Don't Look Back With Regrets

When I was a kid I went to the local sea cadet unit. It was a great place to go at the time as the place I lived was fairly run down. Me mum and dad never had much money and so for a small fee I got to do all kinds of things from sailing to adventure training to canoeing and a lot more besides. I honestly feel that the place set me up to be a better person as an adult. I feel as though I have grown up with a healthy respect for other people and an honesty that few of the other kids in my area from the time have. Part of this was obviously down to the good running of the place. A lot of the stuff we did there taught us a respect for other people; friends, family the elderly etc.; and I mean respect in the true sense of the word, not the way it is banded about these days, as in ’respect me because I am bigger than you and I’ll pummel you if you don’t’.
Anyway, the guy that ran the place at the time, Ken Griffith, was, and still is one of the nicest blokes you could ever meet. Unfortunate then that I had to go and visit him in hospital the other day. He is now well into his seventies and unfortunately has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the lower spine and prostate. When I left and joined the Navy in 91, and in the subsequent years in between, I kind of lost touch with him and only rarely saw the guy. So as you could imagine it comes as a shock when someone you only ever remember as strong and relatively fit is dealt a blow such as this.
The same is true of my dad, who two years ago had a stroke and is now, to me at least, a very weak individual. When I was younger I never really got on with him as he was a bit of a bully really. I won’t go into that too much here, but lets just say that we never really got on. Anyway the point being, again that here is another person I know and remember as being fit, untouchable if you like, but who now is a very fragile person.
So in a round about way, what I am getting at is this.
1. I am now at an age that my dad and Ken were at when I remember them being at the top of their game, fit, healthy etc. and that doesn’t seem so long ago to me, therefore…
2. You have to make the most of your life while you can because, although you never know what awaits you round the corner, time will eventually catch you up, and when it catches me up I want to…
3. Look back over my life with as few regrets as I can.
I know that a lot of this is ok in retrospect, and that you are always going to have regrets no matter what you do and which choices you make, but in general I think that if you go with your heart and not be held back or dissuaded by others then you should be ok and at the very least you will only have yourself to blame if things go wrong. What I am trying to say is that I don’t want to get to a certain time in my life and think, ‘oh I could have done that if it wasn’t for so and so’, or ‘it would have been nice to do X, Y or Z, but someone wouldn‘t let me go‘.
Finally, for my part, there are several things in my life that I want to do and will strive to do while I can. One of these is to travel round the world on my bike. Some may think this a pipe dream, but it is something I have wanted to do for years and the desire has never waned, so why not? If I don’t do it then I know one day I will regret it, but at least I will only have myself to blame.

New Year Wish List

I’ve decided to rest up on the motorcycle travel part of this blog for the minute, or at least until I have finished writing up our entire European trip from the summer of 06. This could take a while and in the meantime my bike is due have new shoes put on, a major service and an M.O.T. Don’t these things always seem to come at once, usually just after Christmas when you are already strapped for cash. Then as soon as all this is done I have booked a couple of days off work to travel down to Cornwall to see Mo. I am going to take it easy on the way down though, possibly travelling through Wales and stopping off there somewhere overnight.
So in the meanwhile I am going to be using my blog as a vehicle to air my views and feelings on stuff that I see around me on a daily basis. Get the things out that in general I tend to keep bottled up inside.
I have made a couple of decisions for this year and hopefully when I read back through this towards the end of the year I will be able to say I have achieved them. I wouldn’t call my decisions ‘New Year Resolutions’, as that would suggest that I have ‘got’ to follow them through, these are just things that I want to try and do in 07.
Firstly, for my own sanity I have decided to stop watching and listening to the news on the TV and radio, as well as reading it in the paper. In general I like to keep abreast of current affairs, but with all the shit going on in my head recently I have decided that all the news does is depress you. Soldiers dying in a pointless war in Iraq, hospitals having to lay off vital nurses and doctors due to insufficient funding even though we are paying ever higher taxes, children being given ASBO’s, politicians demanding 40% pay rises to top up their already sound pay and benefits packages, global warming from carbon emissions, the list is endless. Then there is the ‘so called’ news that you get in rags like The Sun; Jade Goody ‘shocking confessions’ in the ‘Celebrity’ Big Brother household, Nicky and that looser with tourettes split up (he broke my heart), no-mark Pete Doherty wasted outside yet another nightclub. WHO FUCKING CARES? Trust me, if you cut these things out of your life you will feel the benefit. As I write this it is only the 17th day of my news cold turkey and I am already feeling better for it.
Secondly I ‘am’ going to buy a house, or at least be in a position to buy one by the end of the year. Nearly five years after being ripped off for all I owned by an ex who never worked a day in her life, and in that time watching house prices go through the roof (so to speak) I am finally in a position to do it. Just need to get the deposit together now so long hours in work are going to be a must for me this year.
Finally I am going to stop being taken for a mug by the ex, emotionally blackmailing me with my daughter. I’ll try not to go on about her, either here or in future blogs as I know I am not the only man in the world that’s been suckered before. The only thing I will say is that to me, a band called Terrorvision could have been singing about her in a song called Bad Actress when they said ‘You never gave me anything, but I ended up with less’. Wish I could write down stuff like that, it says more in one line from a song than I could write on a whole page. Someone in that band had obviously been taken for a ride at some point also!
Anyway on a different, brighter note, things aren’t all bad in the world. Liverpool are still third in the league and it looks like the takeover of the club will go ahead some time soon, putting much needed money into the club and hopefully putting us on a level playing field with the top three. As well as this I have my daughter overnight tonight and get to take her into school tomorrow. When you don’t see them for a few days, the day you do have them seems to drag until you pick them up.
Hope it’s not too late to wish anyone who reads this a happy and prosperous 2007!

