An Post Ras day 1 and 2
No racing so far cause day 1 and 2, Friday and Saturday were travel days. I drove from Destelbergen at 6.15am to Leupegem. From the B&B of Christ and Hilde it was about two hours drive to Calais. Once on the boat we could enjoy a nice cup of coffee (not bad the coffee brand on the vessel). A long drive (approx 600 km) across the UK, passing London, Birmingham and Wrexham. Staying at the Travellodge in Holyhead could be a mistake after what Ago and Sarah told me about this village. And they had right, the woman (read: b…..) was not in the mood to be helpful. Explaining us ten times that you cannot book a family room for three persons unless you ask for a twin room if only two people want to sleep in that room. Or something like that. Lachie got a bit nervous and raised his voice a bit. Finally she sorted it out and we got three keys. At the beach of Holyhead Sarah knew a nice restaurant. For lunch I had fish and chips in one of the motorway resto’s in England. I thought mmm not bad. Bud that was nothing special compared with the dinner we had in the restaurant at the beach. A nice piece of hake with scampi’s and wonderful al dente cooked veggie’s. Combined with a nice white wine this was perfect. A shame Lachie didn’t get his dessert.
The next morning, Saturday woke up early for a five minutes drive to the docks. Getting on board took only ten minutes. Missing the breaky (on purpose) in the hotel, we we’re happy to order eggs and bacon on the boat. Looking forward to a almost three hours of sailing across the Irish Sea, we got some comfy seats with view on the water.
Just before entering the port of Dublin we hit our first rain cloud. And a strong wind too. A nice surprise was waiting for us when we arrived at our hotel in Dunboyne. Dunboyne Castle Hotel is set in a splendid location, surrounded by countryside, about 18km from Dublin.
As we arrived, we had some nice rolls, thanks to Rhys who went shopping in the morning, thanks for that mate.
After the short lunch break the boys went for a ride, Lachie, Stu, Rhys, Floris, Adam and Ago. They left the park just when it started drizzling. In the mean time I could meet Mister Dawson and Miss Brona. Tomorrow we have our first stage and we are looking forward to it. Our riders are keen. The staff Is ready, so……thumbs up and good luck to the boys.
The team: Lachlan Norris, Rhys Pollock, Stuart Shaw, Adam Semple and Floris Goesinnen.
The staff: Agostino Giramondo, Jonathan Breekveldt, Sarah Blake and meself.
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