Back in Galway

A recurring theme is the subject of the pros and cons of solo travel by bicycle. Tuesday, I left Galway and headed north, figuring it would take me two days to the next place of interest - Sligo. It was raining and it got worse and it got really cold, so I wussed out at Tuam (not as in Guam, but as in tomb from where it gets its name) after only 36 km I checked into a hotel. I still had about 110 km to Sligo, which I figured I could do the next day if I left by 9:00.

Well Wednesday was a bit of shit. If a pump is going to break, it's going to break when it's being used, right? I had a puncture 6 km out of Tuam and my pump broke when I was pumping up the tyre. Decision point: walk back to Tuam or on to the next village (7 km). I chose the later. Of course it started to rain at that point and by the time I got to Milltown, the replacement tube had picked up some more glass and I was wet and cold. To cut a tedious story short, I discovered a couple of broken spokes, ended up patching the tube that went flat in the first place, pumped it up at the servo and asked someone if there was a bike shop in Milltown. "Dunno", said an Australian accent, "I'm not from here". Cripes! I asked someone else and they said no. The next was probably 25 km away. I wasn't going further north with broken spokes and no pump, so I decided to go back to Galway where I know there are bike shops, cheap accomodation and options aplenty. Boris is at the doctor as we speak. Lesson - presta valves only from now on. The problem with the pump was that it wasn't depressing the shraeder valve.

What has this got to do with solo travel, you may well ask? Although I prefer to travel on my pat (this the fourth time I've done this), if I had've had someone with me they probably would have a had a pump that worked or we might have workshopped a different solution.

Anyway, there are worse place to return to than Galway, that's for fecking sure. I'm quite besotted with the place.

On to other issues. The Irish economy is in deep recession and the Budget was delivered on Tuesday and I watched Finance Minister Brian Cowan's speech and the commentary that followed. All very depressing. There's a 1% levy on all income (not just taxable) programs have been cut, the "old reliables" (ciggies, booze and fuel) have excise increases (effective immediately) and pollies and senior public servants are having pay cuts. All very depressing and the locals are not exactly jovial and pubs are very quiet. Commentators have almost unanimously criticised the budget for concentrating too much on restoring the public coffers and not doing enough to restart the economy. The fear is the recession will worsen.

Back to solo travel. Cycling country roads alone provides too much opportunity for contemplation whereas if one has a companion, there is a fair amount of idle chit chat. Given the weather and that state of the economy here and everywhere and that I've had my first ever margin call, I get to dwelling on my own finances and I start thinking that I need to get back to work. I might pull the pin and come home early. In case you're interested, if all is good with the world, I sing while I ride.

I'm not sure what to do. Given the variability of the weather (even the locals say that the current amount of rain is unseasonal - and I'm not the only cyclotourist on the road, either - I'm becoming disinclined to head further north.

Options include jumping a train to Dublin and riding from there to Cork via Wexford or just drifting back to Cork around the west coast. I'll decide later on today. By the way, it's beautiful day today, which means it'll probably piss down tomorrow!

As I said earlier, there are worse places to mooch around than Galway. The museum is excellent. Lots of art as well as history. I'm not whingeing either - it's all part of the adventure and I'm still having fun and I'm becoming a big fan of James Joyce and I've found a grand watering hole in Murphy's Bar.

Ciao!