Motorcycling in the Emerald Isle – make life a ride. Part 2.
Breakfast was good at the Kees Hotel and I had decided over coffee that I would head off to Killybegs a town in County Donegal and the largest fishing port in the country. Location wise it’s to the north of Donegal Bay, which in turn is near the town of Donegal. Killybegs is around 35 miles or so from the Kees Hotel. If you missed Part 1 or want to head back to it you can use this link.
Plan for the day
After Killybegs I planned to head towards Malin More on the coast then sort of double back to the Assaranca waterfall.
If the weather held up I thought I would then head over to Horn Head before looping back via Doochary and Glendowan.
I had no plans to actually visit the town of Donegal as my wife and I had spent some time there back in 2022 when we had spent time in Northern Ireland before moving onto Donegal and Kerry. There are plenty of pictures from that trip over on the rainycity blog.
Clicking on any of the images below will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Before I left the hotel
I had a slight issue on the way from Dublin the previous day. The TFT screen on the F900 links seamlessly to the BMW Motorad Connect App and is pretty useful. I don’t use all the features and I don’t ever really see myself as buying the rather expensive BMW sunglasses with the head up display. But to be fair the technology works. I do like and I do use the functions of the trip recorder.
I accept there’s a bit of a ‘so what’ to knowing what your lean angle was, rate of acceleration, braking force, throttle grip position etc has been on any given ride.
However I do like the post trip data: map; ride times; temperature speeds and so on. Of particular use though is being able to see speed limits of the road being ridden showing on the dash.
Technical hitch
For part of my trip on the previous day I had lost that functionality. It had taken me a while to work out that the loss of that information was down to me not having downloaded the maps for Northern Ireland (which I had cut through on my route from Dublin).
The realisation came to me whilst having my breakfast so I made a point of making the download on the hotel WiFi before I left for the day and thankfully the issue was resolved.
Clicking on any of the images below will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through (note these are not images of my data)
Heading for Killybegs
I was keen to go to Killybegs, partly because my wife and I had spent an enjoyable few hours there on that 2022 road trip.
I have no particular affinity with the water and fishing ports but I do enjoy the colour and activity that is always a part of places like this. There was dampness in the air when I left the Kees Hotel. The day stayed dry but varied between overcast and sunny – temperatures were decent enough and it was generally around 22c
The ride to Killybegs was pretty decent and I parked up at the dock and passed some time just looking at the boats. It’s also really easy to find out about any given boat by putting its name and registration number into any internet search engine.
I’m not a boat nerd but …
At the risk of sounding like a boat nerd (and I’m really not) the red boat called Paula in the picture set below had previously partially sunk in the small Norwegian port of Selje whilst emptying a catch of 270 tonnes of mackerel before being raised and refitted like new.
On the basis that every day is a school day you can read the report of the sinking completed by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board at this link
Clicking on any of the images below will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Assaranca Waterfall
After Killybegs I turned to head for Malin More on the coast, but with low hanging cloud and a damp feel in the air I decided to turn back and head for Assaranca Waterfall, which is close to the village of Ardar in Donegal. I have been there before and it really is nice – no visitor centre, no souvenir shop selling tat and no fuss. It’s just a nice place to go and generally pretty quiet there as well.
From Killybegs to the waterfall is only about 14 miles and for the most part on pleasant quiet winding roads.
The views out across the bay are a delight and the beaches are an absolute delight as well as being pretty much empty.
Time for the drone
I had taken the drone with me on this trip and took a few pictures at this stop although the indications from a drone fly related app was that the wind gusts above 10m were at the upper level, but nevertheless I thought I’d take a few pictures. Taking the drone on this trip was also a ‘trial run’ before my next European trip; I wanted to check out the practicalities of carrying and using more equipment whilst on a road trip.
Traveling light
I try to carry as little as possible but even though the drone packs away pretty small, there are controllers and batteries to pack – so as ever, everything is a compromise. You can check out the drone I use at this link.
You’ll find some of these in the picture set below.
Clicking on any of the images below will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Heading back
After leaving the waterfall I made my route towards Ardara, then onto Rosberg, Meenaccladdy and Horn Head before turning to head back towards Glendowan, Doochary and my accommodation at The Kees Hotel. Distance wise it was probably the lowest days mileage of the trip at just 138 miles but it had been an extremely enjoyable and relaxing day apart from the presence of an uninvited guest.
Ouch – that hurt a bit
At one point on the trip back to the Kees Hotel I decided to pull over to enjoy the scenery and take a few pictures. As I clicked the buckle and lifted my helmet off, I felt a bit of sting on my left cheek, I looked in the mirror and saw a wasp stuck on the side of my face – despite the role of the wasp as a pollinator and pest controller this wasn’t a time for mercy, so as you can imagine I brushed it off and ended its life underneath my boot.
Lesson learnt
For 30 seconds or so I was a little bit concerned at my lack of foresight in packing any anti histamine to help ward off any adverse reaction. But I think I probably got lucky and when the wasp hit my face/entered the helmet (I’m guessing at a time I had my visor up) it was stunned on impact and so I don’t think it got it’s sting off properly. Other than the initial sharpness of the sting I had no adverse reaction- but it did serve as a reminder to make sure I have a modest first aid kit with me next time!
It’s happened once before
As an aside the only other time I have had a wasp/stinging insect inside my helmet was in 2009 when I did my first European solo trip. I can’t quite recall where I was at the time, I think it may have been Germany or Poland, I know it was when I had the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – and there’s info from that trip in the Superbike across Europe picture sets at this link. It was another occasion where I got lucky and got the critter out before any harm was done.
Another decent day
As ever at the end of a biking day when I’m away I like to sit on my own, and reflect on the day. Ireland is such a perfect place to visit, the only cautionary note I would offer is that I wouldn’t fancy it (on a bike) in bad weather. But if you get the weather right it’s hard to beat, and finishing the day with a top quality pint of Guinness and a bag of Tayto crisps – is borderline close to perfection for me.
Mr Tayto
Whilst away and thinking about absolutely nothing in particular I decided to find out a bit more about Tayto crisps
It’s a pretty interesting history – although I expect some folk will draw the line about wanting to know more about the Tayto story. If you do want to know more then check out the info’ at this link.
Or maybe even buy the book with the absolutely perfect title of The Man inside the Jacket.
Final picture set – Part 2
All in all it had been another fine day in Ireland and I was set to travel down to Kilkee in County Clare in the morning – click here for Part 3
Clicking on any of the images below will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Thanks for sharing the report of this trip. Riding Ireland is definitely on my bucket list. Looks like a great time. Sorry to hear about the wasp, pollinator or not, I think it got what was coming to it.
Glad you enjoyed reading it – watch out for Parts 3 & 4 coming soon. Best wishes Tony
Fab pics again. Love the drone ones.