually include the bike. Well, I say didn't, we still paid a visit to a bike shop in Dublin to get some chain lube!
The day was however taken up with a lie in, followed by a late lunch and a trip to the Guinness factory! Needless to say, the Guiness factory was great with the building even desinged, when looked at as a cross section, made to look like a pint of Guinness! Another fact that impressed me was that Arthur Guinness, when singing the lease, done so for 9000 years! Either he was a very confident or foolish man. Time and my expert opinion(!) say that he was as they say about Guinness - Genius!
Besides this, we had a soggy walk around the city taking in some of the tourist sights.
In all Dublin for me did not impress and just struck me as yet another city with too many fast food places.
Today (Sunday), we left, a little late - 2 hours!
After having consulted the Lonely Planet guide to Ireland, the Hill of Tara sounded like a must see as recommended by the book. Even better was that it was a 20 minute audio presentation and some looking around then we could be on our way again.
Having checked out, the rain, which had kept at bay all morning, started to come down heavily so as we prepared to get going, stopped again to get the rainsuits on. Not really knowing where we were going but having a good rough idea, we departed the hotel car park and made our way along the river that runs through Dublin (the name currently escapes me). We found our way out successfully along the N3 and found ourselves heading towards a toll booth. Easy I thought, they don't charge in the UK, presumabley because it would be a pain in the backside to get change out with gloves on etc. Nooo! In the Republic of Ireland, they like to do things the difficult way and charge motorcyclists a mere 70c for the pleasure of travelling along their road! After having to ask the man at the toll booth to pull my glove off, I managed to fumble my credit card out of the rainsuit and over to him. Putting gloves back on under pressure is never any good as I found out and passed the glove to Nikki as we made our way off from the booth to the hard shoulder.
We arrived shortly after at the Hill of Tara and rode straight past it! It is, quite literally, a hill! An ancient hill nevertheless, created by men between 4000 and 5000 years ago to possibly bury their royalty and wealthy. Unfortunately, with the rain coming down very hard and the visitor centre closed, we opted not to stay long and made our way towards Belfast along the coast taking in some spectacular distant views of the mountains.
Unfortunately, with time getting on, there wasn't enough time to take our detour round the mountains up to the hotel so we opted for the motorway eventually, and some how luckily (without the aid of sat nav and only a couple of looks at the map) arrived at our hotel.
The weather forecast is looking very poor for tomorrow with torrential rain and wind gusts of up to 70mph so currently we're unsure what the plan is. If it seems like the weather men have got it wrong and the rain is showers as we've had today then we shall carry on taking in the Giants Causeway and other sights along the north coast up to Derry. If they have the forecast right, then we may stay another night here and just do some short distance exploring!
Now to enjoy the bottle of Prosecco that is waiting on ice!
Well, what can I say. Yesterday, for being a biking holiday didn't actually include the bike. Well, I say didn't, we still paid a visit to a bike shop in Dublin to get some chain lube!
The day was however taken up with a lie in, followed by a late lunch and a trip to the Guinness factory! Needless to say, the Guiness factory was great with the building even desinged, when looked at as a cross section, made to look like a pint of Guinness! Another fact that impressed me was that Arthur Guinness, when singing the lease, done so for 9000 years! Either he was a very confident or foolish man. Time and my expert opinion(!) say that he was as they say about Guinness - Genius!
Besides this, we had a soggy walk around the city taking in some of the tourist sights.
In all Dublin for me did not impress and just struck me as yet another city with too many fast food places.
Today (Sunday), we left, a little late - 2 hours!
After having consulted the Lonely Planet guide to Ireland, the Hill of Tara sounded like a must see as recommended by the book. Even better was that it was a 20 minute audio presentation and some looking around then we could be on our way again.
Having checked out, the rain, which had kept at bay all morning, started to come down heavily so as we prepared to get going, stopped again to get the rainsuits on. Not really knowing where we were going but having a good rough idea, we departed the hotel car park and made our way along the river that runs through Dublin (the name currently escapes me). We found our way out successfully along the N3 and found ourselves heading towards a toll booth. Easy I thought, they don't charge in the UK, presumabley because it would be a pain in the backside to get change out with gloves on etc. Nooo! In the Republic of Ireland, they like to do things the difficult way and charge motorcyclists a mere 70c for the pleasure of travelling along their road! After having to ask the man at the toll booth to pull my glove off, I managed to fumble my credit card out of the rainsuit and over to him. Putting gloves back on under pressure is never any good as I found out and passed the glove to Nikki as we made our way off from the booth to the hard shoulder.
We arrived shortly after at the Hill of Tara and rode straight past it! It is, quite literally, a hill! An ancient hill nevertheless, created by men between 4000 and 5000 years ago to possibly bury their royalty and wealthy. Unfortunately, with the rain coming down very hard and the visitor centre closed, we opted not to stay long and made our way towards Belfast along the coast taking in some spectacular distant views of the mountains.
Unfortunately, with time getting on, there wasn't enough time to take our detour round the mountains up to the hotel so we opted for the motorway eventually, and some how luckily (without the aid of sat nav and only a couple of looks at the map) arrived at our hotel.
