Then There Were Five

Monday started with 4 of us arriving at Cardiff west on time 09.30 and ready to depart 10.00 to Fishguard ferry. Alas there is always one that holds the rest of us eager beavers up from begining our long awaited Irish Tour. Chris H. Always late ..... We had a small shower in the morning just to clear the air then the sun shone on us now "magnificent 5" for the remainder of the trip. Would i lie to you ???? After Chris finally joined us we decided to no longer wait for Will Clarke, who usually like's to join us on tour as far as the ferry but was reluctant due to Dynamite syndrome. (He doesn't like the rain). We pushed on to Fishguard and caught the ferry like a well oiled machine. No mishaps, no rain, just a lovely ride to start our trip. Sorry to dissapoint all you doom merchants that came out with every excuse not to go. (Have you seen the weather forecast. Its going to rain. I need new tyres. My bikes blocked in by the car etc). Anyway we arrived at usual stop Wexford where we had to wait a couple of hours last year for Chris H to get his battery swopped with one from a flymo. Then we started our sweep from East to West in beautiful sunshine. I am not going to mention about the places we stopped at to much, because as with every year which is what everyone seems to forget is. It is more about the riding and the comradrie, the chat along the way on our many stops, about the near misses, about the beautiful scenery, about the banter over a steak and a beer in the evenings. This my friends is what these trips are all about. Having reached the west coast in record time being an elite force of just 5 we arrived at our 2nd destination of Westport. We stopped at a different hotel this year as to the one Chris W, (Known as "The Big W" to the the 4 of us but unbeknown to himself.) Broke his clutch leaver after dropping his bike in his haste to put his side stand down. Hence missing the best day of last years ride through the mountains. Alas he had company in Rob who left him on his own while he himself walked around the harbour looking at the boats. Whilst Big W hurtled across Ireland in a breakdown van. We left West port and continued to our next destination Coleraine. This was a new port of call for us "Irish vets" and was a very nice excursion. We visited the renowned Giants Causeway where we saw the Giants foot and his Giant Organ. Something i recommend you all try and see sometime. We done a video shoot at the Causeway starring Dare devil Rob who climbed the rocks and was confused as to how to get back down again. So under strict instruction from Tony i continued to video Rob in the hope he might slip back down on his butt winning us £250 from you been framed to help out with our costs. Unfortunately he had a happy landing. After the Causeway we continued our sunshine filled week with a ride into Belfast to visit The Titanic museum. Another great attraction which one could probably spend all day looking round if your name was Maximus or Gary. Which was probably a good thing they never came as we didnt have all day. And beside they were to busy doing nothing on a beach somewhere. Our final night was spent in Dublin. We had a swim and a sauna as we did in all our hotels ( we're not real bikers. We don't like to rough it.) then settled down to another steak and another Guinness. mmmmmmm. We arose at the crack of midday to start our final journey crossing on the Dunleary ferry. A crossing we haven't made before, but we decided to try it this year so that Chris could get home early for some important things he had to do. like tow his caravan to a rally ! Oh the life of a biker. Doh. So we arrange a special crossing for our biking buddy who then decides to leave us even earlier by taking the crosssing before we even got out of bed. So now down to the Fab Four we crossed into North Wales and Holyhead to begin our gentle saunter down through Snowdonia and the beautiful Welsh countryside enjoying our very own spectacular scenery in what i can only describe as mediteranean temperatures. Finally we all went our seperate ways as we rode into the sunset till next year when we are going to do the "Best of Tour" So book your time off now so you wont be dissapointed. No bike or rider was harmed in the production of this Blog.