Ulster
Added on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
The following route is a standard Sunday morning ride, around some of Ulster’s finest roads, sent in by insidebikes reader, Mike Johnson. This route is very picturesque, hence ideal if you want to dawdle, however bits of it have fantastic twisties, and are perfect for a cobwebs blasting blat at speeds unlikely to lose you your license.
The Route
Downpatrick - Strangford - Ballyhornan - Ardglass - Killough - Tyrella - Clough - Newcastle - Kilkeel
Set off from Downpatrick in the heart of County Down, along the A25 to Strangford. Strangford is a beautiful little seaside village with a couple of nice pubs and a ferry across the narrow Stranford channel to Portaferry at the end of the Ards peninsula. The Cuan pub has tables outside on a good day. It does a great pint of Guinness, fantastic pub grub during the day and superb meals at night.
Turn right onto the B1 coast road. The first 5 miles are poorly surfaced but have some entertaining bends and wonderful views over the sea to the other side of the peninsula. Turn off towards Ballyhornan, following the contours of the coast. The road is quite wide and traffic free, but rather than blasting it at this point, take it easy and admire the spectacular views.
Once out of Ballyhornan, take a left back onto the B1 and head towards Ardglass. The road gets entertaining at this point, so pick up the pace and relish the tight hairpins and sweepers. Even if you don’t go over the national speed limit, you will feel like a road racer by keeping the bike on the boil through the bends, going up and down the gearbox.
Once at Ardglass, turn left through the town. Being a fishing village, a mean fish supper is available at the local chippy, with fish so fresh it melts in your mouth. Alternatively, stop in the marina and dander up to the wee ice cream shop, that has been a fixture as long as I can remember. It must be one of the smallest shops in Ireland, only about 6 feet square inside!
Out of Ardglass the road twists on towards Killough, via Coney Island - yes, the one from the Van Morrison song, and it gave its name to a famous bit of New York.
Out of Killough, the pace quickens with some long stretches of sweepers connecting super corners with good visibility. Through Minerstown, watch out for the bump outside the pub - if you are doing it right, the bike should get airborne at this point!
The next section towards Tyrella Beach is my personal favourite. See what speed you can hit by the time you reach the entrance to the beach. Hard on the anchors for a cracking series of bends past Tyrella and then on towards Clough. The road tightens and twists, knee down antics at slow speeds are there for the taking.
Once at Clough, turn right onto the A2 and head towards Newcastle. The road is wonderful, but tends to have a lot of traffic. There are no fixed cameras here, but speedtraps are not unknown, as it is popular with bikers.
Stop for a coffee and a tab in Newcastle - just look for the other bikes parked at the Newcastle center. Refreshed? Then let’s blast out of town along the coast. If you get a clear run, this is a very fast and challenging road to Annalong and then to Kilkeel. At times there is a lot of holiday traffic, but pick your time and it is possible to have a lot of fun.
Once in Kilkeel, the choices are to head on towards Rostrevor or peel off through the heart of the Mourne Mountains back to Newcastle, and do the whole trip in reverse. Wonderful.
Biker Beds
Plenty of B & Bs for the two-wheeled traveller and great pubs with good beer and grub. My personal favourites are The Cuan in Strangford and The Harbour Bar in Newcastle. So, what are you waiting for? Its only a ferry journey away, the locals won’t bite and it is well away from the areas that still remain to be dragged into the 21st century.
