Ireland G2g 2010

http://www.myspace.c...uegrassfestival

Westport Folk and Bluegrass festival is on this Week-end.

Uh-oh... Beard and real-ale alert...

Wait a minute... What am I saying? No shaving, and proper beer? Sounds great!

Gingham skirts & line dancing!

Rolling in the hay...

Wear what you like, Chris

Cake stop 1

From the picture it looks like it's full on summer over there

Was hotter than it looks...

Pic 2. Trio of yellow perfection.

Back in 5 hours flat - 213 miles makes it just under 43mph!

Hmm, seemed to be going faster than that most of the time.

Left Tedeum just West of Limerick, going well.

Hope you other guys made it OK.

Big Thank You to Alex for organising this one - Look forward to Paddy's one next year up North.

Cheers, Chris

Finally got tent packed, and head squeezed. Left Castlebar at 11.30, home here 2.55. Bike unpacked. Waiting for it to cool down, and I'll check it over.
Cross winds the whole way back, some bad ones.
Good to meet new faces. Thanks Alex, really enjoyed it.

Knackered

Edited by danceswithmopeds, 27 June 2010 - 02:57 pm.

Hi lads - back at 4pm safe and dry. Great spin up to Achill Island with Jimmy , Paddy and Peteer(KTM). It was VERY windy but worth the ride for the dramatic sea views. We stopped for coffee on the way back and the heavens opened, by the time we came out it had stopped so technically there was no saokings for the whole weekend.
Thanks for the laughs over the weekdn (with me NOT at me!). Please post to say you got home safe.
Cheers
APW

Home safe. 325 miles in total, home in 2hr13 including fuel stop (avg 50 mph Chris but seemed much faster than that at some points ) . Thanks for the craic Alex, good to renew acquaintances and meet new faces.

Couldn't get away from Jim on the road to Louisburg, despite taking to the air at some point

Paddy, you'll have to post the recipe for that cake...

Well got home safe but wet...it pissed it down for about 20 miles North of Silgo then great again the rest... 250 miles to home after our site seeing detour.. 550 miles the round trip.. Paddy split for home about 10 miles back ... Great weekend and nice to be able to put a few faces to names now.. Have to look at my pics to see if any worth posting The road to Louisberg

Home safe and partly dry

Alex thanks for a organising a great weekend,

After me and Jim left Alex and Peter, the road to Ballina and then onto Sligo was a cracker


Will sort out photo's later

Well lads, I made it home fine. Thanks for a top weekend.

Tagged along with you into town this morning when you set off for Achill, thinking we were going for brekkie at the same cafe as yesterday, but you went past it, so I peeled off half a mile or so later and let you go on your way. I reckoned that we were going to hit some pretty wet roads, and with my tyres like they are I think a run home ahead of the weather was probably a wise move. I had to get fuel too, anyway.

So, fuelled up, I took the easy option to make a bit of quick progress to the east and hit the N5 (hit as in drove along, not "hit" as in hit ). Got a bit wet in a couple of small downpours, but they seemed to be heading north so I was grand.

So I figured I'd take advantage of the drying roads and try to knock off a couple of photorally points on the way back. So got the Leitrim one (Alex, you were right - beautiful roads and countryside - deffo rideout potential), and the Cavan/Monaghan one, except I couldn't get within a kilometre of this because the hillside was covered in horse boxes. Still got my piccie though. Then on to home via Monaghan, Bailieborough and Virginia.

Approx 220miles, and 5 hours due to a lot of faffing about in small lanes...

Cheers again lads! Best chocolate cake I've ever tasted Paddy!

Pics now in the pics thread...

Edited by PapaLazarou, 27 June 2010 - 06:46 pm.

Got home, unpacked bike,checked it out. No oil used, tyres OK. Chain nice and oily. Quarter tank plus ,left.
Fell asleep on keyboard.

I got refunded on all the keycards, no problem. The girls on reception were upset that they hadn't seen you all going. They insisted I have a cuppa with them, and tell them how went the weekend. Lovely lovely girls. I really like that town, I'll definitely be back.
Going out through town, past the monument (beside our pub), I saw the same old boy with the grey hair sitting outside. I wonder did he go home at all last night?

You sly old dog you - that's why you took your time getting packed up - didn't want us cramping your style!

First thing the blonde one asked me was, "did you manage to find your auntie in Castlebar?"

Home safe with some bruising. Total mileage 510 at average 58mpg. Thanks to Alex for the organisation (he picked a beautiful campsite and a great rideout) and to the rest of the guys for the craic. Paddy gets a special mention for the cake - a definite 9).

Now to the elephant that was in my tent on the last night. On the rideout I ditched the bike at about 60mph heeled over on a left hand bend when the front wheel hit a patch of gravel that the local council had left on, what I thought, was a good line. The front went in a flash, my helmet hit the LH mirror and the bike and I slid down the road for quite a distance coming to a stop in the middle of the road. Stu was directly behind me, saw it all and went past me to stop oncoming traffic. The guys following helped me with getting the bike off the road. Damage to the TDM was relatively, minimal, mostly plastics on one side as the bike didn't flip and the engine bars, handguards and centre stand lever kept most of it off the tarmac. There were two gouges in a straight line for some distance down the road where the engine bars and side stand had dug in. For myself I had some cuts to my face where the helmet flexed (but did not break) where it and the mirror collided, I think I have a broken big toe and I have an amount of aches particularly down the LHS of the body. All the protective gear worked. The Draggin' jeans wore through to the kevlar and the knee pads worked, the textile jacket tore through to the shoulder pad and at the hip, Ivan's yellow hi-vis Carpe jacket has quite a bit of extra ventilation, the boots are scuffed and I found several holes in my fleece that was under my jacket which I can't explain. I was really, really lucky.

I don't think I could have done anything to have prevented the spill (except perhaps been riding at 20 mph) but others might have a different view but were kind enough not to mention them to me! Earlier I and others had reported rear end slips on gravel but these are easier to manage and a normal event when riding in rural Ireland.

So now I have to find a match for my lovely blue paint, a replacement inner fairing panel (the black one that goes around the clocks) and Alex has already offered me a front indicator. Bruised pride, bruised body, scratched bike.

So what have I learned? The value of buying good gear and the value of riding with good mates who provided the support I needed immediately and after the event. Particular mention to the Robbo twins who rode back with me to the campsite and offered to collect me and the TDM and deliver us back to Kerry in their van if needed. In the event the bike was perfectly rideable after securing a few bits and I was able get home without a bother yesterday accompanied by Chris for most of the way. It was difficult to relax for the first 20 or so quicker corners on the way home but I soon got back into it.

Great to meet the new faces and equally to team up with the old ones. Paddy and Jim were volunteered to be in charge of the 2011 Irish G2G and I'm looking forward to it.

Glad you bounce well, Chris. Do you need a note for Syra?


And now you've posted, I can put these up

Skip-a-dee-doo-dah
 IMG_3529__Small_.jpg   55.29KB   53 downloads

The offending patch of gravel
 IMG_3531__Small_.jpg   69.11KB   58 downloads

Some of the mechanical damage
 IMG_3535__Small_.jpg   65.64KB   54 downloads



In fairness to Chris Crash Larkin, he was third through on the bend, hadn't been pushing on, and got unlucky. Gravel wasn't deep but was spread out, so once you started moving, it was a while to reach the solid surface again.

Prize goes to the cruiser rider (wearing shorts) Tedeum had just passed, who stopped, and allegedly said "watch out for the gravel".

Edited by stu, 28 June 2010 - 12:44 pm.

What a waste of time it was cleaning my bike. Jim's fault.