Irish Photo Rally 2019

After a slow start I finally got out on Sunday and managed 4 in a row. Cavan/Monaghan, Leitrim, Longford/Westmeath and Laois/Offaly. 290 miles and a massive grin factor. Main problem was the sun was in the wrong position most of the time for a decent photo. Real first world problem.
I'm going to try and get out next Sunday before RevUp over the May bank holiday weekend.
 

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Does it matter what order you visit the locations?

What sort of mileage is the whole rally and how many days could it be done in?

Been thinking of a trip to Ireland for sometime.
 
You can do them in any order you wish. I don't really know what the total mileage is because everyone does their own route and usually over a few trips. It's not uncommon for people to take a week off and do the whole lot in a week. A few years back, some lad decided to do it as quick as he could and it took him something like two and a half days but I don't think he slept much. I wouldn't recommend that because it's probably not safe and it defeats the purpose, which is to get you to see the country off the beaten track.
 
i had planned to do them all in 5 days until issues

did 13 in 4 days

for 10 years ive come over done a few come home come over done a few etc

got sick of that cos ££ and the slog to holyhead is a zzzzzzzz fest

someone asked me mileage one time worked out at 5500km - its 400km to and from the boat

did 1400 miles for the 13 in mid march - i think it woulda been 2500 if id gone through them
 
Last year I did them in 5-6,000 miles. All in day trips from Dublin apart from one overnight for Cork, Kerry and Clare. I'll probably do something similar this year.
 
Thanks, I might try and do a few this year to get the feel of it with a view to trying for most of them next year. I see it as a chance to see much more of Ireland than I have to date.
 
On Monday I started from Antrim and did points 4,8,9,10,11,12,13,15,16,17,18,19. I stayed on nice campsite near Rosslare on Monday night,St Margaret's Beach Camping and Caravan Park and the stopped on the Valentia Island Caravan & Camping site on Tuesday night, another nice site a short stroll into Knightstown.


I covered a total of 1460kms over the 3 days.


I traveled some smashing roads and also some shite roads but it's great to get away on my own, doing a bit of camping and chatting with the locals. :thumb
 
Thanks, I might try and do a few this year to get the feel of it with a view to trying for most of them next year. I see it as a chance to see much more of Ireland than I have to date.

Have a look at the Iron Butt Association Ireland website too as they have a photo rally as well. Combining both adds to the enjoyment as they complement each other in my opinion.
 
Thanks, I might try and do a few this year to get the feel of it with a view to trying for most of them next year. I see it as a chance to see much more of Ireland than I have to date.

You get a bronze badge for doing 12 and silver for 18, so you can aim for one of those if you think you won't be able to do all 24 this year.
 
I took the bike to work with me on Saturday morning. At 2pm I closed the pharmacy and took to the road. I took the motorway over to save time and then down to the Clare rally point. A quick stop for petrol and then about 30 minutes of back roads to the hotel. A quick shower and change into the monkey suit and I'm down for dinner.
I had an early-ish night (about 1am) as I wanted to be more than half alert on the bike on Sunday.
I had a big breakfast as I was skipping lunch and then into the AGM. Parts of it droned on. The president when he's speaking could put black coffee asleep.
It was all over by 2pm and I was on the road by 2:15. The slowest part was getting out of Galway city. But once I was on the N59 I started to make progress, at least I would have if it wasn't for all the tourists. Most were gone after about 20km and then I had about 50km of open road. It's supposed to be a national route but in reality it's just a well surfaced back road.
I got to the next rally point Omey Island at 4. It was low tide when I got there but I didn't have the time to go out. Also I would have need to wash the salt and sand off before going any further.
I set off for the next point, Mayo but after about 10 minutes my sat nav just lost the road that I was on and re-routed back to Galway. I took an executive decision and performed a U turn and headed in the direction that I knew was right. After about 20 minutes the sat nav came round to my way of thinking and gave correct cordinates. All in all it lost me about 15 minutes. A quick stop just before 6 for a Mars bar, a cup of tea and petrol for the bike and I got to the second point about 30 minutes behind schedule.
After taking the photos at the second point I did some calculations. If I went to the third point, Roscommon it would take 10 minutes longer than going directly home. Working on the it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission theory I headed to the third point.
As I set out for home I thought that the ETA on the sat nav was a bit optimistic. I knew how long it would take me to get home from Athlone and I still had a way to go before getting there. As I was going down the road to Athlone the sat nav indicated that I should leave it well before Athlone. What the hell I thought and took the turn. It brought me down a well surface side road that cut about 10km off my expected journey.
I got to Athlone and then took the motorway the rest of the way home. I got home 7 hours after leaving the hotel, exhausted but content.
So for next week it's maintenance and repairs to the bike and the grass needs cutting again. I will also have to put in some "home" time to make up for all the bike time of the last few weeks. Well worth worth it.
 

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Fair play to you. This is usually the first weekend of the year that I go camping but the weather put me off.