The Final Run In

Friday 14/04/06, Day 5 of the Irish Trip

We were on the road relatively early again on the Friday. Our intention was to make Dublin by mid afternoon. We would be travelling mostly via main roads, the N6, N4 and M4 directly into Dublin. Main roads and motorways are not the most challenging ones to ride on, but these did pass through some amazing scenery and also did the job of getting us to our destination relatively quickly. One other positive about this route was that it took us straight past a town I was eager to visit, Athlone.
A couple of hours ride from Galway and we were at the picture postcard village on the banks of the Shannon. We both parked in the same car park space outside of a beautiful cathedral, St Peters, and also right next to Athlone Castle. As I mentioned earlier it was good Friday, and so there was an open air service going on outside on the steps of the cathedral, so would you believe that just as we were walking away from the bikes to have a look round my alarm started sounding. As is the norm in these situations I had already put away my keys and could not remember for the life of me which pocket they were in! As the alarm continued to sound I was searching more and more frantically for the keys, while at the same time getting more snooty looks from the congregation. Well if they are practising Catholics then they would surely forgive me for this faux pas, wouldn’t they?
On closer inspection the place seemed to me to resemble one of a number of Cornish villages with lovely cottages leading straight onto the road, all painted in bright colours and with a number of lovely little shops. I suppose the main difference was that you don’t get cathedrals and Castles in Cornish villages! However what you do also get in Cornwall are those shops selling curios such as josh sticks and strange ornaments. You know, the sort that spring up next door to surf shops. As we were having the by now obligatory brew in a nice café over the road from this shop, we spotted a t-shirt in the window that Mo just had to have. It was a plain blue t-shirt with the message across the front ’My Other Body Is A Temple’. Say no more.
Before leaving we took the opportunity to take a few photos of ourselves and the bikes down between the castle and the banks of the river. Well worth it. The two photos towards the bottom of the blog were taken here. My only regret was that we couldn’t stay longer but time was marching on, and as they say at kicking out time in the pub, ’if you want to stay longer you should have come earlier’.
Back on the road and this final leg of the journey seemed to be taking for ever. We eventually arrived in Dublin about half past two after completing the last bit on the M4, a toll road that I never knew they had in Ireland. Still, while travelling you learn all sorts…
As it was still a bit early to head round to Santry (where Martin, Michelle and the kids lived and we would be staying) I thought we would head into the Temple Bar area of the city, park up and maybe get something to eat or drink. The bikes ended up being parked up on the kerb because the place was so busy. We went and had a walk on the banks of the river Liffy (which runs through Dublin) and I had a coffee at a small stand that was on a walkway suspended over the river. Nice coffee, nice weather and a nice city. It was here that I received a text asking what time we would be round. It was obviously time to go, so we headed back towards the bikes via the Hard Rock Café. I remember we felt it best to stop off here and use their toilet facilities rather than pollute my uncles house.
I had heard the rumours but it wasn’t till we entered the Hard Rock that I realised it was no joke. It being Good Friday, nearly all the pubs in Ireland were shut, and those that were open could only serve soft drinks. So upon entering the place we saw that all of the pumps were covered by black bags forbidding their use. AAAAHHHH.
We arrived at the house shortly before tea time and after saying hello to everyone and introducing them to Mo, we set to putting the bikes away, showering and getting ready to relax about the house for the evening.
The beer came out relatively early, and shortly after that the guitars came out. And so the evening passed by with just the right balance of beer, food, conversation and music. My cousin Anthony who is a lot younger than me turned out to be a great guitarist, and between the three of us we cobbled together an impromptu performance of dancing in the moonlight by Thin Lizzy. When you don’t see someone for a while it is easy to be surprised by them when you do see them. As well as being a great guitarist, he is also an accomplished drummer, a kit being set up in his room next to his amp and guitar.

