exaggerated by the passion he had for his subject . This is another aspect of visiting somewhere on a bike I enjoy , people have a tendency to talk to you .
We stayed later in Tara than we should have , but there was no immediate rush , we were meandering rather than dashing to a specific destination . I remembered a section of road from a previous trip , it had glorious twists and turns ( I think towards Mullingar ) and sure enough it didn ' t disappoint . The sun was high , and the heat was , at times , stifling although riding with my visor up provided enough of a breeze to regulate my temperature .
The roads towards our next destination , Carrowkeel were not busy , the purple and red hues of the sky from the previous evening replaced by an orange and auburn ‘ hot ’ glow . The road soon turned to a narrow laneway with broken tarmac , winding its way up a steep gradient , this laneway became even narrower , more grass than road .
The slopes rose almost vertically on each side , enclosing us , but also having the effect of making me realise just how small I was compared to the landscape around me ; it dwarfed me and this is , perhaps , one of the reasons locations such as these are chosen in the first place by our ancestors .
We passed a small collection of people and a few tents , all here for the summer solstice . The track soon became a stony , gravel lane , thankfully dried from the weeks ’ worth of good sunshine . We all took it slowly , the sharp rocks a genuine danger to the tyres , but despite our tentative riding it was exceptionally enjoyable , adding a different , more technical element to the trip . We rose up blind crests and false peaks to the heather covered final ascent towards the cairns that make up the Carrowkeel complex . The views were what I can only describe as overwhelming ; the distance of the horizon in all directions almost inconceivable and , on this summer solstice day , there was a genuine majestic feeling to the place .