Ring of Kerry - Part 2 - Dungarvan to Killarney via Beara Way

Up early after a big breakfast and on the road just after 9 following surgery in the Hotel car park using my multi-tool pliers to retrieve an ear plug from Mark's ear. While waiting I met a guy with leathers and denims stood next to a Harley in the car park. I spent 10 minutes discussing Harley ownership before he jumped in a car and drove off. Wasn't his bike at all !!

The route today took us out West avoiding the main dual carriageway roads skirting North of Cork South- West of Carrick on Suir with a stop at Blarney Castle for lunch.

On the way we passed through Lismore and the magnificent Castle just off the main road. I kind of wished we had stopped there for a look around instead, really did look a special place. Glorious sunshine today too, blue sky, 22 degrees and rising.

Lismore Castle

Blarney Castle (from the Car Park)

Now we were riding in some spectacular Irish countryside and stopped at Blarney, but 26 Euros seemed a bit steep for the entrance fee. Mark reckoned we would catch germs kissing the Blarney Stone anyway but we needed a break from the  jarring roads. We opted for a nice cafe for lunch instead. A bit touristy for us here really.

After another fifty miles we stopped for a drink in a lay-by somewhere off the R584 near Macroom. Mike riding without a GPS he was between myself and Mark so when pulled over Mark chose to ride off on his own around the valley to spin the Versys up a bit for fun. Quite entertaining watching him razzing around in the distance. 

Later in the afternoon we headed up the high pass Priests Leap. A single track road with plenty of gravel for Mike to have a go at, it rises up over 500 metres on the way to Kenmare. Stunning views up here, on the way we came across a camper van stuck in the middle of the road across the lane with its front in the hedge. We briefly considered stopping to help, but they had already called for help and I doubted we would have been able to push it out anyway so I made the decision to ride on past through the slight gap between the van and other side of the road. We met several cars coming down so figured they would have to assist anyway! 

The road up to Priest's Leap.

Mike - on the gravel rocket

Mike and Mark - Top of Priest's Leap

We now decided to switch in the alternative route for the additional 70 miles back down south to Glengarriff and join on to the Beara Way and ride around in a clockwise direction down to Cable Car Cafe and then back up the North coast toward  Kenmare.  

The Druid at the Druid's Loop pull in.

We met a couple of German bikers on Harley's and Mike tried to discuss Germany's chances in the world cup without much success, they did take a great photo of the three of us though .... winning smiles or what?

Blue Pool Lagoon near Glengarriff

Cafe Stop - Glengarriff

We needed fuel and a lunch stop even though by now it was almost 4 pm, a good rest was in order before we rode the next leg around Beara. We stopped at the Blue Loo pub, and had a Toastie and drink while chatting to a a very friendly couple (pictured right) over from Dublin on holiday.

The ride around the Peninsula was just sublime. Amazing views, the roads were twisty and a bit gnarly in places, I did wonder how Mike was coping with the additional miles and poor road surface (for a sports bike). I made it down to the Cable Car that crosses to Dursey Island and a few miles before this I noticed Mike and Mark were missing. I stopped and pulled up and waited for about ten minutes with no sign of them. Just as I was about to ride back to find them they arrived. It seems Mark had simply stopped to take a photo of some of these magnificent scenes - and who can blame him!

Views around the Beara Peninsula

On the way back up the N71 and through the wonderful Killarney National Park we travelled via  Molls Gap (Mountain Pass) all twisty and great before stopping at Lady's View to take in the sights of Upper Lake before passing by Muckross Lake and through Killarney town centre for a recce' for tonight and on to our nights stay at the very nice Heights Hotel.

"Great riding today lads .. superb" 223 Miles

I struggle to remember our night out in Killarney to be honest, I remember getting the taxi in, but have since been reminded by Mark we ate in the Porterhouse Gastro' Pub in a booth, but most of that night is a complete blur....

... we made it to this pub with a guitarist / band we couldn't see or get to 'cos it was rammed and rocking to some great tunes. Met plenty of friendly people in there and found the Craic' with them. Mike was explicitly told off for pouring part of his old Guinness pint into his new one - apparently it's sacrilege to do this, and I do remember Mark turning out with a nice looking dress jacket! How in the hell did he pack that on his bike with very few creases?

