Have we been lucky with the weather or what? A week in Ireland, no rain, plenty of sunshine and little wind. A few "wee" hills and we've glided our way through most of Connemara. Last night we stayed at the Atlantic Coast Hotel in Westport. Another beautiful spot on the...yes..west coast of Ireland. Hard to believe today's the last day. Yesterday we were at the Delphi spa and it was fantastic. It hit the spot and I'd recommend it to anybody. Sort of a little oasis in the middle of quaint B&B's, which are themselves charming, but not quite the same. 
Our days basically go like this - breakfast at 8:30, begin riding at 9:30, lunch at 1:00, some sightseeing in the morning and early afternoon, and arrive at the next spot around 6:00 pm.. and the Guiness x (2,3..depends), Dinner at 7:30-9:30 and bed around 10:30. With the cycling I think most everybody has been sleeping well. I've thrown a 3-7 mile run at 6:30 AM just to keep in running shape with the upcoming marathon. A great day. There are 6 of us on the tour: me and Kevin (dad), Tim and Diane from Vancouver and Bill and Maureen from Edmonton. They are fantastic people and we've had a great time riding together. Our tour guide and her parents have managed to keep us going in the right direction - and more importantly selected great little off-beat roads that both scenic and un-crowded by cars. We really notice that when we are forced onto a main road for some of the sections and can no longer chat and enjoy the great scenerey.
Yesterday we went by the Famine Memorial. It was quite a site - with the riggings replaced by the artist with the skeletons of commerating those who perished during that horrible time. Today we wind up in Galway and bid goodbye (so soon!) to our new friends and Ireland. It's been a blast. Next week will be a link to all the photos after I get a broadband link..
ttfn
Mark
9/17/2002 12:13 AM PST…but…it’s actually 8:13 am here at the Zetland Country House in Cashel, Ireland. We’ve been blessed with “nice” weather so far…that is, no rain and mild temperatures. But before the notes on the trip, the strangest thing happened in Heathrow airport, terminal 1. We had 4 hours to kill there – VERY boring. And after the first hour I ran into a guy I used to work with at Mannesmann Mobilfunk in Germany (MMO D2 – now part of the Vodaphone network).
He and his wife Dagmar – who I also met a MMO and their 16 month old daughter Charlotten were on their way back to Duesseldorf from a week in England. We had lunch together – it was fantastic! 
It was fun to weave around the sheep on the road on the other side and as we descended into the bogs of Connemara on the opposite side of the hill had a great view of the unspoiled Irish countryside. One of the interesting things about this rural part of the country is the preponderance of the Gaelic, or as they say, Irish language. English is taught as a second language here and all the signage is in Irish. As we pedaled through miles and miles through the bogs (on a paved road of course) you could see people cutting it by hand and piling it on the side of the road. Apparently something like 90% of the bog generated over a 4000 year time period was removed since the turn of the century and the Irish government had forbidden mechanized bog removal. They now cut newspaper sized rolls of bog and pile them by the road, let them dry, and burn them as logs in the homes hear for heating. There are virtually no trees in the entire area, rather heather, bracken and furze dominate the area. Today we are riding to Roundstone village – “the most picturesque fishing harbour in Connemara” and end up in Clifden, where we will be staying at the Quay House for the next two nights.
Long time no blog. After making some big life decisions, like quitting my job (among other things) I'm heading with my dad to Ireland today for a biking trip. I'm going to try to blog my way through the Galway area...tune in for more thoughts across the atlantic and continuing on the emerald Isle! As put in 
