Silence woke me this morning. As I lay in my tent, muzzy from the morning, thinking that perhaps the weather today would permit me to cycle, rain started to fall. While the weather occasionally slowed to a light drizzle, or even provided temptation with a brief respite, I stayed put. With the campground 4 km outside of town I pondered heading into town to see the sights, but an Internet search left me untempted.
Instead, I spent the day inside the campground community room, reading. I spent a while quite chill, before I brought in my sleeping bag and spent the rest of the day curled up within on a couch.
It was Cork that taught me about being trapped by rain. Three days of heavy, sheeting rain left me seeking out things to do. I got to know my fellow campers, Polish men who came to Ireland because of a better economy and more jobs. I caught up on the summer blockbusters at the local movie theater. I cycled through a local nature park with the water on the trails over the rims of my bike. I also met Ed in the local wilderness preserve, an English cyclist who cycled in Ireland every year. We travelled in opposite directions, yet I still encountered him not once but twice more as I cycled around Ireland.
I generally hate doing nothing. After so long on the move, staying still becomes that much harder. Resting in a common room all day, when on a bicycle touring trip in Europe, only exacerbates that feeling. But, once I burrowed into my sleeping bag, the day turned out ok.
Temps are dropping to 5-7 degrees C at night, and only rising to the mid-teens during the day (37-68 degrees F). The rain gear works, but I clearly don’t want to get my core soaked, and cycling in wet shoes and gloves doesn’t exactly lend itself to being called fun.
I know I’m headed somewhere tomorrow, if only because, even though I picked up extra food yesterday on this possibility, I run out of calories, having but a tube of Oreos, a couple of slices of bread, a half-jar of peanut butter and jelly, and a can of beans.
Forecasts show better weather the next couple of days, so despite earlier predictions I plan to make two 100 km jumps to arrive in Galway. Multiple hostels in Galway give me some breathing room over camping. Maybe some day trips into Connemara, then heading north towards a slightly drier standard.