Day 35

November 7, 2021:

Camped on the side of the trail by a farm, I was woken early by the sounds of cows in the pasture over. It was cold, a crisp morning. On warmer days I’d have taken it easy and lounged around a bit. But the cold is a strong motivator. I packed my bags quickly, ready to go just as the first cyclist of the morning passed. He thought something might be wrong, and asked if I needed help. Nice guy. As I got started making the most of the day, I made good time along the Old Rail Trail towards Moate and Athlone. Soon, dozens of other cyclists soon passed by me.

The personal significance of Moate is that it came up while Mama and I were working on creating our own NYT crossword submission. After inputting our theme words and building a suitable grid, it fell out of the crossword creation software. I determined I had to go there, especially since Moate is on the path I had already planned on going anyway. Mama and I didn’t end up using Moate in our submission, but Moate is nonetheless a bit of an inside joke for us.

I reached the town midmorning. It’s nice. There’s a church with a very steep steeple and a main street lined with cafes and restaurants. Unfortunately they were all closed since it was a Sunday and I came hours before they would have opened. I ended up going to a convenience store and bought Jaffa Cakes, Kit Kats, and Chocolate Kimberleys. This is actually the first time I’ve tried Jaffa Cakes, and now understand some of the jokes I’ve heard British comedians tell. I ate the whole sleeve of them. They’re like a cookie smeared with orange jelly, and dipped in chocolate. It's a weird mix, but tasty, maybe a bit oversweet. I went back to the rail trail, continuing another kilometer or so further west, stopping at the a café that was open at another Moate intersection. I got a hot chocolate and an apple and berry tart. I could have ordered a chocolate pecan tart, but wasn’t in the right mood for that. The berry tart came with freshly whipped cream, the real stuff. It was very good, and several other cyclists had stopped there as well. It looked like a popular spot, but I heard that it was only recently established.

After dining at the café, I searched for geocaches along the trail back towards Moate to the east. I found one of the two that I looked for. Satisfied that I found one geocache there, I continued on. I also sent a message to my Warmshowers host of the evening, Gerry, to discuss my arrival time. We agreed on 4:30 pm, which would give me time to explore Athlone.

I reached Athlone at around noon. After cycling to the center of town, I stopped at the castle complex on the west side of the River Shannon. I wheeled my bike up the cobblestone ramp to the castle courtyard. The museum guide there said they usually don’t allow bikes there due to liability reasons, but made an exception for me since it was more quiet than usual. I thanked her, and parked it in a quiet spot in the castle grounds, certain it would be safe from theft there. It allowed me to spend the majority of the afternoon inside the castle museum without worry.

Located at a strategic ford of the River Shannon, Athlone Castle has played a significant role in the history of Ireland. The site has actually been the location of a couple forts over the ages. Originally a wooden fort built in 1129, it was replaced by a stone castle in 1210 built on the same motte. The stone castle was further fortified in the following centuries, and while it has been rebuilt a few times, is the structure that exists to this day. The castle was besieged during the Williamite War in 1690 and 1691. Forces of King William assaulted the garrison stationed at Athlone Castle twice. In the first instance, they lacked the proper siege equipment, and had to withdraw. In the second siege, King James’ forces in the eastern half of Athlone were defeated quickly, fleeing across the river into the castle, destroying the bridge behind them. The assaulting army bombarded the castle with cannon fire, inflicting great damage, but the Jacobite forces held. The bombardment lasted ten days, during which some 12,000 cannonballs were shot. It was the heaviest bombardment of any city in Ireland until that point. Under General Ginkel, King William’s forces decided to conduct a sneak attack, crossing the Shannon not at the bridge, but an old ford, taking the Jacobite forces by surprise. They were quickly overwhelmed, and had to retreat from the castle. Following the battle at Athlone, William’s forces swept across western Ireland, effectively crushing resistance.

I learned a lot of history at Athone Castle. It was the best way to spend the day there. The best views of Athlone were there as well, and I used the opportunity to take pictures of the surrounding area. After I left, I wheeled my bike down towards the edge of the River Shannon itself. I saw a guy in orange on a bike cycle straight down the steps. I always find that maneuver impressive, and have done it with other bikes before. It’s just not something I can do with my bags now, so I had used a handicap ramp to get down. I cycled into a cul-de-sac and turned around, unsure what to do with myself for the next few hours. Maybe I should go to a bar…? On my way back to the castle, I saw a sign I had missed before. It read “Sean’s Pub. Oldest Pub in Ireland: 900 AD.” I had to stop.

