Mrs Dog was not well on Sunday night and I took her to the Docs yesterday.  She has a nasty kidney infection and has been put on antibiotics, but we won't know for a few days if she's going to get better or be REALLY ill, so we've decided not to risk going on the bike.  We're going in the car, if at all.  At least that way I will be able to scoop her up and bring her home if she's "proper poorly".

Gutted.

--

2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Cork was where I was first introduced to the Irish sense of humour.  We (girlfriend and I) were frozen, having ridden in the rain from Dun Laoghaire (sp?) to Cork.  We stopped at a newsagents/bar in the town centre and tried to get a drink.  Ah, no can do, sorry, twenty minutes to go to opening time.  We bought a paper and asked if we could wait in the bar, as it was pouring down outside.  Ar, to be sure you can.  We sat for a few minutes in silence, and then:

"Would you be after havin' a drink while you're waiting?"

--

2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Not been to Ireland myself, but with the new bike I'm planning on riding a fair way on her. Ireland is a possibility, I'm sure I'll be hitting Wales at some point (my mate is at uni there)

Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer ... in gold! 

Ride safe, and look out for the Rainbow of Death!

^{There're only 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count, and those that can't.}

^{Roses are red, Violets are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic ..... and so am I!}

^{Take pity on the man who invented the drawing board, when he screwed up, he had nothing to fall back on.}

^{Stuff everything, I've always got my bike.}

It was a long time ago that I was there - it was pretty much Third World standard then (c. 1974).  The main road from Dublin to Cork was a single carriageway with "slow lanes" on either side for the tractors.  At one point they were resurfacing it, so the road dropped six inches to a raked, gravelly surface for about 100m, then rose six inches back up to the normal level.  I was doing the speed limit of 60 when I hit this, and how I managed to keep it shiny side up I don't know.  There were NO warning signs AT ALL.  And this was on the Irish equivalent of the M4.  It's all a lot better now - they've had enough of my money through EU subsidies to pave the lot in gold - but my step-daughter warned us that there are still a lot of drivers around over there who have never had a lesson, never mind taken a test, and that road safety is - how you say - not a great priority for most people.  I'm told Ireland is great for a bike tour, though.

Where's your mate?  If you're down this way, you must drop in for a sherbert or three.

--

2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer ... in gold! 

Ride safe, and look out for the Rainbow of Death!

^{There're only 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count, and those that can't.}

^{Roses are red, Violets are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic ..... and so am I!}

^{Take pity on the man who invented the drawing board, when he screwed up, he had nothing to fall back on.}

^{Stuff everything, I've always got my bike.}

Straight down the M4 - the Fazer should polish that off in an hour or so.

--

2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer ... in gold! 

Ride safe, and look out for the Rainbow of Death!

^{There're only 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count, and those that can't.}

^{Roses are red, Violets are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic ..... and so am I!}

^{Take pity on the man who invented the drawing board, when he screwed up, he had nothing to fall back on.}

^{Stuff everything, I've always got my bike.}

Ireland (in the CAR, chiz chiz) was an interesting weekend.  We were out, doing one thing and another, most of the time, so I had very little sleep and far too much Guinness.

Irish roads - still rubbish!  Some stretches of motorway which were "tolled" and up to the best French standards, but mostly single-carriageway with "slow lanes" and some of the worst surfaces I have seen outside of on off-road playday.  The M50 round Dublin made the M25 look like a race-track, and on the way back to the ferry (BH Monday late afternoon, admittedly) the queue heading back to Dublin from the South was 30 miles long.  Thank heavens we were going the other way!

Highlight of the trip was a visit to Newgrange (a Neolithic passage tomb, reconstructed to "original" after excavation - google it for pictures) which was stunning - a huge mound on top of a hill, visible for miles, and faced with brilliant white flint which shone in the sunshine.  Superb curly artwork on the stones, totally dry for 5000 years inside, the passage lines up perfectly with the midwinter sunrise, and built before the pyramids were even thought of.  Utterly amazing.

We were invited to a quiz night at the local rugby club on the Sunday night.  My team lost, but the company was the friendliest I have ever experienced and the craic was brilliant.  Can't wait to go back - on the soddin' BIKE next time.

--

2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Aparently Stoner got the win, Rossi secoind and Jonny Hopkins finaly got a podium.

Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer ... in gold! 

Ride safe, and look out for the Rainbow of Death!

^{There're only 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count, and those that can't.}

^{Roses are red, Violets are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic ..... and so am I!}

^{Take pity on the man who invented the drawing board, when he screwed up, he had nothing to fall back on.}

^{Stuff everything, I've always got my bike.}