Pedal For Peat's Sake

Join me for a talk about my project and my biking on monday oct 15 at the patagonia store in dublin! Ive worked hard and come a long way, and am just dying to tell you about it!! you only know the smallest bit! ask questions, see me in person, and support patagonia and the IPCC.

here are some pics to help intrigue you!

I have made it to Dublin! I have biked 970km around ireland, that is excluding my one train ride and my one car ride. I have had 4 flat tires, 2 in the front 2 in the back. I have visited 11 bogs, many many friends, and seen a lot of incredible things. I have had rain, hail, sun, clouds, frost, and saw summer turn into fall. This has been an incredible experience, and I feel it has done nothing but open doors to more and more and more.

In Dublin!!

Here is a breakdown of my trip:

Sept 18: Arrive

Sept 19: Get bike, plan route

Sept 20: Bog of Allen!!! (85km)

Sept 21: Thomastown (77km)

Sept 22: Fenor Bog! (55km)

Sept 23: Clonmel (49km)

Sept 24: Gristan Bog! (55km)

Sept 25: Killarney (Train)

Sept 26: Kerry Bog Village! (30km)

Sept 27: Killarney National Park Bogland! (5km)

Sept 28: Kilrush (80km)

Sept 29: Boghill Village!!! (65km)

Sept 30: Galway (65km)

Oct 1: Galway (Rest)

Oct 2: Rossroe, Roundstone (76km)

Oct 3: Westport, Connemara National Park!(Car, Green Schools)

Oct 4: Westport Green Schools (12km)

Oct 5: Ballycroy Bog! Ballaghaderreen (54km)

Oct 6: Lough Allen Bog! (51km)

Oct 7: Kells (127km)

Oct 8: Kells (Rest)

Oct 9: Girley Bog! (20km)

Oct 10:  National Museum! Dublin! (67km)

I took some side trips, Ring of Kerry, up to Belmullet, but that was my route!

Click HERE to see my route on a google map…its not perfect, i hugged the coast a bit more on the west, but there you have it!!

I will be doing a Presentation at the Patagonia Dublin store on monday Oct 15th at 7pm, so if you are in the area, please come or invite your friends! until then i will be uploading pictures and info about what I saw! thanks for everything guys!

Boghill Centre

A warning for much rain to come!

Connemara National Park!

Green School Talk

All Girls School Talk

Goodbye West Coast!!

I left you in westport cuddled into karens house, clothes drying and glass of wine in hand. I talked to green schools and my mind was flowing with ideas of how to bring this back home, where to begin! I had so much fun!
I woke the next morning threw my bike in lauras car and her and eva took me for a spin up the coast to a town called belmullet where they had a school to go to. On the way I got to do a driveby of the ballycroy national park and bog…a bonus bog! Its a very desolate one, beautiful in its simplicity and lovely to see. I also got to do a bikeride on the peninsula and say my fairwell to the west coast. I bid the girls goodbye, sad as there are a million things I wanted to stay and do with them, but getting on my bike in the sun on a flat wide laned road was great! Everything was dry, beautiful views as I headed to ballghderreen for the night when, BOOM…is this hail? I got pelted for about an hour with wet, goes right in your eye hail. I’ve never biked so fast. Pulled into my room and took a long hot shower.
Woke up early the next morning to go to lough allen and meet tommy and his family. A perfect riding day, only about 55km, sun, soft rolling hills, an early morning sprinkle, another rainbow, and, my favorite, a weekend day so traffic was quieter. I pull into tommys farm and am blown away! Wait till you see the pictures! He has an incredible farm, beautiful bog on the lake, and took me for a tour of his whole property. The history, beauty, smells and company were top of the top! Then after sunset music at a local pub and I hit the pillow hard! This bogland and upcoming tour in an old mining district is less toured than the rest of the country which is sad…so much beauty, the lakes the stories. If you ever come to ireland you must check out this gem of an area.
I woke early Sunday to a perfect lake sunset! Frost on everything..uh oh..a check of the moth traps and the dew covered spiderwebs and off I went on my bike…today was the push…105km to do with flat backroads wiggling to kells. There is no direct mainroad so I made up a most direct route…long day but I got this.
First off, everything had frost on it…winter is here! I biked with my micro puff on till noon! Also biking through a land of lakes there was beautiful fog lifting everywhere! Beautiful, but hard to see and wet..also, hills hills hills. I thought it would be flat and I was more than wrong…hill after hill, my chained failed me 3 times and I had to walk up part of at least 2. I was getting worn down…I kept thinking, at least I don’t have a flat, at least its not raining..thankfully im alone so I don’t blow up on someone. I didn’t stop but for grabbing food from my bag or drinking water and set it up so I could eat my gummies while biking. Why didn’t I think of that before! I also asked for directions and got sent the wrong way for a good 15km…maddness. the last 7km I was full focus, get there, come on body, you got this, and ended up doing 127km. Wow! That’s 80miles! My legs were jello, I shoveled food in my mouth and took a long hot bath
I did it! Today I am in kells resting, tomorrow I will go to girley bog and then wed dublin museum and then im done…can you believe it?? Im workin out the facts for a talk at patagonia, but otherwise stay tuned for uploading pics and more here…I still have 10 days of my trip, and I have a lot planned…I can’t believe how far I’ve gone! Now time to kick my feet up and relax till tomorrow…im almost there!