The weather forecast is looking very poor for tomorrow with torrential rain and wind gusts of up to 70mph so currently we're unsure what the plan is. If it seems like the weather men have got it wrong and the rain is showers as we've had today then we shall carry on taking in the Giants Causeway and other sights along the north coast up to Derry. If they have the forecast right, then we may stay another night here and just do some short distance exploring!
Now to enjoy the bottle of Prosecco that is waiting on ice!
Saturday 21 May 2011
I'm knackered! Part 2
5 Hours later we were back up again getting dressed to leave the Travelodge for 9am. Slightly tired but keen to get going we had breakfast at the Little Chef next door and found somewhere to stay for the 2 nights we were going to be in Dublin.
The route that had been selected was to carry on travelling along the A5 then taking joining the A55 to take us into Holyhead. This sounded like a perfect route taking in the Snowdonia National Park and passing Snowdon itself. From prior experience, I knew we were in for a visual treat.
So off we left at 9am on the dot in blue skies dotted sparsly with fluffy clouds. I couldn't have asked for a better start. Along we travelled down the A5 enjoying the winding, smooth roads (of the like we wish to see in England) taking in the views of the mountains which never fail to look anything but spectacular. As we approached Snowdonia, the skies began to grey and the rain started to fall lightly. Now the last time I was in this part of the world, I didn't pay attention to the warning signs and ignored the light rain in the hope that it would pass. It rained for 24 hours without a break and I was completely soaked! Not this time. Finding a suitable place to stop we opened the brand new rainsuits and geared up in all their bright red glory, much to Nikki's embarrasment!
We carried on and approaching Snowdon, the heavens opened and I was very glad to have my rainsuit on. Unfortunately, as the rain came down, so did my concentration and like any trip that I seem to plan, I took the wrong exit! Up we travelled along the A470 towards the A55 and although pleasant enough, did not compare to the A5. We reached Holyhead at 12pm in time for a bite to eat before heading for the ferry.
Finding the hotel wasn't too bad and riding in Dublin reminded me a lot of riding in London with the traffic being very heavy as we'd arrived slap bang in the middle of rush hour!
After some relaxing and a shower we found our meal for the evening then settled down for some much needed sleep having been travelling for 8 hours on the bike and 3 on the ferry in the last 24.
The route that had been selected was to carry on travelling along the A5 then taking joining the A55 to take us into Holyhead. This sounded like a perfect route taking in the Snowdonia National Park and passing Snowdon itself. From prior experience, I knew we were in for a visual treat.
So off we left at 9am on the dot in blue skies dotted sparsly with fluffy clouds. I couldn't have asked for a better start. Along we travelled down the A5 enjoying the winding, smooth roads (of the like we wish to see in England) taking in the views of the mountains which never fail to look anything but spectacular. As we approached Snowdonia, the skies began to grey and the rain started to fall lightly. Now the last time I was in this part of the world, I didn't pay attention to the warning signs and ignored the light rain in the hope that it would pass. It rained for 24 hours without a break and I was completely soaked! Not this time. Finding a suitable place to stop we opened the brand new rainsuits and geared up in all their bright red glory, much to Nikki's embarrasment!
We carried on and approaching Snowdon, the heavens opened and I was very glad to have my rainsuit on. Unfortunately, as the rain came down, so did my concentration and like any trip that I seem to plan, I took the wrong exit! Up we travelled along the A470 towards the A55 and although pleasant enough, did not compare to the A5. We reached Holyhead at 12pm in time for a bite to eat before heading for the ferry.
Finding the hotel wasn't too bad and riding in Dublin reminded me a lot of riding in London with the traffic being very heavy as we'd arrived slap bang in the middle of rush hour!
After some relaxing and a shower we found our meal for the evening then settled down for some much needed sleep having been travelling for 8 hours on the bike and 3 on the ferry in the last 24.
Friday 20 May 2011
I'm knackered! Part 1
So I'm writing this from my hotel room in Dublin (The Gresham - wouldn't come back!).
Hotel room? I thought you were camping??
Well, this was the idea but I think, as they say, fail to prepare then prepare to fail! Never was a saying so true! I thought after our ride that everything would be ok and that the sleeping bag would fit easily into the topbox as it had come vacuum packed and quite small. Fitting it into its bag was a bit of a shock. It is huge! Huge enough to take up nearly 52 litres of space! Unfortunately, this only became clear at about 8pm yesterday evening by which time we should have already left the house...
Given that we were running late already, an executive decision was made to say stuff it to the camping and we'd have to settle with B&B's! Not ideal in terms of cost and I was actually looking forward to sleeping under the stars for a few nights at least.
I will approach solutions to this problem on our return!
