Belfast

The way out of Glasgow was much as the same way in. Despite contradictory directions from the Garmin, I followed the UK bike routes that were fairly well signed. It was safer, and at times, faster with direct and priority paths passing over busy highways. Other sections of the paths were narrow or twisty, which prevented fast riding. The paths do not always lead in the ideal direction, which caused some extra miles. There was a lot of foot traffic, strollers, and dog walkers, which intensified as I unwittingly entered near an air show (of all things). Large crowds and closed roads delayed my progress along the ocean side paths as planes screamed overhead to the delight of onlookers, so I eventually stopped to watch some of the show also. The red planes flew in all sorts of formations over the harbor, trailing blue white and RED smoke over Scottish waters; perhaps a political statement? I camped nearby but it felt like a justification for carrying all the equipment, which is just as well as I'm sure the air show booked the town out. I cooked some pasta on the stove which worked well, but slept marginally as the wind banged my tent around.

Being stopped so close to the Troon ferry, I decided to go Ireland from there. I met a few other cyclotourists along the way. One younger guy who was going home after a week in Scotland, he seemed ill prepared and fairly beat up by the experience. His plan was to ride another 25 miles in the dark to nearest bus station, and huff it all home. I didn't see any lights on his bike. The other guy bragged about cooking on a twig fire, but I can't imagine boiling, or cooking anything nearly enough to eat on a wet pile of twigs. Still, we shared a comradely for the journey to Ireland. The ferry got in at 9:30 at night, so I took a B&B and left for Belfast the next morning.

The decision to go to Belfast was not an easy one. I was last there in 2005, and had memories of a divided, nay, torn town still with many problems. I remember vacant properties, dark streets, and overall gloominess to the city. But, I made the decision to go as it was close by, and it was chalked by the tourism glossies I'd seen over the past few days. Since it was short ride, I stopped at a waterfall and Carrickfergus castle, and spent a few hours there before heading on. Once in Belfast, I stayed at an International Youth Hostel downtown, which went well aside from my GPS sending me around in circles and non-existant pathways for several hours. I met a friendly Guatemalan fellow in the hostel, and we went out for drinks that same evening. Northern Ireland was playing Hungary, so we went to a bar packed with green shirts, which nearly exploded when Northern Ireland scored a point to tie, which then spread onto the streets in chanting and jubilee that I've never seen anywhere, over anything. “Ulster boys make all that noise!” I couldn't pretend to be excited enough to blend in. Memorable, for sure.

The next day I took a bus tour. I like these as they are relaxing ways to see the city, and double as daily transit with hop-on hop-off options. I saw Belfast “castle” the freedom wall, murals, fortified police stations... I think it was a good representation of the city and it's mixed history. I spent most of the day at the Titanic museum, which is situated at the head of ship yard 410 where Titanic was built. Iron gantries stand around the yard, and it was interesting to walk across the slip to get feel of scale. I tried to imagine the ship there. Inside, they had much history of Belfast, the design of the ship, and hard construction job of building her. They had replica staterooms, furniture, flatware, menus... sounded like a nice trip for the first half of the tour. They had a replica handrail built over a screen of ocean waves that was particularly well done. They had no artifacts from the ship itself. Overall the tour was well laid out with a comprehensive history of the Titanic and the era she was built in, as well as the effect on Belfast and the world. My trip to Belfast was good, and I left with a much more positive impression then 10 years prior.

I stopped at the PO to mail more unnecessary things home, then headed out of Belfast the next morning. My stop in the Belfast tourist info station turned me onto a “Causeway Coastal Route” that ran along the north coast of Ireland and strung together twenty some odd attractions. The signed route was supposed to be a beautiful Oceanside drive, and this did not disappoint with stark green mountains and bleached white rocks on the left, and the north Atlantic on the right. I stopped here and there at old church, a ocean side point, and for a greasy burger which was delicious. A strong tail wind developed and it turned into one of the best days of riding I've had, perhaps for the whole trip. I stopped at a campsite, and was offered a small AstroTurf hut at half cost, which saved the wind, and provided heat and power which I am using now.

Overall things are going very well. I plan on continuing on along the north coast tomorrow, and hopefully get to LondonDerry before the next bout of rain sets in.