Riding in Northern Ireland

I have negotiated a weeks cycling holiday with my wife. (Not cycling with my
wife, negotiating with her, Cycling with my mate)

Shall I start again.:-{

We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and we
fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of getting the
ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around the coast to
Londonderry and back.

What do you all think? Is this a good idea? We are open to suggestions. Eire
or France are other options.

I will let you decide, I am in your hands.

Cliff

--
Remove my Bra to reply

Cliff, it's a very nice coast. If you do it, do see a couple of the Glens of
Antrim, especially Glenariff and Glendun. I cycled much of this about three
years ago. Being from Southern Ireland, I didn't find the locals very
friendly. I suppose they're wary of strangers after the terrible time
they've been through.
Co.Donegal is lovely too, but very hilly to cycle. The locals there are
lovely people, the friendliest in Ireland.
A cycle that I'd really recommend is through Glen Eley (Elley?) in the
Sperrin Mountains in Tyrone. I drove that bit but it was magical.

in message , Cliff
') wrote:

I have negotiated a weeks cycling holiday with my wife. (Not cycling
with my wife, negotiating with her, Cycling with my mate)

Shall I start again.:-{

We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and
we fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of
getting the ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around
the coast to Londonderry and back.

Warning: Northern Ireland is a very, very odd place. Do not even think
about going there in July. The 'troubles' may be over, but that merely
means that normal life is resumed, and normal life in Northern Ireland
in July is deeply scary. Think apartheid South Africa three days after
Sharpeville. Yes, the people are individually exceedingly nice. Yes,
the scenery is often spectacular. But the inter-communal hatred is
tangible.

What do you all think? Is this a good idea? We are open to
suggestions. Eire

Donegal, Sligo, Clare (particularly the Burren): recommended. Probably a
lot of the rest of it too, but I haven't been there. Exceptionally nice
people, outstanding scenery. Main roads (especially the three-laners)
are a bit lethal, and generally road surfaces are not maintained to UK
standards.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; in faecibus sapiens rheum propagabit

Simon Brooke wrote:
in message , Cliff
') wrote:


I have negotiated a weeks cycling holiday with my wife. (Not cycling
with my wife, negotiating with her, Cycling with my mate)

Shall I start again.:-{

We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and
we fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of
getting the ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around
the coast to Londonderry and back.


Warning: Northern Ireland is a very, very odd place. Do not even think
about going there in July. The 'troubles' may be over, but that merely
means that normal life is resumed, and normal life in Northern Ireland
in July is deeply scary. Think apartheid South Africa three days after
Sharpeville. Yes, the people are individually exceedingly nice. Yes,
the scenery is often spectacular. But the inter-communal hatred is
tangible.


What do you all think? Is this a good idea? We are open to
suggestions. Eire


Donegal, Sligo, Clare (particularly the Burren): recommended. Probably a
lot of the rest of it too, but I haven't been there. Exceptionally nice
people, outstanding scenery. Main roads (especially the three-laners)
are a bit lethal, and generally road surfaces are not maintained to UK
standards.

I have never had a bad experience on my two visits to Belfast though
each time I have been accompanied by a local or two to keep me right.
I'd happily visit N Ireland again.

We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and
we fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of
getting the ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around
the coast to Londonderry and back.

I did this route last August, but actually caught the ferry at
Magilligan' point and did the tour of the Enishowen peninsula up to
Malin head. From there it was back down to Londonderry and over the
Sperrins to Antrim and finally Belfast International airport. About
6days cycling I think.

The section from Larne up the east coast was actually the dullest bit,
the coast road is not very exciting in parts, although it was still
enjoyable. There are some glens off this road that a previous poster
mentioned but I didn't manage to do them.

Once you get up to Torr Head you're in for some serious climbing and
spectacular scenery. The climbs are not that high, but tend to be
quite steep. I enjoyed them, the views are awesome across the mull.
Once you get over the Torr you're on route to pass the Giant's
Causeway, which is well worth an hours visit.

The Inishowen peninsular is superb; quiet roads, fantastic scenery and
just great cycling. If you head north towards Malin head you'll be in
for some climbing, but it's worth it. There's a superb little hostel
at the Malin that is really worth a visit:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~malinheadhostel/

I'd recommend that you actually take your bikes on the train up to
Derry and do Inishowen as a circular tour.
http://www.visitinishowen.com/scenictour.html

If you wanted to see some photos I could email some to you.

There's a great web site about cycling in the Northern Ireland area:

http://www.gotobelfast.com/link_open...andbeyond.com/


You'll be glad you went. I can't want to go back and cycle some more
of Donegal.

tom.

Cliff wrote:

We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and we
fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of getting the
ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around the coast to
Londonderry and back.
My wife and I cycled in "Norn Irn" in 1999. After crossing from Holyhead
we rode up from Dublin to cross the border from Co. Monaghan. We didn't
find Dungannon or Cookstown particularly nice, though the weather didn't
help.

Once we dropped through Glen Ballyeamonn to reach the coast at
Cushendall we had a great time. The Antrim coast is beautiful. We spent
a few days there visiting Cushendall, Cushendun, Ballycastle and the
Giant's Causeway.

We left on the Ballycastle-Campbeltown ferry which doesn't sail any
more, unfortunately.

Mike Smith wrote in message ...
Cliff wrote:

We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and we
fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of getting the
ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around the coast to
Londonderry and back.
My wife and I cycled in "Norn Irn" in 1999. After crossing from Holyhead
we rode up from Dublin to cross the border from Co. Monaghan. We didn't
find Dungannon or Cookstown particularly nice, though the weather didn't
help.

Once we dropped through Glen Ballyeamonn to reach the coast at
Cushendall we had a great time. The Antrim coast is beautiful. We spent
a few days there visiting Cushendall, Cushendun, Ballycastle and the
Giant's Causeway.

We left on the Ballycastle-Campbeltown ferry which doesn't sail any
more, unfortunately.

The road from Larne to Cushendall is breathtakingly scenic and flat as
it hugs the coast that far (about 30 miles). It goes inland after that
but the views are class as well, but try to avoid morning/early
afternoon on bank holidays and sundays in good weather as the traffic
is chronic going in that direction. Most of the population of Belfast
seem to drive this route from Larne to Portrush when they get a day
off work and they all go in the same direction before returning
inland. If you make it as far as Derry without getting distracted by
too many pubs you should try to sqyeeze in a day in Donegal which is
just beyond it and easily accessible.