Generic Touring Thread

Great, thanks all. MTB it is then. We won't be in a hurry anyway. I'll dig out my bikepacking gear.

@dnrc yes camping is a definite possibility - where's the site?

it was just outside hitchin i think - i can dig out gps if you wanted

Pegsdon Hills? Already got it marked, looks like a lovely spot.

nearly - it was immediately east of knocking hoe nature reserve

i saw a patch of trees from the trail and round the back of it was a fantastic view across the country and nobody in sight for miles

Got back yesterday from a short three day trip out to Hertfordshire/Essex via a couple of nice campsites. Lovely to get out and about after lockdown:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33087009

route looks good but that campsite looks a bit suss, is the guy in the picture wearing an arabic "infidel" patch?

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Going to Ireland at the end of August, flying to Cork and back from Belfast (visiting family there, two birds one stone and all of that).

While doing the route I realised that from Ballina to Belfast would have been just a slog to get there, with no particular sightseeing or points of interest, so the current WIP option is to get to Achill Island, only to circle back to Galway and get to Belfast by train, via Dublin.

Any tip is very much welcome as usual: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33439978

Hey, I'm based in Cork these days.
You might be better off heading for Ballinhassig from the airport and taking the back roads due south from there to Kinsale rather than the unplesantly busy main road.
If you can manage a visit/wild camp in Glengarriff Nature Reserve it would be well worth it!
Also, not a concern for you, but you're wise to do the ring of Kerry in a clockwise fashion as the buses go anti-clockwise and will save you some hassle.
Enjoy :)

I'm based in Cork these days.

We get in late, so we might swing by Cork to rebuild the bikes and set off the following day.

rather than the unplesantly busy main road.

Yeah, I've been meaning to change that part of the route, thanks for the tip!

Glengarriff Nature Reserve

Will reroute through it

ring of Kerry

Also, not doing the whole thing, but cutting through the mountains, will I miss much on the northern part of it?

Thanks for the tips!

will I miss much on the northern part of it?

Not really. The whole west coast is scenic so there'll be plenty to see along the way. Personally I actually prefer the Berra peninsula (the one below the ring of kerry) as it's quieter but can understand that you'd like to do the hills on the ring of kerry peninsula.

Yow, I remember that circuit, especially the ride over Moll's Gap, when I was but a slip of a boy, woefully under-equipped for cycle touring on a five-speed bike with 48x24 bottom gear. Glengarriff was a really wonderful stop as I recall.

@giofox Might also be worth asking in the Transatlantic race thread or ask racers directly to get tips for the bit's after Kerry?

I used the TAW route as a starting point of the one I drafted, but also asked @cjr his favourite spots when he did it last year. Will drop a message in the thread to gather other comments, just in case.

Also, the wind permanently blows North around there right?

Thinking of doing the NCN8 N-S on my week off. Current plan is to not book campsites and just wing it/wild camp/ask around in pubs as I'm sure a lot of sites will be rammed and it will allow me some more flexibility in pacing.

Anyone got any tips on routing as I've the true NCN route can take a few slightly pointless meanders in places?

Anyone got any tips on routing as I've the true NCN route can take a few slightly pointless meanders in places?

Dunno about that. I've done NCN8 N-S last year just by following the signs and it was brilliant.

Ha! My wife and I were supposed to go to Ireland, but quarantine is still there, so we changed our plan for Wales too! So far only have the train out and back, we'll ride it S-N and will probably do something Wye, Breacon Beacons, Pembrokeshire, Mid Wales, Snowdonia. but NCN8 sound like a good plan!

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Good to hear, how long did it take you?

I did it in five days, averaging around 80k a day. You can probably do it faster, but that was comfortable for me on a loaded touring bike.

Cool, yeah most reports I've seen say about the same.

Is NCR 8 the same as Lon Las Cymru, or does it diverge significantly?

Good question. I was assuming they were one and the same.

They are the same. Here's two blokes sharing a tent across wales on NCR 8 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ1QcBr5Dmw

They appear to be the same, also EV2 at the same time