(I came across this old summary of my 2006 Ireland trip, and figured I’d add it here for posterity).
Last week I returned from a 3-week cycling trip to Ireland. I’ve done a lot of solo touring in Europe (about 7 months cumulative I think) , but this time I tried something different. I talked my wife into going, as well as another couple we know, who had never been touring. The other couple went with us for 9 days, and then they flew home, and my wife and I continued onwards for another 11 days.
Given that there were a bunch of people going who’d never toured before, I put a lot more effort before and after the trip for documenting information. I thought it might be of general use to the List.
Route:
Shannon** > Limerick >(bus) Cahir > Cashel* > Carrick on Suir* > Kilkenny** > Carlow* > Limerick (bus – other couple goes home) > Shannon*
Corofin* > Doolin** > Kinvarra* > Athenry > Aughrim* > Roscommon > Knockcroghery * > Athlone > Clonmacnoise * > Banagher * > Roscrea > Banagher * > Portumna > Mount Shannon* > Shannon *
* Spent night
Distances:
So some mileage statistics (or actually kilometer statistics). They’re slightly inaccurate, because I cycled extra distances more than once (2 days that my wife didn’t bike, as well as some extra miles in one morning to go back to see something I was curious about from the day before before everyone was up).
| Rick’s Odometer (In kilometers) | Cycling Days | All Days |
|---|---|---|
| Avg w/ other couple | 40 | 30 |
| Avg w/o other couple | 74 | 60.5 |
| Avg overall | 60.4 | 47.7 |
| Avg w/o other couple – wife’s odometer | 56.8 | 46.5 |
Note that the increased distances without the other couple does NOT mean that they were slow or holding us back. My wife was in much better shape as the trip progressed, and we were starting to figure out how to feed her. We were also in a part of Ireland that we HAD to go farther to get to things. The first part of the trip had very specific destinations in mind from before we left, and was planned to be shorter.
Generally really short distances. But then again, Ireland’s not that big 🙂
Cost:
(there are some quirks in the math here due to the day we lost on the way out (Go LaGuardia)).
Irksome that, either with ATM card or credit card, I was paying about a 1.2/1 conversion rate, and then a 7% exchange fee (or 1.3/1 w/ no fee, which is about the same). That’s a significant up in fees. Grf.
I’ve divided up costs, like my mileage estimates, into separate categories of with other couple, not with other couple, and combined. I’ve also split out daily cost for airfare, because that changes depending on how long you stay 🙂
| Total p.p. | Days | per day | airfare p.d. | total p.p.p.d | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| other couple | 425.08 | 8 | 53.13 | 84.09 | 137.23 |
| Not other | 475.98 | 11 | 43.27 | 61.16 | 104.43 |
| Total | 901.1 | 19 | 47.42 | 35.41 | 82.83 |
So for the original 9 days, it would have been $478 + airfare per person. For the next 11 days it was $475 (we did a lot more camping then) + airfare, and for the trip in total it would have been for my wife and I (barring LaGuardia) $948.40 + airfare.
My Gear Weight:
Bike: 28.5 lbs
Front panniers (packed, no food): ~3lbs each (6 lbs total)
Rear Panniers (packed, no food): ~6 lbs each (12 lbs total)
HB Pack: ~2.75 lbs
Tent (rear rack): 5.0 lbs