For our February public meeting, we are delighted to be exploring a very different topic – the cycling adventures of Ciaran Hussey and Laura McMorrow through Mongolia and other exotic places as recounted by themselves! Below is a taster they have sent us. We look forward to welcoming a big crowd to this meeting on Monday 8th February.

Two years vying for elbow space in a densely populated Japanese city resulted in daydreams of vast open spaces and rolling hills. Last summer after months of planning we packed our panniers, oiled our chains and headed for Mongolia to begin our journey home by bike. Over the course of the next four and a half months we cycled through 12 countries. We pedaled past camels in Mongolia, Ladas in Russia, stray dogs in Romania and all the while we wondered what we would find around the next bend.

Ciaran Hussey is from Galway and is a mixed media artist. He studied art and design at Limerick School of Art and Design and received a Masters of Fine Art at the University of Ulster, Belfast. He lived and worked in Japan for a number of years where he developed a love for cycle touring. He considers himself a leisurely cyclist rather than a competitive cyclist and enjoys most aspects of bike culture.

Laura McMorrow is a visual artist from Leitrim. She studied art in Limerick School of Art and Design and holds an MA from the University of Ulster in Belfast. She doesn’t have a background in cycling but loves the outdoors and has a good sense of direction!

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