5 day tour of the South West Ireland 500

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Not wanting to let them Scots fellas behind the NC500 have it all their own way I spent a lot of time putting together a 500 mile touring route around the 5 peninsulas of South West Ireland; the SWI500. This part of the world is just as beautiful, just as rugged, just as remote (in places) but definitely less congested than the NC500 can be and of course its the beautiful west of Ireland with it's temperate, gulf stream warmed climate, and, it's part of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Now there is some light at the end of the pandemic tunnel I've resurrected the tour I had to cancel last year. It’s a 6 night, 5 day tour, all of which you can do without having to cart all your luggage around as we return to the same base each evening.

The itinerary is as follows:

Sun 5th September - arrive in Kenmare, Co. Kerry, staying at the Kenmare Bay Hotel for the week. This hotel has been chosen for a variety of reasons;
- safe off street parking for the bikes at the front of the hotel,
- within walking distance (10 mins) of Kenmare town centre,
- it has an indoor swimming pool, steam room, sauna, beauty and therapy treatment rooms all available FOC to guests.
- the food is good and the breakfasts are copious.
Sunday evening we eat together in the hotel - a kind of get to know everyone meal.
Mon 6th Sept - we head south, over the Cork & Kerry mountains (made famous by ‘Whiskey in the Jar’, Thin Lizzie and the Dubliners) via the Caha Pass to tour the Mizen & Sheepshead peninsulas
Tues 7th Sept - tour the Beara peninsula, traversing the Healy Pass
Wed 8th Sept - tour the Iveagh (Ring of Kerry) peninsula, with a variety of routes at our disposal
Thurs 9th Sept - free day - relax and explore Kenmare or suggested routes can be provided if you want to ride out.
Fri 10th Sept - tour the Dingle peninsula, taking in the Slea Head Drive and the Connor Pass
Sat 11th Sept - depart.

The tour is designed to provide relaxed touring days, no early starts, we’ll be leaving around 10am each day, no late returns and with several stops for photos, coffee/tea breaks and food; you even have me, a blow-in local, on hand each day to assist and guide.

Rooms have been booked on a B&B basis with the inclusion of a group 'get to know everyone' supper on the Sunday night. Mon/Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri nights people are free to do what they want and there are plenty of good bars and restaurants, of all standards, in Kenmare.

Costs : £790 per person on a single occupancy basis, if you’re bringing a partner then let me know as the cost/person will be less.

Included:
6 nights accommodation
6 breakfasts
1 evening meal
Dedicated parking outside the hotel (don't worry this is very low crime area, your bike will be safe)
Assistance of me as tour guide
Maps and route guidance instructions.

Not included:
Getting to and from Kenmare, although help, guidance and assistance with routes & ferries can be provided.
Bikes
Fuel
Tea/Coffee/Drinks/Lunch during the day
Evening meals on each of Mon-Fri
Travel insurance
Breakdown insurance

Payment:

£250/person deposit required when making the booking
Full balance due no later than 31st July 2021
In the event you have to pull out before 31st July you will receive a full refund of the £250 deposit
In the event you have to pull out after the 31st July deposits and any balance paid will only be refunded if your space can be re-sold.

There are 6 places available so don’t delay.
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First iteration 👍 got to start somewhere.

Actually the more I look at that bike the more I realise how advanced it was for its time 👍 it’s got to be 80 years old now 😮
So the first iteration of a bike with no forks is a bike with forks similar to many bikes that went before...
You would have been more accurate highlighting the fact that it has wheels 🤷‍♂️ take a look of some of the bikes from the start of the 20th century - just about everything was done back then and nothing is new apart from electrickery stuff :unsure:
What Bimota 👀
 
So the first iteration of a bike with no forks is a bike with forks similar to many bikes that went before...
You would have been more accurate highlighting the fact that it has wheels 🤷‍♂️ take a look of some of the bikes from the start of the 20th century - just about everything was done back then and nothing is new apart from electrickery stuff :unsure:
What Bimota 👀

Whens it coming? :unsure:
 
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Day 3 - The Beara Peninsula.

First we refuelled where we met a couple of German fellas (don’t mention the war) on really old vintage bikes, a Vincent and a Zündapp which is clearly the great great granddaddy of the GS.
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Next we called in a @The skitz ’s house, Rparked Helga right outside, but Skitz wasn’t at home 🙁
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Then we climbed up the mountains to take in the Healy Pass and so everyone could get a photograph of the Pass from the top; it really is stunning looking down the mountainside and seeing this narrow ribbon of road snaking back & forth and then disappearing off across the valley floor in the distance👍. Sadly, this time it wasn’t to be, the clouds were too low🙁.
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nice view🙁
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Next stop, coffee break, Castletownbere.
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Then onto the Dzogchen Beara Buddhist Retreat for some contemplation and a bit of Zen and the art of Motorcycling Touring.
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We bumped into Confucious
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and Rob & Kevin enjoyed the views of the cliffs and the ocean below 🤣
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Then onto Dursey at the very tip of the Beara where sits Ireland’s only cable car. Andy, our resident engineer is wondering how it manages to stay up - as do most people when you see the rust 😮

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Allihies beach for lunch
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Then back via the old coast road, which I have no photos of until I extract stills from the video, with a stop for a pint (0%) at Helen’s Bar at Kilmacalogue Harbour before returning to the hotel.
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@Chizel - Founding Father there were some sizeable grey mullet in the harbour, made me think of you always fishing👍
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It was a bit ‘soft’ going over the Healy Pass but other than that 18-20c and dry 👍
Cheeky Guinnesss
 
A free day today, and poor weather saw the group lazing about. Not me and @West Cork Paul , We braved the rain and headed east to the beginning of the Wild Atlantic Way. We were rewarded with a clear afternoon and run back to the hotel on some great roads 🤣

Helga on the goat track that is “Priest’s Leap”
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No, that’s not a load of Helgas charging towards Paul, amazing what you come over when you leave the beaten track 👍 🐄
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An old building 🤷‍♂️
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Day 4 - I think🤔

it was a ‘free day’ today so people could do what they wanted good job really as it was raining this morning. Rob & I however are fearless so sod the rain, I took Rob to Kinsale the start (or end) of the WAW👍

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Kinsale Fish Shed.

The V4S gets a bit mucky in the rain, might have to make some changes 🤔
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After coffee in Kinsale (Thanks Rob 👍) we headed off along the coast road to Timoleague,
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Then Courtmacsherry where there’s a memorial to the Lusitania 🙁
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Then via Clonakilty, Glandore, Union Hall, Skibbereen, Bantry, we climbed up over the mountains to Kenmare via the Priest’s Leap - basically a farm track. Rob did some off-roading
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We got stuck in a traffic jam
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Then made the top, eventually
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and by now the V4S was really shittily mucky, genuinely shitty 🙁
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On the descent from the mountain there was another f**king traffic jam 😮
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and here is the full route for today 👍
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A free day today, and poor weather saw the group lazing about. Not me and @West Cork Paul , We braved the rain and headed east to the beginning of the Wild Atlantic Way. We were rewarded with a clear afternoon and run back to the hotel on some great roads 🤣

Helga on the goat track that is “Priest’s Leap”
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No, that’s not a load of Helgas charging towards Paul, amazing what you come over when you leave the beaten track 👍 🐄
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An old building 🤷‍♂️
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Right, I’m going on a diet when I get home 🙁
 
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