Hello fron Dublin.

Well here we are, first morning in Dublin. Groggy after a couple of pints of Guinness to finish a damn long day yesterday.

Left 9am yesterday from Bristol. I had planned a route through to Holyhead via some cracking routes through deepest Wales. Those plans changed when Messie pointed out that the red A roads through Wales could be nothing more than a dirt track. So last minute changes of the route were made and we set off.

I think we managed all of about 20 miles before we got lost. I blame the AA route finder on the web. What a load of crap that was. Anyway we eventually found our way to Hereford which was part of the planned route, stopped for a while and then carried on. . We got to the outskirts of the Cumbrian Mountains without much incident and decided to stop again before hitting the technical roads over the mountains. It was whilst we were stopped here that the heavy rain laden clouds decided to descend.

You know how it is when you can't decide if its going to blow over and become nice again? We did that for about 10 minutes and decided on putting all the wet gear on. Good job we did, as the rain was more or less constant all the way over the mountains. But wow the roads up there are fantastic. Had a great time, even two up and all the gear on the bike. Superb. Messie managed to go the wrong way on the only proper road through the mountains. . We soon found each other again though and carried on.

Coming out the other side of the mountains the weather was beautiful. The sun was shining and we made good progress. The views through these mountains was awesome. Didn't bother to stop though as it was peeing it down and I wanted to ensure that we got out the other side in time to meet the ferry.

We eventually hit the A55 which is dual carriage way all the way to Holyhead. Plenty of time was made up on this road.


Got to the ferry port, booked in and set sail. Nothing of any interest took place during the trip across. The sea was as flat as a pancake which was a good thing considering I get sea sick on a lake.

Arrived in Dublin just as night was descending. We needed to get to the Hostel that we are staying pretty quick, main reason for this is because numpty here has forgotten to bring his clear visor .

Now what was it that Sid Squid told me? Ah yes, when it rains in Ireland it doesn't really rain, it's just a sort of constant drizzle. Drizzle my ****. I chucked it down like someone had tipped water out of a very large jug. We didn't have our waterproofs on at this time, as when we got off the ferry it was bone dry. Because we did not have far to go we didn't think it we would get that wet before we found the place. Hah We got completely soaked. There I am trying to see in the dark with a dark visor on, lift visor and there I am trying to see in torrential rain. Messie eventually found our place for the night and we dumped our stuff and went for a much needed pint of the black stuff.

So here we are first thing in the morning all ready for the day. We are heading for Cork today, it's about 150 miles, the longest trip of the week. Should the Hostel there have Internet access I shall let you know how the day went.

Top of the morning to yer all.

I shan't even start on the 'How on earth could you get lost between Bristol and Hereford....'

I was up in Hereford yesterday morning a similar time, it was grey and cold.

But Messie is correct, Wales is a deep, dark and uncivilised place. I'm glad you managed crossing the incontinent realtively unmolested.

Good luck in Cork

Keep us posted

Glad you've had a good trip, even if it could of been made better by the gods of weather.

Originally Posted by BigApe

Left 9am yesterday from Bristol. I had planned a route through to Holyhead via some cracking routes through deepest Wales. Those plans changed when Messie pointed out that the red A roads through Wales could be nothing more than a dirt track.

Dr Rich, sorry to contradict... but Wales is great! (Just don't feed the locals!)

Whilst this it's very true that the roads can be bad, I happen to be a local I actually live just over the bridge as you were heading to Holyhead! If you've got a few days to spend in Dublin, I'll happily give a few suggestions for a route home. My daily commute takes me either on the A55, or A5/A543, working in Denbigh sees me spending 100miles/day playing around in the twisties.

Either drop me a PM if it's slightly off topic & we can post a finalised route home, or just via the thread. Also, depends on when you're coming back past my way, but give me a shout, and if I'm around, I'll give you directions to my place & you're welcome to use it as shelter/coffee stop It'd be around a 12mile detour to get from the A55 to mine & back to the A55.

The A55 has to be quicker of routes, but also the most dull & boring IMO. Also, plenty of places to watch out for Plod. I'll give you a heads up on common spots for whichever route back you decide

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by Dr Rich

I shan't even start on the 'How on earth could you get lost between Bristol and Hereford....'