So after our last minute panic and trying different solutions we left at 9pm just as the sun was setting. I've not undertaken a journey so long at such a late time but I think the excitement and adrenaline were keeping me alert and after an hour and a bit we were due a petrol stop at which point we refuelled ourselves too with tea and redbull. The latter perked me up to a point further than I had expected and I spent the rest of our 200 mile journey to the Travelodge in Oswestry with my eyes wide open "making good progress"!!! The roads were quiet and our last stint on the A5 was so quiet that there were large spells without seeing a single car. I'd also opted to try out the Google GPS Navigation on the phone which I had successfully used in the car a couple of weeks previously. This time however, I only had my headphones to rely on. After sitting in silence for quite a while, evil psycho google navigation woman kicked in scaring the shit out of me, especially as I'd neglected to test the volume before setting off so not only did she sound evil, she was shouting at me too!
After 3.5 hours of riding and some fantastically accurate, if not scary directions, we made it to our Travelodge destination, checked in, discovered a dodgy window, swapped rooms and fell asleep promptly!
Hotel room? I thought you were camping??
Well, this was the idea but I think, as they say, fail to prepare then prepare to fail! Never was a saying so true! I thought after our ride that everything would be ok and that the sleeping bag would fit easily into the topbox as it had come vacuum packed and quite small. Fitting it into its bag was a bit of a shock. It is huge! Huge enough to take up nearly 52 litres of space! Unfortunately, this only became clear at about 8pm yesterday evening by which time we should have already left the house...
Given that we were running late already, an executive decision was made to say stuff it to the camping and we'd have to settle with B&B's! Not ideal in terms of cost and I was actually looking forward to sleeping under the stars for a few nights at least.
I will approach solutions to this problem on our return!
So after our last minute panic and trying different solutions we left at 9pm just as the sun was setting. I've not undertaken a journey so long at such a late time but I think the excitement and adrenaline were keeping me alert and after an hour and a bit we were due a petrol stop at which point we refuelled ourselves too with tea and redbull. The latter perked me up to a point further than I had expected and I spent the rest of our 200 mile journey to the Travelodge in Oswestry with my eyes wide open "making good progress"!!! The roads were quiet and our last stint on the A5 was so quiet that there were large spells without seeing a single car. I'd also opted to try out the Google GPS Navigation on the phone which I had successfully used in the car a couple of weeks previously. This time however, I only had my headphones to rely on. After sitting in silence for quite a while, evil psycho google navigation woman kicked in scaring the shit out of me, especially as I'd neglected to test the volume before setting off so not only did she sound evil, she was shouting at me too!
After 3.5 hours of riding and some fantastically accurate, if not scary directions, we made it to our Travelodge destination, checked in, discovered a dodgy window, swapped rooms and fell asleep promptly!
Ready to go!
So after fitting the luggage racks and riding with them empty over the weekend I figured it would be best to take the bike out for a test run fully laden.
Cases filled we jumped on the bike and the rain started to fall. Nothing like getting out on some slippy winding roads for your first test on the bike with large amounts of luggage!
The first thing I noticed was the weight distribution. Not only was the weight mostly at the back of the bike, the added combination of the weight sticking out from the sides of the bike made slow maneuvers interesting to stay the least. 30mins onwards and it felt like I could cope with it easy enough or so I thought....
Cases filled we jumped on the bike and the rain started to fall. Nothing like getting out on some slippy winding roads for your first test on the bike with large amounts of luggage!
The first thing I noticed was the weight distribution. Not only was the weight mostly at the back of the bike, the added combination of the weight sticking out from the sides of the bike made slow maneuvers interesting to stay the least. 30mins onwards and it felt like I could cope with it easy enough or so I thought....
Monday 16 May 2011
What happened in the last 2 months!
So, looking at the last date I posted it was just over 2 months ago! I've been lazy...
A lot has happened since back in March. I had just posted that Nikki had been on the bike for the first time and we were getting along with the bike just fine.
After a couple of weeks we had the first signs of warm weather on the 19th March. Hurridly, we packed a change of clothes and wash stuff into a rucksack on the saturday morning, jumped on the bike and rode into the distance...
We found ourselves heading down through the New Forest and west along the south coast. After a small stop in Lyme Regis later in the afternoon it was the point of deciding whether we should carry on and stay out overnight or carry on and stay out overnight. We decided that there was a B&B not far off from where we were that we'd stayed at last year in Kingswear near Dartmouth. Thanks to our handy new phones, we found the number quickly, confirmed a bed and headed off arriving just before sunset which was perfect timing in my opinion!
If anyone is interested, the B&B we stayed at was called Nonsuch House - http://www.nonsuch-house.co.uk/. If you're ever in the area, I would highly recommend a stay. The scenery and views from the rooms are outstanding and is in my opinion, the perfect getaway for a weekend away from the city. The breakfasts are also fab!
This was the view from our room!
Anyway, back to the bike!
Whilst chomping our way through a hearty breakfast, Nikki wondered how far Lands End was from Dartmouth. Now, my geography is good enough to tell you where abouts in the country places are but distances, I seem to be a bit worse with! The seed had been planted for a thought to the southern most tip and soon enough we were packed up and on our way.
