Is Kerry the cycling Kingdom?

thebouldwhacker

I have travelled far and wide around Ireland for work and leasure and have thought about this for some time now and would like to pose the question, is Kerry the cycling Kingdom?

I have had occasion to spend a lot of time in Kerry over the past number of years and am always amazed at how many people cycle there. Last week really brought this home as, on a wednesday, I saw well over 100 people out on their bikes sread between 3 towns, some popping to the shops, some just out for a leisurely spin and others kitted out and grinding away (a few freds too though). There will always be tourists making up the numbers but they are pretty easy to spot, what I am talking about are locals out on their two wheels.
Taking the population of the towns and villages which make up Kerry I reckon its the capital county for cycling. Factor in that (besides Cork) its probibly one of the best cycling destinations in Ireland with mountains, hills, coast, national parks and flat areas it contains all that people can look for. Every town seems to have a cycling club and there are fantastic cycling events spread around the county, each very well supported by locals and blow ins alike.
Coming from Cork this ain't easy to post but hats off to Kerry, the Kingdom of cycling.

lescol

Nice to be acknowledged! Maybe there are a lot around this time of year as they prepare for the ROK. There always seems to be a fair few in Cork when I'm down that direction though.

uberwolf

I drove some of the ring of kerry at the weekend. Not for me thanks. If there were no cars on the road maybe, but vast tracts of poorly surfaced narrow roads with motorists tempted into inopportune overtaking would seriously detract from the amazing terrain for me.

ROK ON

I was on some less travelled roles at the weekend and passed a lot of cyclists.

I like cycling in Kerry but many places are just as good. Love Kildare,Laois, Meath, Wicklow. Carlow, Kilkenny and Tipperary are brilliant cycling counties.

It also has to be said that there is some spectacular cycling in Cork.

What Kerry has going for it is the sheer variety of routes. But roads are shocking.
Best roads in country are in Kildare.

Lumen

Kerry is like Clare's flashier, grottier sister. Quite appealing until you realise that everyone's been there already.

(dons flamesuit)

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

Kerry is like Clare's flashier, grottier sister. Quite appealing until you realise that everyone's been there already.

(dons flamesuit)

LMAO.

lescol

uberwolf wrote: »

I drove some of the ring of kerry at the weekend. Not for me thanks. If there were no cars on the road maybe, but vast tracts of poorly surfaced narrow roads with motorists tempted into inopportune overtaking would seriously detract from the amazing terrain for me.

Hmm, 200k around Dingle on Saturday without incident. There are some poor stretches of badly surfaced road but isn't that the case everywhere these days? Descending the V on the Tour de Cure was one very, very uncomfortable experience. I shall look forward to smooth tar mac and polite respectful drivers on the Wicklow 200.:D

cormpat

What about Mayo? Plenty of climbing, quite roads, nice scenery & I think we've got the third highest cycling ireland membership per county (think Cork & Dublin are ahead of us....). We deserve a mention!:D

Also The Western Lakes Polka Dot challange is probably the best sportive I've done (I'm not a member of their club), great grub & plenty of it, & great climbs.

michaelm

For what it's worth I was in Killarney for the football on Sunday - arrived very early with my bike and had a glorious spin around Killarney National Park. Absolutely perfect place for a family cycle, traffic free, perfect road surface and coffee and scones in Dini's Cottage. Was amazed I hadn't discovered it before.

ROK ON

@Uberwolf. Drivers in Kerry are no worse than elsewhere IMHO. Due to the higher proportion of tourists one does often meet the nervous rental car driver.

@Lescol. Roads in Wicklow pretty good actually. My gripe with Kerrys roads is that (1) we have been told by the HealyRaes and ODonoghues of this world all they were doing for Kerry roads over the past decade, yet one bad winter and a lot of the roads are in a very poor state..
The winter was significantly worse in Wicklow and roads are significantly better. Furthermore when I cross the Shehy Mountains from Cork to Kerry I immediately notice a difference in road quality.

ednwireland

no

thebouldwhacker

ah yes but I'm talking about the whole package, the amout of Kerry people who cycle, the amount of clubs etc. Road surface is down to the aforementioned Healy Rae etc who dont cycle, or if they do only do it around election time. Hell there are even a large amout of Kerry posters here.

_MadRa_

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

ah yes but I'm talking about the whole package, the amout of Kerry people who cycle, the amount of clubs etc. Road surface is down to the aforementioned Healy Rae etc who dont cycle, or if they do only do it around election time. Hell there are even a large amout of Kerry posters here.