The guy I had seen before cycling down the steps got talking to me. He’d ordered a Guinness, and I decided I’d join him. His name is Luke, and after talking about my trip for a bit, I asked him what brought him through here. Luke told me he used to be in the Irish marines. They didn’t do shit, but they also got paid shit. He decided to leave to join the UK marines, which was a better experience. On a trip with the marines to do a program in CA, they told him he could either have a fully paid flight back to Ireland a week off, or have two weeks off in CA, but pay his own way back. Obvious choice there. He stayed, using the time to see the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, San Francisco, and back down the coast to Santa Barbara. I mentioned growing up in the Bay and going to college in SLO. “No shit, wow!” He knew all my favorite places. After the he got out of the marines, he lived in the States for a while his wife was on a program there. He worked as a carpenter for 18 months in the Catskills in upstate NY, at first as an apprentice, and later as his own business owner. When covid hit, his wife lost her position in the US, so they moved back to Ireland. In the past year, they bought a house near here, and have settled down in the Athlone area.

Luke is a cyclist just like me. He had actually just done the route to and from Castletown this morning. That’s basically twice as far as what I did this morning. He knew all the places I had passed through, including the café in Moate. He asked where I’d been in Athlone, and recommended I cycle the Golden Mile. He insisted on paying for my beer. We shared contact information and took a picture together. He showed me the inside of the bar, including the Guinness World Record plaque confirming Sean’s Pub as the oldest continually operating pub in Ireland. They claim it’s the oldest in the world, but that’s unconfirmed. He told me to let him know when I’m in Galway when I pass through there on the Wild Atlantic Way. Luke said he might decide to cycle out to Galway to see me again. If he does, I will buy him a beer in a pub somewhere there.

Leaving the pub, we cycled up the road together. We parted ways when I left the road to cycle the Golden Mile, as he had suggested. The trail took me alongside the River Shannon toward Lough Ree. After I rode the mile, I crossed the bridge to the east side of the city and went to Burgess Park. There, I found an old concrete block at the side of the river to sit on. Litter was scattered around it, but I ignored it. I was hungry, and ate four Kit Kats. Too much.

After the park, I cycled from Athlone to Glasson along the N55. It’s the most dangerous road I’ve cycled in Ireland yet. There aren’t any shoulders, and I couldn’t even cycle right on the lines, since the reflectors are so large and bumpy I was worried they’d pop my tires if I went over them too quickly. The cars passed by very quickly. I pushed myself up a steep hill, taking a break by a big map of cycle touring trails in midland Ireland. A gent there named Harou gave me recommendations to check out towns north of Dublin. He said it’s very hilly there, but beautiful. I believe him, but I frankly doubt those will be good places to take the bike. Sure, I’ll have to climb a lot of hills on this trip, but it’d also be a big detour south from Belfast after I complete the Wild Atlantic Way. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll detour south from Londonderry instead of going straight to Belfast after I finish the route. I suspect I’ll want to leave Ireland by that point though.

I followed country roads from Glasson to Gerry’s house. I stopped outside to check the address. Postal codes work a bit differently here in Ireland than in the US. Instead of referring to a general region or section of a city, the postal codes refer to a specific address, leading you straight to their door. While I was checking my phone, the front door opened. Out stepped an older gent, led by a brown and white floppy-eared dog I later learned was named Pepper. Gerry waved me to the garage, where I unpacked some key stuff. He showed me around the house and introduced me to his wife Su – short for Susan. She’s from the US, from near Buffalo, NY. They showed me the shower, and I washed, getting into a fresh set of clean clothing. The dirty clothes were put into the wash. Staying with Warmshowers hosts is most important for the warm bed, then the laundry, and lastly the shower itself.

I sat at the dining room table with Gerry (pronounced Jerry), eating banana nut bread with butter, and we talked about cycle trips. Gerry is very soft-spoken, his voice a bit hushed, wispy. He’s done quite a number of trips in Spain, including along the Santiago de El Camino, among other famous Spanish trails. His longest trip took him through France as well. He knew of both Peter – my former Warmshowers host – and Felicity, a host Peter had also recommended. Gerry told me about a friend of his who had entered into a seven-man cycle race around the world. Within a month, the other cyclists had all quit, making his friend the de-facto winner of the race. It took him a year and a half or so, but the friend did actually make it all the way around the world, following a route very similar to the one I have planned. Gerry’s friend wrote a book about his trip, and Gerry suggested I do the same at the end of mine.

Dinner consisted of apple-pork sausages, rashers (Irish bacon, ie very thin pork chops), chips (fries), and steamed vegetables (cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and sliced carrots). Gerry had a lot of brown sauce, and I took a bit of it too to try it with the sausages. The food was good, but I avoided the cauliflower. The leftover vegetables were fed to Pepper after dinner. Su was surprised just as I was, but Gerry joked that in his generation, all dogs were raised vegetarian. He didn’t seem to be entirely kidding.

We talked a bit more, then I excused myself to bed. I had lots of notes to take for my blog from the last week or so. I didn’t complete any entries, but getting the notes down will make a big difference when I do finally write it all down. I forgot to call my little brother to talk about Christmas plans as I had promised I would.