We eventually arrived at around 3pm, a little achey, tired and hungry! There weren't many people about and most of the touristy shops were shut but we managed to get some food, took some snaps and started to make our way back. All in all, we were out on the bike, riding, for a total of 10 hours. This was a good learning curve for the both of us. I found out I couldn't spend an infinite amount of time on the bike and we came to the conclusion that 200 miles was around the maximum distance or 5 hours was the maximum travel time for one day - whichever was reached first.
Since then, the weather has warmed up further, the evenings have become longer and England's green and pleasant land has become green once again after the harsh coldness of winter. Given the warm and dry spring we have experienced, riding past woodland with Bluebells in full bloom have been a delight being able to smell the perfumed air as we ride past.
We've had evenings out after work riding to the coast for dinner and weekends a plenty travelling around exploring our county and the surrounding ones. It feels like Nikki and I are spending more time together exploring the country together much like when were first dating. I'm definitely glad we're experiencing this together now.
Back to the impending Ireland trip! Nikki still hasn't looked through any of the Ireland stuff I went through. I'm in the process of now confirming the route. At least I have something productive to do on my train journeys for the rest of the week!
We've now bought the luggage racks and top box and panniers for the bike. I've never experienced so much frustration. Different bolts required to get it to fit, bolting bits to different parts of the bike it took an entire day just to fit the panniers! The finished result is this though and it seems like we can fit loads in all the boxes (41 litres per pannier and 52 on the topbox!).
The rest of the week will be spent practicing riding with the boxes loaded up ready to leave on Thursday night!
A lot has happened since back in March. I had just posted that Nikki had been on the bike for the first time and we were getting along with the bike just fine.
After a couple of weeks we had the first signs of warm weather on the 19th March. Hurridly, we packed a change of clothes and wash stuff into a rucksack on the saturday morning, jumped on the bike and rode into the distance...
We found ourselves heading down through the New Forest and west along the south coast. After a small stop in Lyme Regis later in the afternoon it was the point of deciding whether we should carry on and stay out overnight or carry on and stay out overnight. We decided that there was a B&B not far off from where we were that we'd stayed at last year in Kingswear near Dartmouth. Thanks to our handy new phones, we found the number quickly, confirmed a bed and headed off arriving just before sunset which was perfect timing in my opinion!
If anyone is interested, the B&B we stayed at was called Nonsuch House - http://www.nonsuch-house.co.uk/. If you're ever in the area, I would highly recommend a stay. The scenery and views from the rooms are outstanding and is in my opinion, the perfect getaway for a weekend away from the city. The breakfasts are also fab!
Anyway, back to the bike!
Whilst chomping our way through a hearty breakfast, Nikki wondered how far Lands End was from Dartmouth. Now, my geography is good enough to tell you where abouts in the country places are but distances, I seem to be a bit worse with! The seed had been planted for a thought to the southern most tip and soon enough we were packed up and on our way.
We eventually arrived at around 3pm, a little achey, tired and hungry! There weren't many people about and most of the touristy shops were shut but we managed to get some food, took some snaps and started to make our way back. All in all, we were out on the bike, riding, for a total of 10 hours. This was a good learning curve for the both of us. I found out I couldn't spend an infinite amount of time on the bike and we came to the conclusion that 200 miles was around the maximum distance or 5 hours was the maximum travel time for one day - whichever was reached first.
Since then, the weather has warmed up further, the evenings have become longer and England's green and pleasant land has become green once again after the harsh coldness of winter. Given the warm and dry spring we have experienced, riding past woodland with Bluebells in full bloom have been a delight being able to smell the perfumed air as we ride past.
We've had evenings out after work riding to the coast for dinner and weekends a plenty travelling around exploring our county and the surrounding ones. It feels like Nikki and I are spending more time together exploring the country together much like when were first dating. I'm definitely glad we're experiencing this together now.
Back to the impending Ireland trip! Nikki still hasn't looked through any of the Ireland stuff I went through. I'm in the process of now confirming the route. At least I have something productive to do on my train journeys for the rest of the week!
We've now bought the luggage racks and top box and panniers for the bike. I've never experienced so much frustration. Different bolts required to get it to fit, bolting bits to different parts of the bike it took an entire day just to fit the panniers! The finished result is this though and it seems like we can fit loads in all the boxes (41 litres per pannier and 52 on the topbox!).
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Sundays, made for eating and biking!
Saturday night was a bit sleepless due to a little, ok a lot, excited about taking Nikki out on the bike on Sunday.
I found, a week or so ago, that I couldn't adjust the preload on the rear suspension. The C clamp tool that came with the bike, great as it is for the job, has a handle only a few inches long. For leverage, this is, to put it bluntly, bollocks! At least I assumed it was a leverage problem and not that it had seized due to never having been used!
A trip was paid to the father in law to be's who always has a tool for any kind of job and thankfully found, that with an extended bard with a 16mm socket on the end to fit over the handle, the suspension preload selector moved surprisingly easily.
Revelation: The bike comes with the preload set on the number 3 setting. As a cautious move, I notched it up to 5 and took the bike for a very quick spin round a block of houses. To my horror, I found that I've probably been riding the bike with my preload too soft as number 5 felt perfect for me!
