Riding Ireland

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Be careful what you ask for! When I said I wanted to spend my Birthday riding I didn’t expect to fly to Shannon for a long weekend in Ireland to sample some new trails.  Stood in the car park of the Ballyhoura trail centre in the rain, rebuilding the Superfly after the flight over certainly takes pre-ride bike fettling to a new level…

It had been tempting to make the most of the hire car and drive up to the Irish NPS that was happening the same day, but the weather was so bad it got cancelled, making our choice to ride at Ballyhoura all the more wiser! Although we still got soaked to the bone, the ‘weatherproof’ trails of the 51km Castlepook loop were great fun, well, apart from the boardwalk sections which were treacherously slippy!

For something completely different, the following days riding was on the tourist trail and saw a visit to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. With postcards purchased from the underground visiors centre it was time to escape the crowds for some quiet coast roads and Hans Rey-lite action on the huge rock formations before the flight home…