Celebrating 27th Birthday in the UK
Hey all, my birthday is coming up in February and seeing as how I’ve yet to venture across the pond I figured 27 is the perfect age to celebrate in the UK.
I’ll be arriving at London Heathrow Intl. on the morning of Tuesday, February 16. I’ll be in town, as it were, until the following Monday afternoon, February 22.
There will of course be a Hak5 meetup (or several) as I journey across the UK and possibly Ireland or parts of Europe. So far the plan is wide open. Your input (or generosity) will greatly influence the adventure.
I’ll be arriving in London on Tuesday morning. I’ve rented a motorcycle for the week so I’ll take the tube across town and pick it up. From there I’ve got wheels and can go pretty much anywhere. You guys drive on the left, right? I mean, correct?
I’m open to the idea of crossing the channel and heading up through France, Belgium and into Germany. I’ve always wanted to see Germany, especially since I speak the language (badly), but I’m afraid the western side of Germany is as far as I could get before having to turn back. My max riding distance per day is about 650 kilometers. Decrease that greatly when throwing in foreignness.
Alternatively I could make a big clockwise circle across to Dublin (Rkiver has offered a couch, thanks for the kindness), up to Belfast, and over to Sheffield (Robin Wood aka Digininja has offered to put me up there which is a blessing) and back down to London for my return flight.
I’ll of course be recording an episode of Hak5 along the way!
Anyone else wanna lend a couch? I’m offering to do chores around the house, defrag your hard drive, steal your neighbors wireless. 
I’d like to see the UK / Ireland / parts of Europe via motorbike and newfound friends. I’m not that interested in Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Big Ben, etc. Just show me the local pub, the match and the menu.
January 24th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
If you find yourself on or around carnaby street in london go find a dim sum place called ‘ping pong’. Its ABSURDLY tasty food.
Also, Keep your camera handy – theres TONS of awesome stuff to photograph
January 24th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Come to Lincoln, nothing exciting ever happens here! We do however have a spectacular Cathedral and a (less spectacular) Castle for you to be disinterested in.
January 24th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Dude! Sounds like an awesome plan! Definitely bring your camera. You should do a show next to the London Eye! And yes, it is the left
January 24th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
WIN
January 24th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Darren,
Top UK destinations on a bike (in no particular order):
The Lake District
Cornwall
South Wales
The Pennines
Scottish Highlands
Expect wet weather!
January 24th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Darren,
Top UK destinations on a bike (in no particular order):
The Lake District
Cornwall
South Wales
The Pennines
Scottish Highlands
Expect wet weather!
January 24th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Doh, double clicking over excitement. Sorry!
January 24th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
I’d be up for a London meetup. I’m looking for an excuse to head into London
January 24th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
hey darren,
i live in Co.Louth in ireland i sent you an email with a little tool to help you while your in ireland to get free wireless access on the go i hope to not be working and i will deffenatly meet up in dublin no problems
there is a deadley pub in dublin off o’connells street it is called fibbeer Mc gee’s it is a rock and roll pub with a nightclub attached and it’s always good for a gig and a drink
not to mention the 3 beer gardens pool table and not to mention it is the middle of dublin so a wireless connection to give you sum packets is always in distance
give me an email and let me know what you think of the wpa decrypter
Soul.
January 24th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
It would really be great if you could make it to Germany. Especially if you would come to Frankfurt.
January 24th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Man the time to be in Northern Ireland is May if you are a biker.
Northwest 200, think it is Europe’s biggest road race for bikes, from 125s up to 600’s etc, mad road race, 200+ MPH on backroads!!!
Atmosphere is amazing and its free to attend
Any meetups etc happening in NI im there
January 24th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Well there are a few nice places in Dublin, fibbers would not be the best, honestly it’s a dive, good music though. I can think of a few nicer ones off hand that have a good vibe, good food. Cassidys on Westmoreland St would be one I’d choose.
Places to see, the Jameson Distillery alright, including the sky bar, Guinness Brewery, Malahide Castle just to name a few.
January 24th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Sounds like fun.
Wish i could of done that for my 27th birthday i had back in November.
Enjoy, look forward to Tweets and Pictures of your trip.
January 24th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
The lake district is great for bikes, and for a pint come to Manchester! I’m a bit of a fan of Hak5 so if you want set up a meetup in the north west you’re welcome to use my companies office
We may even have the odd Win95 machine…..
January 24th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Wow that sounds awesome. What kind of bike did you rent?
January 24th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Sounds awesome!
Well I have space on the sofa that you are more than welcome to. I am about 100 miles north of london in a town called Grantham. I will put a link to google maps at the bottom.
I manage a film studio which you can have full use of, with a couple of Sony EX1’s, and we do have Premiere / Final Cut to edit on.
My main time is spend on running a managed service IT company, looking after small networks where they don’t have IT in-house, so we enable them to use enterprise technologies that they otherwise would never be in their grasp.
Just in the middle of some infrastructure upgrades, but by the end of this month (my birthday) and when you are here I am wanting to do some fun things, this sounds like a plan to dust the bike off early this year
)
I see Win 95 mentioned above, I am just de-commisoning a 80 user NT4 network !!!!
We do have some good pub food, and I am partial to chucking some balls at the local bowling alley.
Cheers
Ant
January 25th, 2010 at 12:45 am
Sounds like a good way to spend your birthday! I doubt very much Munich’s within your driving range (southern Germany), but it’d still be cool if you could get here! With enough warning, I may be able to make it to the right city for a Hak5 meetup. (More possible than Canada, at least).
Well, if you’re not against early well-wishes, happy birthday in advance. If you’re one of those against early well-wishes, just ignore the above
Have you been to Europe before?
Enjoy your trip, and I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any more info,
Lucas
January 25th, 2010 at 9:29 am
I would definitely agree with recommendations for the Lake District – it’s a great place to walk & photograph.
January 25th, 2010 at 10:30 am
A meetup in Germany would be pretty sweet.
And if you need a place to stay in the Mannheim/Heidelberg area just tell me!
January 25th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Definitely up for a London meet-up!
January 26th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
First of all Happy Birthday! I’m envious of the road trip – sounds brilliant.
Anyway my 2 cents on the Ireland part of your trip….I definitely agree with Rkiver, skip Fibbers. You can’t go wrong in and around Temple Bar at night. Try upstairs in Oliver St. Gogarty’s if you want to hear a bit of Irish music. O’Neill’s on Suffolk Street for a quiet afternoon pint.
As for sights to see on the road. The Dublin and Wicklow Mountains (just south of Dublin) should make for some great driving and great views if you have a clear day. If heading north to Belfast go inland a bit to Newgrange first, and when up north I highly recommend going up to Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Distillery.
Unfortunately I no longer have a couch to offer in Dublin as I’ve been stateside too long, but if you need more suggestions on Ireland let me know.
Dave
January 29th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Darren,
Happy Birthday for then, If you get over to Ireland then definately venture up north to Belfast, There are some amazing bike routes up here. The best and easiest got to is the Antrim coastal route from Larne to Portrush. The GiantsCauseway is a place to visit. Its one of a few world heritage must see’s. An the road is awesome for the bike. I was hoping to meet up with you whilst here. However i’m actually in London from the 18th to the 21st. Bummer. There are a few guys here though that would love to meet up. I’ll drop them an email an link to the site. Enjoy,
Sarky
February 19th, 2010 at 8:15 am
Hey Darren,
You’re definitely in Dublin City tonight? Will have to drop by so!
S.