Day 1 - 3.5

Fáilte! Welcome!

Believe when I say that I wish I had a chance to update this blog earlier because SO much has happened since I left East TN for Philly, NYC, and ultimately, Dublin.

Briefly, I had an amazing time in NYC reconnecting with my former Dublin roommates from when I studied abroad in 2002. It was a very timely and poignant visit. The pictures, which I will eventually post once I have access to my laptop, will reveal just how mature and responsible we three have become. The only downside was when Emmy's car got towed. I mean, honestly, who would tow an out-of-state car from 34th and 3rd in downtown Manhattan? Oh right, the Dept of Transportatin in NYC would. Good thing they put clearly marked parking signs ALL OVER the freakin' city. Because convoluted and incomprehensible parking signs are really just cleverly desgined traps to lure in thousands of dollars a day on parking fines and towing fees for the city. Eviiiiiiiiiil.

The Flight
Are you ready for this? I flew US Airways and:\
1. It was on time. (I know. I'm not joking here.)
2. My luggage plus bike arrived safely and unharmed. (Jaw falls on floor).
3. I had an entire row to myself for the flight overseas. (Faints in disbelief).

Some people have good flights. Some people have crappy flights. Some people fly all the way from Denver to compete in the Cycle Messenger World Championship (CMWC) in Dublin only to arrive without luggage and missing a $3000 bicycle that was checked in a brand-spankin'-new hardcase bike box. Ouch (So sorry Juice!). Almost defeats the purpose of buying nice luggage when it gets shipped to Siberia in the end. I count myself lucky.

I arrived at 5am in Dublin, bleary-eyed, dehydrated, and hungry, but joyous and excited. Unfortunately, the excitement and lack of food left me with a weird knot in my stomach. Then I remembered how I left my peptobismol chewable tablets somewhere enroute to Philly. Then I cursed myself for adding ANOTHER item to the Lost & Found list. As of now, it's more like the Lost & Lost list.

Day 1
We drove about an hour to Lochlainn's pub and guesthouse The Riverbank, opened Fall 2006. It is setin the countryside of Carickmacross, north of Dublin, almost to the N. Ireland border. A quick 3 cheers for no more British forces in N. Ireland as of August 1st! The air does indeed smell like Irish Spring Fresh, however there is a bit of Irish Cow Fresh mixed in. Being the only guest at The Riverbank for the moment, I was greeted with fresh fruit and organic yogurt (woohoo organic!), toast with the creamist Irish butter I have ever tasted, and of course, Irish tea. I need to emphasize the texture and taste of Irish butter. It is not at all like the similarly labeled |real" Irish butter found in US grocery stores. This stuff came straight from the cow to the plate. As you can tell, I am very excited about butter, possibly the 7th food group in Ireland. (Tea being the 6th.)

After breakfast, I put my bike back together in the first day of sunshine Ireland has seen in 56 days. Then, I thought I should lie down for a bit since I didn't sleep at all on the plane. I woke up six hours later. Luckily, it stays light out until 10:30pm so it was if I had slept a whole night and then enjoyed an entire day of sunlight before going back to bed that night. The highlight of the day was when Lochlainn's older sister, Aisling, asked me if I liked peanut butter. I was about to respond with Yes, of course I like peanut butter before I remembered that PB is a novelty item in Ireland. Nobody eats PB. Americans are weird for eating jammed, mashed, and often-times processed peanuts. That is why Europeans invented Nutella because in the race of condiments, chocolate always beats peanuts. Then Aisling asked me what I eat PB with and I proceeded to present her with a meandering list of food that pairs well with PB. She just kinda nodded at me and turned away. I blame the jet lag.

Day 2
I did nothing. Played with the dog. Made moo-ing noises at the cows. Emailed people. Ate potatoes. Drank more tea with cream.

Day 3
After two nights enjoying the countryside in county Ulster, I loaded my bike on a charter bus and headed to Dublin on Thursday to take part in the CMWC festivities. Today is the first official day of the competition, qualifying races take place tomorrow (Saturday), finals on Sunday, varying mini competitions on Monday, awards on Tuesday. To brief you those unfamiliar with CMWC, bike messengers from most major cities in the US, Canada, and Europe (Dublin, London, Glasgow, Berlin, Zurich, Copenhagen, etc) compete in road and track races. The rules are simple: The fastest messenger wins and receives gloating rites for one full year. There are both male and female categories. No, I am not racing. Why? Because I prefer to gain some experience racing before I compete against the best of the best. Then again, it would be cool to say I raced again the best of the best...OK that is my Ego talking.

Day 3.5
In about 15 min, I'm going to head to Eamon Doran's in Temple Bar, the same location where I am writing to you all from an internet cafe, to help messengers register for the competition. Afterwards, there will be a group ride (est. 100 participants) to the Welcome Party. I have a feeling this involves my close associate Mr. Guinness. Anyway, unlike my friend Rich who is currently living in China, I do not have police staring over my shoulder. It might be because he is the self-proclaimed talled black man in China, then again, I could be wrong.

OK, Internet Explorer just experienced an error and had to close all programs. I almost lost my blog. I take this as my queue to sign off to you all...

Until next time. Ride safe. Wear a helmet. Drink a guinness, but make sure it is poured correctly for Christ's sake!

Irish phrase for the day: Baile átha Cliath (bal-lee a-ha clee-at) means Dublin. It is written on all the license plates.