Blog from Swansea, Wales. September 7, 2008

My last ride in Sligo, Ireland before heading to Dublin with my friend and host Monica

Wow, the weather in this part of the world is just spectacular. It went from lovely sunshine and tailwinds for two days to a wild windy storm that’s flooding many parts of Ireland and Britain as I sit on a train watching it all go down. I’m officially in Wales and enroute to Swansea where I’ll spend a few days with a new Couchsurfing hostess Janina resting the body and cleaning up after an epic adventure from Sligo to Dublin back in Ireland.

I left off the last blog update from a tent overlooking the ocean with great waves and rainbows—unforgettable 3 days of Irish paradise! The swell died in the ocean and the winds shifted westerly so I decided to follow them to Dublin to catch up with my good Irish buddy Jono from San Francisco. Everything was flowing just right so I knew it would be an epic adventure east.

I did a lovely ride with my host Monica along the coast to some of her favorite spots on a lovely sunny day, cooked some great meals with the family and really grew to love Monica and her kids. The next day I ended up meeting two super cool Irish cats Sean and Oisin who became potential guest riders for the 3 day mission to Dublin.

Oisin and I heading out of Sligo

By the time Wednesday rolled around I had a terribly hungover yet enthusiastic teenager Oisin pedaling out of Sligo for about 40km then a relay handoff to Sean who would ride 2 days with me. We had tailwinds, exciting weather ranging from downpours to bright sunshine and adventures that will touch your heart as the rainbow continued to follow the tandem all along the way to Dublin. You’ll love the journal on Ireland—be sure to read it when it comes out. The only adversity we had was some bike challenges with a cooked bottom bracket but it lasted just enough to give us timeless memories before disintegrating.

Sean and I after first day ride camping on Shannon River

After an 80km ride on day 2 we are ready for a Guinness

I arrived last night in Dublin and was blessed by meeting an angel Hari Krishna devotee Aiden on the train who loves bikes and vegetarian food. He helped me with my gear, took me to the bike shop and offered me a free meal at his restaurant Govindas (yummy!). At the Cyclelogical bike shop I got a super warm welcome by the entire shop and they really wanted to get my bike running right again—and they did. They gave me the kind of treatment that makes a tired cyclist feel welcome and grateful on a stormy day in Dublin.

Enjoying my last night in Ireland w/ my Dublin crew Brenden, Catherine & my bro Jono

I met up with my bro Jono who I had not seen in a few years in his stomping grounds of Dublin and we wasted no time getting out amongst the action on a hoppin Friday in Dublin. We meet his bro Brenden and lady Catherine for some food and music, did some recording then hit two of his favorite bars and clubs. One of them was a heavy metal bar that at first I was not all that excited about but it rubbed off on me and we ended up head banging and dancing till the wee hours.

After just 2 hours of sleep I just boarded the ferry for the wildest ride I’ve ever had on the Irish Sea with massive waves and gale force winds. The weather has been crazy and still not sure if floods will keep me from getting to Swansea or not until I arrive in this small town Shrewsburry, Wales to see where the winds blow me.

That’s the latest from the train…should be enjoying a fun Saturday night in Swansea, Wales soon enough! I’ll be in Wales till next Friday then off to Bristol to meet back up with several English folks

UPDATE: There’s been a lightening strike and massive flooding…crazy stuff! Stuck in some small town hoping to make it to Swansea for an Argentinean music event!

UPDATE 2: I made it to Swansea just as my Tango lesson was kicking off with my Couchsurfing host Janina and all is well. The storms have settled and we’re off to pedal & search for waves to surf together on the Gower Peninsula outside Swansea. Life is good!