Later, we were advised to visit the Piano Bar. I really enjoyed this one aswell - a great atmosphere with great singalong musical ballads. I tried to borrow Mark's jacket to look the part but it didn't look right on me when viewed in the mirror behind the bar. There was a good guy banging out tunes on a Grand Piano (but I can't remember what now). By this time I was beginning to stagger a bit after my rubbish Pogo' attempt in the nightclub downstairs, so the tree of us headed back to the Hotel and had with a Disaronno night cap instead.

Didn't need it, but always knew it was there!

Tomorrow (er, later today) we ride ...... The Ring of Kerry

Ring of Kerry - Part 1 - Fishguard/Rosslare to Dungarvan

Myself and Mark recently agreed a short tour of Southern Ireland and the Ring of Kerry. I’m keen to go back and revisit the Dingle peninsula in county Kerry, great memories of a family holiday in 1978 and I’d read about some great roads cutting across the south too. Mike from work was interested in joining us on his first motorcycle tour so Mark was introduced to Mike in the cafe in Llandovery both Liverpool FC supporters ready for a fun bikers holiday away. All of the routes we used are available on My-Route-App here. 

Happy Days -  County Kerry, Summer 1978

Comfortable ride down from Llandovery after meeting Mark and Mike this morning and a very pleasant crossing. Mike had ridden a mammoth ride from Wigan, not bad for his first real tour, he was already at the Cafe - left home at 4 am, and called me while I was riding to meet Mark at the OK Diner to let me know he had arrived.

After LLandovery, we realised time was running out for our 13.15 crossing - we needed to be booked in 30 minutes before so we needed to get a move on. Our plotted route avoided the long boring A44 and turned off on to the B4313 toward Bethesda. This was a great choice but a bit alarming as the Garmin was saying an arrival time close to the check in time. Luckily, when we arrived there seemed to be some kind of delay in checking in anyway, so all was fine in the end. Mike getting his first impression of Sports bike vs Adventure bike on B roads !


I was really impressed with the Stena staff and the tie downs on the Ferry. Loads of space between the bikes, there were a few other bikers making the crossing too. Great weather, and a forecast to stay that way so we settled in to our introductions in the Cafe / Restaurant.

Mark, Mark and Mike

Then we started picking our way through the back lanes after New Ross and down in to Dungarvan  the 73 Miles from Rosslare for our first night stop over at the Lawlors Hotel.

With Mike being fairly new to Motorcycle Adventure/Touring and having ridden such a long stint already, we stopped off a few times between Rosslare and Dungarvan. Being on a Sports bike without a large screen and down on his wrists we needed to be careful Mike enjoyed these few days away riding distances. A little lie down in a hedge helps with this we found ..  at one point I thought he had nodded off!

These equivalent B roads I had plotted are far more bumpy and uneven than anticipated, quite tiresome after a while. A few more stops to give Mike a break (he's done well on his GSX-F). I really felt the search for the black stuff had already started (Tarmac that is).

Later, as we travelled north of Cork, just past Carrick on Suir we picked up the R 676 the main road that drops us down into Dungarvan we past on our right the Comeragh Mountains, and as the sun started to drop in the sky we travelled the last part in cooler mountain shadow. A quick fuel up just outside Dungarvan and arrived about 7.30 pm at the Lawlors Hotel.

Dungarvan Harbour

After a wash and brush up we were out to sample the real black stuff  (Guinness) followed by a Curry at an Indian Restaurant on the Harbour front. I was given a really strong Madras that I didn't order (thought my Ghust was a bit fiery), but eventually got the right order, not before eating half of it (I paid for that later I can tell you)....

.... finally some Beamish to end the night with too. Good ride, over 300 miles for the three of us.

Early morning Cotswold meet.

  

 

Nice little run down into the Cotswolds this morning to Burford, an 8am start for a very enjoyable breakfast with Steve at the 'Duck' cafe. I cut across country to avoid the obvious route, via Elmley Castle and Ford early enough to avoid the traffic. Steve coming across from Bedford... Great fun! I haven't seen Steve since our 2016 Mountains Alps trip (French and Swiss) with Motorrad Tours, great to catch up at last. We have both signed up for this years Mountains Alps trip (Italian and Swiss). I'm really looking forward to the tour and Steve's company again!

