Day 1 – Kinsale Ireland

I arrived in Cork this afternoon and though I missed my connecting flight from Heathrow it turned out to be for the best. I really wasn’t sure how I was going to get to the motofeirme (aka Martin’s farm) site to pick up my bike after arriving in Cork. So I was standing in line at customs when someone behind me said “Looks like you’re going for a ride.” I replied that I was and when asked where my bike was I responded that I wasn’t really sure and it was at some guys farm. To which the stranger replied “Martins? That’s where my bike is.”. As it turned out another American (Nate) arrived on the same flight as I was on and was also going to Martin’s to pick up his bike and he knew the way! So we split a cab and I got to finally lay eyes on the little red Italian tomato.

The bike looks real good and started right up with just a little bit of help from the choke. Martin has a really nice setup for travelers with plenty of tools and space to work on the bike as well as plenty of helpful advice and he’s building a dorm next to his barn for travelers to stay in. As it turns out besides myself and the Nate which I met at the airport there where two other riders also hanging out at Martin’s place. One rider from Australia (Terry) and another from Canada (Mike) who acts as Martin’s helper when Martin is busy doing his real job.

I started getting the bike setup and getting all my paperwork collected when I ran across one minor snafu. It seems the Bulgarians I purchased my Insurance from decided to translate my name into Bulgarian on the insurance form and it bears little resemblance to how my name is spelled on the rest of the documents. I’m told it shouldn’t be a problem since I should only need to produce the document if I’m involved in an accident and the bike is still insured (tho to someone with a very odd name).

Tomorrow I plan on finishing adding my gadgets to the bike and hopefully taking it out for a test ride and getting some new tires fitted. If that goes well I’ll probably spend the rest of the day picking up some odds and ends while getting used to riding on the wrong side of the road.

The area around Kilkearny (or something it’s near Cork which I can spell (usually)) is really beautiful and I’m looking forward to exploring it in the next few days.

 

 

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