Ring of Kerry

badly_dubbed

this sounds rude.

Splottboy

Hope it's not Katona's ring...

jairaj

I spent a week travelling around it (in a car though) with mates, its a lovely place with some friendly people about. Im sure you'll have a great time.

Chip \'oyler

jairaj wrote:

I spent a week travelling around it (in a car though) with mates, its a lovely place with some friendly people about. Im sure you'll have a great time.

Are you talking about Ms Katona's ring?

trekhead

Hey DJ
I know this route very well. My brother lives on the main Ring of Kerry road between Glenbiegh and Killorglin.
What a fantastic place.
The Gap is one of the most stunning places I`ve ever been through, though I`ve only ever driven it.

Where are you starting from?
We`re doing the same possibly in May, but off road on MTB`s.

iainment

I live on the Ring of Kerry in Killorglin.

Absolutely beautiful, if it's not raining. With some great cycling, if you have time I also recommend the Dingle peninsular and the Connor Pass.

trekhead

iainment wrote:

Absolutely beautiful, if it's not raining.

Oh yeah - I forgot. County Kagool

Pross

Did it about 13 years ago (in my car). It's a beautiful part of the world. The roads were showing evidence of a recent big bike race having been through too (names painted on road, prime lines on hills). Did the Nissan used to go round there?

LangerDan

djbarren wrote:

Were starting and finishing at the Railway Hostel in killarney. Were going to do it over 2 days so we can sight see and take loads of photos We will be spending one night in waterville, before going back to the hostel.
I used to live in Bandon Co.Cork and have visited this area quit alot but have never cycled the ring etc so were looking forward to this alot.

iainment
Are we mad doing this with compact chainsets? Or should we change to triples for this trip?

Compacts should be fine, assuming you are not dragging tonnes of kit with you.. The Ring itself is not particularly mountainous. The are a few long climbs but nothing Alpine. In fact there is a 1-day charity ride every July (http://www.ringofkerrycycle.ie/) with all sorts and shapes of riders and bikes.

The Gap of Dunloe is a stunning cycle but is a little messy to do as part of the Ring itself - you might be better to do it as a half-day trip on its own, based out of Killarney. The Gap is effectively one-way, particualrly during the summer months, starting at Kate Kearneys cottage and heading South. The surface is a bit worn and broken and has a few fairly steep sections, so if you can do it without your luggage, so much the better. Its also worth hitting early in the morning - (assuming we get any tourists back), the traffic (mainly horse-drawn jaunting cars, but also the occasional car) can be quite heavy and the road is only 1 lane wide. BTW you'll be picking horse crap off your bike for days

One possibility might be to do the Ring of Kerry route in "reverse". The conventional route (and encouraged to keep toursistcars and coaches moving in one direction) is anti-clockwise, from Killarney to Killorglin, Cahirciveen etc. If you ride it clockwise (Killarney, Kenmare, Sneem etc) you will be riding against the traffic and not being overtaken by it. Plus you could , theroetically, start in Killarney, ride out over the Gap of Dunloe to Molls Gap and on to Kenmare but it will be a bit of work crossing Dunloe with fully loaded bikes.

iainment

djbarren wrote:

Were starting and finishing at the Railway Hostel in killarney. Were going to do it over 2 days so we can sight see and take loads of photos We will be spending one night in waterville, before going back to the hostel.
I used to live in Bandon Co.Cork and have visited this area quit alot but have never cycled the ring etc so were looking forward to this alot.

iainment
Are we mad doing this with compact chainsets? Or should we change to triples for this trip?

I am a bit of a wimp and have only ever used triples, so I can't really advise - if you're a fit club cyclist I would have thought a compact would be doable. But don't blame me if you can't!!!!

:oops:

iainment

LangerDan wrote:

djbarren wrote:

Were starting and finishing at the Railway Hostel in killarney. Were going to do it over 2 days so we can sight see and take loads of photos We will be spending one night in waterville, before going back to the hostel.
I used to live in Bandon Co.Cork and have visited this area quit alot but have never cycled the ring etc so were looking forward to this alot.

iainment
Are we mad doing this with compact chainsets? Or should we change to triples for this trip?

Compacts should be fine, assuming you are not dragging tonnes of kit with you.. The Ring itself is not particularly mountainous. The are a few long climbs but nothing Alpine. In fact there is a 1-day charity ride every July (http://www.ringofkerrycycle.ie/) with all sorts and shapes of riders and bikes.

The Gap of Dunloe is a stunning cycle but is a little messy to do as part of the Ring itself - you might be better to do it as a half-day trip on its own, based out of Killarney. The Gap is effectively one-way, particualrly during the summer months, starting at Kate Kearneys cottage and heading South. The surface is a bit worn and broken and has a few fairly steep sections, so if you can do it without your luggage, so much the better. Its also worth hitting early in the morning - (assuming we get any tourists back), the traffic (mainly horse-drawn jaunting cars, but also the occasional car) can be quite heavy and the road is only 1 lane wide. BTW you'll be picking horse crap off your bike for days

One possibility might be to do the Ring of Kerry route in "reverse". The conventional route (and encouraged to keep toursistcars and coaches moving in one direction) is anti-clockwise, from Killarney to Killorglin, Cahirciveen etc. If you ride it clockwise (Killarney, Kenmare, Sneem etc) you will be riding against the traffic and not being overtaken by it. Plus you could , theroetically, start in Killarney, ride out over the Gap of Dunloe to Molls Gap and on to Kenmare but it will be a bit of work crossing Dunloe with fully loaded bikes.

In reverse is better as you are coastside of the road as well.