Had Stena tied your bike at all or how did they do so much damage?

bike fixed - once id found out how much the stuff from usa was it got ordered- done within fortnight of arriving back

oem bits from usa 75 quid

quote to stena at honda uk prices 252.76 :jes

they did pay it after 2 months - i had to fix bike as its used every day and the bars were doing ma head in :D

possibly over to do the 4 midlands ones over the weekend depends on weather

if not theyll be done via scotland (yes really) end of july - ironically that ferry was booked while i was away on the bike break trip :D
 
Two days off together with the possibility of a third could only mean one thing. Off on the bike for the photo rally. 3 days and I could get it finished for this year but that was not to be. So on Tuesday I set off up the N2 to Ardee and then the N52 over to Dundalk. From there it was on to Lurgan for point 4, Down/Armagh. Keep going north to point 3 Antrim. This was too easy. A quick healthy lunch of Snickers and crisps in Mosside and then feed the bike again and I'm off to point 2 Derry.
That's when things went a bit pear shaped. The road from Coleraine had warning that the road ahead was closed. I decided to see how far I could go before I hit the road closure. It was looking good until about 1.5 miles from the turn off for the bridge and the road was blocked. There wasn't any workmen about so I chanced going on. After about half a mile or so I came across some men laying tarmac. What did I do? I just nodded to them. The nodded back and then ignored me. I kept going through to the far side of the road closure to where the turn off for the bridge was. Down to the bridge. I was eaten alive by midges while taking the photo but that's all part of the fun isn't it?
From there on to Derry and Letterkenny. I stopped for tea and a scone in Letterkenny, well it was 4PM! The weather was good so I took the long was round via the N56 and Dunfanaghy. On down to point 1 Donegal and got the shot. This is the third year in a row that I have had sunshine for the Donegal photo. Global warming how are ye. Then it was on to Dungloe to the B&B for the night. Dinner in the town and then a stroll around the town in 15°C. I'll be swimming in some melted polar icecap soon.

Day 2 and it was an early start. Well early for me anyway. The rain stopped just as I finished breakfast but I still put on the extra jumper and winter gloves. Short spin down to point 6 Belleek and then across to 21 Sligo. I switched to the summer gloves as the sun was trying to break out. So as not waste the day I decided to take in some Iron Butt and one of the BMW Ulster Club point.
I had a route planned to Creevelea Furnace but it turned out to be a lot of boreens. 30-40kph max. No line of sight around bends. In short a bleeding nightmare. Eventually I came out onto the R280 and the mood lightened. When I reached the point I was in the middle of one of the two not so light showers. I couldn't see anywhere safe to park up the bike. I didn't fancy having to open my jacket in the rain and get myself and the phone wet so I said Sod It! And turned around.

I started to head for BMW Ulster no. 3 in Cavan but straight away my sat nav was taking up more boreens. I didn't fancy another hour of boreens in the rain this time so I set off down the R280 to the N78. When I got to the N78 it was closed. No chance of sneaking through as they were actively waving motorists away. So I headed to other way and turned down a boreen and after 1km or so turned to run parallel to the N78. It ran for about 4 km and then rejoined the N78. Grand I thought, passed the closure. Not so. I was in the middle of the closure. Nobody waved me away so I just turned in the direction that I needed and continued on. Past a load of workmen doing verges and road marking. Then past a patch of no road surface covering at all. Fresh tarmac being laid on the other side of the road. Nobody said or bothered me so I continued on to the other side to see drivers being waved away from there.

I stopped for lunch in Ballyconnell. The bike was safe. It was parked beside a van load of armed Garda. The extra jumper came off as the sun was now splitting the stones. Then on to the photo point near Granard. Then on the to Pledge of the Metal Men in Bailieborough and the last photo of the day. A cup of tea and an ice cream for me and petrol for the bike and we were ready for home. I avoided any motorway until the M50 and then hit the second bad rain of the trip. Discovered that my new jacket still leaks at the zips on the arms but that should be remediable. The speedo cable came loose (again!) but again it's fixable. The sat-nav acted up but that should be sorted with a restore of an old backup.

Over 500 miles, 4 fills of petrol and the rain on the M50 washed most of the muck off. Only Limerick and Kerry to go for the photo rally although I might get the extra Ulster BMW clubs points and a few of the Iron Butt if the humour take me. All in all most satisfying.

Too lazy to shrink all the photos to get them on here. F*ck over to FB if you really want to see them.
 
On Monday and Tuesday 1st and 2nd July, I rode from home to Valentia Island and back. I made sure to get photos at the Limerick, Kerry and Cork Irish photo rally points. It was a great trip, perfect weather - dry and not too hot. Two links below to some photos which I hope you will enjoy.

They will be pleasant memories for me in the future!

(You might recognise some faces I ran into at the Cork photo point - where else! )


http://photos.app.goo.gl/hLpgscDRMw7jTMfRA

http://photos.app.goo.gl/5QikrRZSXB8MzmNDA
 
Fine set of photos Bin and an excellent spin too
 
joch bad man

bin some hoor ya are

where was o mahony on the hill??
 
These are the days to be about on your bike
 

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