Mizen to Malin

the bald monk

Impending unemployment has turned my thoughts to this. i plan to go in early to mid January and to take 6 days with an average 100km a day. my suggested itinerary would be as follows:-

1. Mizen to Macroom
2. Macroom to Tip Town
3. Tip town to Tullamore.
4. Tullamore to Cavan Town.
5. Cavan Town to Omagh.
6. Omagh to Malin.

I would post a link to google maps only i don't know how this is done.

I have used the viamichelin website and the "by bike function" to draw up basic itinerary trying to keep away from the busiest roads.

I know many of you would suggest a more scenic westerly route but i have a number of reasons for a midlands route (eg, weather considerations, free acomodation at brothers house, brother to accompany me part of the route, see parts of country i have not seen... etc etc.)

anyway my reason for posting is to pick your collective brains on the route. anyone with local knowledge of the route? is there anything i should definately see and or anything you would change without making my route way longer? any suggestions much appreciated.


also mizen is a pain to get to. how have others who have done this got to mizen, is it case of 2 1/2 hour bus from Cork to Schull? or is there something i'm not seeing?


thanks,

E

DeadMan1

there's a bus that goes from Cork City to Goleen ... which is a good bit close to Malin Head than Schull is ... it's about 10k to MH from there

I know Gearoid and a few others went around Omagh so their trip might help: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/M2M

the bald monk

Thanks for the help Dead Man, checked bus eireann website and its gonna take 2.50 from Cork! gonna be a hell of a journey down! should make the cycing a breeze!

Cheers dónal, just the kind of thing i was after. the photo's of Georoid's trip show the type of roads that i'm after! also some interesting things to see.

Also re the weather is it crazy to attempt this in January?!

the bald monk

the bald monk wrote: »

Also re the weather is it crazy to attempt this in January?!

Yeah that's my first thought, especially as January - February tend to be v. cold with ice common enough. Other thing is that you're going near the time of the year with least hours of sun so you'd want either good lights or to manage your time well. Though if you're just doing 100km a day you should be able to do it.

dabbotscrosier

re craziness of january attempt any chance you might stop whinging and toughen up a small bit? ! :eek:
donals right though ice = no fun
mines a brandy

cdaly_

Also, if there's frost / ice about, the midlands are more likely to get it than the coast. That said, Mizen to Malin along the coast is more like Mizen-Malin-Mizen through the midlands...

the bald monk

appreciate the replies on this but i reckon if we always worried about icy roads none of us would go out on the bike from October to April! anyways as above unemployment will mean postponment for a week etc is feasible.

the brother lives near tullamore and reckons it freezes more often down there alright (than Mayo) but he "feels the cold"!

re the light situation i have suitable lighting but would hope to keep within daylight hours. (no point sight seeing in the dark!)

ford2600

I did this with a group and when I went searching here for a route, there was not a lot up here.

So here is Mizen to Malin as I mapped it and as we rode it. Brief was to limit climbing and decent road quality so coming out of Cork via Borlin, Coum and Mullaghnish wasn't on the cards as pretty as it would have been...

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10026464

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10033277

I'd gladly ride Day 1 again; the R586 to Dunmanway isn't much fun but fine in a group. The other option(without a lot of climbing) is Bantry,Pass of Keimineigh and join my route at Toon Bridge. The rest of route is fine, no hard climbing and fairly quite roads.

Killmallock Limerick is a little busy but infinitely better than the hateful N20 which we only crossed in Charleville.

Day 2 was a lovely route, with only exception being I regretted not going north in Castlederg, therby avoiding A5 in it's entirety, and join my route at 197km. Muff to Malin Head is a lovely road. Don't make jokes in Muff, they've heard them all before...

We stayed in Mizen in White House B&B. Lovely elderly lady and exceptional value
Creggane court in Athlone were incredible, nothing was too much hassle and @€;55 for B&B and dinner fantastic value.
Malin Head we stayed in the White Strand, Mary was a real lady and would highly recommend. Seaview Tavern in Malin Head was also top class. Rip off Ireland was no where to be seen on this trip.

Thanks to @nilhg for tip on A5 between Strabane and Derry, drove it the following day and not a nice road for bikes

Still regret not cycling back, dry road tailwind would have been nice, went on p1ss instead

BTW I'm not Johnny Ryan:pac:

ford2600

This is pretty sobering for lads thinking of cycling M2M.

This man ran it in 75hrs47mins

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057726062

https://eoinkeith.wordpress.com/2017/04/05/headtohead-chasing-dreams-and-ambitions/

OleRodrigo

He only ran it coz he was chasing a bike thief.

Which is the only time you should use the legs for running.

two wheels good

M2M article from last Saturday's Guardian.
I have the route used by a couple of charity cycles on .gpx if you need it.

There's a nice scenic alternative to going thru Goleen. Turn north near Barleycove along the north of the penninsula to arrive in Durrus. Avoids *some* of the busier Toormore - Durrus road.
If choosing Dunmanway route:
From Durrus take School Road east, crossing N71 to join R586. A little shortcut avoiding a climb and traffic.