More from the Moore, Tickety boo

Made it into Liscannor quite late and still with panniers (the theory was Teena and Trevor in the car would be passing at some stage and take our burdens, but they got sidetracked chasing dolpins. So we did our 120k, partly into the wind. Past the links course ($150 to play) to find a great house up on the headland. Decided not to cook so took the last renters' recommendation and went to a nearby pub. Absolutely sensational food, turns out it has numerous local awards and is in the Michelin guide and very reasonably priced.

Long days tend to tire you out so the next day was a 60k ramble through some of the local towns. Stopped off at the Cliffs of Moher which were crowded but very speccie. Weather still cool with periods of rain and still windy.

Next day the weather was awful so I managed to talk Ken and Glo into tagging along with Teen and Trev in the car. First stop was Ennis, busy little town which may have been the origin of the Breens. then further north to the Burren, a fairly desolate area of rock fields. Another fantastic pub lunch with a Guinness as well. Rare to find anything other than G or a couple of German beers on tap although Bulmers cider is usually available. Visited a cave in the afternoon and bought some fudge, not sure what the connection was between the two. Very acceptable fish and chips from the shop on the corner. The South African owner was lamenting the weather - said it had been disastrous for his trade.

Weather was marginally better the next day so we headed off on the bikes. Ennis seemed like a good town to have another look around (car parking was limited to 1hr yesterday). At Ennistimon we stopped to look at the impressive cascades tumbling through the middle of town. The abbey at Ennis was one of the better ruins, but still no sign of Breens! Ken shopped for something for his daughter Clare as the shops were full of County Clare items. Headed back to Liscannor on the back roads but didn't manage to find the right road and rode into the head wind back to the coast. The town of Milltown Malbey was back to its normal self after hosting the Willie Clancy music festival the week before - it was full to overflowing with people and musicians when we rode through on Sunday.

We decided that it was close enough to the 18th of July so had booked the restaurant to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Andy and Glo played themselves as did the best man and brides maid (Teena and Trevor) and Ken filled in for everyone else. And a great time was had by all.

Next day the cunning plan was to ride to Doolin, get a ferry to the Aran islands and then get a ferry up to Rossavear in Galway. Unfortunately the Rossavear ferry was not taking bikes any more after an engineer died somehow due to having a bike on board. . Plan B then was to ride around Innismor, ferry back to Doolin and then ride back to our lodgings at Liscannor, up a very long nasty hill that we thought that we had said goodbye to forever. On the way back Teen rang to say they had had a collision in the car and wasn't sure if it was driveable. In the event they got back to Liscannor just after us but would need to change the car at Shannon the next day.

Fortunately both Trev and Teen were ok.

Andy.

There's a ride planned for tomorrow (Sunday) 9am from Lancefield. Give me a hoy if you can make it.

Steve.