Northern Ireland

Sid Kelly

Anyone interested in touring Northern Ireland?

Anyone brave enough?

I've just done up a new web site to dispel a few myths and fill in a few gaps. Please visit and get a fresh perspective. It's not for profit just for your information.

Cheers!

www.belfastandbeyond.com

daveornee

We visited in May 2003 and enjoyed Northern Ireland.
I appreciate your efforts on this site and the very worthwhile information it contains.
I think that the views are very good, cycling conditions are cool, and the people are wonderful.

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David Ornee, Western Springs, IL USA

Sid Kelly

Great to hear some positive comments.

Anything you'd like to see added to the site?
What did you get up to in Ireland yourself?

Any good sites on cycling in the states, I've a chance to go to New England and I'm very tempted, just down to money.

daveornee

We stayed in Belfast most nights except one special night in a great B & B on the Antrim Coast.
We were on Belfast harbor, quite a bit of walking around Belfast city itself, and Falls + Shankhill Roads. We stayed quite near Shankhill road.
We love the Antrim coast and were awed by the Giant's causeway.
We also traveled through Derry county, and Donegal. We enjoyed the Loughs and walking around the northern most tip of the island.
We also visited Armagh and St Patrick's church as well as many other historic sites.
We enjoyed the pub experiences, music, and street dances as well.
We started and ended our trip in Dublin. Dublin is interesting and historical, but so crowded compared to the northern counties. However, we enjoyed Trinity and the brewery.
History, culture, unique scenery were all quite enjoyable.
We were quite sad to leave as we felt we barely experienced Northern Ireland or any of the rest of the island.

As far as adding anything to your site, I can't think of anything at this time. My old eyes had some trouble reading it all, due to the colors of the text displayed. I also had difficulty with cutting some of the width when I tried to print some pages.
I realize these are issues that may only effect me, but I thought I mention them.

There are many good sources for US cycle touring. One is
www.adv-cycling.org/
I understand that this site is under construction at present.
They also publish maps, guides, and a magazine called "Adventure Cyclist".
I have used "Bike Riders" and "Michigan Bicycle Touring" for fully supported tours. They are both high quality and comprehensive.
They both charge a good price for their package tours. If you were going to tour in N.E. U.S.A. I suggest you consider Maine and Vermont. I think "Bike Riders" has tour packages there.
U.S.A. can use your tourism dollars, but you might also enjoy Canada, especially N.E. Canada.

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David Ornee, Western Springs, IL USA

brendajane

Sid - you're gas! I recently returned to NZ from living in Ireland for 2 years (in Dublin). While I was there I did plenty of touring in the north, inlcuding cycling the whole coastline. I avoided Belfast (because of the traffic, not the terrorists) and by and large found it no different to touring in Eire (of course the roads are a little better in the north). The scenery is great, the hills are small, the weather is of course crap ;-)

Spin baby

Brave enough to tour Northern Ireland?

My 18 year old daughter and I plan to bike tour Ireland sometime in 2005. I have never toured by bike... so I am going to be doing a lot of researching. Thanks for the link to your website... I will be going over it at length.

Sid Kelly

It wasn't crap this summer, fantastic weather. I did Malin head to Mizen head and a coast to coast and it was absolutely glorious. Good to hear some positive comment though. Send the link to anyone who might be interested.
Cheers.

Sid Kelly

By 2005 the site should have developed into quite a comprehensive tool. Why Ireland, have you some connections there? A trip like that should take a bit of planning, bikeaccess.net is another good site if travelling by air. Anything else I can help you with please get in touch - you'll have a fantastic Time!