My New Bike ,St Ollies Head and the Trip to Drogheda

I got a New Bike last Week and got rid of the Hybrid Junk Bike. It is a Raleigh Pioneer LX and it is a Grand Bike ,a Mid Range Bike that is great for Touring on and going Long Distances.

So I used it for Four Days going into Town and also one Trip to Bull Island a Grand Total of 40 k or 24 Miles. The Weather is very good at the moment around 14 Celsius and Sunny,so I decided to go on a Long Trip and try the Bike out. I had a look at the Bike and discovered that they had put the Tyre on the front Wheel on back to front. There are Directional Arrows to tell you the way it should drive. It would not matter in the Dry so much I suppose but in the Wet it probably would because of the Grooves in the Tyre. I took the Wheel off and Reversed it on the Bike.


So I eventually headed off at 2.00 pm then stopped at Halfords The Chain Store Bike and Motoring Accessories Shop and went in to buy a Bottle Cage then I bought a Helmet. I would not usually use a Helmet at all but for long Trips it would be Handy in case I went into a Pothole and Fell off the Bike. I have an Old Helmet but it is to Daggy Looking and Gigantic looking on my already Big Head so I wanted something Neat and with a Peak.

I had a look at some but they were either to Dear or to Small,eventually with the Help of the Shop Assistant I got a Bell Helmet. I got outside and had a look at the inside,what I exclaimed outloud to myself an American Helmet made in Bleedin China could they not make them in America or better still in Europe like Ireland for example. That is downright Unpatriotic Running off to a Sweated Labour Country and doing the Dirt on your own Country, The rather Nasty side of Globalisation Is there nothing at all getting made in America or Europe.

This meant that I finally got away at 3.00pm, I stopped a few times enroute to take Pictures for a few minutes and finally got to Drogheda at 7.00pm . Because of bad Sign Posting I got held up for a half Hour. The New Motorway M1 runs Parallel to the Old National Primary Road the N1 and there are a few Interchanges and also Breaks in the M1 and I got caught out at Stamullan. I went up the Hill of the Interchange and saw the M1 Sign and also N1 but when I got to the bottom of the Hill I thought I was on the Motorway so I turned back to Stamullan. I asked two Men walking there Dog for Directions,and was told that it was not the M1 when Heading North but if Heading South on the other Carraigway it was the start of the M1 so off I went and Nervousely Entered the road but after a Hundred Metres it went from looking like a Motorway and Narrowed to the Ordinary N1.

About the Pictures , The New Raleigh LX, Saint Oliver Plunkett was the Archbishop of Armagh in which Drogheda is part of the Dioces and he went to Remonstrate with the English Parliament on behalf of the Catholic Religeon and was Executed by being Hanged Drawn and Quarted at Tyburn on July 1st 1681, An Attestation to state that John Ridley Charugeon and Elizabeth Sheldon took the Head and Hand Arm and Finger Bones from the Coffin of St Oliver Plunkett,the Writing is hard to understand on this Ancient Document, The Door of St Oliver Plunketts Cell in Newgate Gaol where he was Imprisoned for 8 Months before being Hanged Drawned and Quarted at Tyburn. This Door was Presented to St Peters Church in Drogheda by the Mayor of Wrexham in Wales William Clarke in 1951,The Head contained in a Glass Shrine and also the Casket containing the Bones, St Peters Church, St Oliver was Executed in 1st July 1681 as a Martyr for the Catholic Religeon at Tyburn which is shown in the Picture. St Laurances Gate one of the Medieval City Gates of Drogheda,The Boyne River where the Famous Battle took Place in 1690 between the Glorious Prins Willem Van Oranje(King Billy) and the Papish King James for the Thrown of England and the Protestant Faith about 5K or 3 Miles upriver from Here. I was to Tired to go off to see the Site and I did not want to waste any more time as I wanted to get back Home and I did not know how much Power was left in my Bike Light. I eventually left Drogheda at 7.15pm and I had to rest every so often on the way Home I took several Picture of Thatched Cottages on the Way.
In Balbriggan because of the Rough Tarmac on the Road in the Town the Camera hopped out of my Pannier and landed in the Road. I could not Flag the Traffic down as it was to Dangerous,not that there was much on a Sunday Evening at 8.30pm in a Country Town. The inevitable Happened it got Crushed so I retrieved the Camera and got the Memory Card out together with the Batteries which came in handy when my Bike Light Failed altogether in Lusk.

I eventually got Home at 11.30 then had my Dinner at 12.00pm Midnight .

I had Travelled a Total Distance of 77 K or 54 miles , I was Totally Shattered.

Click on the Pictures for an Enlarged View.