Hi, as per the tile really. We are setting off on Monday driving the wild atlantic way in the campervan, and im planning on taking my E-Bike and getting some riding in. A google search makes it seem like there isn't exactly alot of riding to be had along the route or at least within an hour or two of it! Itinerary is extremely flexible.
Truthfully, not much. I did it 2 years ago and took the Hardtail. All i ended up doing was a tour around Omey Island, a ride around Killarney Park, an out and back on Inch Beach and a spin up to the waterfall at Lough Beagh and Glenveagh Castle.
Cracking route though.
I do not think there is much off road riding available at all. I did cycle round the Beara peninsular on tiny roads which was lovely I think doable in a day.
There are very limited access rights in Ireland. The west coast is beautiful and access on foot is generally ok but not much more. We even found on loads of the permissive trails we couldn't even take our dog.
That said Wild Nephin in Mayo has put in some MTB routes. Not tried them but should be worth a look. One of my favourite bits. There is also an extensive Greenway network. Tarmac and hard pack so not MTB but traffic free.
If you get to the Arran Islands (Inishmore), we had a good ride there, in a gravel sense. The guy we did a kayak trip with had wanted to set up a company doing a guided trip mtb trip on the islands. He didn’t as he couldn’t get insured. But there must be an amount of unpaved roads. Well worth visiting any way
https://strava.app.link/kEmwQubLMTb
We also road the this greenway. The bike hire guy picked us up at the end so we did it one way. Very scenic, very sustrans
https://greenwaysireland.org/great-western-greenway/
No idea how far south you are heading, and it’s not exactly on the wild Atlantic way, but if you are inland a bit around Limerick/Cork then there is my local at Ballyhoura.
https://visitballyhoura.com/explore/ballyhoura-mountain-biking
All the best mountain biking is on the east coast.
Not sure what kind of riding you're after, there are trail centres at Ballyhoura, Co Limerick, Derroura Co Galway and Coolaney Co. Sligo.
There are enduro trails in Killarney - Torc, and Killaloe. Unofficial, check trailforks for info.
Regarding access, riding on marked hiking trails is fine, but difficult to know where's worth going without local knowledge.
Beara is a good recommendation. Beara Way and Beara Bridleway in particular are worth checking out.
Ive holidayed on the west coast for many years, although not very recently to be fair. Im not saying there are no trails at all, but I found very few. And what there was tended to be bog roads, not really singletrack. I remember thinking that it seemed like a trail desert.
We drove around Ireland for 3 weeks in March, saw many road bikes but very few mtbs. I always take a bike to France but wouldn't bother in Ireland although that time of the year would be v nice riding on the beaches of Achil Island. Have a great trip, not difficult.
Oh and btw, if you get down that far the Dingle Peninsula is amazing, loads of films get made there. Probably the most beautiful coastline I've ever seen. Great music in Dingle too.
I lived in Kinsale about 15 years ago and we used to go to Tracton woods but not sure anyone does anymore? As above we used to drive to Ballyhourra which was good fun. Also did a couple of dig days at Dunmanway but not sure there’s much there now either.
you could try mbcc.ie see if they can help?
I’m back over in July and taking a road bike to ride along the south coast roads from Crosshaven to Galley Head lighthouse.
Depends what you're into really, plenty of small roads and boreens you could lose yourself (quite literally) all along the west coast, I just use an OS 1:50,000 scale map and aim for the 'white' roads and dashed lines (tracks) as much as possible, but equally there are waymarked routes, eg around Co. Sligo and Co. Leitrim, lovely part of the world, and plenty of forest trails in Co. Donegal if you're heading NW? There's also greenways, like the one to Achill Island from Westport.
Definitely worth taking the bike as there'll be opportunities to seek out.
Lots of the Long Distance Trails are bikeable, eg see https://toughsoles.ie/blog/2018/the-kerry-way-part-2
True there are no PROW here, at least none marked on maps, but apparently Ireland has more miles of road per head of population than anywhere else in Europe, and so there's loads of byways and boreens to seek out and enjoy (in the rain).
I wouldn’t regard the Kerry Way as a good cycling choice. There’s the odd bit which is ok, Glenbeigh to Foilmore but a lot of it isn’t really good cycling ground at all and there’ll be an awful lot of lifting the bike over stiles
Tough Soles is a good website, worth a look, the route descriptions should help weed out the better suited routes for bikes, lots of them just follow minor roads and tracks, boring for walking but perfect for cycling.
Thanks for the advice all, a few bits to go at annd explore. Haven’t had the chance to ride properly here in Ireland yet, only on the roads so far, enjoying the scenery! Had a good pedal at coed y brenin before the ferry on Sunday and charged up the bike using the van batteries today, all try get something decent in over the next few days!
We took gravel/do it all bikes, and walking boots. It was great.
Aran Islands - they do not take bikes on the ferry in season, so you have to join the masses and rent one. We were not overly impressed by Aran - just felt like over tourism.
Beara and Dursey were highlights for us, as were the multiple mountain days. Dursey cable car, the local pop up cafe and helping randomly uncover the Eire sign was just a fab day out.
Ring of Kerry was way too busy for us, and everywhere had tourists clogging up roads, shops, beaches, paths, anywhere there were just people. Like the Lake District.
Dingle peninsula again felt so busy and we had a horrid run in with a couple of tour buses being utter plums around bikes.
A good few greenways and excellent 'back lane' cycle routes.
If you can get on a boat at this late stage, and it may be unlikely if you have not booked, then the day out to Skellig's is world class and a proper trip of a lifetime... My trip report below.
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=125375
We basically did Kinsale to the Burren, and I cannot wait to head back to do Galway to Rathlin.
Some pics
https://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/albums/72177720319084652/
Good pedal at Derroura today
Sorry, no idea why the photos didn't work on my last post. Just back from our trip, got two 'proper' rides in and a couple of other bits and bobs mostly on roads in between when I could sneak away. Will give some details in case it helps anyone else in future.
Derroura:
About 40 mins NW of Galway directly on the N59. Small trail centre. One decent length red trail and a green/blue which was closed after storm damage. Big climb straight off the bat but mostly on singletrack, beautiful views. 2 main descents. First very wet, natural and rocky, had to work hard to maintain speed and flow but was fun. Then a short climb and onto second descent, really smooth gentle flow trail with lots of cool boardwalk section to get over the boggy bits. Feels very natural, not many berms or built features.
Did 2 laps in 2 hours (on the ebike). Climbs would be a bit of a slog on a normal bike, but the descents are long (they are very mellow gradient so last a long time).
Coolaney:
20 mins East of Sligo. Best trail centre i've ridden at. Lower 'lappable' section and then a choice of loops, half was closed after storm damage but still lots to ride, a mixture of blue red and black. Some awesome rocky slab sections, huge jumps, steep bits fast corners basically anything you would want.