No Motorcycles allowed .. meet The Growler!

While the weather In the U.K. Is great for riding motorcycles this week, sods law has it myself and the Mrs are away at our favourite spot in South West Florida at this time, and I guess when we return we will have a month of rain in the UK to dampen my riding opportunities. Usually the way, that's some kind of Karma!

The weather here started unusually wet, with some very stormy afternoons the worst I've seen in the twelve years we've been coming here, certainly for mid-May anyway. Fortunately though, Florida being Florida we don't have to wait too long for improvement, and the temperature never dips below 25 C anyway so today I'm back on the beach reading about bikes instead of riding them as is usual while over here.

I always drop by a 'Walgreens' convenience store and grab a copy of Road Runner Magazine. I really enjoy the articles coming from a US Rider perspective, and reading about the routes they feature. The last copy I had discussed a Ride up in Vermont visiting a Winery there that looked amazing. This copy features some back roads in California not too far from Los Angeles you probably wouldn't consider yet equally inspiring too.

The mag includes pull out routes, one of which I've always fancied doing 'The Tail of the Dragon' down to Deals Gap in the Smokey Mountains part of the Appalachian Mountain range. The ride links up with Blue Ridge Parkway another great run I have read about thanks to Sam Manicom's recent adventures.

I'm getting quite keen these days to ship my bike across here (or rent one), and spend a few weeks riding some of these famous routes. I've seen a few tour companies that offer a good package and will ship the bike for you or arrange a rental. I really do hope I can scrape the money together and do at least one of these tours one year. Having read Neil Pearts books, along with the Road Runner Mag' it's clear the US is not all about freeways and cruising, apart from the obvious Route 66, there's plenty of other lesser known routes to follow not to mention the National Parks. Death Valley in Spring and a ride up Dante's Peak looks a great option too.

  

So on this trip, without a motorcycle to ride I opted to rent a Ford Mustang again, this time a late model in dark menacing grey metallic. It was in the parking 'lot' at Miami Airport growling 'take me', 'Take Me' , 'TAKE ME' (in a Keith Richards tone). The red one on offer looked a bit too vain and pretentious for me 😉, so I grabbed the keys, pushed the button to start up that growler of an engine, and off we took off across the Tamiami. I have to say I love this car, punch the pedal down on the 41 and with a growl between gears it launches you down the road. Got to be careful though, Helen spotted a squad car ahead near the Indian reservation just in time to get it under the limit again.

 

This late model seems even more sporty, and does seem to go round corners better than the last one I had. The sound system has been upgraded. Just the job with the top down and playing some tunes. Can't wait to put it in sport mode and try out the paddle shift later in the week 😎

A Llandovery loop around Llyn Brianne

Last May Day Bank Holiday the weather forecast being good I was torn between riding on Sunday, avoiding the usual busy roads on Monday or replace the brake pads on the bike on Sunday and bed them in with a ride on Monday. The real dilemma for a ride though was where to go. Having spent Saturday driving Hayley to Aberdovey, I wanted to ride East instead, so in the end decided to do the bike maintenance on Sunday and see how the traffic fairs on Monday. A bit of a nightmare getting the correct tools (Torx bits) from Halfords though, they barely carry any stock these days but luckily my neighbour Rob came to the rescue and had all the correct sizes required to remove the calipers for the cleaning and installation of three pairs of brake pads. All went well in the end, and with the MOT coming up next month at 28k miles I'm glad I did as they were due a change before upcoming trips to Ireland and the Alps later in the year.

My plan for riding East changed for the easier option of riding West though since my logic being the Welsh B roads might be less congested on Bank Holidays and I could get to them quicker from home. So, without anymore planning  other than to simply clamp my Garmin on and point the front wheel in the direction of the border town of Knighton, I left home early with wall to wall blue skies. I couldn't believe my luck as I flew over Clee Hill and past Ludlow with almost zero traffic. The air still cool, I settled in to a fun time riding those rollercoaster roads towards Leintwardine and on to Knighton. As usual this time of the day Knighton was quiet, so a quick direction change had me threading my GS through those twisty roads toward Rhayader, where by this time I could feel the 'spongy' brakes disappear into more solid braking just in time for the true test as one of the Sheep decided to cut me up just before Crossgates. Luckily I had slowed down a bit, but quite scary as I did need a fistful of front brake to pull up in time. Oh well, brakes fully tested I thought 👍.