Saturday 15/04/06, Day 6 of the Irish Trip.

Mo and I headed into the city centre to take a look round and get some presents for the folks back home. This was to be our final day in Ireland. The ferry would be another overnight crossing that night.
We took the bus in and got off at O’Connell Street, the main thoroughfare in Dublin. After taking a look round a few shops we ended up buying some DVD’s for ourselves and Anna (my daughter) and some jewellery for the ladies. We also headed back for another look round Temple Bar and along the Liffy.
Heading back to catch the bus we ended up walking through a demonstration celebrating the Easter uprising of 1916. I’m not going to go into a history lesson but it was one of the darkest periods of British rule over the Irish and turned into something of a massacre by the British, followed by a farcical trial for the rebels that turned them into heroes and only strengthened Irish dislike of the British. So as you could imagine, sensing the mood of the crowd once we realised what we were in the middle of, we kept our mouths firmly shut. All it would have taken was Mo to drop his Navy I.D. card and I think we would have been in for it.
Back at Santry we took a walk over to the park with Martin, and Kevin and Katie (my two younger cousins). This was a really enjoyable relaxation period before packing our stuff ready to catch the ferry.
After having some tea and saying our goodbyes we headed off for the ferry port and our bed for the evening. As it turned out there was a misunderstanding about what time the ferry actually left and so we ended up getting there just in time.
As it was when we boarded in Liverpool, we were on first and settled in before the ship had even finished loading. This time though, after having a look round we could only manage one beer before heading for bed.

Sunday 16/05/06. The final Day.

There is always a feeling of an anti-climax for me at the end of any trip. The realisation hits that the days of doing whatever you want are nearly over and the days of doing what you ‘have’ to do are nearly upon you. There is a definite difference between having to get up to go somewhere you want to go (Athlone, Limerick etc.) and somewhere you don’t. (Manchester to work for example).
As it was, the previous night was the first good night sleep that I had had all week so after watching the ship tying up alongside and then being called down to the car deck I was ready for the short ride home.
We were back home well before seven in the morning and rather than go back to bed we put on a DVD we had purchased the previous day, Team America, fuck yeah.
And so the trip was finished. Mo ended up staying at mine for another couple of days, which was good as we don’t see so much of each other any more. We would be seeing and speaking to each other a lot over the coming months though, talking over our Irish Trip and also planning for the bigger European trip that was coming up in August through Europe.
Several of my friends comment to me on how many miles I am putting on my bike doing the trips and get aways that I do, but my opinion is that there is no point having the damn thing if I am not going to use it.

Sunshine Always Follows Showers

Wednesday 12/04/06, Day 3 of the Irish Trip.

Like many of the worst days you have in life, this one actually started with an air of optimism. We had decided to stay another night in Limerick but take a day trip to Galway. As we headed out of Limerick the weather seemed to have finally brightened up. The roads were good, the scenery was great too and I started to get the feeling that the rest of the trip was going to be this good. After an hour or two ride we pulled in at a small town called Gort for a brew and something to eat. The small café we stopped at served the best coffee I had drank in weeks as I recall and the pastry I had was just as good as any Gregg’s have to offer. So after our rest, rather than spending time looking round the place we decided to push on to Galway.
As soon as we had set off, and I mean ’as soon’ as we had set off the heavens opened. Ever the optimists we decided to push on in case it was just a passing shower, but it seemed that the closer we got to our destination, the heavier the rain became. Neither Mo or myself are what you would call fair weather bikers, we can ride in the rain with the best of them, however because the day had started off so promising we were not wearing waterproofs and had only come out with the minimum of baggage. So just outside of Galway with fuel running low and near torrential rain we pulled into a service station to fill up and have a coffee and wait for the rain to abate while again trying to dry ourselves out a bit. Anyway, lets just say that over an hour later we were still sat on the inside looking out, praying that the bikes wouldn’t get washed away.
Eventually after not even getting off the bikes in Galway we headed back towards Limerick. The one thing that was decided however was that we would come back the next day and stay the night. We were not going to be put off seeing the place by something as trivial as a little rain…

