Dingle Peninsula

Off on holiday to the very tip of the Dingle Peninsula in summer. Anyone
with experience of, or pointers to information on cycling round and
about the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry, Eire? I'm thinking of between 30
and 100 mile circular day rides. I tried Googling and newsgroup
archives, ended up with some info but an awful lot of pointers to
commercial cycle tour organisatins which don't really fit with my
independent plans.

Thanks

Alex

"Alex.Clarke" writes:

Off on holiday to the very tip of the Dingle Peninsula in summer.
Anyone with experience of, or pointers to information on cycling
round and about the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry, Eire? I'm thinking
of between 30 and 100 mile circular day rides.

Dingle is a long narrow peninsula, so unless you want to really
explore every by-way, there are not a lot of different long rides.
Dingle town is at a geographic pinch point, in that the only
east-west route goes through it. There is a lovely circular route
west of the town, very loosely of the order of 30 miles, to Ventry,
Coomeenole, Slea Head, views of the Blaskets, Dunquin,
Ballyferriter, Galorus oratory and so on. There are several
possible variations which would make it worth more than one trip,
though if you are really focused on the riding rather than
exploring/sightseeing a lot of the route would have to be the same.
In the opposite direction there is a potential loop, through the
spectacular Conor Pass (just behind the town, spectacular only if
not misty/raining in which case all you see is wet rock) and back
through Annascaul (v roughly 30 miles). A longer version of that
trip would take you along the north of the peninsula to Tralee, and
back through Castlemaine and the south of the peninsula.

East of Dingle town the main roads can have quite a bit of traffic
-- holiday makers and HGVs on roads not quite up to it -- so it's
worth planning routes on the lanes where they exist.

Final tip: get an OS map -- there's a 1:50,000 one that covers the
entire peninsula. If you get good weather it'll be wonderful, but
carry raingear!

Brendan
PS It hasn't been Eire since 1948 (at least in English).

--
Brendan Halpin, Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Ireland
Tel: w +353-61-213147 f +353-61-202569 h +353-61-338562; Room F2-025 x 3147
http://www.ul.ie/sociology/brendan.halpin.html

Alex.Clarke wrote:
Off on holiday to the very tip of the Dingle Peninsula in summer. Anyone
with experience of, or pointers to information on cycling round and
about the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry, Eire? I'm thinking of between 30
and 100 mile circular day rides. I tried Googling and newsgroup
archives, ended up with some info but an awful lot of pointers to
commercial cycle tour organisatins which don't really fit with my
independent plans.

I've gone touring (not mountain biking) as a solo cyclist there a number
of times.

The highest road pass in Ireland is the Connor Pass from Dingle to
Tralee. Good fun. Great views at the top. Much more challenging in the
other direction because that way you ride up the steepest parts.

There are good independent hostels to stay in, but book ahead in peak
summer season. However, April and September are usually the driest two
months in Ireland.

The other peninsulas in Kerry are also great for cycling. There's some
nice hills. It's all very scenic. The motorised morons on the "ring of
kerry" are nothing but a pain; they travel god knows how far from all
around the world to one of the finest scenic road routes anywhere, then
drive around it like maniacs as though they were in the RAC rally.

Killarney, unless something has been done recently, is stuck in a 1950s
tourist-trap timewarp, catering for low-grade Yank tourists who really
enjoy plastic leprachauns, stage-Irish teatowel humour and miniature
shillelaghs. However, the national park there has some great paths if
your bike can handle slightly rougher ground than normal roads.

Just get yourself a decent map and go for it. You cannot really go wrong.

--
Joe * If I cannot be free I'll be cheap

I thought this was going to be another thread about penile numbness.

Zog The Undeniable wrote:
I thought this was going to be another thread about penile numbness.
Thanks for the responses all helpful apart from the last one, but lets
see how it develops eh? Also sorry to Brendan (and the rest of Ireland)
for any cultural faux pas on the naming of Ireland. It's my wife who's
Irish not me. I'm sure she would have corrected me if I'd asked her to
proof read!

Alex