Dublin Blues
As in skies. Much like the people in Oregon used to tell (false) stories of the horrendous economic conditions, terrible weather, and lack of culture, all in a mis-guided and eventually fruitless effort to keep hordes of Californians from moving to their state, I am now convinced that the citizens of Ireland are taking a similar position to keep the number of US tourists to a manageable level. In 5 days of visiting Dublin I was rained on once (for about 20 minutes) and managed to get a respectable sunburn while strolling on a beach.
There were a good number of bikes on the streets of Dublin, and the interesting thing is that most of the riders wore those high-vis yellow vests that construction workers all wear here in the States. It was like watching a moving construction site. Actually not a bad idea. There was a good bit of bike-friendly infrastructure, with bike lanes on a lot of the main roads, and bike racks on main streets. And the racks were full on a weekday morning, at least in the neighborhood I was staying in. My big disappointment was that I never made it to a Dublin bike shop. I’d have been willing to pay big bucks for some kind of local-team bike jersey, something that you’d never see among the hundreds of Pan-Mass jerseys on the road around here.
I’d love to say I’d go back to Ireland to cycle, but I don’t know if I can in good conscience. It’s a lovely country, and the people are the friendliest anywhere. The after-ride beer would be both nutritious AND alcoholic. But between the incredibly narrow country roads, the Irish propensity to coax the maximum MPH out of the smallest possible engine, and the whole driving-on-the-left thing, I’m afraid I’d last about 2 hours before an ambulance would become involved, and I’d learn about emergency health care in a foreign country.
Back in this country, I’ve come home to experience the type of weather I expected to see across the pond. Maybe back on the bike this weekend. And another week of cycling lost.
Filed under: bike commute
Leave a Reply