Stage 5 - Athlone - Dublin - 26 August

It's the last day of racing and we're 80 kilometers or so from the start in Athlone, the geographic center of Ireland.

After another Irish breakfast of cereals, eggs, bacon, sausage, juice, fruit, breads and rolls, we jumped on our bikes and headed off. This was not the scenic ride we'd had back on Thursday when we detoured to the southern Irish coast. This was hard, straight and fast on the motorway directly to Athlone.

In spite of this direct route two things amused. At one point the N6 changed into a local section and there were two Garda with radar, just as we slowed to the legal 100 kph. Our speed was so precise that we saw the Garda laughing as we passed. Stephen told me he'd seen a motorist flash his headlights a few moments before we hit the radar trap.

The other was as we approached Athlone, I spied a sheep just standing in the middle of the right lane. I was very glad that we were driving on the left. The sheep was much better behaved than the deer I hit last November that totaled my Suzuki V-Strom 650 and broke both bones in my lower right leg.

The start area in Athlone was as scenic as it gets. Here we looked across the River Shannon at Moydrum Castle and St. Peter and Paul's Church.

And now the view is despoiled by Stephen, Pat, Dennis and your's truly.

Courtesy of Andy Jones (andyATjonesphoto1.freeserve.co.uk)

The Depart in Athlone.

The fans begin to arrive at the Start Line.

The River Shannon is beautiful whether you're looking up the river or down.

The Irish motor officials wear different garb than we do in the states. Here is Micky Robb with a Hi-Vis vest with "Commissaire" scribed on the back.

One last look at the excellent Garda motors.

Even the castles have turned commercial. The Tyrrellpass Castle offers Sirloin Steak or Chicken Kiev as moto official, Paul Watson, drives by with a different color Hi-Vis vest also with "Commissaire" lettered on the back.
This is interesting to US based motor officials as a discussion has recently been raised that we should change from the black and white jerseys we wear to something more recognizable to Europeans racing in the US. Clearly, there is no single uniform in Ireland yet the riders know who's in charge. I guess I like our stripes!

With all my pix I have very few of the moto marshals. They were always at security locations while we were heading further up the road looking for a scenic location. I took this one as this marshal passed us on the way catch to the field.

Here the break heads to the Sprint line in Kinnegad.

A little further up the road we stopped in Lucan and waited for the race to catch us. I was bit surprised to see how much more commercial the route was becoming as we approached Dublin.

We'll it's over and an exciting finish it was. We led the three leaders, David O'Loughlin (Navigators), Marco Marcato (L.P.R.) and Thomas Berkhout (Rabobank) into the closing circuit and then exited the circuit at the deviation. By the time I parked the bike, let Stephen off, and got impressed into service keeping the deviation lane open, the race was over and I missed it. Just like at home when all too often we find who won when we get online that night.
At least here I was able to see the Champions of the 2007 Tour of Ireland on the podium.

Later I followed Kevin to Paul Hicks' garage near where I'd picked up the BMW. Paul was going to get them back to BMW on Monday. After warm farewells to everyone, I got on the back of Kevin's bike and we headed to the hotel at the airport . We rode along the Dublin Harbor. The tide was out.

My last pic was of Pat Shaughancy as we waited at a red light.
After we got to the hotel, there were money issues to be settled with the race finance officer and more farewells and remembrances of the week.

David, Darach, Hunter, Nikki, Heath, Kristin and Ash showed up and we were back together for the 1st time since Tuesday. With our different jobs we were based in different hotels and had different schedules. After dinner, we headed to O'Donoghue's for some Sunday night traditional Irish music but luck was not with us. No music this night. So up the street to Nesbitt's with it's picture of Premier Gorbachev enjoying a Guinness at the bar. And it was locked though, thankfully, a small crowd of McQuaids were inside and let us in for a last Jameson's. Then off to The Siene Cafe where the week was catching up with me. I met more McQuaids. It was almost as much fun as meeting all the Balabans. I had met the family matriarch on Wednesday night in Cork. After introducing myself to Mrs. McQuaid I noted that "my mother had more children than she." She looked surprised and asked how many. "Thirteen." The McQuaids are ten. We both laughed as only people from big families can.

My night was over. David and I headed back to the hotel. In the morning we had breakfast and said good-bye. I was on a 10:30 to JFK and he was leaving on Thursday after he and his partners debriefed the race.

I'm sure there are things to be improved but they have much to be proud of. The first Tour of Ireland had been a complete success.