We conquer Connor Pass or the rain conquers us - which is it?
All in all it was a nice day. We're learning how to ride in rain!!
It's a short day . . . weather is far from optimal . . .but we must move on. We slowly tidied up our suite at the Captain's House and stuffed all our belongings back into our panniers. Then we went in search of the tandem. Our hosts had placed it inside their conservatory to protect it from the elements. So sweet! Mary, the host, sent us off with well wishes, but the look on her face showed that she thought we were nuts.
We knew we'd be faced with days like today on this trip. We planned for it. Now it was time to get on with it.
We wasted as much time as possible this morning in hopes the sun would shine; it was all wishful thinking. With a right turn at the end of our street and a quick left turn, the Garmin indicated that the climb of the day had begun. There's no warmup for climbing up Connor Pass when leaving from Dingle. It's raining, but it's a light rain. The helmet covers are perfect and the light rain jackets are working well.
The climb from Dingle is one of those where you can see the pass way up there and it seems an eternity to get there. The climb is signed: one at 5.1 kilometers (6.6%), the next one at 3.2 kilometers (7.1%), then at 1 kilometer (7.3%), and the last one at 500 meters (7.4%). The rain had subsided by the time we got to the summit and we were able to take pictures.
Looking forward to where we are headed. The valleys were formed by glaciers. Notice the slightly higher clouds. Within minutes as we started the descent, a squall blew in and it was difficult to see the valley through it.
The road narrowed as the descent began and another warning sign for those vehicles that are too big to maneuver the tight narrow curves, that they should turn around now. (Side note: I read an article when we were in Clonakilty that a camping car -RV- tried to turn around on this narrow road -after the sign, of course - and ended up stuck crosswise, thereby closing the road until it was removed.) Once we started the descent a squall blew in. My skilled captain and this fantastic tandem made the descent without any problems.
We had to stop to take a photo of this waterfall alongside the road . . .
The rest of today's short ride was pretty flat along the coastline. We saw more beach today than we've seen all this trip. No cliffs along this part of the Dingle Peninsula, just sand and mud flats. We had hoped to find points of interest along the way, but none were to be found. When we entered Blennerville we saw a windmill - the Dutch kind - and its museum. Closed on Sunday during the month of May.
We stopped for a photo of the sand and green . . .
We had told the B&B on our reservation that we'd arrive around 4 pm. Well, it was only 12:45 and we were less than 5 kilometers away. I put in a quick call to the B&B to see if we could arrive early - no answer. Within a minute they called back and told us they had just finished getting our room ready and to come on in. Yeah!
Out of the 55 kilometers at least 30 of them were in some sort of rain - light shower, squall, mist. But by the time we reached the B&B, we felt fairly dry. Toes were damp; hands and wrists were sort of wet. Not bad. Our saving grace was the gentle tailwind we had all day.
After showers and laundry, we ventured into town stopping at the first pub for Chuck's Sunday Bailey's and coffee. We've discovered that the Irish make a really nice "Bailey's coffee", but this pub was missing the cream so it was just Bailey's and coffee (like we make at home). We set off again to explore the Rose Garden and St. John's Church and eventually found our way to the second pub and ordered a Bailey's coffee. Well done and delicious. We wandered around Tralee's town center some more before finding Cassidy's for our 7 pm dinner reservation. We celebrated my birthday a night early with a lovely dinner of rack of lamb and sirloin steak with a nice bottle of Bordeaux Superior. Dessert included an Oreo lasagna (for the chocolate lover) and an apple and blueberry crumble.
Walking through the Rose Garden. This sign was intriguing: Baltimore is only 5190 kilometers away!
This photo was taken specifically for our friends in Bend, Oregon. When we moved to Bend in 1990 the best pizza joint was called John Dough's. What a surprise to find this one!
Note to ourselves: Wore light rain jackets all day. Average temp was 11C.
Accommodation: Castlemorris House is an absolute must when staying in Tralee. Rory is such a fun guy. Tandem parking is in the entry hall. House was built in 1790 by a captain at the barracks next door using rocks from the destroyed castle across the street. That castle was one of many ordered to be destroyed by Queen Elizabeth I.
Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles) Total: 792 km (492 miles)
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rod dayWhat a great way to spend your birthday! We did this same route but by car of course, & it wasn't raining. We also took several of the same photos (great minds etc) even the windmill was closed as was the cafe next door. Bonne continuation. Reply to this comment 6 months ago
