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July 21 Friday rain showers. Bicycle touring Ireland Sunshine! Thank God. Praise the Lord. The day by the lake, where the English fellow, Charlie, was painting, I said to a woman, "Beautiful day," and she exclaimed, "Praise the Lord!" Now I know why. They don't get sunny days in Ireland that often. At least not while on bicycle tours. I didn't want to move this morning. I'm tired. We finally packed up our bicycling gear at 1 o'clock, accompanied by hordes of flies. Bicycling across a bridge, I looked over into the river and saw an umbrella submerged. So, hopefully that's a good sign, when an Irishman throws away his umbrella. We are seeing the most blue sky since we have arrived to bicycle tour Ireland. We have also had about six rain showers throughout the day - two heavy - but at least there was blue sky around us. Saw a dandy rainbow, too. Rode for an hour to Lietrum, Ireland, then had a two-hour lunch break by a moorage dock. We spoke to a couple from Wales who had crossed the Irish Sea in their cabin cruiser. They bought the cabin cruiser in Holland for £25,000 and now they tour the canals. The one they are cruising now is the newly dredged Shannon Erne Waterway. They tell us they would like to go by waterway to Dublin, but the bridges they have to flow under are fixed height and their boat's height is about a foot or so too high. They burn diesel and have a range of about 400 miles on a hundred gallon tank. Moorage in Ireland is free. In England and Wales they pay an average of £12 per night. There is a card system for the shower, laundry, and the locks, which work with a magnetic card. You buy a £10 card from the marina or grocery store that has twenty units. Each time you use the locks, it ticks off one unit. Showers tick off two units and laundry is five units. We think this would be a good idea for bicycle tourists, as it would enable us to have showers. We bicycle past some people on a street in town. "It's a lovely morning!" they say. Out of earshot, Sharon says to me, "I see they don't want to commit to a whole day." In the next town we meet two Germans, René and Tom, on mountain bikes. They have been staying in a campground in town, using it as a base camp, and then cycling out on various routes during the day. Tom works in a bank; René is a history student. Learning that we are heading for Scotland, they warn us about the midges (that's what no-see-ums are called in the UK). I can hardly wait. And to think I had thought the midges were bad in Ireland. Turns out it's only an appetizer. René invites us to his place in Germany whenever we get there. He says he can make macaroni or spaghetti. He's quite a versatile cook for a university student, I tell him. The scenery we are bicycling through is wonderful today. The Irish countryside really is marvelous when one can see it. Crystal-clear lakes, green grass carpeted valleys, ultra clear streams, luscious green meadows. We are riding amongst luxuriant leafy trees. Ireland has everything a bicycle tourist could want -- save perhaps sunshine. At Black Lion, Ireland, we cross into Northern Ireland. The border crossing station is closed, so we just bicycle in. Our first shock is the extremely fortified police station in the town just across the river in Belcoo, Northern Ireland. Even the people, especially the kids we noticed, immediately aren't as friendly. Four youth are hanging around outside the police station. One looks over at us. Spotting the Canadian flag on my bike, he spits out, "I don't like Canada." Welcome to Northern Ireland. The police station has twenty foot high fencing enclosing its perimeter. Surveillance cameras point down at all angles onto the street. There is a tall fortified lookout tower. I find it amazing. There is more security on the police station than the maximum security penitentiary in Fort Saskatchewan. We bicycle back across the bridge into Black Lion, Ireland. The first two kids we pass, wave and call a light-hearted hello to us. Truly amazing. Right across that bridge is a totally different world. We bicycle a road -- marked white on our map for lowest traffic density -- out of Black Lion that progresses its way back into Northern Ireland. By nightfall we have bicycled back into Northern Ireland and are spending our very first night in Northern Ireland. We have come upon the Ulster Way hiking trail and have set up camp next to a river. Ulster has been in the news for a few days -- they torched 200 cars and buses while protesting the release of Private Clegg. We hope they like tents. |
