I’m still adjusting to suddenly having such short cycling days! I started my day slowly, and that was intentional, knowing the ride from Killarney to Tralee was short an easy.
A short, easy day
To the west lies the Dingle peninsula, with its mountains. While I had no mountains ro cross, it still wasn’t a flat ride. Unbeknownst to me, I cycled up the route of a hill-climbing car race held in 1903. Even those ancient cars were much faster up there than I was!
Rip-offs
Tomorrow will be another short day, though not quite as short as today. Tralee has 2 camp sites, and I was initially tempted to stay in one, but they’d charge me €37 to pitch my tiny tent, and that’s exorbitant! Instead, using Google Maps, I identified some woodland nearby, and will go wild camp there instead.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mind paying my own way, but for a site to charge me exactly the same price as they charge 2 adults in a large tent is simply daylight robbery. This issue isn’t unique to Tralee, nor unique to Ireland.
Instead, it points to an industry that still doesn’t understand the benefits they can reap by catering to cycle tourers. I don’t for a moment think it’s because of any ill intent, but instead results from ignorance.
Remember, the camp site won’t know that I decided against using them, and so receives no wake-up call in any way, shape or form. They’ll simply continue to overlook a potentially big income stream, purely because they’re blissfully unaware of cycle tourers.
If you run a camp site, consider having a special pricing tier for cycle tourers? Also, cycle tourers will want to charge their gadgets so consider getting some lockers with plug sockets inside. That way, people can safely leave their gadgets charging overnight. As I expect others would be willing to, I’d happily pay an extra fee for that.
No empty shops
Something else I noticed is that towns and cities in Ireland have very few empty shops. That’s a massive contrast with the UK, where high streets now are full of empty shops and charity shops. I don’t think I’ve seen a single charity shop in Ireland. Everywhere you look, there are clear signs of how well the Irish economy is doing.
Competition!
To be in with a chance of winning John Devoy’s fantastic book, Quondam, you need to answer all the questions that I post on a daily basis.
Here’s today’s question: English rugby fans sing ‘Swing Low, sweet Chariot.’ In Ireland, Provincial teams and the national team sing ‘The Fields of Athenry’. What is the historical significance behind Pete St. John’s famous song?