The 2011 Photo Rally awards were presented last night in Glasson.
And a good night it was too
Well done Gerry & Lorcan for the night & another Rally. May it be half as good as previous ones
And the Defender Of The Midlands actually turned up for something
Get well soon Frank.
Glenboy & I are riding to Enfield to have a look at a set of wheels for Richie before forcibly removing Hairnut from the local cafe & heading for the centre of the country.
Although we're staying down the road we'll drop into the hotel first to grace youse with our presence & watch a bit of the rugby while munching a sandwich or two
And that's pretty much how it worked out. Grey & cold most of the way except for the last 30 clicks which were wet. But we were safely ensconced in front of the telly when the worst hit
Breakfast was a bit later than planned this morning as Mein Host went out after we arrived back and I've no idea what time he arrived back, suffice it to say he wasn't on top of his game this AM. As soon as we were finished Fergal headed off to keep another appointment and The Eating Machine & I set off for our first point. As soon as we walked out it started to spit & kept it up, on & off, for most of the day. It was that light rain where ya wouldn't think you're getting wet but when you're riding through it...
Back inside & on with the oversuit. Even though the Rev-It is fairly waterporoof it weighs three times as much when it's soaked
A quick run past Athlone & we were onto boreens, some nice ones but generally mucky & dirty. When you see the amount of flooding in the area it's not hard to understand why.
No pics until I saw these lads having breakfast:
When we arrived at the first point there were already 3 bikes there. Gerry Casey & 2 other lads from Cork were 'bagging' it before they headed south. Once they were finished we got out chance. People often speak of themes in the Photo Rally & this year it definitely seems to be 'water'. Apart from the rain each of the points we visited were over or beside water, although you can't see it in the pics of the second location.
#23 Roscommon: Derrycahil bridge (over the River Suck):
What's he doing now ?
R roads brought us to Roscommon town, then N61 almost to Elphin & more R roads through Carrick (the only place we had traffic all day) & on to the point north of Leitrim town.
#22 Leitrim: Tarmon abbey (on the shores of Lough Allen):
(Not too many options for different perspectives here Gerry
)
Oh feck, he he comes again :
From here we took the R200 across the top of the lough. I've ridden some of it before and it's a cracking run. Thirty odd kilometers of twisty road with good surface & no traffic
This was followed by local roads to the Rally point.
#6 Ferman/Tyrone: Holy Trinity Church (beside Lr Lough Erne)
Before Belturbet we stopped for fuel & food and then hightailed it down the N3 & then the N55 in order to get to the next point before we lost the light. On the way it started to rain again, only harder this time, and I was beginning to think I should have stayed in the restaurant and had apple crumble & a pot of tea
#7 L’ford/W’meath: Boathouse (on Lough Derravaragh)
We had originally hoped to get the Dublin / Kildare point too but it was getting dark and Mark had the opportunity of a bed in his Uncle Pats in Granard so we parted company in Coole & I headed for Edgeworthstown & the main road. I could have found a shorter route but I don't know the roads and the lights on the 12's are sh1te so I opted for the 'easier' route. And it would have been easier if it hadn't been for the half asleep cage drivers
but I took every opportunity to get by them (as you only can when you're travelling on your own & you don't have to worry about losing your buddy) & made good progress. I turned off the old N4 (or whatever it's called now) at Broadford before passing through Allenwood (where I noticed the waypoint for #9 off to the right) & arriving home about 7.
A good day out, if not always the best conditions, for a touch over 400km and 4 Photie points to get the ball rolling
how much work it would be to compile and keep tabs on.
Only the bould GerryC knows that. It's either very easy, or he's very good
aidan evil git