Kells!

Hello from Westport! it has been a rainy couple of days, but i have been kept busy doing a number of different things besides just cycling. I have been giving talks at different schools in the area, 4 so far  thanks to eva laura and ray who work with the green schools here. I talked on land conservation peatlands, sustainable transportation and generally what its like to travel ireland alone by bike. I have been talking to kids ranging from 5-15. it has pulled me out of my comfort zone which is a good thing, and getting to talk to kids, have them ask questions and see their minds tick at the idea of biking really made this trip worth it. i hope to do more talks on the way to dublin and in dublin, and i wish id been able to earlier on as well. My mind is racing on some of the environmental ideas i have seen in action here in ireland that I want to bring to the states, or get my hands on when i get home, tidy towns, green schools, so so much! I will write more soon and post some great photos, but for now ill update you with a few photos i have been unable to post until now. from here I head towards Lough Allen Bog and then closer and closer to dublin. lets hope the rain stays in the clouds until i get there! I have also been staying with the wonderful karen and her family…a relative of a family friend and I have felt nothing but at home and loved..a long hot bath got my feet warmer than they have been this whole trip!!

Liam OConnor, the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion.

ferry over the river shannon

cliffs of moher!!

Boghill Centre Clare, beautiful peaceful place

A hot cup of tea has never tasted as good or been more deserved than this one right here…80km in the pouring rain, exposed lakes blowing gusts of wind, and trucks keeping their distance but splashing me with showers of rain…basically the best day ever, now that its over.
This ride was a little different than the others. I knew it would rain, but the terrain was different. Im on the coast, but there are lakes everywhere. Not many trees and lots of brown ready for fall mountains and rolling brown hills. The rain was big drops and the wind was against me…or as I have decided to think, keeping the hair out of my face.
Id like to give a shoutout to some new best friends…my patagonia triolet jacket, my torrentshell pants…also my new waterproof shoe covers. I was SURE I was soaked through, my hair wet like I was swimming, my hands and toes numb. I pull up to the bed and breakfast down a very random road and like a wet slug tromped through the house to the bathroom…here we go I think…I take my jacket off, not a drop underneath, take of my rainpants…nothing…take off my shoes…just a little damp in the toes…huh…
Wooohoo!
Im right near connemara national park and roundstone bog, both of which I will be seeing tomorrow, and the next couple days will be filled with going to green schools and talking about sustainable transportation, bog awareness, and general smileing happiness.
Had to fill you in on my day, one of the hardest thus far…did I mention the 2 flat tires?? Or the 2 bikers I met? Do tell you say??
I got up to leave galway too early this morning, very dark out…so while packin and hanging back, and being a little antsy I got lucky and had the pleasure of fixing my flat front wheel…and then half way through my trip I got to pump it up again…we will see tomorrow what its fate is…
And I finally ran into some other bike trekers! 2 guys have been biking since Limmerek and over to the national park and than back, they of course ditched me with my heavy load, but then I saw them ducked away as the rain came and I flew past them…sorry, yes I am competitive!
The next 2 days ill be as far west as I can be, so look for some pics and info on green schools and bogs
But ill leave you with this, check out something called Corkscrew Hill in ireland. This girl got to fly down that on her bike on the way to galway..that’s right, it was…well, how do I put this….EPIC. now I get to denumb, dry my stuff, and watch the rain fall on the ocean..

