Mount Leinster - Ireland 2016

Bright and early Sunday morning... Well sometime before noon actually, we packed up our bikes for the start of our proper tour. The loose plan was to make our way south to the coast and pick up the Wild Atlantic Way. Sadly, John only has three weeks, so we will see how far he gets. My plan is to go all the way to Donegal. Hopefully I'll make it there.

For the first day we decided to climb over the shoulder of Mt. Leinster and make our way south to Carrick-on-Suir. 

Castlecomer - Ireland 2016

So... it isn't November! Why is that significant, you ask. It seems that I keep coming to Ireland in November, which isn't quite the height of tourist season here for a very good reason. Despite saying that, I've had amazingly good luck with weather on those late autumn trips, right up until 2014. That year saw us trying to chase down some good weather on the west coast and failing miserably. I made a vow on some particularly wet cold and windy day that I would return to cycle the west coast up into Donegal, just not in November!

So it isn't November...

This year, John's baby brother, David, who was cycling with us on that cold, wet and windy trip in 2014, gave us the perfect excuse for a summer trip by scheduling his wedding on July 1, a date we believed to be in the summer, until we shivered our way through the reception, bundled up in every piece of warm clothing we had, plus a few more borrowed from the family!

I should know better. I've been in Ireland in the summer before and I think the difference between summer and winter temperatures is only about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. A good winter day can be nicer than a bad summer one. I'm not complaining, just offering up a bit of explanation for why most of the photos include leg warmers!