'You've had some pretty crazy ideas in your life, Newby, but this is the craziest.' Grandmother Wanda Newby was exasperated after continuous rain, snow, and gales that knocked from her bike. Twice. To avoid other tourists, Eric Newby had decided that the depths of winter would be the very best time to explore Ireland by mountain bike. More astonishing still, he managed to persuade Wanda, his long-suffering wife and life-long co-traveller, to accompany him - mainly, she admitted, to 'keep him out of trouble'. Lashed by winter storms, fuelled by Guinness and warmed by thermal underwear, their panniers laden with antique books on Ireland, the elderly adventurers cycle the highways and byways, encountering hospitable locals, swaying saints and ferocious dogs. From the shores of Donegal to the holy mountains, Newby guides the reader on a tale of mishap and magic, all in his own peculiar style of humour and charm, relishing his never-ending curiosity of the world and his insatiable quest for adventure.

Having decided to explore Ireland by bicycle, Eric and Wanda Newby set out one December - not the best time to ride a bike around the highways and by-ways of the Emerald Isle, even when protected by thermal underwear. From the Cliffs of Moher to St Brigid's Vat, Dublin, the Aran Islands, the Ring of Kerry and Croagh Patrick, their rain-soaked journey is beset by minor disasters ranging from ferocious storms to even more ferocious dogs. Along the way they come across a moving, miracle-working statue of the Virgin, spectacular ruins and the traces of twentieth-century violence, in between stops for Guiness, tea and soda bread. Woven into the narrative is a wealth of information around Irish history and custom - hermits, horse-fairs, peat-cutting and poetry are all touched on in this deft and dazzling blend of myth, fact and quirky details. And, as usual with Eric Newby, this beguiling account is enlivened by a cast of eccentric and utterly engaging characters.

In December 1985, veteran traveler and travel writer Eric Newby and his wife, Wanda, set off on a bicycling journey around Ireland. "We were going there, in short, to enjoy ourselves, an unfashionable aspiration in the 1980s," Newby writes with characteristic wit. It was the beginning of winter, "the dead season, as far as weather went," but the journey, with all of its encounters, is filled with a crackling and warm life.

After looking for bicycles and getting informed about modern, computer-designed models, they hop the train for Limerick. Newby's clever, vivid narrative--punctuated by sips of Guinness and tea, torrential winter rains, snarling dogs, a feast of bed and breakfasts, stunning ruins, and unusual characters--traces the dynamics of a relationship on the road. The bicycle provides a cadence well suited to the winding roads running through Ireland's verdant country and its rugged coast--and to Newby's talents. He seems to absorb most everything into the narrative. Using pedal power, he takes in the landscape and its people, along with Ireland's past and present, weaving in headwinds, pub stops, myths, political realities, and conversations to produce a complex picture of Ireland.

Originally published in 1987, Newby's Round Ireland in Low Gear has been reprinted with new maps by Lonely Planet Publications. This is not a manic tale of some bicycling marathon, but rather a journey--and a book--paced for enjoyment. --Byron Ricks

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