Panic set in after this revelation as if a number 5 setting was perfect for me, this would be an indicator that a 6 probably wouldn't be ok for me + another! Up it went to a number 7!
Now usually I'm a believer of all of the gear all of the time but to test the suspension, Nikki was a little self concious of getting on the bike on the street where she'd grown up clad in all her new clothing. I wasn't too fussed as I knew we'd only be doing a max of 10mph and had fallen off plenty of times much faster on my push bike. So helmets on and onto the bike she hopped worrying about the amount of "wobble" she had caused to the bike! I reassured her that this was fine (now wasn't the time to tell her about my first time as a pillion and falling backwards after trying to hike up onto the peg!), checked she was ready to move and off we went down the road!
After a very short distance, turning around and back to the house, I was confident that the bike was setup well enough and we left for home shortly after.
With the sun shining as we arrived back to the house, I suggested that we went out on the bike seeing as it was now fully set up and we had all the gear which was met with some reservation but responded to positively.
Now for those that do ride bikes, think back to the first time you put all your clothing on... took a little while didn't it? For those that don't ride, I think the only way I can put it is try and put another 5 layers of clothes on top of what you're wearing and you'll get the same kind of manouverability that you experience when you've got all the motorbike gear on!
After about 20mins of getting ourselves together, we made off without a clue where we were going and only with the knowledge that again, after missing breakfast and lunch, we needed to eat soon!
Pulling away initially, the bike felt a lot more stable once up to 30mph. The first roundabout came and we made it round perfectly! I knew from there onwards that everything would be fine.
The first time we stopped after riding for about 10 minutes incorporating national speed limits I heard a voice from behind me "I know you can't see this, but I've got a massive grin on my face!". I don't think I could have heard more reassuring words and at the next set of lights, we done our first bit of filtering. As I approached the front of the queue though, the lights changed earlier than I expected. Accelerating harder than I had done previously from 1st gear, the front wheel lifted but no more than a foot! It was at this point that I felt I would feel one of my pre arranged signals - hit my shoulders repeatedly if you're worried - but to my surprise it never came! A swift change to 2nd and back on the power ensured a smooth landing for the front wheel and off we went down my usual roads to Portsmouth.
From then onwards, every time I had a chance to speak, the signs were good from Nikki letting me know at one point that "this is amazing!". I think as a biker, we forget sometimes that feeling and exhilaration of being on powered two wheels for the first time.
The bike was flowing nicely through the country lanes, the fresh, cool, crisp air funneling smells of freshly cut grass through the helmet was fantastic and the sunshine infront warming our faces through the visors was perfect. I couldn't have hoped for a better day to have brought Nikki out on her first ride. We even spotted Lama's in a field that we had driven past so many times before!
The rest of the day was spent riding around Hampshire enjoying the country roads and visiting places that we used to live in which was a nice trip down memory lane too. All in all, a perfect day out.
Now, the downside is that as the suspnsion preload is a the top setting, it may not be able to cope with the panniers and the top box too which will add another 35Kgs. For the moment though, I'm not going to worry about this but have it in the back of my mind that a suspension upgrade may be in order!
I'm hoping that the next post will finally reveal all the places that we are going to be visiting in Ireland!
I found, a week or so ago, that I couldn't adjust the preload on the rear suspension. The C clamp tool that came with the bike, great as it is for the job, has a handle only a few inches long. For leverage, this is, to put it bluntly, bollocks! At least I assumed it was a leverage problem and not that it had seized due to never having been used!
A trip was paid to the father in law to be's who always has a tool for any kind of job and thankfully found, that with an extended bard with a 16mm socket on the end to fit over the handle, the suspension preload selector moved surprisingly easily.
Revelation: The bike comes with the preload set on the number 3 setting. As a cautious move, I notched it up to 5 and took the bike for a very quick spin round a block of houses. To my horror, I found that I've probably been riding the bike with my preload too soft as number 5 felt perfect for me!
Panic set in after this revelation as if a number 5 setting was perfect for me, this would be an indicator that a 6 probably wouldn't be ok for me + another! Up it went to a number 7!
Now usually I'm a believer of all of the gear all of the time but to test the suspension, Nikki was a little self concious of getting on the bike on the street where she'd grown up clad in all her new clothing. I wasn't too fussed as I knew we'd only be doing a max of 10mph and had fallen off plenty of times much faster on my push bike. So helmets on and onto the bike she hopped worrying about the amount of "wobble" she had caused to the bike! I reassured her that this was fine (now wasn't the time to tell her about my first time as a pillion and falling backwards after trying to hike up onto the peg!), checked she was ready to move and off we went down the road!
After a very short distance, turning around and back to the house, I was confident that the bike was setup well enough and we left for home shortly after.
With the sun shining as we arrived back to the house, I suggested that we went out on the bike seeing as it was now fully set up and we had all the gear which was met with some reservation but responded to positively.
Now for those that do ride bikes, think back to the first time you put all your clothing on... took a little while didn't it? For those that don't ride, I think the only way I can put it is try and put another 5 layers of clothes on top of what you're wearing and you'll get the same kind of manouverability that you experience when you've got all the motorbike gear on!
