Day 4 Tarbert The wind, the wind. Oh! It was ferocious all day and in our face. We had a very good full Irish breakfast, well most of us did, which put us off to a good start. A short decent was followed by a steep climb needing more gears than most of us had, and those that had them were struggling to hold the front end down. As we looked to our left we saw Doonagore castle, built in the 16th century as a stronghold from marauders with its walled enclosure. Currrntly owned by an an Irish American John Gorman. The next feature was the Cliffs of Moher just a few km down the road and well worth a brief stop. Next stop after Spanish Point was Quilty for a brew and a cake at ... read more

Republic of Ireland 2017 Day 1 Dublin Four of us set off from Clitheroe in the mist, which soon became a brilliant sunny day. Four more intrepid cyclists met us at the ferry terminal in Holyhead before we took the ferry to Dublin. One more lady from Scotland met us at the first hostel ready for our first evening meal together. Unfortunately a lady from San Diego in the US was unable to join us following an accident which left her with s broken ankle. We hope that this tour goes without incident and that with ever more hope that the weather is kind to us. It feels strange to ride a fully loaded bike again, yet quite comfortable and satisfying with everyone riding at a steady measured pace. The sea was quite calm so we ... read more

Day 12. Ainan to the island of Omishima. Awoke at 6am and took a walk to the the fishing port in sunshine with the odd boat going in and out. Looking over the harbour wall we saw hundreds of small fish from 2" to 5" long, just enough for breakfast, which as you can guess was fish based and ended with a sweet blob wrapped in a green leaf which tasted better than it looked. Whilst in Japan they feed us like kings and you should try everything and not let your eyes do the eating for you. We sometimes do not have a clue what we are eating, often including bones and skin, but just try it and enjoy. At 8am we were bussed for 3 1/2 hrs north to Imabari before resuming our riding. ... read more

Day 10. Shimanto Town to Ashizura 91km. 800m ascent. 21kph. Typical breakfast today of fish, rice, green vegetable of unknown provenance, soup and mashed turnip? Off we went following the Shimanto River again down to the sea. This was a very pleasant ride in 15-20 degrees with the odd patch of sun along mostly very quiet narrow road ads close to the river bank and occasionally going over the low concrete bridges with no side rails. It was good to see a small machine planting rice with is wife watching in her straw hat. The Azaleas are looking good and give some really good colour to the countryside. We also encountered a large quarry and tarmacadam plant with all its crushers and separators rattling away. Further downstream we saw a dog agility competition one one river ... read more

Day 8. Kochi to Honmachi. 99km Ave 20.4kph. 760 ascent. Great day again. It was supposed to be a western breakfast so we had a small piece of ham and salad with bread rolls and toast plus two fried eggs cooked over a candle on a cast iron plate resting on a piece of paper. The egg removal was a work of art and consisted of holding two chopsticks apart in one hand and sliding them under the paper the turning it upside down and scraping the egg off and Bingo, two upside down eggs on toast. Off at 9am for our journey SW on Shikoku in cloudy but warm weather. I always enjoy following the coast and today was no exception travelling with lovely people. Not far out of Kochi we saw a large whale ... read more