Day 5: Kinvara

For our photos, go to

http://picasaweb.google.com/vtdavidr/DavidAndDianeInIreland?authkey=Gv1sRgCI6XotCDsePUCA#

Woke up to a pretty dismal morning, although it really was not more than a mist when we left the hotel. It was to be a short mileage day- about 28 in all, but that was fine as the sights were fantastic and we had a great lunch along the way.

We were headed to Kinvara, a small town on Galway Bay, so we were going from a highland location downward, but not until we did a bit more climbing, with a big decent at the end. We traveled for about 12 miles on a beautiful country road with little/no traffic with sweeping views of the burren and hills several miles off. At times, it felt like we were in southern Utah with the strange geography. The weather was changing around all day, some rain, some sunshine, but thankfully, always a tailwind. We did have to walk at one point as there was a tremendously steep hill for about a quarter mile and we could not make it up with the tandem. Other than that, though, the riding was very nice.

Diane has been loving going into all the gift and craft shops, but most of all, talking to the people is so much fun. Brian, one of our guides, has ridden with us a few times and he is a wealth of information about everything about the country- its geology, geography, but most of all, its history and politics.

Tomorrow is our last day of riding back down toward Shannon. We've ridden about 200 miles thus far and are now in a groove every day about it all. Just when we get to this point, it's time to end. We did meet another tandem couple from Amherst MA who are doing a self guided tour with the same company- we felt like kindred spirits.