Earache

I'm guessing around 19,000-20,000 on three bikes collectively. Not a bad year, but not all that great either as most of the mileage was on long trips.

Typical roadsign at a T junction. No real street names or bearings given, just the name of the next town and an arrow. Along with 75 other signs of motels, rtestaurants, attractions, etc.... Hard to read when you're passing by at 45 mph. Just slow down or stop to figure out where you're headed next. The roads, in general, really suck. Major highways are decent, but anythign else will be bumpy as shit, like the worst State Route you've ever ridden on. Speed limits are around 60 mph, but you'll never be able to go that fast in the country as the roads are so fucked. I could barely do the speed limited on a BMW GS with long travel suspension! But every town you come into has a speed camera on teh edge of town. You'll also see unmarked roving vans manned by the Garda (Police) with speed cameras in them. Watch yourself!

Sligo is nice. Another area to hit; Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin. Lots of old ruins and history here. Great scenery, too. "mountains" is a bit of a misnomer - more like rolling hills.

No problem. Don't forget, Northern Ireland uses the British Pound (and Irish Pound) as currency while the rest of Ireland uses the Euro. So you'll need both if you're going through Northern Ireland. And don't say anything good about the English or England while you're in Northern Ireland....good way to get your ass beat! Road signs with any reference to England will have been defaced or torn down. All signs referring to the town Londonderry have the "London" portion scratched off, so it just says "derry"'. You are to refer to it as Derry or suffer the wrath of a pissed off Northern Irishman. Ask for directions to "Londonderry" and you'll get an answer like "Never heard of it". And you won't see any signs anywhere for it, either. Driving and navigation is a real treat as their road signs are weak at best. Make out a list of the towns you'll be going through and just follow the arrows to the next town on your list. Signs don't say "N70 North" or N67 East" - they just say N70 and N67. If it's night or cloudy, you'll have no idea what direction you're going unless you know the name of the next town. Don't use you sense of direction that you use in the USA - it won't work. But having said that, don;t be afraid to rent a car and just head out looking for shit. You'll get lost, but find more cool shit while you're lost. Riding a bike on the left side of the road is a piece of cake, I got used to it instantly. Driving a car is a lot different though and takes getting used to. You'll also have a manual transmission on the rental car - damned few automatics anywhere. Not a problem if you drive a manual here but a pain if you don't.

I could still kick his ass. Probably. Maybe.

RIP- just heard some of Mitchell's friends talk about him on WLW700 radio. Bummer.

Pussy!

Where's the pics of you wearing the pink fairy outfit?

Thanks Rick!

Huuuuuge golf courses all over the place. Lots of great trout fishing (so I'm told, I don't really fish:eek:) around as well. Lots of outdoor activities to do. But be sure to bring a rainsuit!

I'm trying to raise some cash to help buy spurs for Ohio US Army Cavalry Spurs. Members of the US Army Cav units are award a set of spurs with their name engraved on them for serving in a combat zone. Ohio has one such unit, the C-TROOP 2-107 CAV unit, serving in Iraq right now. They need to raise around $3,500 to equip each soldier serving with spurs. This spurs are purchased through donations. Each set of spurs runs $25, but any amount will help. Donations can be paypal'd to EaracheMS@Gmail.com or sent to the Army Wife in charge of accepting donations here: NANCY STEMAN-FEDERLE 2908 BOHLEN DRIVE HILLIARD, OHIO 43026 Please make the checks payable to "Friends and Family of C-TROOP 2-107 CAV" and also let me know your name and how much you've donated so that I can enter you into the raffle outlined below. Raffle! For every $10 you donate, you'll get one entry into a drawing for a free hotel room for one night in Indianapolis or Columbus. Stay free at either the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre or the Columbus Doubletree Hotel Downtown. Indy: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3054 Columbus: http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/CMHSBDT-Doubletree-Guest-Suites-Columbus-Ohio/index.doI'll keep track of the names and donations and then forward them to Casper for the drawing. That way, I can show no favoritism (or un-favoritism:D ). You pick the dates and which city you want to stay in. The hotels will award a free room as long as they're not sold out or have some huge function going on. Indy might be able to award the room during MotoGP weekend if the reservation is made far enough in advance. Please help - THANKS!!!!

I'll do another post about this, but for every $10 you donate, you'll get one chance at a free hotel night in Indianapolis or a free night in Columbus at a downtown hotel. You can use the free room voucher on any date of your choosing as long as the hotel isn't sold out or they have a special event going on. They might honor it during events, but no promises. Indy can probably do it during MotoGP weekend if the reservation is made far enough in advance. I'll put up another post about the details. EDIT: thread is here - http://www.ohio-riders.com/showthread.php?t=37107

Got your donation, but then it was rescinded. Gotta love Paypal, eh?

Yes - Paypal to EaracheMS@Gmail.com Also be sure to send me another email with your full name so I can give you credit. Thanks! Eric

No matter where ya go, if you've not been there before then you'll have a good time. The people are probably the most tolerant of Americans of anywhere in Europe. We're less hated there than just about anywhere else. If I can help you out with anything, just ask. I've been there 4 times over the years and have some friends that live there, so I'm fairly familiar with the place and can get local info for you from my friends if you need it.

We went through towns that had no gas stations, no pharmacy, no grocery store...but they had 3 or 4 pubs. This one was in a town that had about 5 buildings in it... Three bar stools - no waiting.

And no matter where ya go, there's always plenty of this... And it really is better than the stuff ya get here. The domestic variation is much less acidic and a bit thicker. Still creamy like it is here, but much smoother. Dunno why they have different formulations for different parts of the World.

Probably the best place to go is Galway on the far west coast. I was amazed how few Irish have even been over there. Not a tourist town, but has loads fo bars and restaurants, some decent hotels and lots of shit to see and do. Loads of outdoor walks and hiking to be had around the coastal areas. Midtown Galway...

See: http://www.ohio-riders.com/showthread.php?t=26186&highlight=ireland for some pics from our trip here in May and June. Rode around teh island for 3 weeks. The perimeter of the Island is where all of the cool shit is. The interior has towns like Tipperary,Limerick, small farms and most of the industrial areas. Kinda like the midwest of the US - only much worse. The southwest, after Dublin, is the most touristy area. Towns like Kenmare, Killkenny are nothing but hotels and restaurants for tourists. We blew through there and it was a ghost town - the economy has really put the damper on the number of tourists around. So now is a good time to go.

Ireland has high unemployment. especially in the smaller, more remote towns. It's pretty depressing. You'd be doing yourself a huge disservice not to go to some of the touristy areas. They're touristy as that's where all the cool shit is! OK, skip the Guinness Factory, skip Blarney Castle but do get out into the country and see some of the other, less popular ruins, Druid Burial mounds and castles. Ya can't go 25 feet without running into one anyway.

The one good thing was that the bar was just down the stairs...

The bedroom.... and the shitter down the hall... Rooms are kinda expensive there - we paid around $175 pernight for this place. And it was the only place in town that had a room.

It's not quaint, not clean and doesn't have a bike shop in it. We stayed above the bar with the guy sitting on a stool on the sidewalk... He was filming a TV commerical for his bar. After he was done, he showed us upstairs to our room. Like most B&B's in Ireland, the room was just an empty room he had that he threw some beds in it so he could rent it out. The outer room...

Tipp is a small town and pretty much a shithole - no offense to your Grandfather;) - nothing but a small crossroads and a very shabby, fucked up little town...

Tipperary, ya say? Stayed there for two days in '06 when the bike I was riding took a major shit.... Founding fathers, etc...