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if you ever wanna ride in ireland

Tenchiro

Tenchiro

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Jul 19, 2002
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I think if I went there for any reasonable amount of time, I would be too busy sampling the pubs to do much riding.
 
Yossarian

Yossarian

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Jul 25, 2001
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Tenchiro said:
I think if I went there for any reasonable amount of time, I would be too busy sampling the pubs to do much riding.
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Nah, during the day it is easy.
have a pint or two, see something, have a pint or two, see something, repeat until you've seen enough, then have pints ad nauseum.

When I was there, I wanted to ride like crazy, but did not see much in the way of singletrack, but I bet it existed.

Like SS said, I too visited the west coast. Burren to the Dingle Peninsula, great blasket islands, over the Gap of Dunloe and Killarney.
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
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Yossarian said:
<snip>Like SS said, I too visited the west coast. Burren to the Dingle Peninsula, great blasket islands, over the Gap of Dunloe and Killarney.
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We spent some time out in the Aran Islands - that's where we met the Irish couple in a pub drinking........ Budweiser. :confused: They said it was "brilliant stuff - smooth and easy to drink" :think:

-S.S.-
 
Barbaton

Barbaton

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May 11, 2002
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SkaredShtles said:
We spent some time out in the Aran Islands - that's where we met the Irish couple in a pub drinking........ Budweiser. :confused: They said it was "brilliant stuff - smooth and easy to drink" :think:

-S.S.-
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They were probably drinking real budweiser, made in the Czech Rep. Supposed to pretty good tho i haven't trid it myself. anything's got to be better than the nearly frozen gnat piss we call bud here.


I spent 6 weeks riding around Ireland over two summers in college. Lots of fun. I think it's by far the best way to see the country. It's just not the full experience in a car if you're not getting rained on and smelling animal poop.

Surprisingly good food there too. I play a lot Irish music so I spent a lot of time playing in pubs when I was there too. Good times.
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
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Nov 7, 2001
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actually, Guinness contract brews for some of the US biggies. It's very common to go into a bar, and right next to the Guinness taps, see Bud, MGD, and Coors Light. and it those beers are becoming more popular w/ the youth.

idiots.

barbaton, where in ireland did you get good food? what was the name of the restaurant?
 
johnbryanpeters

johnbryanpeters

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Sep 27, 2001
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Making moss sad in New Haven, Vermont
SkaredShtles said:
Mmmm........ Ireland.

When we were there we hit up the West Coast mostly. The Burren & Cliffs of Moher are really nice. And Galway is a really cool town. We ended up there on race weekend. :eek:

-S.S.-
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Did you stop by the place in the Burren where a river just disappears into a pit? I forget its name, too many years.
 
Barbaton

Barbaton

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May 11, 2002
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narlus said:
barbaton, where in ireland did you get good food? what was the name of the restaurant?
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Well, let's see, aside from the fact that the soup of the day is always vegetable, (actually I think the meat gets to eat most of the vegetables available - not a great country for vegetarians), I did find some good stuff.

There was a great place in Claire for crabs. Locally caught, really really good. I'll try to look up the town and let you know. There was also a good steak place in Cork, where I had really tender pepper steak. Again I can't remember the name. That one'll be a little harder for me to find. Also found some nice places in Donegal, but it's been too long on those too. Sorry I don't have more details; when I get a chance I'll look through the pictures and see if I can get more specific.
 
Yossarian

Yossarian

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Jul 25, 2001
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narlus said:
where in ireland did you get good food? what was the name of the restaurant?
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I am not Barbaton, and I didn't play him on tv. I did however have good food in Ireland. I stuck to the coast and ate mostly seafood, all of which was excellent. I did try to eat a burger in Killarney and it was a miserable experience. I also ate a ham and cheese sandwich that had more cheese than ham and as much butter as cheese. It was not nasty, but not necessarily what I wanted.
 
Barbaton

Barbaton

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May 11, 2002
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Yossarian said:
I am not Barbaton, and I didn't play him on tv. I did however have good food in Ireland. I stuck to the coast and ate mostly seafood, all of which was excellent. I did try to eat a burger in Killarney and it was a miserable experience. I also ate a ham and cheese sandwich that had more cheese than ham and as much butter as cheese. It was not nasty, but not necessarily what I wanted.
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that reminds me. i don't think i've ever had better butter than in ireland. cheese was good too.

damn, now i want to go back
 
Snacks

Snacks

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Feb 20, 2003
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Is it me or did every meal consist of a pork product? I still remember my first breakfast at my aunt's house. Bacon, ham, sausage and eggs :confused:
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
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i was being a bit facetious in the "what was the name of the restaurant"...ie, there is only one place in ireland which serves good food.

