Triumphrat

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:07 PM

This is the completed version of the previous more concise thread which was composed on-route as the trip unfolded.

http://www.triumphrat.net/ride-trip-...up-update.html

The seeds for this trip were sown during the early months of 2009 when I’d about completed all the mods on my Scrambler which I’d initially intended.
I wanted to do something memorable, but stay within the constraints of the British Isles.
The obvious long journey is to go from Lands End to John O’Groats, but to add a (much longer) twist I thought I’d include the outer coastline of Ireland in there too!!

The main plan of the trip was in fact to have as little a plan as necessary!
The only real deadlines or schedules I’d have to meet would be the ferries to and from Ireland.
Other than that the intention was to see where I ended up each day and to plan the daily route as time, weather and riding conditions allowed.

As it transpired I managed to luckily choose the week of the best UK weather of the year so far, and only had 1 day on which it rained!!
Lucky or what!!

This was the eventual route I took..................
(The yellow trace is my Lands End to John O’Groats route, the blue is how I got to the start and got back from the finish, to/from home)

I set off from home on Sunday 24th May and headed the 400 miles south to stay overnight a few miles from Lands End in the small town of St Just-in-Penwith.

Next morning was an early start as I knew I needed to get to the ferry to Ireland at 6:30pm that evening from Fishguard at the tip of South Wales and had a 400 mile run to get there, avoiding any motorways as much as I could.

I met up with AndyB on his Harley for the start and had a very enjoyable run into Devon with him.

A few photo’s of the start........................

Scram and AndyB’s Harley (sorry, no photo of Andy for some reason!?)

Lands End itself........

And me!! All ready to roll!!...........

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:09 PM

We took the northern route thro Cornwall and Devon and after parting company with AndyB on the road to Launceston I headed off toward Exmoor National Park.
Unfortunately the traffic by that time had begun to build up somewhat due to it being a holiday weekend so progress was slowed a little.

A scenic shot on the way.......

Weston Super-Mare was my first stop-off so I joined in the local bike gathering.
Spot the odd one out!!.........

It was then off to find the Severn Bridge to take me into Wales, this being the only bit of motorway I was to use for the next 2000 miles!!

Wales......

I managed to get to the ferry with an hour to spare, so the first deadline was met.......

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:11 PM

So it was goodbye Wales......

And hello Ireland!!..................

From the ferry it was only 2 minutes ride to the hotel I was staying in, thank goodness!!
It had been a long day!!

Next day was a glorious sunny one and a great start to the Irish leg of the journey......

A quick phone call to Sprocket the night before had arranged an early meet up with him.
He only lived a short ride from the ferry terminal so it was off for coffee and a natter with him and his good lady Gloria.

Another photo call.....................

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:15 PM

We then had a very enjoyable ride to New Ross where we said our farewells and I carried on in the general direction of Cork then down to the SW coast via Skibbereen and Bantry

At the head of Bantry Bay………………..

And a scenic view of the Bay…………….

From Bantry it was only a short hop to my next stop in Kenmare.
At this point of the journey the scenery went from coastal to mountainous in a very short space of time.

The road thro the high lands………………………

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:18 PM

Kenmare is a great little picturesque town in county Kerry and makes an excellent starting point for the trip up the west coast of Ireland.

I had hoped to incorporate a ride around the Ring of Kerry into this trip but unfortunately it was obvious by the weather on Day 3 that I wouldn’t actually see anything!
Light drizzle and low cloud, so I headed straight north in the hope that it’d clear later on.

This is the road thro “Molls Gap” on the way to Killarny............

And one of the (normally) most scenic views in Ireland.
Unfortunately the weather has some effect on just how scenic it is!!
“Ladies view” is in Killarney National park, and the name apparently stems from the admiration of the view given by Queen Victoria’s lady in waiting during their 1861 visit........

From here it was NW to Killorglin on the River Laune......

And on thro Castlemaine!!
For those who may know the song.......
"There was a wild colonial boy, Jack Duggan was his name, He was born and bred in Ireland, in a place called Castlemaine."
Who knows, some of you guys may be related as he was transported to Australia in the early 1800’s!!
Anything to do with XXXX I wonder??.................

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:23 PM

Onward then to Tarbert to catch the ferry across the mighty Shannon.......

It wasn’t the best of days for this short crossing, the sea was just a little rough!!

The ferry crashed into the quay when we got to the other side, so I don’t know if it did any more trips that day!

I carried on across the Doonbeg.....

And on to one of my favourite places on Irelands west coast, Lahinch in Co. Clare.
I came here many times in my VW camper van when I was into windsurfing, this being one of the premier surfing spots in Ireland.

Out there is the Atlantic Ocean, next stop America!!! You can imagine the waves that come into this bay!!
If you look very closely you may see the surfers too!

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:26 PM

My next stop should have been the Cliffs of Moher........

But this is what I was greeted with when getting there!!...............

No point in stopping there!! For obvious reasons!!

So onward again, thro Kinvara.......

And north via Laugh Corrib, the Maumturk Mountains and Westport to my destination of Ballina

I took this photo outside the hotel.
You can see what kind of day it’d been!!...............

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:27 PM

On Day 4 the clouds thankfully began to lift...............

And I was on my way thro Sligo toward Donegal.
Great roads and at last great weather!! (which was to stay that way for the rest of the trip)

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:31 PM

From here it was the scenic route to Derry to then cross the border into Northern Ireland.

One thing I had made a plan to do on this trip was ride the NorthWest 200 roadrace circuit in Coleraine/Portrush.

The North West 200 is Ireland’s largest outdoor sporting event, attracting crowds in excess of 150,000 as well as the biggest names in the sport.
Taking place annually in May, just a couple of weeks before the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200 circuit runs between the towns of Portrush, Portstewart and Coleraine – an area of outstanding natural beauty and home to the world famous Giant’s Causeway.
The triangle circuit is one of the fastest in the world. In 2005, Michael Rutter broke the record for the fastest speed in the history of the event with 201.1mph.....

I achieved the ambition of riding the circuit on Day 4 of the trip and here is me (or rather the bike) on the start line………………..

And the finish!!!..............

I managed to do 100 mph at the point Michael Rutter first broke 200mph.
It’s a narrow country road with hedges, ditches and lamp-posts on either side and white lines down the middle!! Rather him than me!!
Just shows how brave/crazy these guys are!!

The aforementioned Giants Causeway
(Well almost! Its round the corner but I couldn’t be bothered to walk all the way down there and back!)…..

And on to the Antrim coast road, all the way to my next stop in the port of Larne which is just north of Belfast……

Ventura · 06-06-2009, 02:33 PM

Next day (Day 5) was goodbye to Ireland.....

And hello to Scotland!!

A short blast up the coast from Troon brought me to another ferry over to Dunoon........

This is where I met up with Sofiaspin on his gleaming Thruxton and enjoyed a great ride north up to Inverary.......