The roads around kilgarvan are the best in kerry
North kerry roads are poor enough, but the further south you go the better they become...mostly

onimpulse

cormpat wrote: »

What about Mayo? Plenty of climbing, quite roads, nice scenery & I think we've got the third highest cycling ireland membership per county (think Cork & Dublin are ahead of us....). We deserve a mention!:D

Also The Western Lakes Polka Dot challange is probably the best sportive I've done (I'm not a member of their club), great grub & plenty of it, & great climbs.

I was down in May & one of the clubs let us tag along... I was really surprised there were so many other cyclist & so many clubs. The road surfaces are also a lot better than Dublin/Wicklow/Meath!

yop

IF you can get down from say Westport to Achill its one of the nicest places in the world if the weather is fine

Anyone who did Achill Roar last year will tell you it was spectacular.

cormpat

onimpulse wrote: »

The road surfaces are also a lot better than Dublin/Wicklow/Meath!

I have to say our roads aren't the best. I can't vouch for Dublin/Wicklow/Meath but I was over the Sheffery's Hills over the weekend (this is the climb just after Delphi in the Gaelforce for anyone who's familiar) and the winter hasn't been kind to it. A lot of pot holes, that have been filled in with loose scree about a km or two before you get to the climb. Make sure you have good tires!;)

What's the local race numbers like in Kerry? The Mayo League has been drawing crowds of between 50-70 riders per race.

Toblerone1978

cormpat wrote: »

What about Mayo?

I would have to agree, I'd put Mayo ahead of the Kingdom or any other county that I've cycled in. Except my own of course!

el tel

Have you ever been to County Down?

cdaly_

_MadRa_ wrote: »

North kerry roads are poor enough, but the further south you go the better they become...mostly

No no. That's Cork...






<me grins, ducks and runs...>

alfalad

el tel wrote: »

Have you ever been to County Down?

Are there many sportives on in Down, with the Mournes you have some prime cycling area and the roads are very road or at least were the last time I was there (which granted was a while ago).

Spent a lot of time in Newcastle as a kid so would love to do a sportive during the summer there.

mitresize5

the road from Ballyvaughan to Lahinch in Clare is the best cycle route in the country - amazing location and good road surfaces

el tel

alfalad wrote: »

Are there many sportives on in Down, with the Mournes you have some prime cycling area and the roads are very road or at least were the last time I was there (which granted was a while ago).

Spent a lot of time in Newcastle as a kid so would love to do a sportive during the summer there.

Alfalad, there are plenty of events in Down.

The next big one is Dromara CC's excellent Mourne Sportive & Hilly Leisure Tours which are on 8th August this year
http://www.dromaracc.co.uk/sportive/Sportive2010/Sportive_Hilly_2010.htm

alfalad

el tel wrote: »

Alfalad, there are plenty of events in Down.

The next big one is Dromara CC's excellent Mourne Sportive & Hilly Leisure Tours which are on 8th August this year
http://www.dromaracc.co.uk/sportive/Sportive2010/Sportive_Hilly_2010.htm

Did see that but away on hols at the time. Guess I'll just have to keep a tighter eye out.

jezzag

I'm a fairly recent arrival from England - where the cyclepaths, footpaths and bridleways are abundant and give plenty of opportunity for safe riding away from traffic - so maybe I was spoilt. But I can't help thinking that riding off road is extremely difficult in Kerry.

I don't want to have to drive for an hour just to go for a quick spin on my bike, I want to be able to spin out into the country and just ride.

I'm more of an MTB rider than a road rider, but I do own a single / fixed cross bike that I take out around the roads near Listowel. However the state of the back roads is so bad, and the attitude of drivers to riders so dangerous, that its not my favourite thing to do. In fact a pot hole and stupid driver combined to make me tumble very badly a few months back which kept me off the bike for two months.

It seems to me a real shame that its not easy to enjoy the countryside by bike round here.

ROK ON

On a training spin today going thru the Killarney National Park, I passed two very large groups (maybe 15+) of touring cyclists.
I also passed two ladies on hybrids heading to molls gap.
Two blokes out training by the lakes of Killarney.
An older gent on an retro racer power up Molls Gap.

When I got back from my cycle, I spied two groups of two tourers heading into Kenmare.

That is a helluva a lot of cyclists on a Friday morning on a 30 km strech of road. I think that other than commuting in Dublin, one would be hard pressed to find that many cyclists on a 30km strech of rural road anywhere else in the country this morning.