obviously overstating, but generally on the mark. you could get good food, but it would cost $$$. there aren't any good cheap options really, aside from basic grub food. even the usual suspects for good cheap food (indian, chinese, thai) were very expensive (relatively) in dublin.

i never did make it to west cork or kerry. too far a drive for the kids. would have liked to see mayo and donegal too. we did trips to cliffs of moher/burren/galway, antrim coast, and waterford. all had great stuff to see.
 
jdcamb

jdcamb

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Feb 17, 2002
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All of my riding in Ireland was on the road bike. I would have liked to ride a Mountain bike over there but they didn't have then there yet (86' and 89'). We rode Dublin to Waterford took a bus to Cork then rode to Limerick. And again on the bus to Galway for the ride to Sligo (I rode in the van the last 20 miles). Then the last day we rode seperate form the group from Donegal to Derry to visit my relatives. The rest of the trip I don't remember because I was drunk. The trip was called the tour of Ireland and you could book it out of Boston. It was fun. I remember the trucks and how fast they would drive on those tight twisty roads. Waiting for sheep to cross the road. And how beautiful the mornings were. If you ever really want to see a country do it on a bike. It was truly one of the greatest cycling experiences I ever had. That and it kicked my ass. Ireland may look small on the map but trust me it is a big country on the bike. The Wicklow mountains seemed like it would be a good place to ride. Close to Dublin and it is a really nice area with super friendly people. I liked it there a lot......jdcamb
 
narlus

narlus

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road biking in ireland would seem to be both an exhilirating, exasperating, and terrifying prospect. you get to see so many cool things out in the countryside, but the roads are narrow as hell (no shoulders), there are plenty of blind turns, and the combo of variable wind and rain could dampen yr enthusiasm.

i'd be curious to hear the road biking accident/fatality stats in ireland. seriously, the roads are so narrow in spots that when two cars are converging towards each other, it's a good bet that both cars side view mirrors are buried in the hedgerow. envision that scenario around a sharp turn, and add a cyclist. :dead:
 
Snacks

Snacks

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Feb 20, 2003
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Yossarian said:
no blood sausage?
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Nope. I have been served it before, before I knew what it was, and almost tossed my cookies :nope:

My dad has it and some other salty pork product shipped over for special occasions, like Sunday breakfast :dead:
 
jdcamb

jdcamb

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narlus said:
road biking in ireland would seem to be both an exhilirating, exasperating, and terrifying prospect. you get to see so many cool things out in the countryside, but the roads are narrow as hell (no shoulders), there are plenty of blind turns, and the combo of variable wind and rain could dampen yr enthusiasm.

i'd be curious to hear the road biking accident/fatality stats in ireland. seriously, the roads are so narrow in spots that when two cars are converging towards each other, it's a good bet that both cars side view mirrors are buried in the hedgerow. envision that scenario around a sharp turn, and add a cyclist. :dead:
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We had a van following us. He had his fair share of problems. But we were fine.....
 
Barbaton

Barbaton

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May 11, 2002
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jdcamb said:
We had a van following us. He had his fair share of problems. But we were fine.....
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My riding was also mostly road. Also with a van, which was nice cuz i could carry my instruments without them getting wet on the bike. It rains a lot there.

One year I was there they had the Prologue or Stage 1 of the TDF there the next week so we followed the route through those mountains near Wicklow. Toughest riding I thought was in Donegal where it's very hilly.
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
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narlus said:
actually, Guinness contract brews for some of the US biggies. It's very common to go into a bar, and right next to the Guinness taps, see Bud, MGD, and Coors Light. and it those beers are becoming more popular w/ the youth.

idiots.

barbaton, where in ireland did you get good food? what was the name of the restaurant?
Click to expand...
My wife and I had really good Chinese :think: in the middle of Ireland. It was in Cashel. Weird.

-S.S.-
 
jdcamb

jdcamb

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Barbaton said:
Toughest riding I thought was in Donegal where it's very hilly.
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Yepper. Kicked my ass. Or should I say arse. We were told that we were lucky. Everyday we had sun and warm temps. I actually got sunburn the 3rd day.....jdcamb
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
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In a van.... down by the river
narlus said:
well how does one get raw milk cheeses into the US? they haven't been banned yet (although there was talk of such action).
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The US needs to get their $hit together and allow all that good stuff in. Like *real* prosciutto..... isn't there some "raw meat" thing that prevents those types of goods in? :mumble:

-S.S.-
 
Yossarian

Yossarian

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Jul 25, 2001
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narlus said:
well how does one get raw milk cheeses into the US? they haven't been banned yet (although there was talk of such action).
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I believe, and I am no expert on the matter, that raw milk cheeses need to be aged a certain amount of time before they can be imported.
 
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