Day 15:‘...Shane. Are you there?’

Today has been an extraordinary day in many ways. I have ridden the last of my Irish tour in brilliant sunshine; I have met some lovely people and finally looked across the Irish Sea toward home. A long day, but such a great day.
Ireland has a wonderful road system (once you’re out of the city, but I’ll come to that). If you want to get somewhere, you look for the biggest town/city in the vicinity and that's where you head for. Once you get there, branch roads then take you to the locality you want. Don’t believe me, try it. I rode away from Meadowview this morning and made straight for the main link road (M50), which is the ring-road around Dublin, and 2 junctions later I as on the N7 (A-road) heading for Waterford. Now I thought that somewhere 100mls (+) away, would be slightly more than a little confusing to reach, but you hit the N7 and there it is directions all the way through... Brilliant. Literally, I drop on to the N7 and the first road-sign said Waterford.
Waterford Harley Davidson, is almost as close to a family business as you will get in Britain, or possibly Europe, in that if you are not family, you are part of the wider family. Everyone knows you and if they don’t, then they want to. I arrived had coffee (which cheered me no end), and met Lenny. Lenny is a large gentleman, in life and personality and smiles the whole time. He is endearing and just puts you at ease as soon as you meet him. He asked about the trip and the charity. He looked at my pins, he looked at the dealership card, stamped it, reached into his pocket and gave me €20, ‘Put that in your kitty.’ He said. I thanked him and with the dealership pin, he reached into the drawer and offered me the Celtic Chapter pin. Now it doesn’t sound much, but no other dealer/chapter has done that... it was a small unspoken symbol of respect, to which he added, ‘it’s a good thing you’re doing. I only wish I had the time to make that kind of road-trip.’ We sat with our bikes; we drank coffee and chatted for a while, other staff and friends joining in as the time past. I have been a little apprehensive about the bike as I’ve met a few people on my travels, but Lenny had nothing but compliments for the bike. It made me feel good and secretly a little proud of the choice I made. It may mean nothing to anyone else, but to have someone like Lenny give his approval means a great deal to me (and it may mean nothing – ask me about it), but around his neck hung a 1% emblem.
I have loved visiting every dealership (some more than others), but Lenny’s is one that I will enjoy returning to with some anticipation. The guys were busily readying themselves for a bash tomorrow evening and then off to the Celtic Thunder rally next week. All were a little disappointed that I couldn’t join them for either or both. Guinness, bikes and lots of loud music, a great combination, but I think it best I politely declined... could you imagine the mess :0)
I gave them my thanks and said my good-byes. I will return.

I have noticed a lot of things in Ireland that I have not seen anywhere else. But a couple of things need repeating. First, it is customary to nod, or wave at other motor-cyclists as you travel as a sign of acknowledgement. We are a strange breed after all. Yet here in Ireland (both north and south) that isn’t the case. Rarely did anyone return the acknowledgement as I rode. The obvious exceptions were other Harley riders and foreigners, who (like me) know no better. However, that leads me quite nicely to the second point, which is, that the one acknowledgement I did get, was the one least expected. As I rode toward Rosslare along the N25, I passed a long caravan of campers, cars and tourers (yes, they were). Not strange you say, but what I was surprised at was the acknowledgement. The older men in the group stood (with fag in mouth) and gave me the thumbs up, the younger men clapped and the women and young children just stood and watched... I don’t know why, maybe it was because I was a solo rider with luggage surrounding my bike (the epitome of the easy rider) but I obviously touched a chord, as it did with me. I nodded and gave a small salute.
My final memory, which will stay ‘til the day I die came as I sat in the lounge area drinking my last Guinness. I was able to realise every stereo-type I’d even noted, as a young Irish fellow stands shouting into his mobile phone.
‘Hello... hello, Shane. Are you there?’ Obviously I thought. You phoned and he answered. ‘Yes, yes, it’s me. Look I’ve been talking to (friends name – didn’t catch it). Yes, yes. He says he can’t email you back because you didn’t put the email address on the one you sent him.’ At that my ears pricked... ‘No, no, no... he says if you can email him again with your email address then he’ll be able to send you his. O.K? Yes, yes he will...’ I almost choked on my ‘Genius’. I said nothing, just smiled and drank. Fabulous stuff this Guinness.
I go back to the mainland tomorrow with such great memories, from such a short visit. I have really enjoyed my ride through Ireland and look forward spending a little more time here in the years to come.