I spent a month cycling solo from Ireland to Belgium without really preparing—and learned most things the hard way. This is Episode 1: The First Days.
🚴 WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS EPISODE:
THE ONE WITH THE TEST RUN (Day 0, Sept 5)
Testing all my gear for the first time… in a Dublin park at night. A suspicious guy with a dog kept walking past.
THE ONE WITH THE SAD ENDING (Day 1, Sept 6)
Taking the train to Limerick, discovering the beautiful Limerick Greenway, and learning what “bonking” means the hard way.
THE ONE WITH THE BUILDUP AGAIN (Day 2, Sept 7)
Waking up surprised at how quickly the body adapts. Made it to Inch Beach campsite.
📍 THE ROUTE:
– Started: Dublin, Ireland
– Following: EuroVelo 1 (Wild Atlantic Way)
– This episode: Dublin → Limerick → Tralee → Inch Beach (~200km)
– Full trip: 2,000km+ over 30 days via ferry to France, then EuroVelo 4 through Belgium
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Subscribe here to follow the full journey!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rickwarson/
Instagram @bike4local: https://www.instagram.com/bike4local/
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#biketouring #bikepacking #solobiketrip #solobiketour #eurovelo #eurovelo1 #ireland #cyclingireland #wildatlanticway #solotravel #cycling #adventure #bikelife
I just spent a month cycling from
Ireland to Belgium because when faced with a simple logistic problem, I
chose the most complicated solution. Wait, let me rewind. I had three options for my
bike. The first one is selling it. Put it on marketplace and get a price that’s like
maybe 10% of what it’s worth it to me. also deal with getting random messages from people
on marketplace. Nah man thanks but no thanks. The second option would be shipping it.
Get a delivery service for it, package it, bring it to the store. All sounds like quite
a lot of effort still. Also just boring. second option. Nope. And then the third option, just riding at home. I was thinking about this
kind of trip for quite a while already. I did read some books on it. I also had some good
friends who did a trip from Belgium all the way to South Africa. So just riding it seems
doable. No. And that’s how this all started. The journey officially started
on Friday the 5th of September. Uh it was a sunny day and sunny morning.
Uh I remember this very vividly. The night before I went out for a couple of pints with my
roommate, so I wasn’t too fresh in the morning and I still had to work that day. I had been
leaving my bike and some of my stuff in the office already. And obviously I didn’t test
out beforehand whether everything would fit. So that’s when I started realizing. Okay,
so we have the glue thing over here. also. And all of this needs to fit
into these two beautiful Ortlieb, side panniers on the back. And this dry
sack from Decathlon that I had too much stuff that I wanted to take with
me, so I had to lose some of it. Once I got everything onto
my bike, I left my office and it didn’t take 20 m or I already had a pannier into my wheel and had
to flip the side of the purs. Luckily, afterwards, I was finally on my way to ride outside of the city
center to find a place to sleep. Nope. Another time I had to stop because my
bike just wasn’t ready yet, unfortunately. And so you can you can feel how unexperienced
or inexperienced I was with all of this. Lesson number one, test your gear and
whether everything fits beforehand. Then I was on the road luckily finally um
made it a little bit outside of Dublin Center I guess and I yeah was too confident I guess or
whatever. So it seems that I already made a big rookie mistake and was very much
overconfident on night number zero. So I arrived in the park and immediately I
saw somebody who felt like very looking at me very suspiciously like looking as if
he thought I was going to do bad stuff. There’s a guy now that has been passing the spot
like where where I am like from from 10 m away multiple times now in a row. So, I’m not sure
if he’s too keen on the idea of me ditching my tent there. Um yeah, can’t can’t really blame
him either. um if you see a guy with a with a very big bike or with with a lot of his on his
bike and and and in in the far away distance. So because of this suspicious guy, I had to wait
um a little or I didn’t want to pitch my tent because I I didn’t want to get in trouble with
him already. I did find quite a nice spot though. Anyway, what I’m doing now is I’m walking around
a bit, waiting it out, see if the guys moves on, and daddy didn’t call like police or whatever
kind of guard he can call. And let’s see. Um, and eventually the guy left and uh I was
able to pitch my tent. In 15 minutes the coast is clear. I think I will be pitching my
tent for first time. Woohoo. Adios. Amigos. I have decided to go in for the kill. So, I’ll
be pitching my tent. Wish me good luck. Ciao. Lesson number two. Think about a
place to sleep before it gets dark. Back in business on day one. All in all, this night had been quite
peaceful. It had been raining a little and I heard some sirens from the road
that was pretty close by, but nonetheless, couldn’t complain really. Pretty good
night. Nonetheless, learned something very quickly. One thing that I can say now
already I think if you want to bike tour, bike pack, whatever through Ireland, you
have to be prepared to be constantly wet. Then I went on my way to Dublin Houston
station to get on the train to Limerick. Goodbye lovely Booterstown. Great place close to the sea. Now you can’t see
