Out in the West of the country is arguably one of the best places to ride a motorcycle here in Ireland. The droves of foreign riders who descend on the Wild Atlantic Way are testament to the fact that the roads, the people, and the scenery are all second to none. Indeed, we’re heading over there later in the season with Celtic Horizon Tours.
It can, however, be a little bit inclement during the winter. So the bikes on these roads are sometimes a bit unexpected. Particularly when it comes to the local and visiting car traffic. In an effort to raise awareness of our two wheeled presence a group of riders who live in the parish have come up with a novel, yet simple, idea to raise awareness of our existence with other road users.
Ultan Queally is a member of a group of riders who call themselves the North Clare Bikers. They have long since set themselves up with a social media page to arrange meet ups and ride outs. The core group of ten riders now have over 500 motorcyclists on their page. Being very aware of how many of us pass through their motorcycling nirvana and the amount of motorcycle accidents that have happened this year, the crew have come up with a novel approach to making their corner of the world just that little bit safer.
The girls and boys of North Clare Bikers managed to cobble together a budget of €600. They have invested this money in safety signs. These are simple yellow diamonds that read “Watch For Motorcycles”. We can only commend Ultan and the rest of the North Clare Bikers for their ingenuity. And we wish them the safest most enjoyable of motorcycling seasons.
We can heartily recommend the new BikeSafe initiative if you’d like to sharpen up your act when it comes to avoiding becoming part of someone else’s bad day!