As my next major cycling holiday approaches I thought it would be a good idea to record as much of the trip in real time as possible. This from a man who still hasn't finished editing the photos from his 2006 trip from Seville to Granada.
And since I am still editing those old photos, I'll be dropping a few into posts as well, for old times sake.
This year's major trip is a repeat of one I did back in 1998, Irish Cycling Safaris' guided Cork Coastline trip.
Since then there have been quite a few changes to the itinerary, probably the best of which is it now ends at Kinsale.
Very very briefly the idea of taking the Brompton crossed my mind. Two things put me off, the first was the danger of finding myself with a breakdown and having no spares in the support van, and the second was the memory of three of the climbs on the trip.
I probably wouldn't be that bothered about the spares issue if I hadn't had the side wall split on my rear Brompton 'green' Kevlar tyre last week when three miles from home. It seems to happen to everyone with those tyres at some point and I guess I've been lucky to go years without a problem. I've now got a Schwalbe Marathon on the rear. I wonder if I should have gone for the Marathon Plus?
As for the hills, perhaps I'm being a scaredy cat. I did the Pass of Keimaneigh again in the other direction a couple of years ago and didn't find it as bad as back in '98. I guess what I've lost to age I might have gained in technique.
