riding a bike out of Shannon airport?

Pat wrote:

I would be interested in knowing more about your trip, such as itinerary,
books you bought to prepare, where you spent the nights, etc. For example,
did you book ahead for a room or did you spontaneously find a place wherever
you happened to be at dusk? And, I noticed you used full-sized bikes. Were
they difficult to get to Ireland?


For our trips everywhere except Ireland we packed our bikes in cardboard
boxes provided by the airline although I use my own case when travelling
to races. For Ireland we were told we need not pack them at all, so
that simplified everything. Yes, a 27 inch bike, Motobecanes, although
I use Calfee 26" ordinarilly.

If we called farmhouse accomodations before 3 p.m. we could have dinners
prepared for us. This was in May and no reservations were required.
Our trips to Switzerland, Great Britain, Portugal, France, and Greece,
were all in May and reservations were never necessary for the out of the
way small inns or hostels that we prefer.

We went north from Shannon to Sligo, turned east almost to the coast
before detouring into Ulster, then returning through the center of
Ireland to south of Shannon. On the first photo of the slide show I
have drawn a circle that more or less describes our route. I also have
slideshows of the other trips we took. Scroll down at:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/e/x/exk7/

rtk

: If we called farmhouse accomodations before 3 p.m. we could have dinners
: prepared for us. This was in May and no reservations were required.
: Our trips to Switzerland, Great Britain, Portugal, France, and Greece,
: were all in May and reservations were never necessary for the out of the
: way small inns or hostels that we prefer.

If we get the Bike Fridays, the vacation will probably be pushed back to
September. They have a 2 month lead time for the New World Tourist right
now.

I prefer to just "fly by the seat of my pants" and stop when I'm ready.
Reservations feel too constricting!
:
: We went north from Shannon to Sligo, turned east almost to the coast
: before detouring into Ulster, then returning through the center of
: Ireland to south of Shannon. On the first photo of the slide show I
: have drawn a circle that more or less describes our route. I also have
: slideshows of the other trips we took.
: rtk

LOL. I keep trying to stop that slide show so that I can look at the map
better. How do I do that? I tried the pause button, but it didn't work. How
long did that trip take you? Did you use a Michelin guide or some
bike-tour-of-Ireland type book?

Pat in TX
:
:

Pat wrote:




LOL. I keep trying to stop that slide show so that I can look at the map
better. How do I do that? I tried the pause button, but it didn't work. How
long did that trip take you? Did you use a Michelin guide or some
bike-tour-of-Ireland type book?


Just click on the pic! It stops. We only rode about 50 miles per day,
definitely a heads up ride. I planned all the trips myself without any
guide. I did use a contour map. Southern Ireland would have been a lot
more challenging.

May was nice, not only because of no need for reservations, but the
weather was kind enough so I only carried a maximum of 7 pounds for each
of my trips. DH had two extra pounds for a couple tools. Most of the
time I was wearing so much of the 7 pounds that I was really carrying
almost nothing.

rtk