Irish Photo Rally 2017

Lots of free-cooling Tadhg

And Rural Broadband arriving soon I expect ?
 
.. and we are off.

Good start to 2017.

In 33 hours:
994Km
6 pints of Guinness
A lovely cottage pie
An even lovlier Full Irish
Several tanks of petrol
Oh and 8 photo points!


Started with Pa's Bar in Tipp.




Then on to Williamstown Castle.




A spin over Conor Pass. The only miserable weather I hit.






From there I trundled on to Kenmare (Molls Gap is closed until the end of April - Doh!).

I Stayed in the Coachman's Townhouse Hotel. I can highly recommend it. A family run place in the second generation. Rebuilt recently so no draughty old world feel here. Right in the middle of the Town and secure parking for the bikes around the back :thumb Linky A few pints, and a great slleep.


Then off for the next spin.

Ballydehob viaduct.

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Keep your eyes peeled for this at the viaduct.
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Then the long long long 200km trek to the next point - Fennor Church Tree Sculpture.
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Had great weather then for a while on the way past The High Cross Monument.

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Running out of light chased my way to the Old Pallas Hardship Home.

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Then a spirited ride across the Wicklow mountains in the dark as the temperature headed from 17C in the sun to 4C in the dark over the top. Made it to the Threecastles castle.

I have a feeling I may need to visit this one again!

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.. and we are off.

Good start to 2017.....................

A spin over Conor Pass. The only miserable weather I hit...........................

Then a spirited ride across the Wicklow mountains in the dark as the temperature headed from 17C in the sun to 4C in the dark over the top. Made it to the Threecastles castle.

I have a feeling I may need to visit this one again!
...................................

Did you skip Thomas Ashe?
 
Did you skip Thomas Ashe?

Thankfully I only skipped adding the photo. I should have remembered that one particularly. First off I met a herd of cows on a narrow road (a traumatic experience for a jackeen) and then struggled to get the bike off the grass verge. Thankfully its time to change the PR4's. They might be great on the continent, but they are worse than useless on our great roads.

So due homage paid to the biking rebel.

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The header in me!

Well here goes!
 

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  • 5. Cavan.Monagha Errigal Old School House (Medium).jpg
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The header in me!

and the next lot.
 

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  • 7. L.Ford W.Meath  Ballinahowen Tree Sculptures (Medium).jpg
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The header in me!

and so on.
 

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  • 11. Wexford The Old Pallas Hardship Homestead (Medium).jpg
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  • 12. Carlow.Kilkenny High Cross Monument (Medium).jpg
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  • 14. Clare Abandoned House at Pullagh (Medium).jpg
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  • 15. Limerick Williamstown Castle (Medium).jpg
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The header in me!

Yah de yah!
 

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  • 18. Cork Ballydehob Rail Viaduct (Medium).jpg
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  • 17. Waterford  Fennor Church Tree Sculpture (Medium).jpg
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  • 20. Mayo The Remote Derelict Footbridge (Medium).jpg
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The header in me!

and not so finally.
 

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  • 22.. Leitrim Margaret of New Orleans (Medium).jpg
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The header in me!

Ulster extra ones!
 

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a Winnie the Pooh day

First ride out of the year on the 16th - and first ride out for 6 months.
A bit blustery with the bike moving about a bit.
Just a quick local tour, 2 down 22 to go.
 

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Got a couple more done at the weekend
Although the weather was sh1te on Friday it still wasn't quite as grey as in Yosarian's pics ;)

8. Louth / Meath :


22. Leitrim :


21. Sligo :


I love the Gleniff Horseshoe but Friday was far & away the worst weather I've encountered there even though it's quite sheltered.

And then on Saturday I got another.
1. Donegal :
 
Reports of ploughing at the Thomas Ashe memorial came my way. As the sun is shining in Kerry I nipped out for a look. There are a lot of motorcycle ruts in the wet ground. It may dry out if the sun stays shining but for now I'd recommend that you keep the bike on the hard track. The Photo Rally season now opens for real - do enjoy.
 

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Hi all,

There have been some reports coming in that some participants are "ploughing" the grass with their motorcycle at the Thomas Ashe memorial in Kerry. Gerry went for a look over the weekend, and as can be seen in the photo below, there are indeed motorcycle ruts in the grass. If the grass is wet, please don't ride on it.

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I'd like to ask all participants to show some consideration when visiting all the photo rally points. Riding one motorbike onto the grass, or along a cut stone path may not seem harmful, but when 400-500 motorbikes do it in a nine month period, significant damage could occur.
Whether they are ancient heritage sites or modern monuments, people have gone to the cost and effort of erecting and maintaining them. We are benefiting from their efforts as participants of Irish Photo Rally; the least we can do is be responsible enough not to damage these things, so that they will remain intact for others to benefit from in the future. If nothing else, I don't want Irish Photo Rally to get a reputation for damaging the places used as photo rally points.

In other news, I've been contacted to say a camera has been found, with loads of photos of a motorbike, on the road between points 8 and 22. It sounds like it's most likely belonging to an Irish Photo Rally participant. If you lost a camera, or know someone who did, contact me and I can let you know where the camera is being kept.

For anyone that might not have heard yet, we have a new website. The address is: http://www.irishphotorally.ie. The old website is now defunct. I'm still getting the occasional person asking why the list for 2017 isn't on the website yet, so news of the new website is obviously still a little slow propagating.

A few people have told me that they are having trouble printing the map of the points on the new website. I'm aware of the issue and it's on the (long) list of things to do. In the meantime, I have a PDF file of the map. If anyone wants to print it, I can email the file to them.

Some people have had problems downloading the GPX file with the list of points on the map page. This is usually due to using an out-of-date browser. Update your browser and try again. If you're still having trouble, contact me and I'll try to help.

The clocks have gone forward and the weather is improving, so the photo rally can begin in earnest.

Enjoy and safe riding,

Tim.
 


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