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It was another dull and overcast
morning with no view of the sunrise out to sea. There was quite a
bit of wind as I packed the tent away which was good as it meant it
was totally dry as I packed it in the front pannier. I wheeled my
bike back up the bumpy path past an area of dense gorse and
undergrowth. The map calls it Rathdown Castle but there was nothing
to see now. At the railway crossing I had to repeat yesterday’s
process of removing all my panniers to get across though the
pedestrian gates and lift my bike over the locked vehicle gates. |
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Back on the main road I turned right
to head north towards Dublin. There was a very long climb over
Windgate which was OK at the start due to a cycle track but higher
is was very uncomfortable due to no cycle track and double lines in
the centre of the road. Over the top followed a long descent and my
continuing journey into Dublin. I tried to avoid the main roads but
it was rush hour and a weekday so had busy traffic all the way.
There were some cycle tracks at the side of the road but the
cyclists using them didn’t take account of anyone else and didn’t
seem to take any notice of red lights. I was still puzzled by the
traffic light system. Although they looked the same as the UK red,
amber and green they didn’t follow the same sequence. If I stopped
on red they missed out amber and went straight to green. This makes
the amber totally redundant. |
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I’d also tried to find a route with
stuff to see but the only part of interest was riding along the
Grand Canal at Grand Parade. The canal was in a fairly decrepit
state. I though Christ Church Cathedral would be picturesque but it
turned out to be mostly covered in scaffolding and not very
picturesque anyway. I was soon riding along the north bank of the
River Liffey where it cycled to the Railway Station last Friday. I
wasn’t impressed with what I’d seen through the city which was a
disappointment. |
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There was a nice pedestrian area at
the old George’s Dock where I was able to sit down and have
something to eat. Across the road I wheeled my bike to have a look
at the three masted barque moored there. It was the Jeanie Johnston,
a replica of the original Jeanie Johnston that made 16 emigrant
journeys to North America between 1847 and 1855, carrying over 2,500
people with no loss of life. The replica ship was built in Tralee,
Co. Kerry and launched in 2000. I started to wheel my bike along the
path and two young men made comments about the load on my bike. |
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They seemed interested and surprised
how I was travelling. We chatted and walked along. They looked hard
cases with scars on their faces which seemed to be from past fights.
Some marks were relatively recent and still scabbed over. I found it
interesting talking to them as they commented on how rough Dublin
had become and how the drug culture was spreading through Ireland.
One had lost an eye in what he called an accident, but deep scars on
his face above and below his false eye made me wonder how the
accident occurred. The talkative one was called Jason and his friend
was Mark. Jason recommended Westport and Castlebar as somewhere to
visit in the future. We shook hands before going our separate ways.
I cycled on to the Stena terminal and a long wait to the 15:10
sailing. By now the sun had come out and I went out on to the deck
where the sunshine felt quite hot away from the wind. As we left for
the open sea it soon cooled down. |
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The Skerries on the approach to Holyhead |
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We approached Holyhead in cool
sunshine and I could clearly see the Skerries out to the left where
I’d spent so many dives in the 1970s. In the ferry terminal I
reclaimed my bike and then wheeled it to the railway station
platform. My advance ticket was for the 20:32 to Crewe but the
connection time there for the Preston train was only 11 minutes. I
decided to modify my route and caught the 19:21 to Llandudno
Junction with the intention of catching the Warrington service then
change for Preston. I noticed and earlier train to Crewe so I took
that and was able to get a Preston train that got me there before
23:00. I was home before midnight. |
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Whittle Wanderer
