September 18, 2019 - Belfast, Northern Ireland

We got going pretty early this morning catching a cab around 8:30 am and going to Celtic Rider 10 miles west on Dublin.  We met Paul Rawlins Owner and Managing Director of CR.  I had reserved our bike with Paul ahead of time and signed us up to take rider safety training to get familiar with riding on the left side of the road including roundabouts.  Paul walked us through a slide show and discussion and then we headed out and went on a short ride with Paul leading us.  Maria and Kat are friends from North Carolina and were starting a 9-day self-guided tour joined us in the training.

I'm really glad we took the training.  Paul acted like we were the first people to ever take the training; he was funny, enthusiastic and patient.  He is a funny guy and really enjoyed himself which got us all in the right moods also.  He also knows his Irish history telling us all sorts of tales some of which may even have been true.  He used very  colorful language, saying at one point "If we weren't able to use the "f" word we would all be fucked."  Like I said, he's a pretty funny guy.

We grabbed a bite to eat and then went our separate ways; Paul back to his shop, Maria and Kat to Donegal, and Sooz and me to Belfast.

Evening in downtown Belfast

Vegetarian dinner at the Indian restaurant The Archana

Signage in Belfast for my planner friends

Great bike paths

Sooz and me in front of Trim Castle built in 1174 AD - it was the shooting location for the movie Braveheart

The canal and lock system

The path along the canal is named for the thousands of Irish that died during the famine of the 1840's

Paul telling canal tales

Canal wayfinding for my planner friends

Paul conducting rider safety training

Sooz and Paul yucking it up

During lunch Sooz reserved us a nice room for the night in downtown Belfast.  We blasted along pretty well taking back roads and then jumped on the M1, A1 and N1 highways.  The weather was perfect and the bike ran great.  We had one small toll and got gas and were at the hotel by 5pm.

Tomorrow we take the 11:30 am ferry from Belfast to Cairnyan, Scotland.  We're going to head towards Edinburgh.  If we make it, fine, if we don't, that's fine also.

We took a break with Paul at a canal that had a small lock system.  The canal system connects Dublin with the inland areas and was built around 120 years ago.  Ireland building a bike\pedestrian path next to the canal which will draw a lot of tourists.