The forecast was for rain last night into this morning and when we woke it was raining!! It was predicted to stop at 11:00am and that’s when it did, so it was a late breakfast and late start for the whole gang. And a lot of raingear came out for the first time. We have four tandems on the trip!!!

Soon we were on the road and biking into Ireland’s Ancient East . . .

. . . great scenery along the way. Most of the fields are separated by stone fences rather than barbed wire . . .

. . . which of course keeps all the sheep in line!! Lots and lots of sheep.

We rolled through Tinahely, where the people are well . . .

TIDY!!! The small towns we roll through do not see a lot of tourists, are very clean and well kept. Not a lot of litter along the roads in Ireland.

Around the corner up ahead I saw the first significant road kill of the trip . . .

. . . a beautiful red fox.

Oh they still have a few of these around. Not sure if a millennial would even know what it is!!!

. . . and we have seen a number of pumps along the way . . . always well tended, too.

. . . the Irish have concerns about wind power just like they do with high lines . . . similar to  rural Wisconsin!!

. . . soon it was time to pull over in Aurithm for a little lunchy. The wind has not been an issue on this trip, so far. The prevailing surface winds generally being South/Southwest in Ireland. Today with the weather front passing we had a nice little tailwind.

The roads can be bumpy at times. Very few miles have been the ‘baby butt smooth’ roads of asphalt we have in SW Wisconsin. Most roads have some type of aggregate in the mix. The bigger the size the rougher the ride, especially on 25mm tires!!

As we exited the ‘Ancient East’ the locals wanted to say goodbye in style . . .

. . . lost in translation!!!

 

Great statute in a small town of man and his best friend . . .

. . . puppy!!!

The last 10 miles were through a beautiful forested area with mature timber on each side of  the road . . .

. . . leading us into the Glendalough Valley . . .

. . . and our home for the night the, Glendalough Hotel. Glendalough means ‘twin lakes’, not be be confused with the Glendalough Park in Otter Tail County, Minnesota!!!!

We beat the rain today and celebrated with a nice happy hour and dinner!!!