Non-Stop Moving

I…am…EggsHowsted <<exhausted, for the 99% of you that don’t speak Jalapeño. I tell you what, after four weeks of on and off cycling I am beginning to have some outrageously strong legs; maybe not as much as my boy back home Hotty Piatti, but I reckon I could leg press a SmartCar. It’s hard to believe that four weeks have gone by, but with the number of things I’ve done, the time has flown. The first leg of The Ring of Kerry journey started with Brian at my side encouraging me because from Killarney to Kenmare are some of the most difficult mountains to climb; but once you reach the top, the view is breathtaking. After a short break and a cup of tea (something that has become common for me since being here), I enjoyed the relaxing nine kilometer downhill to Kenmare. With plenty of daylight and a burst of energy, I decided to cycle another twenty kilometers just past the town of Sneem to a pier where I found a pretty amazing place to pitch my tent.

Knowing I wanted to take the trip slow, I “slept in,” which means waking up and falling back to sleep ever hour till ten because the seagulls squawk like crazy! But I left in the early afternoon in hopes of making it to Valentia Island. Brian told me there were some pretty amazing places to camp there so I took his idea and ran with it. I wanted to be as far away from the small village on the island as I could, so I cycled to the opposite side, found some rocks to use as protection and stepped off my bike. Now I want to slow down for just one moment and give a shout out to JFizzle aka Joel aka my favorite brother. If there is someone in this world that LOVES, and I mean LOVES fishing, it’s him. Before I left for Ireland I starting spending as much time as I could with him and I told him that I would fish for him while I was in Ireland. Little did I know, I would meet a pair of German brothers not far from where I was camping who were fishing from a cliff with blazing winds and crashing waves. Even though I was only able to cast the line a few times, they were great about letting me get out there and give it a try. That one’s for you bro!

My original plan was to spend two nights on the island; but, long story short, the wind nearly blew my tent away and I ended up realizing later on the follow day that my front tire was completely flat and didn’t have a puncture repair kit with me. So I walked the bike 25 kilometers to the closest gas station, filled the tire with air and pedaled as fast as I could around the rest of the Ring, back to Brian’s house, stopping at as many stations as I could to make sure I kept air in the tire. Even though the trip was cut short, each moment was still amazing because of the people I met, things I was able to see and the constant communication God along the way. I spent another two days resting at Brian’s, drinking a lot of tea, cooking and talking for hours before I was back on a bus to my next destination.

THE CLIFFS OF MOHER—Ohhh Myyyy Butternut Squash! I honestly cannot, cannot, cannot<<<a lot more of those>>explain how speechless these cliffs made me. I probably walked four or five kilometers of the cliffs and literally couldn’t make it fifty steps without stopping, looking back, and having a ridiculously giggly smile on my face. I probably looked crazy to some of the other tourists but there was no stopping my lips from curling. You can look up the specs but reading a number can’t honestly explain how high it truly is. I could have spent days there just sitting. I actually did spend a little too much time there in relation to my next plan, which was to hop on a boat to the first and smallest Aran Island, Inis Oirr. 

But God directed my path and led me an amazing B&B where I met the Egan family. If you are going to travel, do yourself a favor and splurge a little for a B&B because they are amazing! Olwyn and her three sons Dylan, John and Flynn were extremely kind and welcoming, and after I went down to a local pub to try their seafood chowder (AMAZING!!) and a smooth glass of Irish Whiskey, I raced back up to the B&B to play StoryTime Legos with the boys before they had to go to bed. I was the evil robot monster while John and Flynn came up with a plan to save there lost Lego friend. Such a fun night!

The next two days were spent cycling and exploring Inis Oirr and the largest island Inisheer. Really cool history about the islands and I found a new respect for those who do manual labor. I always tell people that I would love to just sit in front of a fire, sipping tea and reading a book; but as I cycling around the islands I was blown away by the fences that separated different plots of land. Most people think of a fence as posts maybe fifty yards apart with wire going from one to the next. OHHHH NO. These islands are covered, and I mean covered, in stone walls/fences. Just look at the picture I took and imagine walls like that, some even higher, across hundreds of acres of land. Absolutely outrageous!

After taking the 8:15 boat from the big island to the mainland, I cycled another forty kilometers to Galway City where I will be staying at a Hostel for a few nights before I get on another bus and head back to Dublin. Thanks for reading and staying with along this amazing journey!