Well I am in Galway!!! WOOHOO! so much has happened, one of them  being i cant find a computer in this city where i can upload photos or even make a link!! so here is a semi link to a picture i drew of who i am most thankful for on this trip!

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217099767890058183654.0004cafbfce159183ea07&msa=0&ll=53.660916,-8.99231&spn=2.311214,4.916382

Get it? a letter “U”!!! I am thankful for anyone and everyone reading this blog!

Here is an update…in Galway, so far minus my little trainride to killarney I have biked 561km! (349 miles) wowza!! that is an average of 35 miles each day i have biked! I am also about halfway through with my trip, a little over…i have biked 10 days and I am planning on being back in Dublin Oct 10.

I have visited 6 bogs!

1. Bog of Allen

2. Fenor Bog

3. Gristin Bog

4. Kerry Bog Village

5. Killarney National Park

6. Boghill Centre

All have been different, wonderful, beautiful, friendly, creative, and inspiring. I have 6 checkmarks on my bog passport and am planning on about 4 more!

I left killarney to go through the most challenging part of my journey…in kilrush as you know i thought of taking the bus, and had a horrible night sleep (someone left a fridge door open in the kitchen and there was a beeping all night, which would be fine but it was identical to my alarm! they were sorry and i couldnt be too mad…they were making desserts…) and i woke up not wanting to bike the wind, not wanting to do this anymore and just wanting to stop. i made a few phone calls, crying, “im at a low! i need to be talked down!” and the kindness of my friends did the trick…i got talked into biking the 55km to Boghill Centre along the west coast…and let me say this, BEST DAY OF MY TRIP! so nice, i did an extra 10km to go to the cliffs of moher! the ocean breeze was in my favor, the sun was shinning through the clouds, the smells of the sea and the rolling hills made me wonder if i ever wanted to be anywhere else. it was great! the Boghill Centre was just as wonderful. A generous staff, wonderful room, and the space they created is peaceful, thoughtful and like being home. i will show more pics and details when i can.

The night was a storm, rain wind, trouble, but my high from the day before and a talk with their staff about the joys of adventure made me brave it. hill after hill (i had to walk up 1/4 or one), wind sweet, again, beautiful views, and coming into Galway about 15km out i got dumped on with wind and rain…but i was laughing the whole time. the end was kind of unexciting, i was in the zone, biking in the rain and, Oh, look to my left and there the hostel is. haha. i drop off my stuff, take a shower, run to the Galway Oyster Festival and enjoy oysters, and then to a pub for some salmon and to watch the finals of hurling, galway vs kilkenny…did not end well, but my day was wonderful

today is a rest day, oct 1, and i will get my bike tuned, had the chain come off a couple times, and maybe take in a movie!! i wanted to ride a boat, but they all close oct 1…darn the world

Tomorrow on to Roundstone Bog, and then to Westport to talk to some Green Schools about my project and then start heading east…I have 4 more bogs to go to, and then ill fill this blog with info when I am back in Dublin. I have seen more than I am able to write, and Im noticing so many connections between the bogs as well as differences..I cant wait to share them with you!

Thanks again for all your support…I am doing well, sore knees, fingers still numb, but my spirit is back!

take care and talk soon!

Long day! Today started very early in the morning for an 80km ride…up the west over the river shannon and then along part of the west coast. It always takes me about 45 min to get in the groove and then it was pretty flat roads, not much shoulder and little sprinkling rain. All was fine, talking myself back in the groove, and I got to the river shannon and took a ferry across! Beautiful, fun, and such a treat…and then? WIND! The west coast is very windy, and I was geared down all the way traveling super slow! So frustrating! I couldn’t even go fast on the downhills if I wanted, too much wind was makin my wobbly. Don’t worry, I went slow and played it safe, but walked into my kilrush room quite a frazzled angry little thing. I curled in a bed in all my clothes and took a nice nap to clear the head. Tomorrow I head up to doolin and the lovely people here are going to check the wind forecast tomorrow. I am directly on the coast and if it looks pretty strong I have some options for a bus…like I said, safety first. There will be wind all the way up to westport, so ill keep you posted,but this should really be the weather challenge. Reguardless I am well, warm and fed and on my way to boghill centre clare! Question…I’ve been biking for 9 days now and I crave strawberry gummy anything and have been eating tons of them…I’ve also been drinking a lot of blumers cider…are these things normal??

The river shannon!