Hi , well I'm in Scotland have been for a day and a half now so this is what happened, I left Doolin and pushed north to the town of Westport though the Connamaragh National park what a place, bleak barron peat bog and mountains as far as the eye can see, beautiful windswept and I mean that seriously windswept, the riding was fanastistic long straight roads across this completly empty landscape . Stopped for a fag in the middle of nowhere and had what you'd call a road to Damascus experience , sounds silly but I did straight up. Anyway I'm not going into that too personal. Rode the Connamaragh loop through the mountains and along the coast awe inspiring as ever then off into Westport. Saturday night so I found a b&b about 4 miles outside town, closest available, Thought, being me' that I'd walk into town and get something to eat, 4 miles is alot further on foot than on the bike. I'd been walking for a little while when a car pulled up "Are you out for a walk or are you going somewhere?" came a voice from the car. I explained that I was walking into Westport and Tommy, the guy in the car said "Hop in I'll give you a lift into town." how nice is that? having got a lift into town I purchased an awful meal in a place that claimed to be a resturant, being honest I new it was going to be rough when I saw them make an Irish Coffee with nescafe and bells whiskey, yuk.Great b&b by the way St. Barnards , lovely people who own it.
Next day head north again to the coast of Mayo and the Craic Neolithic Fields site a whole farming community field networks, houses, burial chambers buried under the peat for 4000 years a place I'd recommend to anyone who finds themselves in that part of the world. The cliffs that the site sits on are amazing too shear drops straight into a dark purpley-blue sea, beautiful.
From there I pushed on into Dongal, Dun na galh, ah whatever. That was a hard ride its a fair old way from Mayo to there in one hit. Got into town and the place was full of bikers, cool. Met three fella's with Harleys who planned my next days route for me between them, with not just a little aurgument which went along the lines of "he's gotta do the Antrim coast", "Ahh fuck you and your bloody Antrim coast yer bastard its friggin windy that way". That sort of thing. Anyway after about 15 minutes of this we'd, I mean they'd sorted a route for me across the top of Northern Ireland to Larne and the ferry port.Had a fanastic meal in the hotel resturant in the middle of Donegal more than I could eat and 28 Euros the lot fab. Pubs were all pretty empty it being Sunday night so I went back to my B&B and slept like a log.
Morning and its off to the North crossed the River Foil lnto Straban and out of the Republic first thing I'm greeted with was red, white and blue kerb stones ,Ulster flags and Union Fags everwhere and there's me with a big Tricolour on the back of my top box. To be honest i was not just a little intimidated, slightly depressed and more than a bit fucking angry, Loyalist bigots, fuck em! may they all rot in a pit somewhere nasty. See, I'm not a practicing catholic but I am a republican by nature and my name is a Gealic one and those bastards hate me too, so as i said Fuck em. Pity ,because the A2 is a beatiful road the Giants Causeway is cool and the much vaunted Antrim coast road is truely one of the best roads that I have ever ridden but I'll never go back to the North again. Horrible people. The catholic towns where ok though I felt comfortable in those. Anyway enough of politics into Larne for an hour and a bit wait for the ferry to Cairnryan that was uneventful I landed at 6.30pm and headed north stopped in a hotel in Gervan, I think thats how its spelt, on the Ayre coast meet several very pissed scots folk who, as seems to be the way in most places when you tell folk what your doing, took to planning my route for the next day. Being fair though local knowledge is very helpful and I did as I was told. Rode from there up through Glasgow, I love that town to bits, then on up the side of loch Lommand and on through to Glen Coe. Well what can you say the Highlands are the best, riding a bike here just can't be beat. I was going to stop at Fort William but it was so cool that I couldn't just stop there , I just had to ride more and more so I've ended up here in Fort Augustus on the banks of Loch Ness in the Lovett Hotel very nice and they got a computer which I'm tapping away at as we speak , anyway your up to date and I'm sitting next to the bar so bye I'll write soon.