Thursday 13/04/06, Day 4 of the Irish Trip

We were up early to make the most of the good weather. After returning the previous day with little hope things were going to get any better, the weather man on TV had informed us that the next day was going to be a scorcher. After a hearty breakfast and packing up our belongings we headed out to the back of the place to secure our luggage to the bikes. The weather was indeed good, although both bikes were looking very much the worse for wear.
We headed off along the same roads we had taken only 24 hours earlier with a renewed hope for the remainder of the week; perhaps we could salvage some good riding after all. I don’t think either of us was disappointed. Both the roads and the surrounding scenery were stunning.
The initial stage of our ride took us back into Gort, where we stopped at the same café and had another brew. As we returned to the bikes to head off again, the sunny weather accentuated how much crap had been attracted to the bikes, especially the rear suspension on mine. More for the sake of keeping away rust than anything else, we decided to give them a hose down at the next garage. There was another reason for wanting to do this, on my part especially, because just as we were leaving Gort a bird (unknown type but probably a big one….) decided to empty the contents of its bowel onto my tank. This struck me as strange at the time because they normally wait until ‘after’ I have cleaned the bike/car before doing their business!! As it turned out the spray gun we used at the garage was bloody useless at getting anything off and I’m sure actually had a weak glue solution in it that attracted more dirt onto the bikes. Not to worry though as the weather was still good and if riding a dirty bike was all I had to concern me then life was good.
Compared to the previous days ride this one literally flew by. It is amazing to me how a state of mind can make such a difference. The weather is good so you are happy, because you are happy your riding seems better, because you are riding better you get happier and so on and so on.
We arrived in Galway relatively early in the afternoon and rather than riding round for an hour searching for somewhere to stay we took a chance on the first decent looking place we came across. As it turned out the hotel was not much dearer than the B+B in Limerick, but was a great deal better with its own bar and restaurant as well as the added bonus, for us, of secure underground parking.
After getting a shower and having a power nap (again Mo power napped while I just couldn’t sleep and had to content myself with watching TV) we headed into town for a look round the shops and to get something to eat.
A two minute walk from the hotel took us past some fine looking bars and into Eyre Square. At the time the finishing touches were just being put to a refurbishment of the square in time for Easter weekend. Even though some minor work was still going on the place looked idyllic. The place was alive with people lounging, enjoying the weather, socialising and generally enjoying each others company. It seemed that everyone was gearing up for the weekend ahead, Easter being just as much of a holiday in Ireland as Christmas is in England.
A further five minute walk through Eyre Square and we were on the banks of the Corrin looking out towards Claddagh Loch. The view across and out to sea was fantastic. Strange to realise that there was no land between the coast here and the east coast of the good ole ewe ess of eh (USA).
After looking round a few shops and getting a bite to eat in an Irish themed restaurant (so what if we looked like tourists) it was back to the hotel to freshen up for the evening and our jaunt to the local watering holes.
The night started with a quick beer in the hotel bar where the Liverpool youth squad were on TV playing (and about to win) the FA Youth Cup. After that we walked into the town. Everywhere seemed packed out, and queues were coming out the doors of most of the bars; that was until it suddenly dawned on us that all public places are now non smoking in the Republic and people were just popping out for a tab. Ironic if you think about it, they are stepping out into the fresh air so they can pollute their lungs!!!!
We only visited two bars outside of the hotel that night as the second one we went to had a rather good band on and I am a sucker for a good live band. What made this band so special though was the guy on bass, that’s if you can call it a bass, or even an instrument. What it actually was looked like a snooker cue stood on its end on top of a box with a piece of cord connecting the top of the cue to the box. To change the notes he simply bent the cue forward or back, what an innovative musician Wonder what he called it?
Finally called it a night relatively early as it was going to be a long day the next day. We would be staying at my uncles house near Dublin in the east of Ireland. That meant we would be riding coast to coast on Good Friday, hoping that the fuel stations did not have the same rules as the bars on this holy day!