After about 20mins of getting ourselves together, we made off without a clue where we were going and only with the knowledge that again, after missing breakfast and lunch, we needed to eat soon!
Pulling away initially, the bike felt a lot more stable once up to 30mph. The first roundabout came and we made it round perfectly! I knew from there onwards that everything would be fine.
The first time we stopped after riding for about 10 minutes incorporating national speed limits I heard a voice from behind me "I know you can't see this, but I've got a massive grin on my face!". I don't think I could have heard more reassuring words and at the next set of lights, we done our first bit of filtering. As I approached the front of the queue though, the lights changed earlier than I expected. Accelerating harder than I had done previously from 1st gear, the front wheel lifted but no more than a foot! It was at this point that I felt I would feel one of my pre arranged signals - hit my shoulders repeatedly if you're worried - but to my surprise it never came! A swift change to 2nd and back on the power ensured a smooth landing for the front wheel and off we went down my usual roads to Portsmouth.
From then onwards, every time I had a chance to speak, the signs were good from Nikki letting me know at one point that "this is amazing!". I think as a biker, we forget sometimes that feeling and exhilaration of being on powered two wheels for the first time.
The bike was flowing nicely through the country lanes, the fresh, cool, crisp air funneling smells of freshly cut grass through the helmet was fantastic and the sunshine infront warming our faces through the visors was perfect. I couldn't have hoped for a better day to have brought Nikki out on her first ride. We even spotted Lama's in a field that we had driven past so many times before!
The rest of the day was spent riding around Hampshire enjoying the country roads and visiting places that we used to live in which was a nice trip down memory lane too. All in all, a perfect day out.
Now, the downside is that as the suspnsion preload is a the top setting, it may not be able to cope with the panniers and the top box too which will add another 35Kgs. For the moment though, I'm not going to worry about this but have it in the back of my mind that a suspension upgrade may be in order!
I'm hoping that the next post will finally reveal all the places that we are going to be visiting in Ireland!
Monday 7 March 2011
Saturdays, made for driving around and shopping!
So, again, it's been a while since I last posted up on here. I'm still going through that Ireland book and am now up to 2 pages of A4 worth of places to visit with still another 300 pages to go! I will complete it one day!
Anyway, back to the here and now!
Payday was just over a week ago and I'm sure as many others do, that money was just itching to be spent. With the forthcoming trip to Ireland in just over 2 months time and the weather becoming warmer (ever so slightly) and the days getting longer it was high time that we started looking for some motorbike clothing for Nikki.
After much looking online, we found a shop in Poole that seemed to have the right clothing selection so on Saturday we drove down. The plan was to leave nice and early, miss the traffic, get the clothes and spend the day by the beach. As it worked out, we left at 11am, got stuck in traffic between Bournemouth and Poole and had to make an unscheduled shop when the car overheated due to a lack of coolant!
We arrived at the shop which seemed to be in the middle of a virtually desolate street, parked up and walked in. Greeted by a friendly shop assistant, Nikki tried on a few items and eventually we found what we were after. Jacket, trousers and gloves for £250! With this being such a bargain, I thought I would treat myself and as any good Indian would do, haggled a pair of Goretex Alpinestars down to £50! Unfortunately, none of the boots were a great fit so we had to give them a miss.
At this point, we realised that not only had we missed breakfast, but had effectively missed lunchtime too and were both starving so a quick trip to Bournemouth for lunch was done. After refuelling ourselves it was back home again with a quick stop at home to pick up my boots in the hope that the local Hein Gericke shop still had them in stock. Unfortunately, they had discontinued my boot but had another that was a good fit for Nikki so within 5 minutes a decision was made to make the purchase! Who said women took an age to shop?!?
After an exhausting day trekking around the south coast, I was fully excited about the prospect of going out on the bike the next day and fulfilling a 2 year dream of getting Nikki in the saddle too!
Anyway, back to the here and now!
Payday was just over a week ago and I'm sure as many others do, that money was just itching to be spent. With the forthcoming trip to Ireland in just over 2 months time and the weather becoming warmer (ever so slightly) and the days getting longer it was high time that we started looking for some motorbike clothing for Nikki.
After much looking online, we found a shop in Poole that seemed to have the right clothing selection so on Saturday we drove down. The plan was to leave nice and early, miss the traffic, get the clothes and spend the day by the beach. As it worked out, we left at 11am, got stuck in traffic between Bournemouth and Poole and had to make an unscheduled shop when the car overheated due to a lack of coolant!
We arrived at the shop which seemed to be in the middle of a virtually desolate street, parked up and walked in. Greeted by a friendly shop assistant, Nikki tried on a few items and eventually we found what we were after. Jacket, trousers and gloves for £250! With this being such a bargain, I thought I would treat myself and as any good Indian would do, haggled a pair of Goretex Alpinestars down to £50! Unfortunately, none of the boots were a great fit so we had to give them a miss.
