Summer days are gone too soon

I am going to be glad to spend a couple days using motorized transport with my parents in Scotland this coming week. Since leaving Bruges on the 6th I have spent all but one of those days on the bike in some way, shape, or form. I had a tire-destroying flat on the 11th and was able to find a replacement to ease my mind on the 13th. A piece of metal nearly a centimeter across went straight through the middle of my rear tire on my way up to Hebden Bridge for the night. I did use some glue and plastic wrap to stop anything small from getting into the tire, but I knew that it could only be a provisional fix. The cycle up through the lake district was really nice! The elevation gain was only somewhere around 300m, but the pitchy 15-20% sections made for a much more difficult climb than the elevation change would normally suggest. I was caught in a 10 minute downpour on my way up to the top of a “mountain” pass, but was treated to scattered rays of sunshine for the rest of the afternoon on my way north towards Hadrian's Wall. I managed to exhaust my water supply after leaving the lake district so I had to stop when I saw an elderly woman watering the plants outside her house. She was kind enough to refill my bottles so I could continue down the road in the late afternoon sun. I’ve thought a number of times on this trip about returning to work in Canada and the awful interview processes that you have to go through to secure a job. The question, “what is one of your faults” invariably comes up in a job interview - I think I have an answer to that. I am self-sufficient to the point of fault. Even for something as simple as some water, I don’t like asking for help. Not wanting to ask for help is a little dumb - it isn’t like I have anything to lose in most cases. Just one of those little things that often rattle through my head while I’m cycling. I did make a little 30 kilometer detour out to Hadrian's Wall. It was cool to be able to visit the area knowing how old it was, and understanding how far it really is to get to and from Rome without motorized transport. That said, I still have a little bit of “old thing” fatigue. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting many archaeological sites from this era (and earlier), and many of them have been more substantial and well preserved than the little sections of wall foundation in northern England. The weather was cooperative so I pushed myself through a ninth and tenth day in a row of being on the bike to reach the ferry to Belfast in Northern Ireland! This was a bit of an impromptu visit and I did my best to make the most of my limited time in the region! The hostel I stayed at in Belfast coordinated outings to bars in the evenings and I found myself unable to resist drinking a Guiness in an Irish pub. The late night led to a slightly later start in the morning on my only full day in Belfast - I was still able to make it to a free walking tour that took me around the center of the city! The guide’s theatre background showed through as she described the city’s past and present. She had lived through the Troubles in Belfast as a young girl and added personal anecdotes into the region’s unsettled past. I spent the afternoon wandering around the city taking in the brick facades. I did my best to dodge the waves of rain and make my way to the Titanic quarter. Once a massive shipyard, the area was slowly being revitalized and populated with special attention paid to the area’s industrial past. The Titanic was built right there along the edge of the Irish Sea. There’s a large star-shaped museum on the edge of the dry dock where the doomed ship was built. I didn’t feel the need to go through the museum, especially with the hordes of people already inside. I cycled from Belfast up to a little community to the east of Ballycastle called Corrymeela. Corrymeela is an intentional community that works at peacebuilding in Ireland. Well, they’re likely much more than that, but that’s a really basic understanding of what they do. My friend Amber from CMU has been at Corrymeela for the past eight months and I had some time, so I came for a visit! So many of my destinations come from the thought, “oh, that’s not so far away, I can cycle there!” I had a really, really nice time catching up with her, and meeting the lovely people that make up the community - the fellow volunteers, community members, staff, and guests. A second significant draw to northern Northern Ireland was the chance to visit the Giant’s Causeway. I was wondering as I struggled up a hill on my bike, face full of wind and rain, just how much energy I’ve expended on this trip to see a big pile of rocks. The Causeway is much more than that, but it can feel that way sometimes! I paired that visit with a visit to the Bushmills Distillery, before returning back to Corrymeela in the afternoon. So, for a “day off,” I found myself doing just as much exercise as I would do on a normal cycling day. The evening included a very wet game of six-a-side football (soccer). I’m not sure which soaked us more, the rain falling from the sky, or the amount of times we went sprawling across the grass as we lost our footing. I wish I could have spent a little longer at Corrymeela - I parachuted in for a very short two night visit but was still welcomed very warmly. I was forced to backtrack a little down to Larne to take a ferry back across the Irish Sea to get to Scotland. I have another 130km to get up to Scotland, but I have one full day plus a morning before my parents arrive - I’ll likely take the longer route - give myself the chance to see a little more of Southern Scotland by bike before adjusting my travelling tendencies while tagging along on my parent’s holiday!