Combining motorbikes with other passions and hobbies seems, to me, somehow both
logical and appropriate, the combination heightens the excitement of each element. The
benefits of using a motorbike to see and experience a country are obvious: on a motorbike
one is closer to the environment and the landscape, a biker feels more in tune with its rhythms
due to the sheer exposure not just to the elements, but to smells, wildlife and the road itself.
The truth of a motorbike trip often does not conform to the romanticised or hard-core adventure
trip in the imagination though; I have never even come close to needing the SAS style survival
pack, rations and ‘bacofoil’ survival suit that seemed like a bargain at the time in the military
surplus store! A weekend away is usually more sedate and relaxed.
I am probably like every other biker – Ted Simon, Sam Manicom, Ewan McGregor
books on my shelf, but the hum-drum reality for many of us is that a worldwide trip is not only
unlikely, but nigh on impossible to obtain; a week or two is all that can be taken off work, and
even once this has been achieved, a list of household chores needs completed before any
biking is gracefully conceded! But there is nothing wrong with this, indeed a long weekend can
be just long enough to satisfy the craving for adventure, but the devil is in the detail.
Ireland is an ideal, if often overlooked location for a bike and concept trip, but planning
is everything; many Irish sites of interest have nothing to see bar a few truncated earthworks,
if that, so when visiting sites it is advisable to choose them carefully to ensure engagement
with them. It took a while for me to figure it out, but a theme or concept is probably the best
way my companions and I have found to travel this isle. For example, the publication of this
article will coincide with the Summer Solstice, so June is an ideal time to combine a long
weekend on two wheels with the solstice as an event in its own right.
As you read this I will, no doubt, be atop a hill on the west coast of Ireland, surrounded
by Neolithic standing stones trying to shake off the attentions of someone a little too close to
nature, trying to bum a cigarette or cup of coffee from my thermos.