At this point, we realised that not only had we missed breakfast, but had effectively missed lunchtime too and were both starving so a quick trip to Bournemouth for lunch was done. After refuelling ourselves it was back home again with a quick stop at home to pick up my boots in the hope that the local Hein Gericke shop still had them in stock. Unfortunately, they had discontinued my boot but had another that was a good fit for Nikki so within 5 minutes a decision was made to make the purchase! Who said women took an age to shop?!?
After an exhausting day trekking around the south coast, I was fully excited about the prospect of going out on the bike the next day and fulfilling a 2 year dream of getting Nikki in the saddle too!
Friday 11 February 2011
All is becoming clear!
So, not much has happened in the last couple of weeks. I've been reading up more on the lonely planet guide to Ireland more so the week before last than the week just past. This is mainly due to having left the book in the car and not being bothered to get it out!
I've now decided, more by default than choice, that the Garmin 550 will be the sat nav of choice. It turns out that the others don't include eastern Europe (Croatia and Hungary most importantly). I've also heard about other features as being able to upload routes from your computer to the device rather than choosing predetermined routes which is perfect. I'd also imagine setting up the routes on a computer would be easier than punching everything in to a tiny screen!
After much browsing through the internet for hard luggage for the bike, and becoming well and truly confused by the amount of different options available for hard luggage I paid a trip to the Suzuki motorcycle shop in Bordon today. Before I continue though, as I intended this to be a kind of guide for others planning the same thing here's a couple of little tips:
So this changes things slightly. Why would we want a 55 litre top box when I can't fill it up with luggage? I think the answer is that we don't so maybe it's time to start looking at smaller boxes. As long as it can hold the helmets and boots if we want to stop somewhere on our travels I think that will be good enough.
So, on a completely different note, on the way to the motorbike shop this morning, I had a moment of clarification. As I mentioned in my previous post, I crapped myself getting back on the bike for the first time since last year and although after my ride to scrub in the front tyre seemed to eliminate my fears, it was still annoying me why I felt like that. Today, I understood why! The bike seems to be turning more freely and where my limited technical knowledge lets me down I am certain the change of wheel bearings has made this better. In other words, I got used to riding my bike in a sub standard condition! Worryingly, I think this means that all last year, my bike was, putting it bluntly, fucked! At least I know now that if I experience the same problems I will be able to correctly diagnose the fault.
I'm not sure if I had mentioned before but Nikki has never been on the bike, moving or stationary and a big worry for her is how the bike balances. Now, we don't have all the gear for her yet but I think seeing as the ball is rolling now, that it would be best to instill some confidence so tomorrow, Nikki will be having her first sit on the bike. I think I'm more excited at the moment than she!
I'm hoping to have completed the lonely planet guide on Ireland soon so be prepared, the next post may be longer than this!
I've now decided, more by default than choice, that the Garmin 550 will be the sat nav of choice. It turns out that the others don't include eastern Europe (Croatia and Hungary most importantly). I've also heard about other features as being able to upload routes from your computer to the device rather than choosing predetermined routes which is perfect. I'd also imagine setting up the routes on a computer would be easier than punching everything in to a tiny screen!
After much browsing through the internet for hard luggage for the bike, and becoming well and truly confused by the amount of different options available for hard luggage I paid a trip to the Suzuki motorcycle shop in Bordon today. Before I continue though, as I intended this to be a kind of guide for others planning the same thing here's a couple of little tips:
- Get Monokey hard luggage, it's been speed tested! I can only imagine that if you're willing to get the Monolock version, you don't care about your luggage flying off down the Autobahn as you're testing out your top speed!
- All hard luggage I've seen seems to have a maximum weight capacity of 10Kg (panniers and top box).
- The weight of the top box is included in the overall weight capacity given ie. If you're top box weight capacity is 10Kg and it weighs 5Kg, your allowance for actual luggage will only be 5Kg!
- Some bike manufacturers don't recommend using top box and panniers simultaneously. Check your owners manual for advice (I've yet to do this...).
So this changes things slightly. Why would we want a 55 litre top box when I can't fill it up with luggage? I think the answer is that we don't so maybe it's time to start looking at smaller boxes. As long as it can hold the helmets and boots if we want to stop somewhere on our travels I think that will be good enough.
So, on a completely different note, on the way to the motorbike shop this morning, I had a moment of clarification. As I mentioned in my previous post, I crapped myself getting back on the bike for the first time since last year and although after my ride to scrub in the front tyre seemed to eliminate my fears, it was still annoying me why I felt like that. Today, I understood why! The bike seems to be turning more freely and where my limited technical knowledge lets me down I am certain the change of wheel bearings has made this better. In other words, I got used to riding my bike in a sub standard condition! Worryingly, I think this means that all last year, my bike was, putting it bluntly, fucked! At least I know now that if I experience the same problems I will be able to correctly diagnose the fault.
I'm not sure if I had mentioned before but Nikki has never been on the bike, moving or stationary and a big worry for her is how the bike balances. Now, we don't have all the gear for her yet but I think seeing as the ball is rolling now, that it would be best to instill some confidence so tomorrow, Nikki will be having her first sit on the bike. I think I'm more excited at the moment than she!
