UK and Ireland 2017

Flew into London on WOW airlines. Not recommended though I have to say they handled the bikes without any hassle and they made it in one piece. After 24 hours without sleep we managed to get the bikes together in 20 min at Gatwick airport and took a Thameslink train into London. 

In the morning, we jumped on a train to Edinburgh. Virgin trains have space for a few bikes in the luggage car, though you should make a reservation for them when you buy your tickets.  We will spend a few days in Edinburgh sightseeing and getting ready for the ride. 

Edinburgh has been amazing. Delicious food including some surprisingly good vegan haggis! Found two bars with vegan choices, one with punk rock on the juke box and the other Game of Thrones themed! Actually, tons of places in this city have vegan options, including a fudge shop on the royal mile. Not enough time to try them all, but we did our best. 

The city itself is impressive. Seriously old. Visited a castle that dates back to 1130. We've done so much walking it will be nice to get on the bikes in the morning. Hope the rain holds off. 

First ride. We were pretty nervous to start the riding, having to remember to stay on the left of the road and all, but today turned out great. Actually, 55 of the 60 miles were on a bike path. We almost didn't take it because we thought a lot of it would be gravel but it was perfectly paved and smooth riding. Anyone doing the ride themselves should definitely stick to National Cycle Route 754.

The entire path followed a canal with a pretty wild system of tunnels and water bridges, as well as the Falkirk Wheel, which is like an elevator for ferry boats. 

Managed to avoid the rain all day, too!  Walked around Glasgow for a bit and had dinner at the Flying Duck, a fully vegan bar.



Bit of a tough one today. Headwinds had us take 12 hours to ride 56 miles. At least there were lots of bike paths and great scenery. 

We camped for the first time this trip. The Walled Garden Caravan Park had a spot along a wall built in the 1700's. 



Today's ride was all country roads. Pretty nice pavement and little to no traffic. 

Walked into town for Indian food. Rainy camping. 

Last night in Scotland. It's been great but excited for Ireland. 

After catching a ferry and only 13 miles of riding we made it to Belfast in Northern Ireland for two days off.

First item on the agenda was visiting an Irish Pub. Vegan sausages with potatoes and veggies!

Had a few pints to wait out the rain then back to the AirBnB for a sleepless night. Why so sleepless you ask? Because we were so excited for our GAME OF THRONES TOUR!!! A lot of the show is filmed in Northern Ireland and we spent the day visiting many of the locations. 

I think I did a spot on recreation of Arya climbing out of the water in Bravos after being stabbed. 

Next was the Iron Islands. Yeah, we got to play with swords. 

Harrenhal.  Our tour guide made the day. He is a regular extra on the show and had hilarious stories from behind the scenes. For anyone who is a fan of the show take this tour. 

Great ride. Another path for 15 mi out of Belfast. Lots of country roads otherwise. Saw the Mourne Mountains in the distance for a lot of the ride too. 

Found an escaped cow on the road. She was pretty scared of us and it took some time to get around her cause we kept scaring her up the narrow road. 

Seems like we are camping in a playground tonight, lots of kids! Gotta rest up for our biggest planned ride of the trip into Dublin. 

Ever ride a bike for four straight hours in the constant rain? Well after today we can say that we have. It was still raining so we took cover in a coffee shop. After four bowls of porridge, three americanos and two hours, the rain persisted so we decided we would keep riding anyway. 

Luckily, it stopped shortly afterward. We crossed into the Republic of Ireland without so much as a sign. It was our longest and toughest ride yet but at the end of the day we were in Dublin! 

Finished up with a huge dinner. 

We are going to enjoy a day off tomorrow. 

Lots to do in Dublin. First stop, vegan donuts. Yes, we polished off the half dozen before leaving the shop. 

Spent the morning sightseeing and learning about Irish history. Then lunch and a tour of Kilmainham Gaol, a prison known for housing political prisoners since it was built in the 1700s. 

Took a walk along the River Liffey to get back to the city center. Dublin is a really interesting city. Very cosmopolitan in some respects, but at street level has the appearance of all the small towns we have passed through. Lots of tourists too. The food has been great. A trip to Dublin wouldn't be complete without a trip to a local pub for a proper pint. 

Guinness...now without fish!

Great day! Late start so we could get another sixer of donuts. Then we rode the sugar high out of the city on a sweet bike lane. 

Only 18mi later we had a stop at the Happy Pear in Greystones. 

Perfect sunshine for the whole ride. Even broke out my sunglasses today! Camping on the coast tonight, over a small beach. Dinner was a picnic on the grass. 

Less of a shoulder and more traffic than we would like but drivers have been very courteous. 

Google Maps cycling directions have been pretty good to us. Although, today we found a little stretch of sand that Google thought would be good for riding.  Creative tacos on the menu for dinner tonight. It's been pretty easy to find good dinner options from the grocery stores around here thankfully. 

A short ride to the ferry in the morning. Leaving for Wales. It's sad to be leaving Ireland but we will certainly be back. 

After a short ride we caught the ferry to Wales. By the time we got off the boat there was a light rain but we pushed on toward our planned stop. Our route went through Pembrokeshire Nathional Park. The hills were an insane 20% grade up and down, over and over. On top of that the weather never cooperated. 

We decided to look for any alternative. But finding nothing we eventually made it to our campground. Luckily they were nice enough to let us set up the tent under some cover.