Killarney to Killorglin - Cycling in Ireland

We had our first Irish breakfast this morning at our B&B: oj, toast, brown break, fried egg, sausage, bacon (of the canadian variety I think), and lots of coffeeeee. Mmmmmm. So we dressed out in our bike gear, loaded down with the stuff we thought we might need throughout the day, and took off. Irish Cycle Hire has people that will come and pick up our luggage and transport it to our next B&B, pretty convenient that.

Photo: Dad and I had to adapt to riding on the wrong side of the road PDQ so, you know, we wouldn't get run over or anything

Our first destination was the Gap of Dunloe, basically a very skinny road cutting between two mountains, which we could have explored on foot, on our bikes, or by pony cart, but Dad thought the weather might close in and so we pushed on. Not really a hard ride at all, skipped through a couple little villages, and found our way to our B&B (outside of town, again) in Killorglin. Cute little place, famous for the Puck Fair it holds every August 10-12, where they capture a wild goat, bring it to town, crown it king of the festivities, and party down for 48 straight. My kind of people.

Photo, right: the town of Killorglin

Photo, below: road sign in Ballykissane. My interpretation is "don't drive your car off a giant square into the wavy lines below - its a big drop!"

Dad and I arrived kind of early in the day, and saw on the map a road labeled "to Ballykissane", which if you have ever heard of the show Ballykissangel, that's the place that it gets its name and is slightly based off of (maybe). Up a hill, down a hill, down some country lanes, all the way to the river, and back again. Found the "Ballykissane Monument", but don't know what it was for since it was in Gaelic, so we went down a road that thought led back to town, and by some chance happened to be right. That never happens.

Then we went down to a restaurant near the water where they served some awesome fish, and had some beer. Not much going on in these little places, especially today, which was a semi-final all-gaelic football game between Kerry and Cork, so everyone and their goat was inside watching the game while we were out riding around and enjoying the sunshine.

Photo, right: every day should end with a pint of beer. And yes, I tried Guiness, but I'm an ale and lager girl myself, so after my obligatory stout, I stuck to the Harp. Mmmmm.

Counting the Fourty Shades of Green in Ireland, by Bike!

Dad and I are off on a trip to ride our bikes around the Dingle Penninsula in Ireland, kind of a dream for us.

So, guess what greets Dad and I as we exit the airport in Shannon - a good old Irish rain. Not a rain really, just a heavy drizzle. Thus we are baptized into Ireland. A two hour busride, a little confused wandering to find Irish Cycle Hire, and a cab ride later, we arrive at our B&B.

Photo: Ross Castle

Per my travel philosophy of not succumbing to the exhaustion that threatens to overwhelm after an overnight transatlantic flight, Dad and I collect our bikes and set off for our first adventure. Not too far out of town is Killarney National Park, an 11,000 acre swath of forests and lakes and aminals (no, I did not misspell that) and paths and some historical stuff too. We went to check out Ross Castle, a ruin of a tower standing on the edge of one of the lakes.

Photo: magical forest in Killarney National Park

We saw signs pointing off in different directions with intriguing names like "Governor's Rock" and "Library Point", so we took off on our bikes into the forest proper. And a magical forest it was, all mossy with ferns and crazy trees, it was a very wild-feeling place, could very easily understand why the Druids and Celts felt there was a spiritual presence in Ireland, and especially here.

One particular path, towards Library Point, took us through pedal-deep water puddles (apparently it rains here a bit), and of course I couldn't keep my balance while trying to pedal slow so I didn't splash myself (the photo says it all). Yup, soaked my shoes clear though. Wouldn't really matter in the end though, because on our way back to the B&B it started misting, then drizzling, then outright raining, and we could not escape a thorough soaking even though we were riding under trees. Well shit. It was a very pretty ride, even when it was raining! Got lost on the way back, of course, and so arrived back at the B&B absolutely drenched, really you could say we swam our bikes back. Nothing a shower couldn't fix though!