Waking up in our glamping pods the weather was bright and sunny, but the wind was to make an unwelcome return.

The plan for today was to ride up to the western tip of Connemara and stay in a coastal campsite. After a leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs we then saw to the bikes; fixing a puncture in one and then adjusting the chain slack on two others. After settling up for our night’s stay we headed off north, with the plan to reach the coast in Connemara after riding along some coastal roads in the shadow of the Iorras Beag / Errisbeg mountain.

None of us got much sleep in the battering wind and come 6am it was getting worse so we had a decision to make, and pretty quickly.

It had been a noisy and blustery night with heavy rain and high winds and a 6am check of the weather forecast showed that the highest winds hadn’t even hit us yet. So I quickly got packed up and loaded my bike before saying to the girls that I’m going to help them pack up although we needed to do that now. Because the winds were so high we carried stuff into the toilet and shower block for shelter from the elements and packed up in there, clearing the camping field quickly. Although not before two of the group’s tents had been damaged by the wind; suffering snapped poles!

Today we were riding the Ring of Kerry, up to the Dingle peninsula.

We woke after a pretty good night’s sleep and had breakfast in the camp kitchen before packing up and heading off to the Ring of Kerry. As the campsite was actually on the north of the Healy Pass (which we had to reroute past yesterday) we could pick up a little bit of the narrower part of the Healy Pass [1] heading towards Kenmare [2], before we made for Moll’s Gap [3] and then joining the Ring of Kerry at Sneem [4], the “knot in the Ring of Kerry”. Moll’s Gap takes you a little further north than the Ring of Kerry but takes you through a spectacular mountain pass before joining back onto the Ring again. I’d ridden some of these roads before and couldn’t wait for this section.

Our first proper day in Ireland was to be mostly travelling down to Kerry, through sunshine and rain.

We got packed up in County Wexford and headed off down to County Kerry, via Cork. Initially the plan was to ride along the coast via Skibbereen although the weather was windy and heavy showers were hitting us from time to time so it ended up being a lot slower progress than we expected. In fact at one point we needed to quickly take shelter in a filling station to avoid huge hailstones! So we headed for Bantry where we’d pick up the coastal route around the Ring of Beara and up over the Healy Pass. I’d ridden the Healy Pass before and it’s absolutely incredible so I was very excited to get to that section of the ride. Our campsite was just over the other side of the pass so it’d be only 30 minutes or so over the top when we got there.

In June 2026 4 of us took our bikes to Ireland to ride the southerly part of the Wild Atlantic Way

After planning this trip for a long while it was finally the day! Our ferry was booked from Fishguard to Rosslare for 14:00, arriving in Rosslare at 17:30. One of our group was riding a 125 so headed off the day before, spending Sunday evening nearby, but the rest of us headed off early doors in the morning. Meeting around 04:30 and getting on the road by 05:00, we headed off along the M4, bound for south Wales for the ferry. We had plenty of time to stop and check our luggage on the way which turned out to be a good plan as the weather closed in on us and started dumping cold rain as we drove through Bristol and into Wales.

Over my trip to Iceland I learned some lessons.

1) Solo Doesn’t Mean Alone — Even as a solo traveller I exchanged stories with other bikers, swapped supplies with fellow campers, and found camaraderie with ferry companions.

2) Tools Can Fail You at the Worst Moment — The Garmin wouldn’t route, drone was grounded by the wind, there was often no mobile signal. But had an InReach Mini 2.

3) Growth Comes From the Edges of Comfort — During the ride I faced harsh winds, cold, long days, unexpected detours, yet came home more skilled and confident — and already planning the next trip.