Bike Tracks

Belfast to Ayr, Scotland Day 187 We arrived in Cairnryan, Scotland mid-afternoon with still about 50 miles to travel. The weather was overcast, but dry. It was a good feeling to be out of Belfast. Scotland is clean, well kept and no graffiti in sight. I felt safe to be here and welcome too. Cars […]

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We rode from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland without even noticing the distinction. The sameness was further vocalized when one of the riders asked in a local shop for a pin of Northern Ireland. The shopkeeper tartly responded, “there’s only one Ireland lady, and you are standing in it!” Oops! The money is […]

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Day 179 We departed the ferry onto Irish soil, just south of Dublin and headed for the dorms at University College Dublin (UCD). It was after 8 p.m. and we still had not had dinner! The drive to UCD didn’t take very long. The sag vehicle ended up following the bikes through the city. The […]

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Day 179 Last night was awful. I didn’t sleep, I couldn’t find my watch and when I got up it was 4:45 a.m! To make matter worse I had an ear ache, it was throbbing. I sure as heck didn’t feel like riding 85 miles today to catch a ferry only to get in to […]

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Day 178 Wales has so unique a language that makes me laugh as a ride. Sometimes I will pass a directional sign and think, “couldn’t they afford to buy any vowels?” Some of the names are: Rhayader, Bwidhgtwyn, Machynlleth, Llandidloes, Brynrug, Tywyn, Cwm Maetholon, Y Rhos, Ynysgyffylog and Morfa Mawddach. Get the point? Listening to […]

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Once again Arthur volunteered to take the group on a National Cycle Network trail. Today we were on the Taff Trail for the first 20 miles. After that we were back with the Odyssey tour. Arthur took us on a side trip to a castle. Of course being cyclists who start early in the a.m. […]

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Day 176 Bath Upon Avon to Cardiff, Wales we passed 3 castles today…ho hum. They are everywhere! Day one on my fixed bike was a good one. No troubles, just a little bit of head wind and more hills than I care to discuss! We crossed over the Severn Bridge into Wales. It was a […]

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I left camp this day knowing my bike should be just fine. I signed “off route” because once again Arthur was leading us on a route different than the Odyssey route. We were taking a trial out of the city for about 20 miles or so, before rejoining the Odyssey group. It was a very […]

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We are all ready to go with Arthur after breakfast to tour the trails along the canals and see some of downtown Bath. Arthur is one of the Odyssey riders who makes his home in Bath. It was an unusual experience for us to have a personal tour like this and I was excited. My […]

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I slept like a log that night. The tent was soaking wet when I put it away, because I hadn’t set it up as good as Larry always did. Oh well, everyone has to learn! The worst part was stuffing it into the gear locker. I now had 2 lockers to put all the junk […]

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