The start of the JJJ (Johns Jolly Jaunt)

Today's run from Sligo to Dublin was under cloudy but dry skies.

From Sligo we headed north towards the Northern Ireland Border towns of Lifford/Strabane before turning south towards the lakes of County Meath and endless narrow hedgerow lined lanes interrupted by glimpses of lakes on either side.



The tall hedges cast deep shadows and limited sight-lines made it difficult to pick out some of the more severe bends until quite late, leading to one or two full anchors on moments - thankfully the T30 Evo's stuck like glue - and on we went. Inevitably progress on rural bye-ways was never going to be fast (the roads are far from well maintained) and by midday we were all still suffering from the previous nights revelries, so the obvious answer was to stop and enjoy a lengthy pub lunch in an enormous bar in Shamtally .



Suitably refreshed we pushed on heading roughly South and East. As we had chosen to stay entirely to minor roads - we expected them to be frequented by a lot of slow farm vehicles (its harvest time), but occasionally we had to contend with the large articulated trucks often with drivers who obviously knew the road very well and were happy to come hurtling around blind bends assuming that they had full use of both sides of the road and were not going to slow for anyone. I was impressed to find that a VFR with full luggage can pass through an impossibly small gap when needed.



In the afternoon we took a break in the castle town of Trim - which despite many battle scars was still a very impressive monument to Irish history (and seemingly sufficiently impressive to be chosen as a filming location for the "Braveheart" movie).

After a quick ice-cream and drink stop it was back to the bikes and on-wards to Dublin for my final stop on the Emerald Isle and a final drop of the real black stuff.

Tomorrow its an early start for Dublin Port and the fast Catamaran ferry from to Wales and the real start of the long journey home.


SkiMad

 

I miss Europe :sad:
Keep them pictures coming Skimad :wink:

 

I'm sure between me & John we can work something out - lol

 

I will make sure Have John set up a ride so we can meet and greet :drinkers:

 

And here's clip 2 from the Isle of Man, from the Bungalow to the Creg-ny-Baa and on to the TT Grandstand
https://youtu.be/Wmj0VByX8mQ

 

Thanks Andy,

I liked the 'pizza delivery guy' at the 5:08 minute point....lol

 

Yeah, he seems to follow me around !

 

Nice video mate :thumb:
You guys on the wrong side of the road lad :wink:

 

So a very early start saw a dozen or so bikes lined up for the Fast Catamaran from Dublin in Ireland to Holyhead in Wales.




Thankfully the Irish Sea was as calm as a mill pond. Inevitably after an early start and a smooth and fast crossing, lots of people were drifting off to sleep soon after we left Dublin.



From Holyhead it was a blast on major roads across North Wales and on to Nottingham and then down the motorway to London to meet up again with Diving Pete.

On Sunday we took the bikes out for a gentle run in west london stopping at one of Pete's favourite showrooms - so do you want a Ferrari or a Maserati? Tough decision...



Tomorrow its the final round of packing this time for the trip down to the Eurotunnel into France and the long run back to the Alps.

SkiMad

 

Oooh, the RVF is out
Safe travels home SkiMad

 

Thanks Andy

After a 14 hour trip I got back an hour ago and will be leaving the unpacking until morning - I am exhausted and its tipping down.
:rain::rain::rain::rain:


SkiMad

 

Forgot I had this, pic of Pete in action with the photo shoot