Portmagee to Dingle June 5, 2016

After checking the weather I decide to fore go the leg and arm warmers this morning. Then I stepped outside an changed my mind and went back in and put on arm and leg warmers and a riding vest.   There was a nasty wind out of the SE and it looked like it was raining off to the east, which is the direction we were heading. 

So after a wonderful breakfast we left the Waterfront B&B and headed off.   I was quite concerned about the wind as it can wear you out long before the hills or rough road ever does.  As we set off  we were generally heading NE and the wind ranged from a quartering head wind to a cross wind.   Fortunately the wind turned out to be a none event as the large hedge rows effectively blocked it

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We had set sights on Killorglin as the lunch stop which was a 58 kms into the ride.  This was a slightly optimistic goal as we did not depart until 9:00am. However we made good time and we rolled into Killorglin at 12:08PM.  There was a huge motor scooter/motorbike rally going on in the town and the place was packed with scooters and bikes.  A lot of them were vintage scooters from the early 1950’s. The roads were jammed, the cafes were jammed, take away places were jammed.  So we opted for a sandwich from Spar convenience store.  After a slightly scary few moments  trying to get into traffic we were out of town and a park beside a river presented itself to eat our sandwiches.

A few more kilometers down the road and we turned NW on to the Dingle peninsula.  Off the main N70 road and onto an “r” (r561) which should be quieter traffic wise.  Ok where was that wind from the SE. Well it has rolled around to the south and isn’t much help. All the bank holiday traffic is on the road and is headed for Dingle.  So traffic is pretty heavy and all the motorcycles have left the rally in Killorglin and hammering past us.  My ears are still ringing from all the loud pipes.

A few kms down the road we pasted Inch Beach which a huge expanse of sand along the Atlantic.  It is packed with sun bathers a people frolicking in the water. Remember I went in and put more clothes on. It isn’t sunny in fact it is heavily overcast with some pretty black looking clouds.   I had put my head down and had been hammering along pretty hard so I pulled up to take some pictures of the beach will everyone else caught up.

At one spot along the route we were off the main road and there was a stone wall of dry laid rocks. It ranged in height from 6 feet to probably 12 feet and  was maybe 10 kms long.  While I cannot tell you the age of this wall is was clearly quite old and had been built well before the advent of gasoline powered equipment.   I was just amazed at the amount of labour which went into the construction of this wall and workmanship for it  to have stood this long and still be in top condition.  On top of this it was way out in the country side.  Who would have built it and why? 

We rolled in and found our accommodations in the Old Smoke House Restaurant and Guest House.  Dingle is a pretty interesting place. Most of the signs are in Gaelic and Gaelic seems to be the common language here.  After supper Agnes and I went for a walk around town.  It is just hopping with people out walking and music coming out of every pub.   A very cool spot and the rain has held off.  Thankfully we are not in Paris.

Terry