Garden Variety Irish "Back Road" Beauty

I see so much of what you are seeing here, I have to remind myself these are not common sights. This is the kind of stuff I see EVERYDAY on my rides here in County Mayo.

The grass fed cattle here can often be seen "mowing" a lawn...

Tractors are everywhere..

Can you spot the one sheep painted in red and green, the Mayo sports team's colors?

There are many homes like this at the edges of town.

The view I see over the hedges (8 feet up on the Eagle) that line most of the back roads, which most are....

RAAM Winner, Strasser, Also Wins Europe's Toughest Cycling Challenge, The Race Around Ireland

Christoph Strasser , the Austrian who became RAAM's fastest cyclist when he covered the 2993 mile course in 7 days, 22 hours, a few months ago (June 19), recently won the 1367 mile Race Around Ireland.

Billed as Europe's Toughest Cycling Challenge, he completed the 4-year old race in 3 days, 21 hours, for an average of 23.69 miles an hour! And extra admiration  is due indeed, these roads are tough over here. They have much roughed up all three of the bikes I use to roll on them, Especially the Eagle...

Add the heavier air because there is so much moisture in it, and this guy's feat is truly amazing!!

Irish Superbowl Signs All Over the Countryside

County Mayo plays Dublin in the All-Ireland Gaelic Football final this Sunday 

Sept 23rd. And since Castelbar is in County Mayo, where they have not won the 

big game for 61 years, there are signs everywhere! 

This is a huge game here on the Emerald Isle, on a par with our Superbowl, sans 

all the half time commercials - they play a solid 35-minute half without interruption!

Gaelic football is like our American soccer with the addition of specific use of the hands. 

Irish Evening Ride

Recovered from Posterous.com, a now closed blogging platform

May 13 2012, 7:58 AM  by Martin & Virginia Krieg

Flanked for mile after mile of pastures, I finally decided to stop and take a picture. It was getting dark but I could not pass this photo up as I've never seen such a pretty welcome sign..

This lake looked like it stretched forever. I was running out of light tho.....

On my way home, I came across this foreboding warning....

Tractor Jam & Rock Fences, a Closer Look

Recovered from Posterous.com, a now closed blogging platform

May 23 2012, 9:14 AM  by Martin  Krieg

This, probably the fifth tractor I saw on my ride, made me slow down while he maneuvered his way into a field. 

While the hedges lining both sides of most all roads, are really rock fences as I show you in the next photos...

Can you see the grey colored rocks?

Irish Cow Jam

Recovered from Posterous.com, a now closed blogging platform

June 5 2012, 11:55 AM  by Martin & Virginia Krieg

How often have you ever had to stop for 100 cows?

I know I had no choice in the matter - these animals are huge!

Ten minutes later, I was free to go! 

Irish Lawnmowers

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  Recovered from Posterous.com, a now closed blogging platform

  June 11 2012, 2:57 AM by Martin & Virginia Krieg

Newport, Changing the Face of Ireland with Bikes!

Recovered from Posterous.com, a now closed blogging platform

June 13 2012, 8:06 AM  by Martin & Virginia Krieg

Part of the (car)  road trip we did in the west of Ireland included a stop in Newport, a small village, until recently dimissed by many as a ådreary ghost town not worthy of a visit. Population 700 or so people, billed now as the 'Heart of the Great Western Greenway', it is coming very much alive once again thanks to pedal power. As such, located on the Black Oak River right where it flows into Clew Bay, an inlet on the Atlantic Ocean, bicycle tourism is bringing about a grand resurgence in not only Newport but all of its outlying areas.

Virginia and Cayo stand in front of the grand railroad bridge that used to serve this once active linen town. The tower in the background is St. Patricks Catholic Church (aka Newport Cathedral).

Having arrived at low tide, we were told that the boat you see with its keel exposed was on the closer side of the channel last week.

Its two block downtown is tiny but mighty....

Two bike rental shops occupied prominent retail space in this tiny town that was coming back to life with farmer's markets and spruced up storefronts, etc. 

There was a lot of signage to remind us we were in Greenway territory

On the other side of the new fence you see on the hill to the right, Greenway cyclists merrily pedaled away.

Even though we there during a work day, there were signs of the Greenway's influence everywhere. Toward that end, several times during our trip, we had to slow down for constructions crews as they improved the once little traveled roads to Newport and the other small towns in the area..

With their connection to Rhode Island, per the picture (click to enlarge) above, is Newport, Ireland not setting the lead for the rest of the world, in particular, America, to follow??

Hmmmmm !!!!!!!

c/o Yahoo:

How many Newports are there in the world?

just wanted to know roughly how many places (towns etc) are named Newport in the world.

jujodeas...

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

These are all of the Newports in the country.
* Newport, AR, United States
* Newport, DE, United States
* Newport, IN, United States
* Newport, KY, United States
* Newport, ME, United States
* Newport, MI, United States
* Newport, MN, United States
* Newport, MS, United States
* Newport, NE, United States
* Newport, NH, United States
* Newport, NJ, United States
* Newport, NY, United States
* Newport, NC, United States
* Newport, OH, United States
* Newport, OR, United States
* Newport, PA, United States
* Newport, RI, United States
* Newport, TN, United States
* Newport, VT, United States
* Newport, VA, United States
* Newport, WA, United States
That's 21 so far.

* Newport (Quebec), Canada
* Newport (Isle of Wight), United Kingdom
* Nweport (Pembrokeshire), United Kingdom
* Newport (Shropshire), United Kingdom
* Newport (Dyfed), United Kingdom
* Newport (Gwent), United Kingdom
* NEWPORT, COUNTY MAYO, IRELAND
* NEWPORT, COUNTY TIPPERARY, IRELAND
* NEWPORT NSW 2106, AUSTRALIA
* NEWPORT VIC 3015, AUSTRALIA
That's 10 more for a total of at least 31 Newports in the world. Any others may not be listed online as of yet.