I was up in Hereford yesterday morning a similar time, it was grey and cold.

But Messie is correct, Wales is a deep, dark and uncivilised place. I'm glad you managed crossing the incontinent realtively unmolested.

Good luck in Cork

Keep us posted

Bloody hell I would have thought you would have gone there a civilised route.

Stay well away from Hereford. The women there are NAAASTY. I know from a close encounter with a Hereford cow with marriage on her mind just how evil they can be.

Great going through Cambrian mountains but once you get to Brunstrum country forget it. North Wales police deserve their reputation. and to be honest the unwelcoming anti English inbread residents of North Wales deserve their police.

I cant wait for Tim's guide to the next places on Ape's route .....

Originally Posted by timwilky

once you get to Brunstrum country forget it. North Wales police deserve their reputation. and to be honest the unwelcoming anti English inbread residents of North Wales deserve their police.

About the police, they certainly do deserve their reputation. Try doing 24k/year avoiding them!

As for the population, probably 95% of North Wales has emmigrated from either Liverpool, Manchester or Ireland. Myself, I'm from Leeds.

[fizzwheel]

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by Dr Rich

I cant wait for Tim's guide to the next places on Ape's route .....

Well Good Dr. My experience of Ireland is far better than Wales. And to be honest it is only North Wales I have a particular problem with.

Dublin. Beautiful city, but stay away from Temple Bar if you ever intend to ride next day. Cork, nice people, very welcoming. Although it has been a while since I have ridden in Ireland. My only problem was tractors. Far too many and they won't stay in the fields where they belong. Oh and bloody tourists driving down roads at 30mph saying "Isn't it so tranquil" when you want to hear the gorgeous roar of a straight through pipe and you can't see round the next bend to get past them.

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by Baph

About the police, they certainly do deserve their reputation. Try doing 24k/year avoiding them!

As for the population, probably 95% of North Wales has emmigrated from either Liverpool, Manchester or Ireland. Myself, I'm from Leeds.

Bloody eck, a Tyke in North Wales. I bet you are popular The particular heddlu who formed my opinion went through my car at 8 am, forced me to empty the boot, breathalised me and tried to give me a producer simply because my registration plate was English. My tyres were legal, horn, wipers, washers, lights were all checked. He then called me and my friends ****ing English *******s and threatened to arrest us all for a breach of the peace after I gave him my licence, MOT and insurance. He had simply seen an English car with 4 lads in it and decided he would get his quota from us and failed miserably.
Strange then that when the car broke down in South Wales the local police stopped to see we were all ok, arranged recovery, who did the repair at the side of the road at the cost of materials only, and did not mind my mates having a drink whilst we waited. Far friendlier in the south.

Tim,

I think I know the officer you're talking about! If so, he has a number of pending complaints. He's also about to under-go a civil court case, but that's somewhat of a personal matter & not related to his job (I know some of the people involved with the case).

In my experience of the area, there are quite a lot of through & through welsh in-breds that hate the English. There's one that sits next to me in the office, and man do I wind him up on purpose

The police, in general, are everywhere. But also, they're a pretty friendly bunch on the whole. When my CG125 ran itself dry of oil, and left me stranded between the A55 & the slip road coming down on to it (Tesco Junction - A55/A4080) I wasn't part of a recovery service, so called the police (being in the middle of the road isn't nice). They managed to drive past me 3 times, and pull a speeding car on the 4th attempt. When he finally got to me, his words were "I see you haven't got a tax disc, but you've had a bad day, and if the engine is ceased you wont be on the road for a long time anyway, so we'll forget that."

The only one's you've got to watch out for, are (typically) the V70 drivers. They love those toy guns! Maybe I should start a new thread (would be better starting a new website!) detailling local hiding spots. Surely it wouldn't be THAT illegal, as there are laws that detail how visible fixed cameras have to be (and there aren't many round these parts), and the Arrive Alive team publish their plans.

Also, as I'm sure happens in other parts, bikers tend to stick together, and warn each other. The north wales bike community as a whole seem to have fashioned a whole new set of hand signals, detailing not only that there are police about, but also where, and if they're sat targeting drivers, or attending an accident.