Kawasaki Versys, well travelled with some great fog lights.

 A brief stop at Crossgates cafe with time for a chat to a guy on a Jap cruiser who gave me the idea of riding over 'sugar loaf' I think he said down to Llandovery, so I quickly programmed the Garmin ready for the next leg. Also met a pleasant chap on a Versys 1000 with humongous fog lights that made mine look unworthy! He had covered 30k on the Versys (a nice pearlescent white model) in just two years of ownership, and had Stelvio and Grossglockner stickers on the screen to name a few. He's a member of the BWDE (Birmingham, Worcester, Droitwich, Evesham) motorcycle club and advised me of my local meet venue on a Tuesday evening at the Island Pool pub. I might go along this summer as they do seem like an active 'any bike are welcome' club with a lot of riding focused activities going on too.

 

The run over the 'sugar loaf' was traffic free getting a good sprint on too. I stopped at the bikers Cafe in Llandovery for a sausage sarni' a brew, and sat in the garden out the back in the shade listening to general biker chat while deciding to head out to the reservoir Llyn Brianne.  Later, I had a wonderful ride up the valley approach passing through small Welsh villages on the way called Cilycwm and Ystradffi. I had never been this way before, on the opposite side to my usual route taking me up the narrow lane stopping off at the Rock Filled Dam. The spillway was dry today, all except the surge spray as pictured above. Eventually I came up and around the side of the valley edge overlooking the reservoir to reveal a spectacular bit of scenery. 

By now the temperature was rising, showing 25 degrees on the bike dash so I decided to stop to cool off and drink in this fantastic view. While sitting on the grass a guy named Paul pulled up in his Renault Scenic who, using his SLR camera was taking scenic shots of the area. He works for M&P Motorcycles (Busters) down in Swansea. Nice bloke, got his card, and hopefully he'll remember me for a discount in the future! Amazing view up here, after a lengthy chat about how Riders of Cardiff have lost the BMW franchise and M&P have it now, as well as other stuff e.g. holidays etc, I said farewell to Paul as he took off down the hill in search of the perfect shot. While on the way out to New York last year I bought a new Panasonic Lumix camera to replace my old Lumix TZ18, and today was the first time I had chance to use it in good sunlight in a countryside setting. I'm very pleased with the results and performance so far. I've become a bit tired of using a phone for photographs, and this new one has a live view finder feature ... great for sunny days like today.

Great views of the reservoir and the valley behind too. Considering it was Bank Holiday, it was so quiet with only a few cars passing by leaving me to enjoy the peace before heading off down the other side of the valley. I'm really enjoying the new'ish Schuberth C4 Helmet on these bright sunny days, the internal sun visor was really making a difference today.

Later, I came through this pretty valley somewhere between Beulah, Llanafan-fawr and Newbridge on Wye crossing the border back towards Crossgates Cafe again via the roundabout nearby.

Deserted roads, and superb twisty B roads out here. Couldn't resist stopping the engine, removing my helmet and earplugs for a bit and getting tuned into the Springtime birdsong and watching out for wildlife too. I had my binoculars with me and spotted a colourful Jay in the distance too. 

 

Finally, back at Crossgates cafe, there were a lot more bikes parked up now, and with the temperature rising close to 30 degrees I got chatting to a guy on a Yamaha MT 09 Tracer about the MT's performance as he's loving it, and reckons its three bikes rolled in to one with the mapping modes. After a drink to cool down I set the Garmin for home and took a gentle ride back through Knighton and over Clee Hill again. Bikes everywhere today, I did think Bank Holiday would be all filtering in traffic - how wrong I was !

The Brecons Beckon ...

First big ride of the year at last. After all of the issues with my bike and bad weather it was good to get out for a meet and catch-up with Mark. I quickly loaded a route through the Brecons and down in to South Wales, and met Mark in Leominster at the OK Diner, before heading off towards Hay on Wye.

Glorious sunshine, predicted thunderstorms later in the day but we saw no rain all day. Took a few wrong turns and missed a waypoint or two to take us on a good mixture of roads in the valleys.

Great day out with an All Day Breakfast on the way, looking forward to our Southern Ireland trip now 👍