Irish Bike Shop Subtitles Lance's Book - I Love EPO

I rolled into Castlebar Cycle Store for some air (still not on Eagle) and got a laugh at the book that now sits below mine. Brian Cawley, the store owner added, "I love EPO" and "It's not about the drugs" to the front cover of Lance Armstrong's book that now looks all so sadly fraudulent. Since Brian's shop is pretty much race central in this town of 10,000 people, if not all of County Mayo, Lance's demise comes as no surprise to a lot of his customers.

In addition, in a country that takes its bike racing very seriously, a lot of people here figured in on the Lance Armstrong drama:

Pat McQuaid is the director of the UCI who Greg Lemond has asked to step down

Emma O'Reilly was Lance's masseuse who remained steadfast in her reports of his drug use

David Walsh was the investigative reporter who did not give up  fleshing out  Lance, even after Lance almost succeeded in making the word ignore the book he wrote called, "L.A. Confidentiel -- Les Secrets de Lance Armstrong"

Paul Kimmage  is another journalist who, at the time of this writing, is being sued by the UCI for his accusing the organization of turning a blind eye to Lance. Of note, Lance very publicly accused Kimmage of not being "worth the chair you are sitting on," when the reporter pressed him on his  position on drug offenders.

Sources: 

New York Daily News 

Lemond on UCI

Men's Journal

Irish Back Roads (most are), Chimney Sweep, Rim Death (again)

Even as much of the foliage begins to brown, there's still lots of green.

Many old time Irish homes are built right at the edge of the road.

Don't know if you can see it, but this chimney sweep is giving me the thumbs up.

The peak you see off in the distance is Croagh Patrick at about 2,500 feet. From the Atlantic, which is on the other side, it was the first sighting of land by Charles Lindbergh in 1927.

Another casualty of Irish cycling. Peter Stull, at Bicycle Man, tells me this damage was caused by brake blocks being applied to wet, dirty rims. Ugh, I wouldn't be riding here on the Emerald Isle if I waited for good biking conditions. Hmmmmm....

More Irish Road Haircuts

In August of 2011, I bore witness to a sight I don't think has ever been seen in California, and one that possibly does not exist in most all of the other 49 states in the union. A hydraulic cutting device, specially outfitted to a tractor was at the side of the road, trimming the overflowing foliage.  There is so much vegetation exploding out of everywhere over here, that they have to cut it back to keep it from blocking the road.

However, from what I saw today,  it also looks like they have to keep the hedges from growing too tall so people can see over them too.........

Irish Rail vs Palo Alto Rail

Back home in Palo Alto, a rail line built during Abraham Lincoln's presidency regularly disrupts the life of the car driving public. There, they have to wait at crossings for as long as, God forbid,  two minutes at times. Well,  the Irish seem to  have even more patience.

 In the sequence of pictures above, in rural Ireland, warnings are given repeatedly on roads that deliberately zig and zag for the last 200 yards before they reach  a train crossing. On those "busier" country roads, where there is a barrier that gets lowered, the wait time is an automatic five minutes!! Ugh.......

Attack of the Irish Ponies

I wanted to get a better photo of these friendly ponies with my also low down recumbent. BUT

They started chewing on my seat!

Irish Recumbent Sunset

On the other side of the ridges you see, ten miles off in the distance, is the Atlantic Ocean.

Suitable for Framing....

Juliano Power Accordion in Ireland

Often, when I ride through the busy town of Castlebar, I see a young man I have come to know as Juliano, busily playing away. Nor have I seen it be the case where people take the time to stop and listen. Seems out here in the west of Ireland, the Irish people tend to keep to themselves.

Because Juliano cannot afford the transportation to play in the bigger cities of Dublin or Galway, tho he is always well received there when he can make the journey, he plays for a sporadic few small tips 5 to 7 days a week here in this tiny town of 10,000 people. 

Wow, such an amazing talent. I can't wait till some TV talent show discovers him. From Romania, he's only 23. Do sit back an enjoy the next 2 mins., 41 seconds!!