Sunday 10 March 2013

Sally Gap drive in(g) rain






Gone fishin'.   Well, the motoring equivalent anyway. 

It's been pretty quiet here on the blog between one thing and another.  One being Gombeen Nation's attempt to go all multimedia, the other being that we live in a mad country and maybe the easiest thing is to just accept it?  Course of least resistance and all that?   Or should that be "curse"?

One good thing I have always said about Dublin - perhaps the only thing - is that it is easy to get the hell out of the place.  Aeons and aeons ago, I discovered that on my old Vespa PX scooter.  Back in the 80s you might see maybe two or three cars all the way from the Pine Forest to Laragh.  It's busier now, especially at the weekends, but during the week - especially outside summer - it is still pretty quiet.  Much of the time you will have the road to yourself.

Back in the 80s, there was one bizarre occurrence when I saw a posse of Garda motorcyclists emerging out of the wilderness towards me.  Motor insurance was incredibly expensive then, of course, and I'm not sure if mine was, erm, up-to-date at the time.  (Let me point out that all  this was 30 years ago, officer).    

To put insurance costs for two-wheelers in 80s Ireland in perspective, consider the following.  My scooter cost me about £700 (Punts).  A year's insurance (third-party only) cost £503.  I was on about £80 a week... before tax.  A lot of young people took their chances.

Anyway, I got a bit of a fright to be honest, but thankfully they were more interested in trying to look like "CHiPS"  to be bothered with a passing young mod on a scooter who was also trying to learn his trade.  

Just a couple of short years after that, I headed off to London, got a job, and bought a brand-new Kawasaki GT 750.   The insurance was £193 for third party fire-and-theft.  And I was suddenly on £10,000.  One thing I did miss, however, was being able to get away from it all - you nearly had to take the motorbike up to Scotland for that.

So, as I've said before, the Military Road is a great place for getting away from it even today.  Its a good place to drive/motorcycle/cycle too,  as you can see what is coming for miles on the undulating roads that wind like asphalt ribbons through the brooding hills.  Poetic, eh?  Or bullshitty - there's a subtle difference.

Getting  away to the Wicklow hills is a great way of  blowing the soot of the city from your soul.   The only downside is the bumps, which seem to be more in number every visit.  The road was, of course, constructed by the British military under the guidance of Charles Cornwallis between 1800-1809, atop blanket bog, so I suppose it is not the best environment for longevity.

According to Michael Fewer's "The Wicklow Military Road", the road was constructed by first excavating, then  "laying down a bed of timber logs, on top of which layers of stones were compacted, and the surface finished in gravel".   Fewer cites a local sheep farmer who saw the road opened up some years ago to a depth of 4 metres, and observed that its base was filled with tightly packed bundles of rushes.  It seemed to work though.

You would think that if Cornwallis and Co. managed such a feat of engineering in the early 19th century, it wouldn't be beyond Wicklow County Council to fill in a few potholes.   But...

Progess, eh?


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11 comments:

DC3 said...

Ouhhh yeeeaaah!!!! Never mind the rain GM, should have given it a bit of Sunshine of your Love!

The Gombeen Man said...

Thanks DC3... Hope to get up there and do a proper video when it's a bit more pleasant! Haven't forgotten about the broadcast tax, by the way!!

Ella said...

Hi GM, is that a noisy engine or a noisy exhaust you got drowning out sounds?

The Gombeen Man said...

Too long-in-the-tooth for noisy exhausts, Ella!

DC3 said...

Ella, I'd say a Symphonic Engine.

The Gombeen Man said...

Think I'll call it "Symphony for Six Cylinders"!

Nenad said...

I used to have a Yamaha XT500 and a XS750 three cylinder. The XT500 was a blast! The insurance was a laugh. I miss those bikes dearly but I wouldn't dare to ride a motorbike here in Ireland ...

The Gombeen Man said...

I'd be scared s******s to get on a motorbike after so long Nenad. I've been santitised by four wheels for so long and wouldn't trust myself with a higher power-to-weight ratio than most cars (even fast ones), no esp, and only two tiny contact patches of rubber with wet, bokety Irish roads - and the drivers in armoured boxes.

Rode an XT350 on hols in Greece many moons ago. That was rapid enough - and great for taking off to the hills. Can only imagine the 500 version was more so.

Ponyboy said...

i'm with you GM....those days of ton-upmanship are thankfully a long way back in the wake of time. But while we are down Nostalgia Alley - any of you leathery lads/lassies remember what bike carried this advertising blurb - "It's liquid acceleration and effortless capacity to cruise at speeds of up to 115 mph, classify it as a motorcycle limousine"
PB

The Gombeen Man said...

Can't say I can help you there, Ponyboy. But I know I would have wanted one!

BMWboy said...

Not this one GM. this one was the motorcycle equivalent of the Edsel. Yes the Norton Commando Interstate 850, even its 6 gallon tank couldn't save it from the ignominy of being another failed British bike desperately resorting to BOB (bolt on bullshit) in an attempt to secure market share in the face of the Honda 750 four. I should have forked out the extra fifty quid and bought the BM R65, at least I could have got more than 2 years out of it as opposed to the Commando which rusted itself apart. Ah shure you live and learn. PB