Day 0 | Orientation Day

A flight delay leads to a 1:30 a.m. arrival at Cork International Hotel. I am given a room that turns out to be occupied, so I return to the front desk and get upgraded to a full suite at no additional cost. This trip is off to a luxurious start.

This is more than enough space to assemble the bike.

Once everything is unpacked I reattach the handlebars, raise the seat and put on the pedals and wheels. The fender will have to wait. It’s held in place with a few small pieces of rubber that wrap around the seat stays, but it seems I have only two with me and one is torn. I only use a fender on trips like this. There’s no need for it at home because I don’t ride in the rain.

At 12:45 I meet some of the other riders – Geoffrey from Australia and Rob, Ernie and Marco from England. We take a taxi downtown and find a bike shop. The owner happens to have exactly what I need to mount the fender, which I thought would be highly unlikely. So did he, in fact, until he checked in the back. We find a spot for lunch and head back to the hotel to meet the others.

At 6:00 we gather in the lobby for a briefing. It’s great to see Paul and Fiona again and have them leading this tour. Each day we’ll have a morning break as well as a lunch stop. If we need anything from the van, we can call them or flag them down when they pass by.

There are 13 of us altogether, eight men and five women, with 11 people from either England, Wales or Ireland. I’m curious how this tour will compare to last year’s adventure in the Highlands as far as the terrain and the weather.

Tomorrow will begin with a drive down to Mizen Head, the official starting point of the tour.