I'm hoping to have completed the lonely planet guide on Ireland soon so be prepared, the next post may be longer than this!
Sunday 30 January 2011
The bike is fixed!
A couple of weeks have passed since I wrote the first post although only just posted it up.
After much faffing, I decided my mechanical knowledge wasn't quite up to it and put the bike in the local garage. New brake pads and a front wheel bearings plus a new front tyre and the bike is running fine.
Shock, I picked up the bike yesterday and crapped myself on the half mile journey going home? Have I forgotten how to ride my bike?!?
I've also lost my neck tube so off to the shop this morning to buy another one and headed out for the first ride of the year. Riding nervously towards the dual carriageway, I couldn't resist.... Using the slip road as a drag strip is too much fun! I forgot how fast the bike accelerates and before I'm even thinking of leaving the slip road I'm close to breaking the speed limit! The grin turns into a manic laugh as I thunder down the road remembering every reason why I love biking! The fresh air, the sun shining through my visor warming my face through the cold winter air! I put 100 miles on the clock and regain my confidence in the bike and myself.
We've also been looking at the sat navs and intercoms and the Scala Q2 looks good but is expensive considering that we're on the same bike. The sat nav will most likely now be the Garmin 550. It appears that Tom Tom do not do maps to cover eastern Europe...
With the accessories decided on, the next step will be to figure out the hard luggage options for the bike and to start looking properly at where we may go in Ireland!
After much faffing, I decided my mechanical knowledge wasn't quite up to it and put the bike in the local garage. New brake pads and a front wheel bearings plus a new front tyre and the bike is running fine.
Shock, I picked up the bike yesterday and crapped myself on the half mile journey going home? Have I forgotten how to ride my bike?!?
I've also lost my neck tube so off to the shop this morning to buy another one and headed out for the first ride of the year. Riding nervously towards the dual carriageway, I couldn't resist.... Using the slip road as a drag strip is too much fun! I forgot how fast the bike accelerates and before I'm even thinking of leaving the slip road I'm close to breaking the speed limit! The grin turns into a manic laugh as I thunder down the road remembering every reason why I love biking! The fresh air, the sun shining through my visor warming my face through the cold winter air! I put 100 miles on the clock and regain my confidence in the bike and myself.
We've also been looking at the sat navs and intercoms and the Scala Q2 looks good but is expensive considering that we're on the same bike. The sat nav will most likely now be the Garmin 550. It appears that Tom Tom do not do maps to cover eastern Europe...
With the accessories decided on, the next step will be to figure out the hard luggage options for the bike and to start looking properly at where we may go in Ireland!
The start of a whole new journey!
So the journey began last August having taken a trip to Wales alone with the bike having gone away for a couple of days riding round some of the best roads I have ever come across even though it rained, hard, for a solid 24 hours.
I knew that I always wanted to go away on the motorbike but couldn't have left my other half behind. This was the first time we'd spent the night apart in over 5 years through choice rather than not having any option and it felt odd.
When I got back home though, to my surprise, Nikki my long suffering girlfriend, had decided that she did want to go away on the bike as a pillion and the cogs started whirring!
A couple of weeks later and it was holiday renewal time at work. 1 week in May for our anniversary, another week in July (going away in June has always brought about trouble for us!) and 4 weeks starting at the end of August all approved by my manager. The time was booked off for our first second and third motorbike trips!
It didn't take long to decide roughly where we were going. It was decided that we would visit Ireland first as we'd always wanted to visit but hadn't been, Scotland second, our 6 month anniversary was spent in Edinburgh and we'd always wanted to go back but hadn't got round to it and then 4 weeks round Europe.
Roll forward to 2 weeks ago and we'd not done any planning on where exactly we wanted to go, not thought about what luggage we needed for the bike, not thought about riding gear, intercoms and sat navs and most importantly, the bike was off the road due to not having brakes and something wrong with the steering...
Time to start planning!
I knew that I always wanted to go away on the motorbike but couldn't have left my other half behind. This was the first time we'd spent the night apart in over 5 years through choice rather than not having any option and it felt odd.
When I got back home though, to my surprise, Nikki my long suffering girlfriend, had decided that she did want to go away on the bike as a pillion and the cogs started whirring!
A couple of weeks later and it was holiday renewal time at work. 1 week in May for our anniversary, another week in July (going away in June has always brought about trouble for us!) and 4 weeks starting at the end of August all approved by my manager. The time was booked off for our first second and third motorbike trips!
It didn't take long to decide roughly where we were going. It was decided that we would visit Ireland first as we'd always wanted to visit but hadn't been, Scotland second, our 6 month anniversary was spent in Edinburgh and we'd always wanted to go back but hadn't got round to it and then 4 weeks round Europe.
Roll forward to 2 weeks ago and we'd not done any planning on where exactly we wanted to go, not thought about what luggage we needed for the bike, not thought about riding gear, intercoms and sat navs and most importantly, the bike was off the road due to not having brakes and something wrong with the steering...
Time to start planning!
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