it right now, but it’s uh right behind over there. On the train from Dublin,
Heuston to Limerick. I got on um put my bike in the in the in the
bike in the designated bike place until I double checked my ticket
and saw I didn’t book a bike space. Next stop, uh, two new bikers came onto the onto the onto the train and I had to pack my
bags already and I thought like, damn, this is the first road block I’m
I’m I’m getting I’m getting into until the train driver, like
the train driver literally hanging out of his cabin and said to me, or
almost like whispered to me like just get on and put yourself in the in the hallway up until
the the ticket guy just sends you off. Luckily, the ticket guy never came. So, I
managed to stay on until Limick Junction and from there on it was a
commuter train into the city. We just made it to the great
city of Limerick. As you can see, the weather is great. Or at least
great for Limerick, I guess. Well, officially start the journey here
at Limerick, I guess. I mean, the people’s park. The first part right after
Limmerick Station was kind of ugly until it started getting a little
bit better and better until following the official
Eurovelo1 track from Limerick um down to and down into the south
of Ireland. We hit a road closed unfortunately. That’s the first real road
block um literally then that we hit today. Next time, listen to the signs from the very
start. These roads kept on going for a while. First roads weren’t really nice up until
you get to what I believe is called the the Limerick Greenway. Um, and from there on
it was a breeze. It was so beautiful. I really was impressed by this first thing that happened
along the way. Do you already believe that? I was impressed. Limerick Green, I believe that it’s
called. Definitely recommended. Wow. Very nice. Still not convinced. We’re still on
the Great Limick Greenway, though. Nice. Wow. Beautiful. Wow. This is so cool. Beautiful.
So cool. Nice. Beautiful. Wow. So cool. Nice. Beautiful pop. Nice. Beautiful
pop. Nice. Beautiful. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. I need to
uh take a break to eat something actually like I feel my legs are uh getting empty say that
way. So I did take a short break at the little and ate something. Lesson number three. Make sure you
have food before you’re out of energy. Somewhere past Abbeyfeale, I believe, I
decided to just camp right next to the Limerick Greenway. It was quite a rough
ending of the day. It was raining. The winds were quite strong, but luckily due
to that there was nobody um on the roads. I’ve set camp for the night right on the Limerick
Greenway. It’s uh raining quite heavily as you can hear still not too nice I guess. Um but at
the same time tomorrow should be better and um yeah in some way it’s also a little bit
cozy I think. Anyway, uh learned so much today. Had great fun discovering certain parts
of Ireland and looking forward to tomorrow. We have packed our bags and are ready to go again.
Oo, blue skies even. Nice. Didn’t expect that. I was feeling good this morning. At this point, I
thought my GoPro was recording. It wasn’t really, but luckily I also did record something with
my camera. So, here you go for some free live advice. My GoPro died on me again, having its
threehourly break or something, more prepared. My body is already today to do a big amount of uh
kilometers on the bike. I love it. Great lesson in what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Luckily, there was also some time to joke after these live lessons once you got used
to the to the rain. It’s actually like um even a little bit chill in some way
to to have a little bit of rain. Uh no, joking. It sucks. Once I got off the greenway,
I rode into Listowel Town first. Quite a nice town. Then onto Tralee over some nice easy
goinging roads. We have made it into Tralee in Tr. I went to my favorite store again, the
little did some further exploring of the town, and then went into the Starbucks. In the Starbucks, I
decided to book two days of camping at Inch Beach. And that’s when I met the crazy beauty of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula. I am
on this beautiful road again. on the way to Inch Beach. The views are beautiful. I still can’t get over it. Now, if you’re
ever planning to do the Wild Atlantic Way or Eurovelo1 in Ireland, Dingle Peninsula is
a mustsee. One piece of advice though, I put on uh my hus jacket on this road though because
it seems like it’s it’s quite a dangerous road, I have to say. Um lots of cars who drive very
fast. But do not let that ruin the beauty, though. Lesson number five, do not skip Bingo Peninsula
and wear a high vis on your bike always. And then I finally arrived at the
beautiful campsite of Inch Beach. Just arrived at the beautiful beach camping.
This is the first actual camping I I go to on this trip. Um, nonetheless very happy
about it. It’s beautiful around here. It’s in between Trolley and Dingo. Um, and I just
pitched my tent. My bike is resting and uh, yeah, see a lots of rainbows around here. Look,
the sun is shining beautifully. This is great. Quite an interesting morning again. 1751. So take
on time. Nice. Well done, John. There’s a shot, by the I was trying. I unfortunately have to
give up. I pitched my tent yesterday evening on the way. Staring at the wall. Open
up my window. Heaven flows out the door.
1 Comment
Also congrats on the cycle (i have not the time to watch, but appreciate what you did!)